TimeLadyOdair, I'm so sorry for not making the conversation clear. Ethan definitely likes Sophie. He just doesn't like Cal teasing him about it in the middle of the ED. Thank you for the review - I'm really happy you enjoyed it, even though I messed it up!
ETWentHome, yes, the situation did turn out really badly, and so did the chapter! I hope Ethan will make amends, but it's possible someone has other ideas. Thank you for your review.
CBloom2, thank you for your review. I'm really relieved you could see where I was going with this chapter. Cal is very good at winding Ethan up, but of course, he has a lot of experience!
Tanith Panic, I hope I know what I'm doing, but I'm not at all sure about that! I'll try to sort Cal and Ethan out, but it won't last. They'll find something else to argue about - though not necessarily in this story. Thank you for your review.
Lily had spent the whole morning hoping she wouldn't see Sophie. To say she wasn't relishing their upcoming conversation would be an understatement.
When she saw Cal and Ethan talking at reception, Lily reluctantly decided it would be a good opportunity to get the difficult conversation out of the way. Sophie's admirers were both occupied so it was likely Sophie wasn't doing anything at all.
Lily approached nervously, but Sophie wasn't with them. It occurred to Lily that she could ask Ethan where she was, but then she realised the brothers were arguing and decided not to interrupt. She'd just finished picking up her files when Ethan started shouting at Cal. At almost that exact moment, Sophie appeared.
"I don't like Sophie!" Ethan was saying, loudly and untruthfully. Even Lily couldn't restrain a gasp when she saw the look on Sophie's face. She looked as though her heart had broken in two, though this seemed unlikely to Lily considering she was Cal's girlfriend.
Sophie handled the situation with impressive dignity and left, but Lily was glad when Cal went after her. Ethan stared after them, looking nearly as upset as Sophie.
Lily was tempted to slip away. She had work to do, after all, and comforting people was not her forte.
On the other hand, leaving people to suffer without trying to offer some sort of relief for their pain was very much outside her job description.
Cal chased after Sophie, but he didn't call out to her. His first instinct had been to tell her that she'd misinterpreted what Ethan said and there was no need to worry. But he now realised that with a few well-chosen words, he could turn this situation completely to his advantage. If he told Zoe what Ethan had said about Sophie, she could hardly insist that Sophie continued to work with him, and Cal was the obvious choice to replace him. If he let Sophie continue to think that Ethan didn't like her, their friendship would be over and Cal could finally get rid of the nagging feeling that Sophie might have more in common with Ethan than she did with him.
Sophie was on her way out of the building. Cal caught her up just outside the door and put his arms around her. Her eyes were still full of tears. "Come here, baby. Don't cry. Everything's going to be fine." He led her over to a bench. It was one of his favourite places for seduction. "You cry as much as you want to. I'm right here."
Sophie wiped her eyes. "I really thought he liked me."
Cal hugged her and tried to work out the best thing to say. How about… Ethan pretends to like everyone. Maybe that would make it seem a bit less personal – as though Ethan was only treating Sophie in the same way as he treated everyone else. Then it might not hurt so much. "Ethan pretends to like everyone," he said. "He even pretends to like me sometimes, though not very often."
Sophie gave a tiny sob.
No, that wasn't good. He was making her feel worse. There was a funny feeling inside Cal's chest and he knew it wasn't indigestion. "But he's not pretending with you, Sophie. He really does like you." He closed his eyes. Why did I say that? Why?
"Then why did he say that he didn't?" said Sophie.
I can get out of this, thought Cal. How about… I'm sorry, Sophie. I want to make you feel better, but I can't lie to you. I care about you too much. Ethan was telling the truth. He doesn't like you.
"I'm sorry, Sophie. I want to make you feel better, but I can't lie to you," said Cal. "I care about you too much. Ethan was telling the truth."
Sophie's eyes filled with tears again.
Cal held her more tightly. "But you misinterpreted what he said, that's all."
What? What's wrong with me? I'm always lying to girls. Why can't I lie to Sophie?
