Bonnie Sveen Fan, I didn't like Alicia at all, but I really felt for her in her last episode and ended up being really disappointed when she left. Thank you for your review.

Lara (Guest), thank you for your review - I'm glad you like the story. I find my stories aren't usually as good written down as they are in my head, but as long as they're making people happy!

CBloom2, I would arrange for Kate to poison Judy, but Ethan would probably save her life and ruin the whole story. So I think I'll stick with the romance angle. 'Ethan and the Murderess' has already been done anyway. Thank you for your review.

X-Sammii-X, thank you for your review. I'm hoping this story will be emotional, but you'll be able to judge that better than me. Judy is awful, but I wanted to give Kate a serious storyline as well as Ethan. I didn't want it to be too romcom.

tracys dream, thank you for your review - I'm glad you're still enjoying the story.

20BlueRoses, it would be amazing to see Cal looking after Ethan and being there for him, but that's not what usually happens! I'm glad you feel it wasn't the wrong way for them to react. That's an interesting idea about a new job for Kate! Thank you for your review.

LittleBritishPerson, I'm glad you like Judy as a character, even though you hate her as a person! I was really hoping for that reaction. I hadn't planned for Alicia to appear again, but now I think she will! Thank you for your review.

Tanith Panic, I think 'karma for Judy' is more likely than 'miracle for Ethan'! I use double-strength Cura-Heat on my back sometimes, but it isn't powerful enough for anything else. Someone needs to invent quadruple-strength! Thank you for your review.

Thank you to Somebody Once for the follow.

Ethan wasn't sure how long he sat there. He knew it was much too long, but he couldn't persuade himself to get up and go back inside. It all seemed so pointless. Ethan loved his job and always had, but it wasn't just about the here-and-now. He was looking forward to becoming a better doctor. To becoming a consultant. Possibly becoming a clinical lead one day, though he wasn't convinced he'd be very good at it.

But the future was so uncertain now. Emilie had got her first symptoms about his age. Perhaps they were even already here. He had been very depressed lately. He tried telling himself that any doctor would become a bit depressed after the experiences Ethan had had, but it didn't help.

Was there any point, for example, in resitting his FCEM? At first, he'd believed he'd failed because most people failed it the first time. He hadn't been that far off the pass mark, after all. But Huntington's affected you mentally as well as physically. Perhaps he'd failed because his memory was weakening or because he was unable to grasp the more advanced treatments or no longer had the intellectual ability to cope with the mathematical concepts.

After all, it wasn't like Ethan to fail an exam. It had never happened before and when he'd started studying the material, he had found it challenging but perfectly achievable. It was only towards the end that he'd begun to struggle. That might be because Honey had been taking up so much of his time and his thoughts, or because he'd been worried about Cal's mental state, but it might be because he didn't have the mental prowess anymore.

Another attempt could mean another failure; another battering to his self-esteem. Perhaps it would be better to let it go; to give up on failing to become a consultant and concentrate on becoming a better registrar.

That, to Ethan seemed the sensible course of action.

But it wasn't what he wanted.

"Ethan?"

Ethan jumped and turned towards the sound, but he'd known even before he looked that it was his brother. He wondered for a horrible moment if there might be a time in the future when he didn't recognise his brother; didn't recognise his own name, but he pushed those thoughts away because he didn't want Cal to have the smallest inkling of what he was feeling.

He wasn't sure he'd have shared it anyway, but Cal was grieving. He had enough to think about.

"Ethan." Cal sat beside him and Ethan instantly felt himself tense, certain the topic of conversation would be one he wouldn't like.

"I was just going back," he said.

"I discharged some of your patients for you," said Cal. "They were about to breach and no-one knew where you were."

Ethan knew he should be grateful, but instead he jumped to his feet, his eyes blazing. "Can't you just mind your own business? I'm not helpless yet, you know. I can discharge my own patients!"

He turned and stormed away, back into the hospital, but he hadn't turned quickly enough to miss the look on Cal's face.

Cal looked frightened, sad and worried – and as completely helpless as Ethan felt.

Milly stared at Kate in disbelief. "You're joking! She seriously made you ask her to leave?"

"She did," said Kate. "I didn't know what to do. If she'd asked me to move Alicia away from the door, maybe it wouldn't have been so bad. I could have said I was worried about the draught from the door.. I don't like lying, but if it solves the problem without upsetting Alicia..."

"So what did you do?" said Milly.

"I went over to Alicia," said Kate. "Desperately hoping that some kind of inspiration would strike me on the way. But as soon as I got there, Alicia said she'd just noticed the time and she needed to be going, so I wrapped her cake up for her and she took it with her." She'd felt so guilty, she'd slipped an extra slice of cake into the parcel. "I still feel awful though. I can't help thinking that maybe she overheard or lip-read or something. She's a doctor so she must be very clever."

