"Cal, I have to tell you this, but if Ethan has got Huntington's you do know what that means?" Zoe said.
Cal sighed. Of course he knew what it meant. It meant that Ethan was going to lose all his facilities, he was going to lose his independence. And Cal couldn't bear the thought of losing him to the horrible disease.
"I do." he finally spoke.
"And you know you're going to have to prepare yourself for the worst." Zoe added.
Cal nodded slowly.
"Okay, but before we can diagnose Huntington's we are going to order another CT scan, get neuro down here and psyche. Once we know what they've discovered we'll take it from there." Zoe continued.
Zoe stopped next to Cal on her way back out of the room.
"Try not to worry."
"Worry? How can I not worry?" Cal said. "Ethan may have inherited a nasty illness from our mother."
"I know it's going to be difficult to take in, but he's going to need our support, your support."
With that last remark she left Cal alone. Charlie followed Zoe out. It was just him with Ethan now. Cal walked over to where Ethan lay and stroked his hair. It was then Cal finally broke down as the reality hit home.
"I'm so sorry, Ethan. You shouldn't have found out like this. I should have told you the moment I found out. Now, it's too late and it's all my fault. It's my fault you're like this. My fault you are going to suffer. I promise you this, I will be there for you. I will look after you."
Tears fell down his cheeks as he sobbed. He was going to lose his little brother and he was to blame. The next few hours Cal waited felt like Hell to him. They were all still waiting for the results. Nothing could be done until the results were through. All he could do was wait and watch by Ethan's side. Zoe was on her break in the staffroom when there was a quiet knock at the door. The door opened to reveal Charlie.
"CT scan have come back."
Zoe walked over to Charlie and looked at the scan. Looking at the image Zoe could see there were a few abnormalities with the results. It wasn't looking good and both she and Charlie knew it.
"What did neuro say?" Charlie asked while Zoe carried on looking at the scan.
"His muscle movements were a bit jerky and once or twice when they asked him a few questions his speech became slurred."
Zoe sighed. She didn't know how she was going to tell Cal that Ethan had Huntington's. It was going to be a complete shock to both of them. After looking at the scan for a second time and given what neuro and psyche had told her, Zoe knew the diagnosis was correct. She just needed to tell them. She and Charlie stopped outside the room.
"How am I going to tell them, Charlie?"
"You're just going to have to. There's no easy way of telling them."
Zoe nodded her head. Before entering she knocked on the door. Cal turned around as he heard the door opening. Their faces told him everything he needed to know.
"He's got it, hasn't he?" Cal announced in a whisper. "Ethan's got Huntington's."