Sophie blinked at him through tear-filled eyes. "How do you misinterpret something like that?"
Cal sighed inwardly. One of his biggest talents was making things difficult for himself. He tried to think of a way out. Ethan was so annoyed with me, he ended up blurting out his real feelings about you. He'd have to hope she forgot about what he'd said about misinterpretation, but perhaps she would. She was pretty upset.
"Ethan was so annoyed with me, he ended up blurting out his real feelings about you," said Cal.
Sophie's tears began to fall.
Cal felt terrible. "But the word like does have more than one meaning," he said quickly. What? What am I doing now? "Ethan hasn't had many girlfriends, so when he does spend time with a girl, even if it's just at work, I tease him about it."
Sophie sniffed. "Cal, if you want to explain, why don't you just start from the beginning? You're making no sense at all."
Okay, I'll just say what I was going to say before about Ethan saying his true feelings. "I was teasing Ethan, saying he liked you – as in being attracted to you." Stop now, Cal! That's enough! Just say it. I annoyed Ethan so much, he blurted out his true feelings. "I annoyed Ethan so much, he blurted out his true feelings."
Sophie started sobbing.
"But he didn't mean it the way you thought," said Cal quickly. "I was teasing him, saying he liked you, as in being attracted to you. He got really annoyed and told me he didn't like you." He tried to think what to say next. Because, and I'm so sorry to say this, baby, he doesn't like you. "Because, and I'm so sorry to say this, baby, he doesn't… he doesn't always know what he's saying when he's angry." Caleb! Sort it out! "What he meant is that he isn't attracted to you." But actually he doesn't like you as a friend either. "But actually, he doesn't like you… about as much he doesn't like his job."
"I still don't understand," sobbed Sophie. "Does he like me or doesn't he?"
And Cal gave up. He just couldn't do it. "Ethan likes you a lot, Sophie. He's just not attracted to you. He didn't mean to hurt you. He probably feels awful about it. You're like his best friend in the ED." He kissed her. "But I like you and I'm attracted to you."I really must like her if I can't turn a simple situation to my own advantage. I just want to make her happy. I'd do anything to make her happy.
He was fairly sure the feeling wouldn't last. It was no more than extreme sexual frustration mixed with a bit of unwilling admiration that she'd resisted him for so long. All he needed to do was sleep with her and the feeling would go away.
At this rate, he should probably get it sorted by Christmas.
Lily put her hand tentatively on Ethan's arm. "Ethan, are you all right?"
Ethan shook his head. He wasn't sure if he was answering her question or letting her know he didn't want to talk about it.
"Come on. It's time you had a break," said Lily firmly.
"The ECG…" Ethan said in such a quiet voice, Lily hardly heard him.
"Rita can do the ECG. She doesn't need a doctor to be present," said Lily. "I'll tell her you and Sophie are having your break."
Ethan hesitated for a moment, but then he did as he was told.
"It was an accident," said Lily once she'd got Ethan settled in the staff room. "Sophie only heard the end of what you were saying. So she misinterpreted it. I'm sure Cal will explain what happened, but if not, you can explain. Then everything will be all right."
"Do you think so?" said Ethan hopelessly.
"Why would I say it if I didn't believe it?" said Lily, slightly confused. "Do you still believe Sophie will forgive me for treating her so badly?"
Ethan looked blank for a moment, but then he seemed to recall what she was talking about. "Yes, of course."
"If Sophie can forgive hurtful words that I said on purpose, I'm sure she will forgive you for saying something innocent which she misinterpreted," said Lily.
To her relief, Ethan did look a little happier. "I suppose she might do. It does make sense when you look at it like that. Thank you, Lily."
"Anytime," said Lily, giving him a startled look. "I'm glad I was able to help."
This time, Ethan managed a smile. "Don't look so surprised."
"Why shouldn't I be surprised?"
Ethan looked at her sympathetically. "This situation with Sophie has really knocked your confidence, hasn't it?"
"Actually, no, it hasn't."
"Oh. All right then," said Ethan. "I'm sorry."
