Tanith Panic, thank you for your review. It was naughty of Lily to lie to Honey about Ethan, but she was pretty determined to get Ethan for herself! I'm glad you liked 'Honey's sweet venom'. I was quite pleased with that so I'm very happy you like it too. Ethan and Cal are very close in this story, so maybe Ethan will listen to him.
westlife4ever80, I love how easily Ethan gets embarrassed. He's so adorable! Considering Cal is his big brother, he probably has extensive experience of being embarrassed, but there are some kinds of comments he can't get used to. Thank you for your review.
ETWentHome, I'm so glad you liked the bit about Honey and her venom too - I nearly deleted that because the chapter was too long, but I decided it was silly to delete something that was actually half-decent. Lily is pretty determined to get a husband so she won't necessarily give up just because her 'rival' is out of the picture.
The next FCEM exam was a practical one: the OSCE, or Objective Structured Clinical Examination. There were fourteen workstations, each with a different medical task to perform. Twelve of the stations would take approximately eight minutes to complete.
"Just about right for you then, Nibbles!" Cal had said, smirking, when they'd read that part. "Just think what you can get done in eight minutes!"
Ethan hit Cal over the head with one of his past papers.
The other two stations were 'double stations' and were seventeen minutes long.
"Which doesn't make sense really, considering two times eight is sixteen," Ethan said, a frown on his face.
Cal laughed. "I think you're going to need a bit more than your two times table to get through this, Nibbles!"
Information was provided at each station, giving details of the task, as well as medical details of the patients. Candidates were given time to read through the scenarios and instructions before starting the station. They then worked through the scenarios, with the examiner and other staff members sometimes playing the roles of patients, relatives or other professionals, until a bell signalled it was time to move to the next station.
Most of the stations would provide Cal and Ethan with medical situations to deal with, such as taking medical histories, examining patients, performing procedures (or pretending to) and interpreting test results, but there were also social challenges such as breaking bad news, attempting to persuade patients to consent to necessary procedures, and discussing patients with other doctors.
OSCEs weren't Ethan's favourite part of medical exams. He found it invigorating, if occasionally terrifying, to deal with these sorts of situations for real, but he was very uncomfortable with the role-play element.
"You've just got to try to enjoy them," said Cal. "If you get nervous, you can always pretend the examiners are all in their underwear. I used to do that with female examiners, but I tend to lose concentration if I think about things like that."
"I can imagine," said Ethan, not entirely approvingly.
Cal patted his shoulder. "You'll be fine, Ethan. A lot of it isn't consultant stuff anyway. It's stuff we do all the time. And I bet you passed all your stations when you did your MCEM."
"I um… actually, I failed one," admitted Ethan.
Cal looked startled. "Seriously? You failed a station?"
"There were… extenuating circumstances," said Ethan awkwardly.
"Oh yeah? What were they then?" Cal looked far too interested.
Ethan didn't look at him. "I'm not sure I want to tell you."
"Oh, come on, Nibbles!" said Cal. "I'm as worried about this exam as you are, you know. It would reassure me to know that failing stations happens to everyone."
"Okay. I failed the last station," said Ethan.
"What was the situation?" asked Cal.
"I… never actually found out," admitted Ethan. "I had to walk down some steps to get there and I… didn't notice them. I fell over and sprained my anterior talofibular ligament. I wanted to do the station anyway, but you can't have time extensions in the OSCE so by the time I'd been examined and helped onto a chair, I'd missed more than half of the station anyway. And as an aspiring registrar, I didn't like to do anything that suggested I didn't understand the potential seriousness of my injury, so I agreed to go to hospital."
Cal had his hands over his mouth, but he couldn't hide his laughter.
"It's not funny!" said Ethan.
"No, of course not," said Cal. "It's… ironic."
Ethan glared at him. "It's not ironic either."
"So there's another thing you need to do," said Cal. "Look out for steps leading to the stations!"
"I knew I shouldn't have told you," said Ethan.
"Of course you should have told me," said Cal. "I needed a good laugh!" He patted Ethan on the shoulder. "Thanks, bro."
"Male, 72," said Lily, as she, Cal and Ethan walked towards the hospital. "Presents at the ED with an itchy rash. Name three possible diagnoses."
The questions she was reading them were actually from the SAQ, which they'd already done, but the subject matter overlapped a lot and Lily said it was better to save the OSCE past papers, which usually required the use of props, until they were in a position to take full advantage of them.
Ethan had thought it an excellent point. Lily might 'only' be a junior doctor, but her intelligence astounded him. He was amazed she hadn't done her MCEM yet. She undeniably had the ability.
"I've got one," said Cal. Ethan and Lily were taking all this so seriously and it was time to lighten the mood. "Um… you've been a very naughty boy. And fair play for 72!"
Lily pointed at Ethan.
"No. Um… pemphigus, bullous pemphigoid, and…ah…"
Dylan caught up with them. "What's this?"
"FCEM," said Lily.
"I really should know this," said Ethan unhappily. He would find it easier in the ED because he'd be able to take a patient history and make a visual examination. Dermatitis herpetiformis was a possibility, but that mainly affected younger people. There were probably better answers that were more specific to the elderly.
