A headache.
That's all Ethan could focus on as he rolled gingerly out of his bed. His eyes hurt, his vision was fuzzy. It was not a good day to have a migraine.
Nevertheless he pushed himself up, making no effort to wake his brother yet. He had an hour before shift, and unlike his sibling he liked to be dressed respectably for his position.
He let out a frustrated moan as he searched for trousers inevitably hidden under piles of unclean laundry and bags of unwanted storage. Cal's crap as he liked to call it. He began to pace around, only squatting down to sort through masses of boxes, wincing slightly as a headache came on. Ever since Cal had moved his stuff into their new flat, there had been an abundance of packed and unpacked storage containers lying across the floor. It didn't bother him first, but as neat boxes became piles of rubbish, his stuff got hidden underneath them.
"Cal!" He yelled, screaming slightly to make himself vocal through the walls. "Cal have you seen my trousers?"
Of course he wasn't answering.
"Cal?" He shouted once again, before standing himself up to search for his brother.
He stood up quickly, too quickly for his liking and suddenly gripped his head. He groaned and tried to blink away the black dots dancing in his vision. He was tired of this, it was the second time this week.
It felt different this time, more painful than his usual stress related headaches. He was soon reacquainted with the floor as a searing pain rushed through the side of his temple, causing him to fall back against the boxes in a heavy and agonised mess.
He began to clench his eyes shut and clutch the box next to him for any sign of relief. He felt his knuckles turn white as they were tightly wrapped around the thick cardboard.
And then it was gone.
Ethan blinked rapidly, regaining his vision as the pain subsided. He whimpered slightly, gulping back any forms of anxiety, and shuffled into a sitting position. He didn't want to risk moving yet.
Not daring to stand, he sat in a slumped form between Cal's laundry and his own medical equipment, placed in two large boxes, one of which was now crumpled due to squeezing it so hard.
"What the hell was that?" He muttered to himself, stroking the top of his forehead. He checked his pulse, backhandedly felt his temperature, and sighed as he realised they were normal. No immediate explanation, no answers, exactly what Ethan hated. He tried to wrack his brains, had he drank last night? His thoughts were fuzzy, he couldn't remember?
Why couldn't he remember?
"There you are, I've been shouting you for the last 10 minutes, we've got to roll Nibbles, shift starts in 5."
Ethan looked up at his brother, fully dressed, a slice of cold toast in his hand. Only a minute ago Ethan was trying to wake him from his slumber? Or was it longer?
His head hurt.
"Did I drink last night?" He whispered, still sat against the bedroom wall.
"No, but by the look of you I'd say you need one." Cal chuckled, shaking his head at his brother. "You made me watch that stupid documentary last night, about the coral reef, remember?" The older brother rolled his eyes, and grabbed Ethan's briefcase from the corner of the room. "Come on, you look like an idiot sat down there."
He put his hand out and Ethan shakily took it, wobbling slightly as Cal helped him stand.
"Woah, you alright little bro?" Cal caught his arm, concern crossing him as he saw the full extent of his brother's pale face and the dark circles forming under his eyes.
"Yes. Fine, I'm fine." Ethan caught his balance, grabbed his glasses from the sideboard and tentatively walked towards the door. "We're going to be late Caleb."
Cal knew that tone, his full name only used if his brother was stressed or scared. He shook the bad feeling off, and followed him outside with a furrowed glare.
"Ethan, you look like shit." Cal laughed, shaking of his concern as he persisted with his constant teasing. "Only you could get a hangover watching a David Attenborough documentary..."
"Shut up Cal." Ethan snapped, climbing slowly into the passenger seat of the car. His head throbbed, his whole body ached. For once he decided that his brother would be the safer driver of the two.
"Alright then Nibbles don't get your knickers in a twist." Cal joked. "At least I can get us there on time, I don't drive like a pensioner."
Ethan made no effort to respond, he just rested his head against the cold window. It made the pain subside, and an ache that was growing duller by the second halt for just a minute.
He could think again, finally. But all he could ponder on was the fact that he wasn't okay.
He was far from okay.
"Do either of you care to explain to me why you're both late to your shifts?" Connie greeted the boys with a half drawn smirk and her finger pointing to her watch.
"I'm sorry, mild mannered Ethan here is supposedly 'hungover'" Cal joked, squeezing his brothers shoulder.
"What do you mean by supposedly Dr Knight?" Connie scowled, looking Ethan up and down as his pale figure leant against the nurses station.