Milly thought for a moment, but then she shook her head, giving Kate's arm a reassuring pat. "I don't think even a doctor could know from right across the room. And even if she could, she'd know it wasn't your fault. But that Judy… I didn't think much of her when I started working here, but she's getting worse."

"Do you think she'll be better when Helen gets back?" said Kate. "She's the assistant manager, isn't she?"

"She's the manager's assistant," said Milly, her lips twisting into a wry smile. "Basically the assistant manager, only with a less important title and probably a lot lower salary. It will be better when Helen gets back because she'll do most of the shop floor stuff while Judy hides away in her office and plans ingenious new ways of putting the prices up. But she won't be back till next month."

And I might not last that long. Kate silently added the words she knew Milly was thinking.

"Anyway: enough of moody Judy," said Milly. "Any news on Nibbles?"

Kate sighed. "He still hasn't called. I think he just wasn't interested. He could be married for all I know."

"Yeah, to the hot tall guy!"

"Could be!" Kate still wasn't convinced by that, but what did she know? She'd obviously overestimated Nibbles' interest in her.

"Or maybe he's just shy," said Milly. "He looked like the kind of man who would be shy."

Kate was inclined to agree, but it hardly mattered now. "For all we know, he didn't even find the note. If they ate the food and threw the paper away…" She tried to speak brightly, but she couldn't keep the disappointment out of her voice. She'd seen attractive men before and she didn't doubt she'd see more, but there was something different about Nibbles. And she'd never find out what.

She'd never find out if his hair was as soft as he looked. She'd never find out what he looked like without his glasses – though he certainly looked fantastic with them. She'd never know if his kisses were as sweet as he was.

"Hey, it's okay." Milly put her arm around her. "If he doesn't call, he doesn't call. His loss. Plenty more where he came from."

"Probably not plenty more like Nibbles," said Kate. "I think he's one of a kind." She forced a smile. "But he might have been an awful boyfriend. He looked perfect on the outside, but he might have shown up late for every date; taken me to a restaurant wearing jeans with holes in them…"

"…flirted with not only your waitress but every waitress who walked past," said Milly.

"…let his hands wander everywhere all the way through the meal," continued Kate.

"…burped loudly enough afterwards for the whole restaurant to hear…"

"...got offended because I only offered to pay my share and not his..."

"...tripped over the carpet on the way out because he'd had too much wine..."

"… opened the restaurant door and let it slam back in my face…"

"Exactly! You might have had very a lucky escape!" said Milly.

Kate nodded. She couldn't imagine Nibbles doing any of these things, but the truth was she didn't know him. She'd only spoken to him for a couple of minutes.

But she hadn't forgotten the way he'd looked at her, as though she were the best and most unexpected present he'd ever received (though not as though he couldn't wait to get the wrappings off). She couldn't forget the concern he felt for the other guy or his gentleness towards the lady.

Nibbles was a nice man. She was sure he was a nice man.

But it looked as though she'd never find out for sure.

Cal kept an eye on Ethan for the rest of the day. Once he was back at work, Ethan seemed like his normal self, but Cal wasn't fooled. He finished his shift a little early so he'd be in the staff room when Ethan came to get changed. He sat on the sofa and waited.

Perhaps because he'd taken such a long break in the middle, Ethan was half an hour late finishing his shift, but Cal didn't give up on him and was still sitting there when Ethan finally entered. Ethan's forehead was slightly creased and his shoulders hunched as he walked to his locker and opened it, apparently sunk too deep in his thoughts to have noticed Cal.

Cal's breath caught in his throat when he saw Ethan's hand shake slightly as he tried to unlock his locker. Ethan froze at the sight of it and took a step away from the locker, holding his hand out in front of him, an expression of deep fear on his face.

Cal understood his fear because at one time he'd been watching out for symptoms too. He stood up and moved quickly towards his brother, his arm outstretched. Wanting to comfort him but unsure if it would be accepted.

The movement seemed to catch Ethan's attention and he jumped, swinging round to face Cal. The fear on his face intensified. He said nothing.

Cal wanted to take the keys from Ethan and help him, but before he could speak, Ethan turned back to his locker. He inserted the key into the lock without difficulty and got out his clothes.

"Did you want something, Caleb?" he asked without looking at his brother.

"Just… waiting for you," said Cal.

Ethan finally looked at him, his gaze full of suspicion. "I'm perfectly capable of driving, you know."

"Yeah, I know," said Cal awkwardly. He could understand Ethan's reaction. He was probably dreading the pity and most of all dreading the moment when he could no longer rely on himself. Truthfully, he said: "I'm a bit tired. So I thought you could drive?"

Ethan's face filled with anger. "You're not a baby, you know, Caleb. I won't be able to do this for you forever. One day you might be the one having to-"

He stopped. The anger drained away and was replaced by deep sadness.

"Ethan…" Cal took another step towards him.

"I'm… going to get changed." Ethan hurried out of the room.