Yep, you guessed it, another sick!Ethan and caring!Cal. I don't think there's anything wrong with me.

Hope you enjoy. X

Ethan stifled a sneeze into his tissue and rested his aching head in his hands.

He hadn't felt good all day yesterday but nevertheless he'd still dragged himself around the ED, the majority of his energy concentrated on trying to appear as normal as possible to patients and, well, colleagues, for that matter. Honestly, he knew he should've rested to stop himself from feeling as awful as he was now, but that apparently just wasn't something that Dr Hardy would consider. Though it seemed everyone was a genius with hindsight.

And, if he was for once going to be honest with himself, that statement was completely and utterly true and – not that he was going to share this information with anyone because that would just be entirely too wide of the mark for Ethan but – today was so much worse.

The doctor sighed, pushing himself up into a sitting position with very shaky arms. He held his arm to his clammy forehead, the other all but giving away beneath him, and tried to will away the dizziness with sheer mental power, but his woozy state gave the impression that it had complete supremacy over him.

Ethan sighed heavily, sniffing harshly and leaning his head against the back of the sofa, letting his eyes slip shut. He moaned lightly, blowing his nose to try and quell the tickly feeling. It seemed as though hauling himself off to work was going to be a struggle today. Ethan squinted at the clock through watery eyes, but it looked – or not so much, given his current lack of glasses – as if his eyesight was even further impaired in his present pitiable and sympathy warranting situation.

"Ethan?" The voice made him jump, and he hurried to hide his tissues in his back pocket, returning his glasses to his face from their previously abandoned position on the coffee table.

The younger cleared his throat... "Wait, what time s'it?" he asked frantically, reaching to get his phone so that he could discretely wipe his nose.

"It's fine, we've got 20 minutes," said Cal. "You alright?"

Ethan hummed in confirmation. "Just having a bit of a slow day," he lied, knowing Cal would take his word for it. He knew that Ethan had always been sleepy and groggy in the mornings, and that he was sensible enough to set his alarm early so that he could have some time to wake up properly and allow for his sluggishness.

Cal nodded, though he did notice that Ethan seemed slightly more dazed this morning and his eyes looked somewhat unfocused despite him having his glasses on. His eyes appeared to be slightly puffy, too, even though it was months away from spring. "If you're sure?"

"I'm sure," Ethan whispered, squinting as Cal opened the living room curtains and he was left with the sun blindingly glaring down on him through the window.

Cal made his way over to the kitchen. "You want a cuppa?" he asked.

Ethan went to respond, but his nose had just gotten all itchy again. His breath started hitching. Ethan covered his mouth with his hand, thankful that Cal had put some distance between them, and desperately tried to keep quiet for his own sake. The thought of Cal fussing over him only made his headache worse.

"Ethan?" Cal prompted, having not received a response from his brother. Mercifully, he didn't turn around and kept his attention on filling the kettle. Chest heaving inaudibly, Ethan's eyes fluttered shut and he was forced to bury his face into his elbow.

The sneeze was tiny, but Cal still managed to hear and looked up to see Ethan's back jolting forward marginally when the second escaped.

"Bless you…" he said sceptically, and Ethan's hopes dashed a mile. "You kept that quiet," he frowned, obviously picking up that Ethan was trying to hide something.

Ethan sniffed quietly, letting out a small sigh.

"You look flushed," Cal was in front of him like a mother hen before Ethan had the chance to open his mouth, let alone form a response.

"I'm fine," Ethan lied. He was wondering how he was going to stand up when he felt so dizzy.

He knew that Cal could tell he was feigning it, – Oh how Ethan wished he was pretending his illness – however he didn't push any further. He didn't even put a hand to Ethan's forehead; much to the younger's gratitude. "…If you say so," Cal still sounded unconvinced.

"Uh-hmmm," Ethan used the arm of the sofa to help him get to his feet when Cal wasn't looking. He shut himself in the bathroom, running the taps so Cal wouldn't hear him blowing his nose. He splashed cold water on his face, then proceeded to give his flushed cheeks and the dark circles under his eyes a reproachful look in the mirror.

Ethan cursed inwardly when he found the bathroom cupboard had an empty stock of both Ibuprofen and Paracetamol. There wouldn't be better way in the world of showing Cal he was 'fine' than taking a box of painkillers out of the kitchen cupboard right in front of his older brother.

Ethan sniffed again, running his fingers through his hair to ensure every blonde strand was orderly, and made the decision to abscond the bathroom before Cal started getting suspicious again.

"Tea's on the table, Eth," Cal said, retreating to his bedroom to get ready and closing the door behind him.

Perhaps he wasn't cursed.

Ethan could've leaped into the kitchen with celebratory relief if his head wasn't pounding and his knees didn't feel like they were ready to buckle beneath him. He sighed contently, immediately heading to the cupboard and pulling out the packet of Nurofen. Ethan gulped two pills down with his tea, glanced at the clock and realised he had enough time to experience the pleasure of being able to – in Cal's absence – rest his head on his arms for a few minutes.

