Bonnie Sveen Fan: Don't worry about it! Aww I hope you're okay. He definitely would! Cal will tell you he let Ethan win, just to be kind… he didn't. Thank you for your reviews!

Guest: I'm so glad you do! They are cute haha, thank you for your reviews!

casslourocks: Hahaha I do that too with your story! They haven't got anyone else around them, there are no pretences, no acts, and not even in front of each other anymore (yay!). They are free so be as they like. Aw I'm so glad you liked it! What brilliant episodes they were, oh my gosh. I liked that chess game, I'd like to think they play Scrabble (played oh God)! Everything does look to be improving, and of course there are ups and downs but… well, you'll have to read on to find out what happens haha! (I laughed when I saw your last review mentioning Shattered, don't worry, BUT should be updated veeeerryyy soon - hope you like it!) Thank you for your review!

Is-there-somewhere-x: Yay, I'm glad! Me too, although happy characters are so much harder to write for… Thank you for your review!

Panic-at-casualty: That damn chromebook! (Don't worry about it!) Cal's little names for Ethan are always so cute I can't not use them! Yeah I get you with the 'enjoy' thing, I'm very happy you like it. He is, poor thing, but I don't think Cal will be leaving anytime soon, not now he has his brother. I always worry about dialogue, it's one of my ultimate weaknesses, so I'm very glad it was okay. I'll never tire of writing them! (Awww thanks!) When I first thought of the Scrabble idea I couldn't not include it, it's just a little extra thing added in which I loved to write, so I'm glad you liked it! It's the WORST way to start a conversation hahaha, it's so ominous! The thing with Cal is he's been struggling lots as well, something other characters may have glossed over because Ethan was severely physically unwell. It felt important to bring Cal that peace! I shall bring you up from the grave with this chapter! Thank you for your reviews!

Saturday, 28 November 2015

Cal waited patiently outside of Ethan's room and glanced at his (well, Ethan's spare that he found a little comfort in wearing) watch. 09:59am. He looked through the partially opened blinds. The nurse was finishing up Ethan's obs. Just a little more waiting to do. He shook his leg in anticipation and re-evaluated his earlier statement.

He was waiting impatiently outside of Ethan's room.

He watched eagerly as the second hand ticked to the hour. 10am. Come on, hurry up.

As if hearing his brain tick over, the door opened and the nurse appeared. She smiled at Cal, like she usually did, then started off down the corridor. Cal caught the closing door before it shut, smiling enthusiastically at his little brother, who was sitting up in bed looking… normal.

"Nibbles?" Cal said carefully as he approached Ethan and sat down in his usual chair. Ethan turned his head towards him, giving a slight side smile.

"H-hey."

Cal moved his hand to Ethan's. He was so familiar with the gesture now that he barely thought about it. And he didn't even bother trying to hide the concern in his eyes, his brother was far too important for him to be thinking about himself. "You feeling okay?"

Cal could see the denial on Ethan's lip as he hesitated, the protest ready, before he settled on, "b-bit r-rou-gh."

He sighed in sympathy. "Do you know what the date is, Ethan?"

Given, it was quite an odd out-of-the-blue question, but he hoped it would lead with something happy.

Ethan merely shook his head.

"The month, by any chance?"

"N-not r-rea-lly…" Ethan said sceptically.

"Eth, it's the 28. Of November."

Ethan had no reaction.

"Nibbles, it's your 29th Birthday."

"O-oh."

Cal gave a short cynical laugh, reverting back to type without thinking, "is that it? Just 'oh'?"

Ethan turned and looked away from him, pulling his hand from Cal's.

"No, Eth, I'm sorry," he said, reaching for his hand again, only to be rejected. He tried a gentler approach this time, regretting what he had just said. "What's up? I thought you'd be excited."

"N-not m-mu-ch to b-be exc-ite-d a-abou-t," he mumbled dejectedly.

"29 years today, little Nibbles was born. My baby brother popped his head into the world."

Ethan just huffed. Cal cautiously looked out of the slightly covered window. He knew he shouldn't do this but this was Ethan, and it was his birthday, and Cal loved him.

He shuffled onto Ethan's bed (if someone came in and told him to get off he would tell them where to stick their rules) and put his arm tightly around his shoulders, pulling Ethan in. And Ethan didn't resist, instead closing the small gap between them and holding onto Cal tightly.

"Wh-at i-if I n-nev-er ge-t bet-tt-er?" he mumbled. "W-wh-at-t d-do bir-th-days m-matt-ter if mm-my l-life is-s use-less?"