"He didn't actually drink." Cal huffed. "He's just got all the symptoms of a hangover." He chuckled, looking around to get a few laughs from the staff that were gathering.
"I thought you were a physician, Dr Knight, the all powerful trainee surgeon prototype that Mr Strachan has invested his time into. It's a shame you can't diagnose a migraine isn't it?" She rolled her eyes, feeling accomplished as colleagues began to giggle.
"Are you fit to work Dr Hardy?" She seemed concerned as the sheen produced on his forehead only enhanced how pale his skin was. She put a kind hand on his shoulder and looked into his dreary eyes. "If you aren't well, or you are indeed hungover I don't want you in my department today."
"I'm fine thank you Mrs Beauchamp." Ethan nodded, hulking back the shooting pain that simple task sent through his head. "I'd just like to get on with some work." He smiled, walking towards the locker room.
His slow and weak demeanour shuffled away, and suddenly everyone was back at work. Cal went to follow when Connie grabbed his arm.
"Is your brother okay?" She asked, gesturing to the man hunched over his locker.
"Your guess is as good as mine, he's probably being all Ethan and panicking about these exams coming up." Cal suggested, his own concern burying itself as he began to adjust his scrubs.
"Would it hurt for you to look out for him more often Dr Knight?" She huffed, turning to walk away. "The least you can do is keep an eye on him today, he seems off to me so I want him on minors only okay?"
Cal nodded absently staring at his little brother's worried expression. "Whatever you say Mrs Beauchamp."
He shook his head, fiddling with the stethoscope around his neck. Maybe she was right, something was odd with him today...
"Okay we've got Sally Palmer, 30 years old, fell off her bike into on coming traffic. She has a head and neck injury, and acute lacerations to the face. She Ko'd briefly on scene and her GCS was 13 on arrival. BP's stable at 90 systolic, absent breath sounds on the left side. She's had 10 of morphine, 10 of Metoclopramide and 1 litre of saline." Iain nodded as Cal began to wheel the patient into resus. He watched as Ethan scrambled behind taking the notes and rushing to fit an IV.
"Connie has put you on minors Ethan." Cal intersected, briefly looking back at his brother as he began to hook the patient up to machines.
"Since when?" Ethan frowned, holding the back of his head subtly in order to not fall over at the weight of it.
"Since now. Just do what I say okay?" Cal snapped, but he knew it was best. His brother didn't look well enough to save a life, especially when he couldn't take care of his own.
Ethan felt himself grow frustrated, his stomach throbbing and his anger bubbling. "FINE." He snapped back, running from resus in a midst of angry breathing and pulsating pain.
He found himself in the toilets, gripping the sink until his knuckles turned white. Why wouldn't this pain shift? Did his colleagues think he was incompetent?
He splashed water on his face to cool himself down, but nothing worked. Nothing ever worked when he has a headache like this. He would usually lock himself in his room and pass out until the pain subsided. It's just that this time, he had no choice but to work through it. His brother already thought he was weak. He couldn't possibly go home now.
He felt himself grow dizzy again, suddenly leaning against the wall for support. His movement set the hand dryer off and he hastily jumped, groaning as it caused his pain to erupt. His stomach churned and he was suddenly fighting the black spots again.
He was going to be sick.
He hurled himself over a toilet and found himself violently throwing up. He didn't have the energy to flush it yet, nor did he have the energy to move. He closed his eyes, fighting the spinning sensation until he could no longer.
He would just lay here, just for a little longer he thought...
Blackness.
"Have you seen Ethan?" Charlie sighed, dumping the untreated files on the side of the station. "He's supposed to be on minors and none of his patients have been seen?" He casted his worried glare to Connie, as she began to sort through the cases.
"Dr Hardy should be with you, Dr Knight kicked him out of resus I assume." She said, scanning what she could of the ED in hopes to find the registrar. "Can you find him please Charlie, and when you do, bring him straight to me." She slung the files down and headed in Cal's direction. There was definitely something wrong with his brother.
"Ethan? Ethan?" Charlie called, opening and closing on call room doors as he wondered through the departments. "Ethan?" He sighed as he entered an empty staff room. Still no avail.
In one last attempt to find the young doctor he headed to the toilets, his hopes not high as he heard nothing but silence as he entered.
It was empty, apart from the last cubicle door that was jammed shut. He stood for a moment to see if the person was coming out, but grew concerned as a second turned into 5 minutes, and still there was no movement.
