Thank you for all the reviews! I'm so glad you like my story. I might have said this is the chapter where Kate and Ethan meet. I'm afraid they won't meet till Chapter 8, but things do take a significant step towards that moment in this chapter. I hope the part about the funeral is convincing.
Gillian Kearney Fan, thank you for your review. This chapter will be very difficult for Cal and Ethan too.
Lara (Guest), I'm glad you like the fast updates. Alicia, Noel and Honey will all be mentioned in the next couple of chapters. I'm glad you liked the voicemail - it definitely isn't the kind of thing Ethan might send! Thank you for your review.
tracys dream, thank you for your review. I love Cal and Ethan living together - I'm always disappointed when Ethan kicks him out!
TheHesitantAlien, thank you for your review. I love it when readers ramble! Kate and Nibbles will meet again very soon and a new boss for Kate would definitely be in her best interests. Thank you for saying I captured the characters perfectly.
ETWentHome, they do both really need each other. I do love their protective instincts, but they always seem to forget about themselves. Especially Ethan. I've got a feeling he might be the same in tomorrow's episode. Thank you for your review.
X-Sammii-X, Cal and Ethan are opposites in many ways, but one trait they share is a reluctance to accept help. That's an interesting idea about the voicemail. Thank you for your review - I'm so glad you're enjoying it.
CBloom2, thank you for your review. I'm so glad you're enjoying it. I think it's going to be even more heartbreaking tomorrow night!
LittleBritishPerson, I don't envy Zoe - she wants to support Ethan and give him what he wants and it's not easy for the ED to be two doctors down, but she has to consider what's best for the patients. Not an easy call! Thank you for your review.
Tanith Panic, it does sound like the sort of voicemail Cal would send, but I agree that even if he did manage to memorise Kate's number before Ethan destroyed it, he's not in the right mood. Thank you for your review. I like puzzling my readers!
20BlueRoses, there is a difference from being 'looked-after' and 'supported' (and 'smothered'!), but I agree they're not in any state to tell the difference. I love your rambling! I agree Ethan wouldn't like it if Cal found Kate for him. Thank you for your review.
Cal sat, his head bowed, as the tears flowed down his face. Beside him, Ethan felt tears sting his eyes as emotion caught in throat, but he knew he had to stay strong for Cal.
Not many people had come to the funeral. Ethan wasn't sure if he was grateful there weren't crowds of onlookers, curious about the two sons who had suddenly appeared within weeks of Emilie's death, or sad that more people hadn't known and loved his mother. Charlie was the only other person from the ED at the funeral, though their other colleagues had sent flowers and cards and done everything they could to support the brothers.
The celebrant had given a very moving speech about Emilie's life. Much of it, Ethan hadn't known about and he felt guilty for that. If only he'd got to know Emilie sooner…
Ethan felt a tear escape. He quickly brushed it away.
The celebrant paused for a moment, looking around at the congregation, and then said Emilie's son Caleb would like to say a few words.
Cal was crying quietly into his hands and didn't look capable of saying anything. Ethan put his arm around him. "Go on. You can do this."
"I can't," sobbed Cal.
"I know you can," said Ethan. "You can do this for Mum. I'll go with you if you like."
Cal gave Ethan a look of pure gratitude. He handed Ethan a piece of paper. "My notes…"
"If there's anything you can't say, I'll be here."
"Thanks, Ethan," whispered Cal. He picked up the tissue that was resting on his lap and took a moment to dry his tears and compose himself. Then he looked at Ethan. "I'm ready."
Together, they stood up and walked to the front of the church.
Cal opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Ethan glanced at the paper and began to tell the story of how they'd met Emilie, leaving out the story of Cal's 'daughter' Matilda and the paternity test and skipping over the fact that they hadn't traced Emilie by the usual methods. Ethan hated leaving Matilda out, but the service was for Emilie. Ethan wanted everyone to be thinking about Emilie and not about the complicated lives of her sons.
After a couple of minutes, Cal gave Ethan the smallest nudge. Ethan brought what he was saying to a close and let Cal take up the story. Cal shed more tears as he told the congregation of the time he'd spent looking after Emilie and Ethan lowered his eyes, ashamed that he hadn't been there for his brother and mother at that time.
When it came to describing the day on the beach – Emilie's last day – Cal choked up again and Ethan took over, leaving out the part about the test results. He couldn't talk about that. Finally, Cal recovered enough to conclude his speech, trying to sum up in just a few words how courageously Emilie had faced her illness and how lovingly she'd welcomed her sons into her life.
Ethan felt a wave of exhaustion as the two men returned to their seats. He sat beside Cal and tried not to think about the frightening reality that lay ahead of him.
One day, Cal would have another funeral to arrange.
Ethan's funeral.
Kate was close to tears. "I can't believe her, Milly. First she thinks I was putting the moves on Noel - I mean, the guy's old enough to be my dad! – and now I spend five minutes helping a dyslexic boy with the menu and she thinks I'm making a move on him too! He was about fourteen! And what does she mean, my dress is too short? It's almost down to my knees!"
Milly stroked her arm soothingly. "She's just being her usual bitchy self. You did nothing wrong, Kate."
"I don't know if I can do this anymore, Milly!" A tear ran down Kate's cheek. "She hates me. There's no way she's going to let me continue working here and I've got any chance of getting a good reference from her. I might as well just quit now."
