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"C-Cal?" Ethan whimpered, slowly hitting his brother's hand. His body ached, his head still pounded. "Cal w-what happened?" He blinked the fuzziness away and sat himself up, absently eying the cubicle he now laid in.
Cal shook himself awake and stood over his brother's bed, a warm smile playing on his lips.
"You had a seizure Ethan." He muttered, trying his best to stay calm. "It was only brief but you went into full tonic clonic bro." He rested his hand on Ethan's shoulder and gave a half smile as his little brother's face grew white.
"I had a what? Cal, I'm not epileptic." Ethan panicked, gingerly pulling himself up from a laying position. "I don't understand, the headache, it was just another migraine, not a-"
"Calm down, they're keeping you in to do some more tests. I'm sure it's nothing okay? Don't go all Ethan on me in front of all these pretty nurses hey?" He felt his grip become stronger on his brother as his protectiveness prevailed .
"You and I both know that isn't true. You don't just have a seizure every now and again, not without a cause." Ethan snapped, his brain was working in overdrive. What if it happened again?
"I might have epilepsy Cal, what do I do if I have epilepsy?" He was panicking, really fretting. He knew it wasn't life threatening but how would he drive? what if he fitted whilst doing a procedure? It was too much to take in.
"We will deal with it okay?" Cal shook his head and sat back down beside his brother. "Stop panicking before you even have any results. It could be nothing more than a reaction to a virus or painkillers." He watched his brother nod slightly before picking his glasses up from the side table.
"Whilst you were out of it Mrs Beauchamp took you into CT, just to be on the safe side." Cal explained. "She didn't seem too concerned, so that's good news hey?"
"Y-yeah." Ethan whispered, still tired, a little taken back by the situation. His head was still banging and he suddenly grasped his temple.
"Do you still have a headache?" Cal intersected, looking at the pain meds his brother had been given. "You're on morphine for gods sake, for a migraine." He rolled his eyes as Ethan looked up to him angrily.
"I'm fine Cal, I always have a headache... Can you just leave it please." Ethan whimpered slightly, turning his head to the side in a bid to make himself more comfortable. "Aren't you on shift or something?"
"Alright, alright." Cal giggled, his hands rising in front of his face as he backed away. "I was just looking out for my little brother, like family should do, don't get your knickers in a twist Nibbles."
"I'm sorry Its just-"
"Don't worry. I'm going." Cal smirked, squeezing his brother's shoulder as he stood up. "Text me when they have your results okay?" He smiled sympathetically this time, shuffling back as a one of his previous conquests walked through.
"Alicia." Ethan mumbled, quickly positioning his glasses as he painfully sat up. She smiled as she checked his monitors and suddenly Cal was smirking.
"Have fun Nibbles." He winked, closing the curtain as he left.
"So, a seizure, that's pretty nasty." Alicia tried to refrain from making conversation, she was finding the situation awkward. She liked Ethan a lot, but she wasn't sure if it was still reciprocated, especially after an event like this. "You drew the short straw and got me as your doctor." She smiled, slowly checking his vitals.
"That's not true, you're a very good doctor, you're gentle." Ethan tried hard not to become flushed in the presence of his crush, and continued to drabble on about nothing. "I think you're smart, kind and very important to this department and-"
"Ethan this isn't quote 'The Help' day, but thank you." She giggled, taking a seat beside his bed. "All I care about right now is how you're feeling." She sighed, taking a look at the notes on the railings. "You gave us all a shock 'Nibbles'"
"That bloody name." He found it hard to chuckle with the pain, but he inaudibly laughed, shaking his head. "I'm fine Alicia, honestly. Do you know if my tests are back so I can get out of this bed? I feel like something of an idiot right now."
"I'll go and check with Mrs Beauchamp." She replied, slowly brushing her hand over his. "You're not an idiot Ethan, a seizure isn't something we take lightly, you of all people know that."
"I know." He gulped, anxiously playing with his fingers. "Thank you, for being so nice to me, you're one up on Cal." He laughed nervously, smiling as she began to walk away.
"That's what I like to hear Dr Hardy!" She giggled, shaking her head with a smirk as she left to find his results.
She just prayed they would be normal.
"Dr Knight, can you come with me please." Connie caught Cal's arm as he finished with his patient.
