Prompt: Ethan is poorly in hospital and in need of his brother, Cal. Lots of comfort ensues.

Ethan- 7

Cal- 10

"Is he done yet?"

"Mum?"

"Muuuuum?"

The ten-year old sighed and buried his face into his arms. He sat cross-legged at a coffee table on the floor. A scary nurse had given him some colouring sheets and crayons whilst he waited for his brother to come out of the theatre, but Caleb was too worried about Ethan to colour in pictures of powerrangers and footballs.

He'd been trapped in this room for almost an hour now and he was growing bored quickly. Flopping back onto the floor he looked up at the ceiling. The pale grey tiles seemed symbolic for the feeling of dread and despair stirring in his stomach as he wondered what was taking the doctors so long...

Groaning quietly, he rolled onto his stomach and looked around the room in an attempt to find something interesting. He was faced with the deep teal walls, an unfittingly cheery colour for the family waiting room. In the corner stood a coffee machine, hissing and steaming as the beverages were dispensed from the shiny body of the machine.

Creased faux leather couches and armchairs were placed around the room, the majority of which were taken up by grown-ups, all reading the selection of boring tabloids and newspapers scattered around. There were a few on the table that Caleb was sat at, but his mother had warned him not to look at them. He couldn't see why he wasn't allowed to, one of them had a large picture of a bunny with a bow tie on the front, which seemed pretty harmless, but he obeyed his mother and left it.

His eyes flickered over to the door, where the colourful scrubs and white shoes of passing doctors and nurses were visible. Even though the door was closed, it couldn't mask the constant bleeping of the strange machines in nearby wards, or the whines of children as they made their way to said wards.

But the thing that made Caleb's stomach tie itself in knots was the fact that they placed the waiting room next to the meeting room for parents with very sick children. Caleb bit his lip as he heard the muffled sobs of parents leaving the room, covering his ears to avoid hearing the bad news, though he could easily guess what it was.

Even though he knew Ethan was fine and that he was only in their for an appendectomy, he couldn't help but worry that something could have gone wrong in the operation theatre. His chest grew tight as he thought about life without his baby brother.

A tiny whimper escaped his lips, blinking aggressively to avoid tears spilling over, but he didn't get away with it without his mother noticing.

"Caleb? Sweetheart what's wrong?" She asked, putting down her magazine and opening her arms. Caleb sniffled and shuffled over to her, climbing into her lap. She rubbed his back soothingly, just like she did whenever he or Ethan was sick, only causing more tears to stream down his flushed cheeks as he was reminded of Ethan.

"I-I don't want Ethan to d-d-die, Mum..." He choked, burying his face into her chest as he cried silently.

"Oh, Caleb, come here you silly thing," She said, holding him close and continuing to rub his back, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Ethan is just fine, he'll be out of the surgery room in ten minutes and he certainly isn't going to die. It's a very simple procedure and the doctors have done it a million times before."

"B-but what if something d-does go wrong?" Caleb whimpered, sniffling.

"He'll be fine, darling, I promise," She whispered, gently rocking him back and forth.

"C'mon, be a brave boy, for him?" She said, smiling and holding him closer, gently running her thumbs over the backs of his hands.

Cal sniffled and rested his head against his Mother's chest, nodding softly. "Okay..." He said quietly.

"Don't be such a worry-guts." His mum said, smiling and tickling his stomach. Cal giggled and batted her hand away, cuddling into her arm as she picked her magazine back up.

"Ethan Hardy's parents?" Came a voice from across the room. Cal perked up and smiled as he jumped down from his mother's lap, the pair making their way over to the door.

"How is he?" Their mother asked.

"He's not woken up yet, but he will have soon. Just a warning, he'll still quite woozy from the anesthetic, but he'll be okay," The doctor replied, looking down to see Caleb. "Oh, I'm sorry sweetheart, but we can only allow parents in at first. You'll have to wait with a nurse I'm afraid…"

Caleb's heart sank and tears brewed in his eyes as the doctor called a passing nurse to come and watch over him.

"I'll be back soon, Cal." His mother said, pressing a kiss to his forehead. Cal sniffled and nodded, watching his Mother walk off with the doctor.

"I'm sure your brother will be fine, darling." Said the nurse, smiling at him sweetly. "Now, if you want to, you can come with me and I'll find something nice for us to do whilst we wait for your brother to be moved into a ward. How does that sound?"

Cal rubbed his eyes and nodded again. The nurse smiled sadly.

"Try not to worry about him. I've already seen to him and he's going to be just fine." She said, taking Cal's hand. "How do you fancy a game of chess?"

A small smile spread across Cal's face. "Me and Ethan play chess all the time."

"Great! C'mon." She said, taking him to her office.