Cal rubbed his shoulder and back comfortingly. "You will get better, and even if you don't, Eth, your life is still useful. Look at you now! You can do things and think great thoughts and achieve great things!"

A pitiful little whine escaped from Ethan's throat.

"Oh, Nibbles. It's okay."

Ethan's answer was to hold onto Cal even tighter, hiding himself on Cal's clothing and succumbing to the tears. And Cal held him, because that's what brother's do.

After Ethan had calmed down a little, Cal told him about the special surprise he had lined up. Ethan perked up straight away, eager to work it out. But Cal wasn't giving in. He'd had 29 years of practice, he was a strong as steel.

But Ethan was persistent, even probing Dr McKay. Cal of course got his permission to take his brother out of the hospital from Dr McKay and unlike Cal had previously feared, Dr McKay wasn't going to let anything slip.

"G-give m-me a cl-ue?"

Cal pretended to think for half a minute, exaggerating it. "No."

Ethan laughed, "C-Cal!"

"Be patient, little bro! Patience is a virtue after all."

"Ugh."

Cal looked at Ethan's watch. 3:30pm. Finally, they could leave! He'd timed it perfectly, and if the traffic operated as he expected it to, then they would get there at the best time.

He brought in the wheelchair. Ethan looked at it, Cal could see his mind working. "W-we g-going s-some-where?"

"Ding ding! 10 points to Nibbles!"

Ethan's face lit up and a wide smile appeared on his face. "O-out o-of th-e hos-spit-al?"

"And that's another 10 points to Nibbles!" Cal hoped Ethan would be excited, even more after this morning, but this wasn't just excitement. This was complete and utter exuberance. (Let's hope it lasts now.)

Ethan manoeuvred himself so he was sat on the side of the bed. Cal helped him up at a steady pace, Ethan hated when he was really slow, but also couldn't manage it when it was fast. He guided Ethan over into the wheelchair. Ethan's smile had stayed firmly planted on his face.

As they left the hospital room, passing Dr McKay ("have a nice time, Ethan!"), Ethan didn't stop asking about what it was. Cal would have found this annoying before, but now he actually quite enjoyed it. It felt good to see Ethan so happy about something, so excited.

"I thought we'd pass through the ED on our way out, Ethan," he interrupted, stopping his little brother's guessing. "If that's okay with you, of course. We don't have to."

Cal stopped in the corridor, awaiting the answer. He didn't want to pressure Ethan into anything, but some of their friends wanted to wish Ethan a happy birthday and just generally wanted to see him. It might be… nice.

"S-sure."

"I'm afraid we can't stay too long, the surprise is - okay, I'm giving you a clue - time based."

They started off again, with Ethan thinking of new things now armed with new information.

As they came out of the lift to a place Ethan once (and would hope to again) thought of as a second home, friends currently unoccupied rushed to him, wishing him a happy birthday and asking him how he was. Cal smiled at all of them - Lofty, Max, Tess, Lily and even Connie, who came bearing a card that Cal took, sure it bare the names of their friends and knowing they could open it soon. He spotted Charlie guiding a young man to cubicles, but he smiled and gave a little wave in their direction anyway.

Cal took pity on Ethan when he saw his lost look on his face upon the questions and answered for him, "he's okay. Excited about the surprise -"

"T-that I k-kno-w n-noth-ing ab-about."

"That's why it's a surprise, Ethan," Lofty laughed.

"He's been trying to guess all day, not been successful in the slightest, I might add." He playfully ruffled Ethan's hair. Connie bit her lip, smiling a little.

"Well I hope Cal doesn't tire you too much out."

Cal pretended to be aghast, knowing this was one of the few times he could be playful with his boss. "Me? You mean you hope he won't tire me out? Do you know how hard it is to keep quiet about a secret when your little brother keeps banging on about wanting to know it?"

Connie laughed, as did the rest of them.

"Happy birthday, Ethan. Good luck in your recovery," Tess said.

"We better get going. Have fun tonight, you lot."

Max huffed, "yeah, we sure will."

And just like that, they departed the hospital. Ethan stretched out his arms. "F-free-dom."

Cal couldn't help thinking exactly the same thing.

The car drive so far was a relatively easy one. Ethan had given up trying to work it out, instead first asking how his car was so clean when it hadn't been used in months ("It's your car, Eth, and I know how you like it.") and then reverting to silence, using most of his energy to keeping his eyes open by the looks of it.

"You look tired, Nibbles," Cal pointed out finally as Ethan yawned.

"Y-yeah," he said, leaning his head on the window. "T-tir-ed."