"Hello, are you alright in there?" He banged on the cubicle door a few times, before finally crouching to see the underneath.
He gasped.
Ethan was laid unconscious against the toilet bowl, his lack of movement worrying Charlie as he clocked his deep and raspy breaths.
"Okay Ethan it's all right, I'm going to get some help." He spoke quickly, rushing from the floor and out of the door.
"CAN I GET SOME HELP IN HERE, AND A TROLLEY, NOW!"
Charlie grimaced as he saw that Cal was the first doctor in sight.
"What have we got Charlie?" Cal breathed, pushing the trolley through the narrow doors.
"Okay don't panic, I'm sure he's going to be alright." Charlie stated, beginning to crouch down once again. "I just need you to help me get this door down." The old man had a look of terror on his face, his complexion worryingly white.
"Charlie what's wrong? Who's going to be alright?" Charlie didn't have time to answer as Cal quickly knelt down beside him and let out an inaudible whimper as he saw his baby brother.
"ETHAN? It's Ethan?" He breathed, suddenly using force to rip the door open. Charlie stood back as Cal persisted to kick and punch until the lock broke away. He had tears in his eyes but didn't dare let them fall. "It's all right buddy, I'm coming, Ethan can you hear me?" With no avail, he rushed to his side, eying the vomit in the toilet, and sighing at the sweaty sheen across his forehead.
"It's okay buddy, I've got you." Cal pulled his little brother into his embrace, and suddenly began to check his pulse. A sigh of relief left his lips when he realised he was breathing, and he was suddenly lifting him onto the trolley.
"Right Charlie go ahead, tell Mrs Beauchamp it's Ethan, and that I want her in resus with him immediately." He panicked, beginning to push the trolley forward. He had one hand on the rails and one firmly intertwined with Ethan's clammy fingers. He was sure it was nothing but a bug, but any sight of his brother in danger made his blood boil.
"Alright, tell me what's happened Dr Knight." Connie was suddenly by his side as crowds of colleagues began to form behind them. They pushed Ethan into resus, Charlie not far behind as he began to hook him up to the monitors.
"He Ko'd in the toilets, he's vomited and his blood pressure is low. His temperature is up from what I could feel. We need full bloods, a litre of saline, he could be dehydrated and-"
"Dr Knight, I understand this is hard but you need to step back, you can't treat him." Connie gave him a sympathetic smile, and began to hook Ethan up to some oxygen. "I think he's just fainted, hopefully we are just looking at the flu. Let's get some bloods done, and IV antibiotics into his system."
"Mrs Beauchamp, please let me stay with him, I need to be here, I was horrible to him earlier, I didn't realise he was in so much pain I-"
"C-Cal"
A groggy groan erupted from the bed and suddenly the conversation dimmed. Cal took one look at Connie before pushing past towards his brother's side.
"Hey buddy how you feeling?" Cal stood over Ethan and brushed back his hair in an attempt to give comfort. He sympathised as Ethan winced, and suddenly pulled himself into a sitting position, looking around and slumping in a confused and weakened position.
"What happened?" He whispered, for he felt too sick to talk properly.
"You were out sparko in the toilets Eth." Cal giggled, concern bubbling as his brother gripped his head again. "How bad is the migraine mate?"
"B-Bad. Ehh why is it so bad?" Ethan scrunched his eyes shut to get rid of the searing pain that was slowly beginning to return as he woke.
"Okay can we get Dr Hardy 10 milligrams of morphine please." Connie was back by Ethan's side and suddenly shone her torch in his eyes. "This looks like nothing more than a very bad migraine but I just want to get you checked over before we send you home." She smiled and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry yourself Ethan, your vitals are normal."
He nodded before letting his head lol to the side. He felt fuzzy. He felt that absence that he did in the morning.
"Ethan? You okay to walk to cubicles buddy?" Cal put a hand on his brother. "Eth?"
"D-Dont feel w-well." He slurred, struggling to keep his eyes open once again. He felt them flicker, he heard white noise around him, he saw too many dots in his vision.
"Ethan?" Connie frowned when he no longer responded, gulping as the junior doctor suddenly began to spasm. The railings of his bed were thrown about, and Cal quickly rushed back to his brother's side.
"Okay he's seizing, I want him back in resus NOW." Connie shouted, her hands on the junior doctor as he fitted.
This was much more than a headache.