Milly hugged her tightly. "Kate. Come on, sweetheart. Don't talk like that. I know Judy's a bitch, but you love it here."
"I do love working with you and the others," said Kate. "I love the area. I love the regular customers. I love the irregular customers too: just getting to see into a small part of their lives for the short time they're here."
"Then don't make any big decisions now," said Milly. "Not when you're upset. You've had a really horrible week, but you know it's not usually this bad."
"And Nibbles hasn't phoned me," said Kate. "I really believed he would, you know?"
"I know," said Milly, as she stroked Kate's hair. "I thought he would too. I'm sorry about how that turned out. I shouldn't have encouraged you so much."
"It's not your fault," whispered Kate. She sat up, wiped her eyes and tried to speak calmly. "Maybe you're right. Maybe next week will be better."
Milly smiled. "I'm sure it will be. And I know just the way to cheer you up. We're both off tomorrow, so how about we have an adventure?"
"An adventure?" said Kate doubtfully. "Don't we get enough of those at work?"
"This is a fun adventure," said Milly. "We'll do all the things we usually do, but we'll go and do them somewhere we've never been before. We'll go shopping in the afternoon, go to see a film, have dinner somewhere really posh and then go clubbing."
Kate laughed shakily. "I definitely can't quit if I'm going to spend that much money!"
"So don't quit," said Milly. "Come out with me and have some fun. See if you can find someone even better than Nibbles."
"I don't know if there is anyone better than Nibbles," said Kate.
Milly gave her a hug. "They'll all seem better than Nibbles once you've got a few drinks inside you!"
The following evening seemed too soon to return to work, but Cal wasn't sure the next day would be any easier. He and Ethan got ready almost in silence. Cal noticed that Ethan's eyes were red again. It worried Cal that, while he'd cried in Ethan's arms on numerous occasions, Ethan had never come to him for comfort, even though he had greater need of it.
At the door, Ethan stopped Cal, gently turning him to face him. "Are you sure you're ready to go back, Cal?"
"I'm sure," said Cal. He was still devastated and there was a pain inside him which he thought would never ease, but the funeral, in some ways, had calmed him. Grief remained heavy on his chest, but at least the tears had stopped.
Ethan nodded. "Okay. But if it gets too much, don't forget you can take a break."
"Don't you forget either," said Cal seriously. "She was your mum too."
Ethan gave half a smile. "I'll be fine. But I won't forget." He surprised Cal with a hug.
Cal hugged him back. It made him feel slightly stronger to know his brother was there.
He could only hope he had the same effect on Ethan.
"Let's go in here!" said Milly, grabbing Kate's arm and dragging her towards a pub. It looked crowded and Kate wasn't sure there would be room for her, Milly, and all their shopping bags, but she wasn't going to waste her breath by trying to talk Milly out of it.
They went inside and were immediately hit by a rush of warmth, along with the inevitable noise. Kate smiled: this was the kind of pub atmosphere she liked. Happy but not rowdy.
"You see if you can find some seats and I'll get the drinks," said Milly.
Kate nodded and started looking for a place to sit. When someone called her name, she ignored it. After all, 'Kate' was a common name and it could be cocktail party syndrome anyway. It wasn't until someone touched her arm that it occurred to her it might be someone she knew.
"Kate?" The girl smiled. "I thought it was you. Lovely to see you again!"
"Alicia!" Kate smiled back with genuine pleasure. "How are you? Are you all better now?"
"Completely, I'm glad to say," said Alicia. "Thanks for looking after me. I really did feel awful and you helped a lot. Are you here on your own?"
"No, I'm here with my friend Milly. We decided to go somewhere completely new for the evening and see what happened!"
Alicia laughed. "I'd be careful if I were you. You wouldn't believe some of the things that happen in Holby. I used to work at Holby City Hospital so I should know! I'm here with my friend Louise, who's a nurse at the hospital. If you and Milly would like to join us, you're more than welcome!"
Kate liked this idea very much. Alicia introduced her to Louise, who was very beautiful with short dark hair and legs to die for. Kate thought she seemed very pleasant, but she had a feeling that getting on the wrong side of Louise would be a very bad idea.
When Milly had got the drinks, she was delighted to find Kate had met some friends and the four girls chatted happily until Louise looked over Kate's shoulder and her lip curled with dislike
"I don't believe it!" she said. "So she can't be bothered to drive thirty miles or so to see her dad, but she can manage to come twice the distance for a night out? Oh great: she's coming over. I'd better finish my drink before it ends up poured all over her pretty little head."
She'd hardly finished speaking before Kate heard someone squeal Alicia's and Louise's names, and they were joined by a very pretty girl with long, curly hair, lots of make-up and not many clothes. "Alicia, what are you doing back here?" she said, smiling tipsily as she staggered over to them, a large drink in her hand.
"We would have asked you the same if we cared enough to ask," said Louise, her words reaching Kate's ears but luckily not the newcomer's.
Alicia gave the girl a bright smile. "It's lovely to see you, Honey. What a lovely surprise!""
"Yeah. You too," said Honey vaguely. She smiled at Kate and Milly. "Hey. I'm Honey. Shove up a bit, will you, so I can sit down."