Cal stopped, having just come to a halt at red traffic lights. Almost blindly he scrambled around the back seats, feeling fluff swipe underneath his hand. He grabbed a fistful of it and brought it to the front. "Snuggle up with that and go to sleep then. We have another hour before we get there, probably."

Ethan slowly tucked the blanket around himself, sighing contently. "O-okay," he mumbled, closing his eyes.

Cal smiled to himself. He was so glad to have his brother.

Then he noticed the car horns. He was on green… oops.

"Eeeethan," Cal whispered, coming to a stop in just the right place. They'd made it in time. He shook Ethan gently. "Wakey, wakey, Nibbles."

Ethan's eyes cracked open tiredly, he turned his head towards Cal and smiled slightly. "H-hey."

"Hey, Ethan," Cal said gently as he undid both his own and Ethan's seatbelts. "We're here." He nodded his head towards the front windshield and watched as Ethan slowly turned towards it. Wonder filled his face.

"I-it's b-beaut-tif-ful… I-I lo-ve it." He grinned (and yawned). "B-bes-st sur-pris-se e-ever."

Cal turned to look out the windshield too. Ethan was right. It truly was beautiful.

Their car was parked in a rest stop on a cliff, overlooking a beach down below. The sun was setting, the sky filled with colour. Blue, orange, red, pink, yellow, mesmerising colours. The sea shimmered underneath the sunset, clouds few and far between.

They sat for a while, just watching. The silence was comforting, because they both knew who they were sat with. Ethan shuffled across in his seat, laying his head awkwardly on Cal's shoulder. Cal shuffled over too, and soon they were in a comfortable position. Ethan moved the blanket so it covered both of them.

"You know," Cal muttered, "it was near here I crashed. And before I did… I was watching the sunset. Hoping that one day I could watch it with you."

"C-Cal…" Ethan said warily.

"It's okay, Eth. Everything is going to be okay." He held Ethan's hand tightly. "Oh, Ethan. I was so scared before and I think I still am a bit. But I've got you. And I am so, so happy for that. Eth, I love you so much. Not just as a brother, but as my best friend. My favourite person in the whole world." Cal took a shuddering breath, feeling the tears rise in his eyes. "Don't ever forget it. I love you, Eth."

Ethan sniffed. "I l-lo-ve y-you t-oo, C-Cal-eb. M-my b-best-t fri-end. M-my f-favour-ite p-ers-on." He squeezed Cal's hand. "My b-broth-er."

They continued to stare out at the sky, watching the beauty of what was before them. "Whatever happens, Ethan, whatever happens in the future, we've got it. Okay? Together. I promise you that."

"T-tog-eth-er," Ethan promised back lifting a hand to wipe away his tears.

They continued watching as the sun set, the colours darkening until a rich deep blue replaced them. They held each other, safe in each other's arms.

As brothers.

Together.

The End

Where next?: Ethan's attacker - Eric Otto - is tried and found guilty for attempted murder. He is given a minimum of 30 years after which he can apply for parole on account of the reasoning behind the attack and the mental state he was in, and the remorse he had showed throughout the time after he was arrested. (A/N Let's pretend this is accurate, okay? xD) In this universe, Cal doesn't die as he did in Casualty. The Alicia/Ethan/Cal live triangle doesn't happen because Ethan focuses on recovery rather than a girl, and Cal isn't all that interested in her. Cal gets his surgical rotation and turns out to become a cardiothoracic surgeon. Ethan recovers almost fully and becomes a consultant in the ED, eventually moving on to become the CEO of Holby City Hospital. Ethan's prophecy to Emilie strangely comes true, though Cal's only on his second rather than his fourth wife. Neither test positive for the gene, Matilda is Cal's biological child and Ethan's biological niece - so they get to keep her - who comes along in January (hence not featuring in this story). Ethan finds love, marries and has a child named Emilie. They all live happily ever after!

This took longer than it probably should have done to complete. I hope this doesn't seem like an abrupt place to end, but in my view I wouldn't really be able to write more for this as some of Ethan's recovery milestones have been reached and Cal and Ethan, while not definitely okay, are both better and they have each other (which was actually the whole point of this story - exploring both Ethan and Cal and their relationship)... so goal reached!

I hope whoever is reading it liked the story (and can I be a little cheeky and ask for your final thoughts on this?)

I'd just like to thank everyone who favourited, followed or left a review sometime along this journey because it honestly means a lot and basically kept this story going, for there did come a point I seriously considered stopping it. So thank you!

'Til next time!

InfinityAndOne x