After he'd delayed for as long as possible, Ethan armed himself with a bottle of water, tissues, painkillers, lozenges, decongestants and some Echinacea (which usually worked wonders with his allergies) and managed to stuff everything into his bag before Cal emerged from his room.

"Ready, Nibbles?" Cal asked, throwing his coat over his shoulders.

Ethan nodded, sniffing as quietly as he could and grabbing his phone and wallet from the table. His eyes momentarily fell on his keys, hesitating for a second. "You can drive," Ethan told his brother.

"Okay," Cal nodded, already turning his own keys in the front door. He gave Ethan a final glance, handed the younger his coat and rested his hand on Ethan's shoulder as he locked the door behind them both. "You're a bit wobbly," Cal commented.

Ethan sighed, "I'm fine, Caleb, just a little tired," he lied.

Cal once again didn't push, but kept his hand on his brother's shoulder as they made their way down the stairs. Ethan surprisingly found himself not trying to shrug him off.

As soon as he breathed in the cold morning air outside Ethan's nose began to run. He groaned internally, hiding this from Cal was going to be a lot more difficult than he'd previously imagined. As discretely as he could, Ethan pulled one of his tissues out of his back pocket and tucked it up his sleeve, turning away from Cal so that he was able to wipe his nose as quickly as possible. The younger sniffed loudly once Cal had let go of him to get into the car and – masked by all the chirping birds and passing cars – Cal didn't seem to hear.

Once Ethan was in the car, he immediately rested his throbbing head against the cold surface of the window and closed his eyes. He flinched when Cal touched his shoulder, but the older didn't comment and Ethan hoped that he'd believed him when he'd said he was just tired. Ethan wrapped his arms protectively around his stomach, hoping Cal wouldn't pick up on this. His abdomen had begun to drum its faint protests along with the rest of his aching body, and Ethan longed for the time when he could take some more painkillers.

Eventually he heard Cal start the engine and reverse out of the parking space, and Ethan could only be glad that it seemed as though Cal's attention had shifted from observing his brother.

Ethan's eyes shot open at the blaring of ambulance sirens, and he just about managed to lift his head from the window, only to be met with Cal's concerned gaze burning straight into him. He blearily looked around, realising that they were in the hospital car park.

It only took three or so minutes to drive to the hospital, so Ethan was honestly surprised that he'd managed to fall asleep, no matter how exhausted he was feeling.

"Ethan, we've still got," Cal checked his watch, "…five minutes. If you need to go home, now's the time to decide, alright?" he said softly, looking into Ethan's eyes again.

"'S fine," Ethan said sadly, shaking his head as he recognised Cal's new approach. "I'll be OK," he sniffed lightly, brushing the condensation from the glass off of his forehead. Ethan could feel another sneeze coming. Great, that was the last thing that was going to benefit his side.

The two brothers unbuckled their seatbelts and grabbed their bags, heading out of the warm safety of the car.

"So, you're definitely finishing at the same time as me, right?" Cal asked as he exited the vehicle.

Ethan scrubbed harshly at his nose, dizzily lurching around the side of the car as his eyelids fluttered. "Yes, I finish at s-" he paused as a gasping breath escaped his lips, then tried to carry on talking in hope that if he just ignored the sneeze it would go away. He was interrupted mid-sentence, though, when the sneeze in combination with him still speaking made the weirdest noise.

Ethan felt his cheeks go red when Cal suddenly stopped where he was. "Eth! What the heck was that?" he exclaimed, amusement seeping into his expression.

"I don't know, I kind of tripped and…" Ethan was forced to stop and grab a tissue as a further two sneezes burst out of him. He sniffed, looking up at Cal and realising his cover story hadn't made much sense anyway.

"You're ill, aren't you?" Cal concluded.

Ethan looked away to stop Cal's blue eyes piercing through him again. For a moment, he considered letting his guard down, but that would only create a fuss and mean the E.D were left a doctor down at such short notice, as Cal would no doubt drive him home the second he admitted it. "No," he laughed. "Your car's just really dusty, that's all."

"You were sneezing at home too," Cal pointed out.

Ethan struggled to think of a response. "I-I… I haven't dusted for a while, that's all. You know I don't agree with dust very well," he said, quickly wiping his nose on his tissue. He looked up at Cal pleadingly.

The older shot up his hands in surrender. "Fine, fine, it's just the dust then. Let's go," he said, putting his hand on Ethan's back to encourage him forwards. He heard Ethan sniff again and shook his head. However, he decided to respect his brother's wishes and not interfere again, just this once. That was at least true until a few hours had passed and Ethan would inevitably be on the point of collapse, but Cal decided to let the day play out how Ethan wanted it to for now.

"What?" the younger asked when he caught Cal watching him as they neared the building.

"Just… come and find me if there's any more dust, okay?" Cal said seriously, though he couldn't help but let a small smile spread across his face.

Ethan huffed, "I'm fine, Cal."

It was possibly the biggest lie he'd ever told.