The rain started to fell as the tears ran down his cheeks. At this moment his emotions were all over the place. His mum, his real mum had just died and he has found out that he has the gene. He had told a lie. A lie to protect his mum for feeling guilty. He didn't want her to die knowing that she had passed down the gene to one of her sons. So for the sake of protecting her, Ethan had lied. But know their mum was no longer with them he could no longer hide the truth. Slowly reopening the piece of paper that seemed like a death warrant to him he turned back around to face his brother. Cal's heart sank as Ethan turned to face him. There was something in his eyes that told the older brother something was wrong.
"What?" Cal asked his brother.
Ethan was too speechless to speak. He couldn't form the words to tell Cal the news. Instead he handed the paper over to him. Cal shakily grabbed it from Ethan's hand and scanned the letters. It was there in black ink. The letters clearly telling him Ethan had inherited the disease. Cal shook his head a couple of times just to make sure he was reading it correctly. He too was silent and then realised what Ethan had done for their mum. Cal looked up with tears falling down his cheeks and he caught the back of Ethan as he walked away from him. Cal wanted to go after him, to call out, to say he wasn't alone but he couldn't. He couldn't move. He just let his brother walk away from. Cal knew it probably wasn't a good idea to let Ethan go off on his own after finding out but what could he do? He was powerless. He felt useless.
Minutes later an ambulance arrived. Iain and Jez jumped out and saw the somber scene in front of them. Iain and Jez ran over to Cal who still held Emilie's lifeless body in his arms.
"I'm so sorry, mate." Iain whispered.
The three of them loaded Emilie's body into the back of the other ambulance.
"You guys go ahead." Cal said. "I need to find Ethan."
The two paramedics nodded and got back into the ambulance. As Cal watched the ambulance drive off he wondered where his brother could have gone. He looked around the beach and soon spotted a figure down by the sea just standing as the waves crashed in. Ethan was lost in his own thoughts when he felt an arm around his shoulders.
"You okay?" Cal asked. "Sorry stupid question."
"I've got it. I've got the gene, Cal." Ethan choked out. "What am I going to do?"
"You are not going to do anything. Because you are not going to face this on your own. I'm going to be here to support you every step of the way. We are going to go through this together. You won't be on your own, Nibbles." Cal told him.
"What you did back there was one of the most selfless acts I've ever seen." Cal said as the two of them headed back to the hijacked ambulance.
"Well, I couldn't let mum die blaming herself." Ethan replied.
Cal smiled at his brother as they got into the ambulance and drove off back to the hospital. Entering through the doors they were met by Connie and Charlie. When they saw them both Cal and Ethan would have expected Connie to give them a lecture about how irresponsible they had been by hijacking the ambulance but, the expressions on her face as well as Charlie's told them they must know about what had just happened at the beach.
"Would you two please come into my office?" Connie asked.
Cal and Ethan followed behind Charlie as they entered Connie's office.
"We are so sorry to hear what has happened." Connie began. "You have our support and you may take however long you need to grieve for your loss."
"Thank you, Connie." Cal responded.
Connie was about to carry on the conversation when Ethan suddenly turned around and exited the room. Both Charlie and Connie looked at each other confused while Cal sadly watch Ethan walk into the staffroom.
"Is there anything else you would like to tell us?" Connie asked after witnessing Ethan's sudden exit.
"We um opened our results from the genetics lab." Cal said. "And um Ethan's got the disease."
Cal said the last bit so quietly Connie and Charlie both thought they had misheard what he had said. But one look at Cal told them they had indeed heard correctly.
"Oh, Cal…." Charlie commented.
Cal couldn't respond. He didn't know what to say. Sensing this wasn't a good time to mention about the ambulance incident Connie gave Cal permission to leave the office. Nodding slightly Cal left and went in the direction of the staff room where he found Ethan on the sofa still lost in his own thoughts. Cal approached his brother and sat down beside him. He was taken back when Ethan collapsed into him and all his emotions he had been holding in came pouring out. Cal's heart broke as he saw his brother so upset. He sneaked an arm around his shoulder and brought him into an embrace.
"It's okay, Eth. I'm here. I'm here." Cal repeated while he rubbed Ethan's back.
"I can't deal with this." Ethan sobbed. "I can't do this."
"You don't have to do this." Cal said. "Remember what I said."
"I don't have to go through this alone."
"Exactly. You don't and you won't. I'll be here. I promise. We'll go through this together." Cal told him. "You are not alone."
Ethan pulled away from the embrace and looked at Cal. He saw Cal's own eyes shining with tears and knew Cal meant every word he said. He would not have to go through this on his own. Ethan knew he would always have his brother's support and they would face the unknown together.
"Thank you." Ethan smiled at Cal.
"Hey, I'm your brother. That's what brothers are for." Cal smiled in return.
Ethan returned the hug and felt Cal wrap his arms around his waist.
"I'll always be here for you, Eth." Cal whispered into his brother's ear.