"Mrs Beauchamp, I'm still on shift for another hour, is there something wrong?" He was tentative as he was dragged towards his brother's cubicle, not a word said from his clinical lead as she walked slowly, shaky hands gripping a file. "Connie?"
"Well now you're off shift. You need to be with your brother Caleb." Connie muttered, her eyes firmly on the floor as Cal scrambled behind her.
"Okay you're scaring me Mrs Beauchamp, is he okay?" He breathed, eyeing the way she clasped his brother's results.
He gulped.
"Connie, tell me right now." He stopped her in her tracks and stood intimidatingly over her demeanour. "He's my brother, I know what he can take, and if it's bad I need to prepare him."
"Cal I think we should talk to Ethan first." She whispered, her voice soft and sympathetic, her eyes on Alicia as she ran up to the pair.
"Mrs Beauchamp, Ethan is asking about his results." She puffed, leaning against the side of the desk. "Do you want me to go and get them from CT?" She smiled, her voice evident that she was oblivious to what was about to happen.
"No, no I'll handle this Dr Munroe." She smiled, a hand on Cal's back as she pushed him forwards. "I need you to take over for Dr knight on minors." She instructed as the junior doctor skipped away.
If only she knew.
"Come on Cal, let's go and talk to your brother." She sighed, walking towards the side room that he had been moved to.
"Tell me one thing." Cal gulped, fiddling nervously with his fingers as they stood outside the room. He could see his brother through the glass, staring into the air, and his heart broke when he thought about the news Connie was withholding.
"Is it bad?"
"Very bad." Connie gulped, pushing the door forward.
"Finally, some form of human interaction." Ethan chuckled as he played with his bed buttons. "Can you take me home Cal, I just need to sleep this migraine off." He rolled his eyes jokingly, looking up at his brother and their clinical lead before suddenly frowning.
Why was no one joking? Surely his brother would have cracked a one liner by now?
"Cal?" He mumbled, suddenly sitting in an upright position, compared to the comfy slouch from just a minute ago. "Cal w-what's going on?" He stuttered as he watched his big brother walk to the side of his bed, and protectively clasp his hand.
"Ethan your CT came back a few minutes ago and I've got your results right here." Connie smiled sympathetically before taking a seat at the other side of the bed. "It's not all good I'm afraid." She swallowed the lump in her throat as she saw the colour begin to drain from both Ethan and Cal's faces.
Ethan quickly turned to Cal, his pleading eyes filling with tears as he looked at his big brother for support. Cal was motionless, eyes fixed on the files Connie was reading through. Why wasn't she speaking?
"You told me it was nothing! That she wasn't worried!?" Ethan snapped, his breathing rapid as he clung angrily onto the bed frame.
He was terrified.
"What is it Connie." Cal whispered, nervously biting his lip. "We can take it can't we Ethan?" He smiled through the urge to cry as he saw his little brother nod, looking intently at their bosses broken face.
"We found a large mass on your temporal lobe Ethan, that's what caused you to have the fit, and is most likely what is causing the migraines." She sighed as the two boys remained silent, Ethan motionless and an angry glare crossing Cal's face.
"We also saw several other small masses around the brain which look as if they have spread." She paused to compose herself. This was one of her finest doctors, a young boy full of hopes and dreams, and she was crushing them, one by one.
"W-What are y-you saying Mrs Beauchamp." Cal butted in, walking over in denial and snatching the results from her hand.
"We can't be sure until we get a biopsy, but from what I can see, this looks like a malignant brain tumour." She felt like she held her breath for too long, suddenly being pulled back into reality as Ethan started to cry.
"Y-You're s-saying I h-have c-cancer" He whimpered, falling heavily into his brother's protective embrace as he sobbed. "Is t-that w-what y-you're saying?" He cried his hand covering his mouth in utter shock, his limbs shaking as Cal pulled him tighter.
"Ethan I can't be sure yet, you know the protocol I can't just-"
"JUST SAY IT!" He wailed, batting against his brother's chest. His dreams of becoming a consultant, a husband, a father, were all of a sudden fading away. He felt numb, he felt like dying. In that second he had never felt pain like it, a pain that had immobilised him, physically taken his breath away.
This couldn't be happening.
"You have cancer Ethan."