"Oh, don't worry about it," said Cal, who always put up a show of being completely relaxed about the exams when in the company of other people. "No-one passes first time."
"I did," said Dylan, walking past them.
Cal bowed exaggeratedly. "Of course you did, sir."
Lily showed Ethan the book. "Epidermolysis bullosa acquista. Grover's Disease. Dermatitis herpetiformis…"
Ethan sighed.
"Ethan, you need to relax," said Lily. She squeezed his arm. "You have nothing to be nervous about. You are so intelligent and gifted. You are going to be a top consultant. Excuse me: I must speak to Mrs Beauchamp. I'll see you later, Ethan." She patted his arm, smiled, and walked away.
Cal gave Ethan a knowing look. "Are you sure she's not after you, Nibbles?"
"Of course she isn't!" said Ethan, laughing. "She's just being supportive. She'd do the same for anyone."
"Um… I don't think so," said Cal. "You're not the only person doing their FCEM, Ethan. And I didn't notice Lily giving all that touchy-feely encouragement to me!"
"I'm free tonight," said Lily. "I'll cook us dinner."
Ethan hesitated. "Oh! Um… well." He remembered Cal's words but quickly dismissed them. It was too ridiculous for words. "Don't go to any trouble though, will you? Just a snack while we revise."
"Okay," said Lily happily and walked off.
Ethan was looking forward to it. It was helpful to revise with Lily. Cal was great, but Lily had different books, different ideas and she always stayed focused. "That is okay, isn't it, Cal? You are still going out tonight?"
"Of course it's okay," said Cal, his eyes on Honey. "But I'm warning you: a girl doesn't cook dinner unless she wants you."
Ethan looked at him, concerned. At that moment, Honey looked up and waved. She seemed to be waving at Ethan.
"How can you be so blind?" said Cal. "What have these girls got to do to make you notice them? Take all their clothes off?"
Ethan put his hand on Cal's arm and steered him away from the shop. "Cal, you know what Honey's like. Don't get involved. You know what happened last time."
Cal sighed. "Ethan, I'm over Honey. I don't want her. The thing is, she still wants me and I think she's using you to get my attention."
"Of course she's not!" said Ethan.
"Then what is she doing?" said Cal. "Why is she waving at you and ignoring me?"
Ethan's immediate thought was that it meant Honey was interested in him, not Cal, but that didn't seem likely.
"Maybe Honey wasn't quite as bad as I thought," said Cal. "She wasn't well. She had vitamin deficiencies."
"Vitamin deficiencies don't usually cause avariciousness," said Ethan.
"Like you wouldn't get back with Taylor in a second if you had the chance."
Ethan looked away. "I'd be tempted, Cal. I would be tempted. And if she forgave me…"
"Ethan, you can't!" said Cal. "Seriously, mate. You can't. I wouldn't let you."
"And I can't let you," said Ethan softly.
Lily froze at the sight of the young man on the sofa. "What's he doing here?" she whispered loudly.
"He's Charlie's son," Ethan whispered back. He went over to his locker. "Why are we whispering?"
"Because he's a drug addict," said Lily.
Ethan was disappointed with her reply. He understood it in a way as lots of people felt as Lily did, but Lily was a doctor. She was going to treat addicts and she needed to do it with compassion. "Addiction is an illness, Lily. It's not a moral defect."
Louis stood up, coffee cup in hand, and walked towards the sink. Ethan was sure he must have heard Lily. He couldn't bear to think how much it must have hurt.
On a sudden impulse, Ethan stepped into Louis' path. "Louis, isn't it? Um… Ethan. I just wanted to say hello."
Louis said nothing, but he shook Ethan's hand.
Ethan smiled. He didn't know what to say and he didn't want to push Louis if he didn't feel like talking. He smiled for a bit longer, then rejoined Lily. The look on her face was eloquent, but at least she didn't verbalise her thoughts.
They turned to leave the staff room, only to find their way blocked by Honey's trolley.
It was funny how often Ethan had seen her today. He'd only bought coffee once, but she and her trolley seemed to be everywhere.
Honey picked up something from her trolley and held it out to him. "Ethan, um, I got you these." Honey smiled at him. "They'll come in handy for your test."
Ethan took them reluctantly. "Blueberries!" he said, trying to sound pleased. It was kind of her, but it was an odd thing to do and he wasn't sure he ought to accept presents from his brother's ex.
"Anti-toxicants," said Honey. "Nature's magic. When I did my aromatherapy exam, it worked wonders."
"And I'm sure you have a diploma as well," said Lily.
"Yeah," said Honey. "I've got it framed and everything."
"Thank you, Honey. That's, um, really thoughtful," Ethan called after her as she left.
It was really thoughtful. But he knew Cal wouldn't appreciate it. And for that reason, Ethan didn't either.
"You can bring them to my house tonight if you like," said Lily. "I'm sure I can think of something creative to do with them."
Cooking. She means cooking, Ethan told himself.
But weren't Lily's eyes sparkling a little bit too brightly? And did her hand really need to linger for so long as she took the blueberries from him?
