Ethan woke with a start, his chest tight and his head fuzzy. He had just had a nightmare- an awful, awful nightmare, because it wasn't like he was already physically pained enough, he said in his head... Short pants of breath escaped from his tired lungs as he tried his best to calm down, knowing that when he was congested and panicking, as he was now, his asthma could start to flare up- and he didn't need to bother Cal anymore than he already had.

Closing his eyes and laying back, he lifted his heavy arms and stroked back his hair, taking deep breaths; 'in and out, in and out...' He thought, in a futile attempt to quell the tickly sensation that scratched at his throat, and to ignore the fact that the small amount of breathing he was managing to do, what with his windpipe on the verge of swelling shut, came with a concerning wheezing sound that wasn't only uncomfortable to experience, but rather noisy too... He was in danger of waking Cal.

Swallowing, Ethan's eyes flickered to the sleeping form of his brother: he was laying on his side, facing towards him, looking as if he had stayed up until some ridiculous hour watching over Ethan to make sure he was okay... He was touched by the thought, but felt slightly guilty to be such a burden when he was ill- Cal had a shift starting at 7:30, he needed all the rest he could get.

Groaning slightly, followed by a soft, raspy cough, Ethan looked over to Cal's bedside table, seeing the familiar blue plastic cover of his inhaler. Cal had been sneaky ('caring' or 'thoughtful' were the correct words, actually, but not that that occurred to Ethan when he realised he was now forced to wake up his brother to get to his puffer.) but by now, Ethan was getting desperate. He may be sick, but he was still a doctor, and he knew that if he didn't get to his inhaler within the next five seconds he would go into a full-on asthma attack.

Unable to hold it back anymore, Ethan sat up suddenly, cough after chesty cough resonating from his lungs as he shook Cal's shoulder, his eyes brimming with tears.

Cal woke after a particularly forcible shake of the shoulder, grumbling groggily shuffling around and looking up to Ethan, hearing the painful-sounding coughing that was ripping from his chest. Almost immediately, Cal scrambled to sit up, switching on his lamp and grabbing Ethan's inhaler, shuffling over to his younger brother and helping him to administer the medicine, soothingly rubbing his back and whispering quiet words of reassurance.

"M' sorry..." Ethan said in between staggered breaths. Cal shushed him and placed the inhaler back between his lips, giving him another dose.

"Don't be daft, Nibbles, it's fine to wake me when you need me." He said, still rubbing large circles into his back in an attempt to relieve some of the tightness in his chest.

Ethan sighed, now totally exhausted from all of the effort he had gone to in order to try and remain relatively silent. Cal placed his inhaler onto Ethan's bedside table this time, pulling him closer and allowing him to rest his head on his shoulder.

"What caused it?" Cal asked, subconsciously winding strands of Ethan's hair around his fingers.

Ethan blushed, a bit embarrassed to tell Cal that he was still having nightmares... "Oh, I don't know, probably because I'm all bunged up like this..." He said, trying to keep expressionless so Cal wouldn't be able to weasel any further information out of him.

Cal simply raised an eyebrow, nodding softly. "Okay... You sure?" He asked.

"Mm-hm."

"It wasn't anything else?"

"No."

"Because..." Cal sighed softly. "Not to sound like a creeper, but I can always hear you up at crazy hours of the night, shuffling around your room, or going to the kitchen to make tea, just anything you can do to avoid having to go back to sleep, it seems..." Cal suggested, although he knew full well why it was that Ethan stayed up so late; he had drawn that conclusion months ago.

Ethan flushed, unsure of how to respond, so he simply stayed silent.

"Eth, you can tell me if something is bothering you..." Cal said softly, still stroking his hair.

Ethan sighed and buried his head into Cal's shoulder, bracing himself. "I, um, I had a bit of a bad dream, that's all... " he mumbled, feeling his cheeks turn rosy red.

"You're still having nightmares?" Cal asked, surprised.

"I know, it's pathetic..." Ethan said quietly, tears stinging his eyes. "I just... I can't get it out of my head, Cal, it's all crystal clear as it was the day it happened..."

"No, no, no, Nibbles..." Cal said, sitting up a little bit. "It is not pathetic to still be upset, you have every right to be. It was an extremely traumatic event, physically and mentally; if I'm honest, I'm still not over it myself," he wavered slightly. "B-but, that's okay, we'll be fine, and if we're not, we'll manage it together. Yeah?" He said, squeezing Ethan's hand.

Ethan weakly squeezed his back, offering him a small smile. "Thank you..."

"No problem," Cal smiled and shuffled back down. "But you need to come to me, or someone else, when you're upset. Please, Eth, don't do this alone..."

Nodding, Ethan closed his eyes, his head still spinning from the previous events... All of the panicking and nightmares and difficulty breathing had left him extra-bunged up; his eyes were starting to get puffy underneath, his cheeks still pale, but rosy red with fever, and he cringed at the constant, dull ache that lingered all around his body. His ears, his head, his arms, his legs, his back, all of them felt sore, and painful, and heavy.

Cal smiled sadly and wrapped an arm around his brother, carefully pulling him closer. "I think I'd best take the day off tomorrow and look after you..." He said.

"No, no, I don't want to be a nuisance..." Ethan began to protest but was cut off by Cal.

"No excuses, little brother, I'm staying home and taking care of you, and you cannot stop me." Cal said, chuckling softly as he saw Ethan pull a pouty face, sighing and grumbling as he wriggled over onto his side and cuddled into Cal more.

Cal smirked, wrapping his arm around his back and running his fingers lightly against Ethan's sides, tapping them in a ripple-like motion. Ethan flinched at first, a few quiet giggles passing his lips, but he eventually relaxed into it.

"Someone's feeling affectionate, hm?" Cal teased. Ethan was too tired and sick to care, but nonetheless piped up with an apathetic grunt, still cuddled into Cal's chest as he finally found himself growing sleepy.

"There we go..." Cal said quietly, stroking Ethan's back.

"I remember..." Ethan began, cut off by sneeze. "Sorry, I remember when we were little and both ill... And mum, she would..."

"Put us both in her bed..." Cal said, smiling fondly.

"With Back To The Future on the telly..."

"And warm tea and honey..."

Ethan closed his eyes, smiling as nostalgia overtook him. Cal, happy that his brother finally looked peaceful, continued.

"And you would always sit there quietly like a good boy, but I'd whine and complain about how I felt like I was dying..." Cal recalled, smiling at Ethan's subdued laughter.

"Subsequently, you always got more attention than me..." Ethan said, sniffling.

"She still looked after you though, you were her baby." Cal teased.

"Shush..." Ethan said, smiling.

"You were, you used to be such a little mummy's boy, Nibbles; I can remember it all!" Cal said, chuckling as he saw his younger brother blush and cover his ears.

"Save it for another day, Caleb." Ethan said, still smiling as he cuddled into Cal again.

"Fine, I'll tell you tomorrow..." Cal said, smirking as he ran his fingers through Ethan's hair, holding him close as he drifted to sleep again, Cal following soon after.

Lots and lots of sweet brotherly cuteness in this one. Just what we all need after last nights episode, eh? (30x20) Also... It's my birthday today! I'm now 15! Woooo!

Also, fun fact, I remember when I first started watching Casualty, I was always too young to stay up so late (I got sleepy lol) so I would watch it on iPlayer in bed on the following Sunday morning, and just for old times sake, that's what I did today (well, I watched it on saturday too, but why not again? haha)

Please r&r and f&f, you guys are all so lovely, I love reading through all of your reviews on each new oneshot or chapter I upload, you're all such cutie pies :'3

Byeeee!