Now I realise that this may sound unheard of, but I've been struggling for inspiration lately, even though the recent episodes have been amazing! So I've decided to hurt Ethan just a little more (no surprise there then) but I'm writing it so that the brothers are still supportive of each other at the end (you all know how I feel about the brothers being apart).

As I'm sure you know, I don't own anyone that you recognise - if I did, the spoiler that I read for this weeks episode just wouldn't be happening! Enjoy.

My Brother's Keeper

Dr Ethan Hardy was unable to move. He was frozen to the spot. Had he heard right? He was sure his brother had just said that the woman currently sat on the bed in front of him, who had been treated for a nasty burn, who was so obviously suffering from Huntingtons disease, was their mother! Glancing over to see said brother still holding onto one of her hands with tears cascading down his cheeks, made Ethan realise that he had indeed heard correctly.

"Ethan..." Cal croaked out, seeing his little brother rooted to the spot. He was very wary of the younger man when he saw him like this. He looked towards their mother, who hung her head, not wanting to look at either of them in that moment.

"What...do...what do you mean?" Ethan finally managed to grind out.

"We're adopted, Emilie here is our mother," Cal told him, afraid of what the younger doctor may do next - although what he did do caught him by surprise. Ethan looked to Cal then to Emilie, who was just lifting her head to look at him. When their eyes met, Ethan yanked the curtain open and left the cubicle, leaving the remaining two occupants bewildered.

"I should go to him," Cal thought out loud, "I should've told him sooner. I wish I'd been brave enough..."

Emilie patted his arm, "You thought you were doing the right thing..." she stammered out.

"That's my trouble. I think I'm doing the right thing, but then end up doing it the wrong way! He'll never forgive me for this, I just know it!" More tears fell down his cheeks at that thought - just knowing that their relationship, which had been in a really good place prior to this revelation, would never be the same again.

He saw a tear track down Emilie's face, which he gently wiped away with a tissue, "Please don't be sad - this is not your fault," he told her kindly, "I'll see if I can talk to him. I may have to send Charlie to finish off here, but I will see you soon...if you would like to," he finished with a small smile.

Emilie's eyes filled with hope, "I would love that," she told him honestly.

He couldn't bring himself to kiss her just yet, so he settled for giving her arm a gentle, affectionate pat, then left her behind to find his brother.

As he walked through the ED, Charlie caught his eye, so he changed direction, "I take it he knows," the older nurse commented.

Cal sighed, "Yes - not in the way I wanted to tell him, but I suppose that wasn't working out for me anyway," he looked around him, "Don't suppose you've seen him?"

Charlie couldn't help but smile a little, "Hurricane Ethan blew himself into the staff room no more than a couple of minutes ago."

Cal offered his own tight smile as he nodded his head and cautiously made his way across the corridor. He quietly opened the door to an obviously irrate little brother. He stood silently trying to guage the perfect opportunity to begin talking, but none seemed to present itself. Suddenly, Ethan stopped dead and spun round to face him, "How long have you known?" he growled.

Cal stepped into the room, "Since the paternity test...I noticed that my blood group was O and seeing as Matilda's was AB then I realised that she couldn't be my mum..."

Ethan ran a hand through his hair, "And you didn't think to tell me?"

"I wanted to get answers to questions that I knew you'd have before I told you, then there never seemed to be an appropriate time with everything that happened..." It sounded lame, even to him but at the time, it seemed to make sense. He watched as his brother drew in deep breaths to try to calm himself down, but it didn't seem to be working. He took a step closer, "Ethan - you need to calm your breathing..."

"Don't tell me what I need to do!" He snarled back at him.

Cal took a deep breath of his own, to try to calm his own nerves, "I know you may not believe me, but I was trying to protect you from all this."

"You were trying to protect me?" Ethan fired back, "You weren't trying to protect me! It was all about you Cal - it's alwa...always...bout...y..." Ethan stuttered as he launched himself at his brother, landing a punch to his stomach, which knocked some of the breath out of him. Cal pushed him back as he had no desire to hurt him, "Jus...go...lea...me...lone," the younger man mumbled.

As he turned back round to face the older man, Cal felt a vice like grip take hold in his stomach. He watched in undiluted horror as his little brother began to list to one side - almost as if he was drunk. It would have made him laugh had it not been for the fact that Ethan was trying to lift his left arm, probably to punch him again, but he couldn't seem to lift it. He could also hear incoherant mumblings coming from his brother's mouth, which he noticed was now starting to droop to one side. He dashed to the door and saw Max not far away, "Max, get me a trolley - now!"

The young porter recognised the urgency in his friends demand and shot off to find a trolley.

Meanwhile the young doctor ran to his brother's side as the younger sibling began to crumple to the floor. Cal noticed the petrified expression in Ethan's eyes, "C...Cal...some...somethin...ss...wron..." he stumbled over his words.

Cal just held onto him as tightly as he dared, "Try to stay calm little brother," he told him gently, as Max and Rita appeared through the door.

"Help me get him on the there," he asked them. Without question, they helped him lay the younger man onto the trolley, then took off at high speed towards Resus. As they quickly made their way through the ED, Lily caught sight of them as she was leaving after her shift. She jogged quickly to their side, "What's going on?" she demanded as she became aware of Cal's tortured face, "It's Ethan," he told her, "It looks like he's having a stroke."

First chapter done. I hope it's ok. Apparently, there is a type of stroke that can be brought on by stress, which causes blood pressure to rise, which in turn causes blood vessels to burst with bleeding around the brain.

If I'm honest, I haven't got any more written just at the moment so updates may be few and far between, but I will do my best.