Since the Huntington's diagnosis things had been good for both of them. They became even closer, closer still since the car crash and they rarely had an argument. Ethan sat in the staffroom on his five-minute break when Charlie stepped in.
"Ah, Ethan," Charlie said. "there's a patient in cubicle 5."
Ethan was about to take the notes when Charlie
stopped him.
"I was hoping Lily could take it." Charlie explained.
"Lily?" Ethan questioned with a frown. "Why Lily?"
Charlie hesitated for a bit hoping Ethan wouldn't notice, but he did.
"Charlie?" Ethan pushed.
"I would rather Lily take this case."
"Why do you want Lily to take the patient? I've had my break. I can take the patient."
"Really, it's best Lily takes this one."
Before Ethan could push Charlie once more to tell
him why he couldn't take the patient, Cal entered. As he stepped into the staffroom, Cal could sense there was a bit of tension between his brother and Charlie.
"Is everything okay?" he asked cautiously.
Both Ethan and Charlie responded at the same time with contradicting answers.
"Right," Cal said. "So what is the problem?"
"There's a patient in cubicle 5." Charlie replied.
"I see, can't Ethan take it?"
"No, he can't."
"Why?"
"Because it's too close to home."
"How?"
"This patient is in the last stages of Huntington's."
For a minute there was silence. Then suddenly something didn't to add up with Ethan. How did Charlie know about Emilie's disease? How did he know Emilie was their mother? Cal glanced towards his brother and noticed the expression on his face.
"Ethan?" Cal asked gently.
Ethan blinked a couple of times before responding.
"How does he know about Emilie?"
He didn't realise he had spoken that quietly until Cal asked him to repeat what he said.
"How does Charlie know about Emilie?" Ethan repeated.
"He treated her when she came in." Cal reminded him. "You saw him, remember?"
Ethan shook his head.
"I don't mean that. I mean why would he know it would be too close to home?"
It was then the penny dropped. Cal felt his stomach tighten into a knot and a sense of nausea swept over him. He had forgotten that Ethan didn't know Charlie already knew that Emilie was their birth mother.