"Nurse?" came a quiet voice from the door.

Cal and the Nurse giggled and turned around from their game, seeing the Doctor who had escorted Cal's Mother to the recovery room before.

"Yes, Doctor?" The Nurse replied.

"The patient Ethan Hardy won't settle down. He says he wants to see his brother. I know we typically only allow one member of family at a time but he really is quite upset, so-,"

"Ethan! I want to see Ethan!" Cal squealed, jumping up from his seat. The Nurse smiled and took his hand again, both following the Doctor.

She pushed open a door that led into a large room. The walls were painted a clean, off-white colour, with tiles of a similar hue paving the floor. There were roughly twelve beds, some occupied by children, surrounded by their families as they woke up. There was one at the end with the curtains drawn; which Caleb presumed was Ethan's.

"He's got the best view in the house, lucky duck" The Doctor joked light-heartedly, referring to the large window overlooking the hospital gardens. She led them to the curtained cubicle and gently pulling the fabric away to reveal the bed.

A rosy-cheeked Ethan lay in the hospital bed, his glasses balanced on his nose. He looked tired, but better than he was before when he was pale and sickly. There was an oxygen mask resting on his chest, blowing cool air into his face to help him wake up. Little strands of his golden blond hair stuck up, caught in the gentle airflow of the mask in front of him. Tear marks were streaking down his cheeks as his whimpered softly, his breathing staggered. Their mother was sat by his side, stroking his hair in an attempt to calm him down.

"Hello Ethan, how do you feel?" The doctor asked.

Ethan blinked and looked around, sniffling. "Wh-where's Cal? I want my brother..." He said tearfully.

Caleb gave him a soft smile before walking up to the side of his bed and stroking his forehead with the back of his finger.

"Hey, Nibbles..." He said, smiling even more.

The nickname must've triggered something, because Ethan's eyes lit up and he tried to move towards Cal, lifting his hands and reaching out for him, wincing slightly as he felt a sharp pain where the stitches in his abdomen were.

"Be careful," Cal said, gently pushing his shoulders back to lay him down. "How do you feel?"

"Mm..." Ethan whined in response, tears building up in his eyes. He was sore and tired and felt sick and just wanted to go home.

"Hey, hey, don't cry!" Cal said softly, using his thumbs to wipe away his tears. "You're okay now, look, they made your tummy better." He said, gesturing to his stomach.

"I want Cal..." Ethan whimpered, rubbing his eyes.

"I'm here, Ethan." Cal said softly, holding his hand. "Look, it's me."

Ethan sniffled tearfully and looked up, whimpering again as he buried his face into Caleb's chest, snuggling into him.

"Yes, I'm here, silly." Cal giggled, hugging him very gently, rubbing his back and pressing a tiny kiss to his forehead.

"I missed you..." He said into his chest, looking up at him and smiling weakly.

Caleb chuckled fondly and tapped his nose. "I missed you too."

"Ethan, how does your stomach feel?" The Doctor asked, smiling at the sight of the two siblings.

"Sore..." He said shyly.

"We can give you some pain medication if you like?" She offered, taking his hand with the cannula in.

Ethan nodded, cuddling into Cal as she injected a small syringe of fluid into his arm, shifting uncomfortably. "It feels cold..." He said.

"I know sweetie, but it'll make your tummy feel a lot better." She said, connecting his IV up to the bag of fluids above the bed. "Now, the plan is to let you go in a couple of hours, but for now we're just going to observe you and run a few tests, but in the mean time you should just relax and try and get some sleep."

Ethan's mother nodded and smiled down at her sons. The Doctor left the cubicle and walked down the ward. Their Mother turned to them and smiled. "Who wants me to go find some Ice-Cream?"

Ethan and Cal alike gasped and shot their hands up in the air, smiling widely. She giggled and patted Caleb's head. "Watch Ethan for a moment."

Cal turned to Ethan with a grin, holding him close.

"How do you feel?" He asked softly, playing with pieces of his golden curls.

"Tired. Sad. Sick…" Ethan mumbled, snuggling into Cal's chest.

"Awww Eth, you'll be okay," Cal said, cuddling him closer. "Want me to tell you a story?"

A smile graced Ethan's lips as he nodded, looking up at Cal. Cal chuckled and shuffled to sit next to him, wrapping an arm around his side and pulling him close, beginning to whisper in his ear.

"Okay, so-…"

Their mother returned, having managed to obtain two small ice-lollies from the hospital café, to find her two sons asleep. Caleb was carefully lying next to Ethan, holding him close, and Ethan was cuddled into his chest.

She cooed softly, deciding not to disturb them. The Ice Cream could wait.

I wanted lots of comfort and cute brotherly love with this one haha. Let me know what you think :3