"I don't think the situation with Sophie has changed anything at all," said Lily with a sigh. "I always have doubted my bedside manner. I know I'm not sympathetic. I know I don't connect with patients. Sophie obviously isn't a patient, but perhaps she does need kindness and sympathy. It is a shock when you join a working ED. University doesn't prepare you."
"I've always thought you were sympathetic, Lily," said Ethan. "But perhaps you found it difficult to express it. I can understand that. I find it difficult too,"
"Sometimes, perhaps, I found it difficult to express my feelings," said Lily. "Other times… the feelings really weren't there."
"You can't feel genuine sympathy every time," said Ethan. "Some patients are time-wasters; others are very difficult to like. But you've been very sympathetic towards me. You really helped me yesterday. And you came to speak to me just now."
"I… I could see you were sad," said Lily. "And you're my friend. I don't want you to be sad."
"And now I'm not," said Ethan, and smiled.
For a moment, Ethan was relieved to have found them. Then he stopped feeling relieved because Sophie was crying and it was his fault.
It had been bad enough when Lily had upset her. This was just… Ethan felt like crying himself as he walked slowly towards them. Not for the first time, he called himself every bad name he could think of: names he usually reserved for Cal.
Cal was telling Sophie everything was going to be okay and Ethan definitely liked her. Ethan was a bit surprised. He'd been almost sure Cal would engineer the situation to stop him from working with Sophie – and for once, Ethan wouldn't have blamed him.
Cal looked up as Ethan came closer. Then he leaned closer to his girlfriend. "Sophie, Ethan's here. Do you want to talk to him?"
"I-I-I'd like to apologise," stammered Ethan. "To Sophie."
"Not to me for shouting at me?" said Cal. He shrugged. "No, you're right. Sophie's more important." He kissed her hair. "Do you want to talk to him, baby?"
"Okay," said Sophie tearfully. "We've got to work together. We need to sort this out."
Cal didn't let go of her. "Would you like me to stay?"
Ethan was a bit surprised. He'd expected Cal to insist on saying, if only to get at Ethan.
"I'll be okay," said Sophie.
Cal stroked her back. "Are you sure?"
Sophie sniffed. "I'm sure. But thank you."
Cal kissed her forehead. "Okay. But text me if you need me, okay?" He kissed her on the lips this time and stood up. The look he gave Ethan was fierce. "If I find out you've hurt her again…"
"I won't," said Ethan, hoping he could keep his word. He'd never want to hurt her, but sometimes things just came out wrong.
He watched Cal go, slightly surprised he really was leaving them, but Cal wasn't important.
Ethan turned back to Sophie. "Sophie, I… I…" He stumbled to an incoherent halt.
"Have you got a condom?" said Sophie.
Ethan stared at her. "Um… excuse me?"
Sophie smiled faintly. "That's what you usually offer to crying girls, isn't it?"
Ethan blushed. "You noticed?"
Sophie nodded.
"I thought it was a tissue," Ethan said awkwardly.
"Don't worry. It's an easy mistake to make," said Sophie. "But you should probably try to sort out which is which. For future reference."
"Probably," agreed Ethan with a faint smile. "I… I think I've got a condom if you... oh gosh, I'm so sorry!" Ethan blushed again.
"It's okay," said Sophie. She smiled. "But if you've got one…"
Ethan felt in his pockets. "Here you are." This time, it wasn't a condom.
Sophie thanked him and started to dry her tears. "And yes, I might refer to tissues as condoms for the rest of our lives. Or do you think that joke's a dead rubber?"
Ethan blushed even more, but he couldn't help smiling. "I think your words could be quite prophylactic."
Sophie laughed. "You're really johnny on the spot today, aren't you, Ethan?"
"You might say it's a bit of a French letter day for me…" Ethan hid his face in his hands. "Am I really having this conversation? I'm so sorry."
"Don't worry," said Sophie. "I'm not going to send you to sit in the naughty bag."
"So I don't need to get my… my raincoat?"
"No," Sophie said softly. "I'll give you all the protection you need."