Ethan sat in the staffroom lost in thought. So much was going around in his mind. He was delighted yet scared at the same time about becoming a father. He always wanted to have children but with his diagnosis, having a family seemed impossible. He was worried that he could have passed on the gene to his unborn child.
"Hey, mate. You okay?" Will's voice broke him out of his thoughts.
"Er, yeah. I'm just miles away." Ethan replied.
"Tough shift?"
"No, it's not that."
"Then what is it?"
Ethan needed to talk to someone about this massive change in his life. And Will seemed to be a good person to talk to. After all they were friends and had been since university. Will noticed Ethan was troubled by something so he sat down opposite him. He waited until Ethan was ready to respond.
"She's pregnant."
"Who's pregnant?"
"Fenisha."
"What? No, she can't be."
"Yeah, she's… wait a second. What do you mean she can't be?" Ethan asked, thrown by Will's reaction.
"I mean she can't be pregnant. She told me she got rid of the baby."
"She told you that?"
Will nodded.
"Well, she clearly hasn't. She's still pregnant."
"So she lied to me." Will mumbled under his breath.
"What's that got to do with it? I thought you two broke up."
"Oh, sorry, Ethan. Yeah, we did. But, she told me she was getting an abortion. That's why we broke up."
"I'm sorry, Will."
"No big deal. Anyway, what are you going to do?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean are you and Fenisha going to get back together again?"
"No, not if it's just for the sake of the baby. I mean obviously we'll co-parent but, I don't think we're the best match together. And anyway, it won't be such a good idea."
Will raised his eyes. Ethan cleared his throat.
"What I mean is, I have Huntington's disease."
There was a moment of silence between them. Will got up from he sat and took a stool next to Ethan.
"Mate, I'm sorry. Does she know?"
Ethan nodded. "Yeah, I told her. She took it pretty well."
"How do you think she would take it?"
Ethan shrugged. Then he sighed.
"What is it?" Will asked.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm happy about having this child but,"
"You're scared?" Will said understandingly.
Ethan nodded. "Yeah, I'm scared. I'm scared about my symptoms starting, about not knowing whether or not I'm able to help raise the baby. I'm scared that the baby could have inherited the gene. I'm worried that Fenisha's going to have to go through the whole pregnancy by herself. I just don't know what to do. If Cal was here, he'd know. At least then I would have some support."
"Ethan," Will started to say. "Even though Cal's no longer with you, he'll always be there. And anyway, you'll have us here at the hospital to help you. You're not alone. Plus, if your baby is a boy, you can name him 'Caleb' after Cal. That way there will be a part of him always with you."
Ethan gave Will a small smile.
"Thanks, Will."
"No problem. And Cal would have made a great uncle. He'd be one of those uncles that would do anything for his niece or nephew."
"Yeah, he would have. He'd be one of those cool uncles."
"Haha, yep. That he would be."