Becs2202, I think I'd be inclined to agree. Thank you!
CPTeen16, I can try – I'm not as big a fan of hurt!Cal and caring!Ethan, and as I'm sure you can tell I'm not the speediest with updates, but watch this space!
sweeet-as-honey, thank you! I don't imagine that Connie would appreciate the inefficiency of a member of her team even if they had dragged themselves out of bed to work. I do also like that Cal respects what Ethan wants him to believe even though he is the older sibling – I know that I wouldn't be as patient with my younger siblings!
CBloom2, thank you! I could probably read them all day too, although I can't claim to be as efficient in writing them.
Tanith Panic, thank you so much! I think I'm just very impatient with the summaries after working on a piece for some time.
Guest, thank you, it's always reassuring to know that someone thinks I'm writing people in character!
Ethan had to excuse himself from the cubicle, for the third time that hour, when he felt his nose get all itchy again.
He sniffed, making a quick visual scan to check that Cal was nowhere in sight, and slipped into the staff toilets. Breath hitching desperately, Ethan just about managed to grab a couple of tissues from his pocket before three consecutive sneezes burst out of him, muffled into the fabric. He sighed heavily, sniffing and wiping his nose on the tissues. Ethan looked around, thankfully noticing that no one else was in the room, and went to sit down in a cubicle, resting his spinning head in his hands. The sneezing had done nothing to help his head, or his nauseous stomach, which didn't fail to make itself known by churning and throbbing uneasily.
Ethan took a deep breath and closed his eyes, feeling a wave of heat pass over him. He surprised himself by letting a small whimper escape his lips, however he was soon leaning over the toilet bowl, breathing heavily and wrapping an arm around his swirling abdomen.
No, Ethan, you will not do that here, okay?
Squeezing his eyes shut, he blew out a shaky breath and wearily pushed himself up off the floor, leaning on to the wall for support.
Ethan staggered over to the sink and splashed some cold water over his face, squeezing his eyes shut again as he struggled to hold his aching head up. He swallowed harshly, wiping the back of his hand over his flushed cheeks and subconsciously resting a hand over his stomach. Ethan sniffed; readjusting his glasses and making his way back out into the E.D.
Thankfully, he was able to drop by the staffroom and swallow a couple more Nurofen, which went seemingly unnoticed, before he had to return to his patient with the excuse of being caught up in an emergency.
Once the discharge forms had been signed, Ethan made his way over to Admin to touch up the notes. He sniffed, feeling the congestion beginning to set in, and rubbed his forehead in hope of easing his headache. Ethan didn't think he would be able to last much longer. He was becoming increasingly bunged up, his head was that of a jumbled, feverish mess and he felt so, so sick.
Ethan closed his eyes as he felt his vision begin to spin and let his forehead drop into his now stilled hands. He could feel his legs start to wobble beneath him, warm air flowing into his surroundings. His head felt like it was swimming.
"Ethan?"
The young doctor jumped, staggering backwards on shaky legs. He felt himself falling for a second, but when he opened his eyes he found he was in Cal's arms.
"Hey, jumpy," Cal laughed lightly, pushing Ethan up straight again. He frowned, feeling the younger sway under his grip, and kept his hands firmly on his brother's shoulders. "Ethan, buddy?"
Ethan shivered, wiping a hand across his clammy forehead. "Yeh?" he breathed.
Cal's frown deepened. "Did you just nearly faint?"
The younger weakly shook his jumbled head, breathing heavily and closing his eyes again. He felt Cal's hand on his forehead and flinched, it felt like ice. "Too cold…" he slurred, feeling himself shivering again.
"Alright, buddy, you're burning…" Cal sighed, turning Ethan to face him.
Ethan's face had completely blanched, and he had his eyes squeezed tightly shut. "Cal," he whispered, still breathing too fast and too heavily, "feel weird… d-dizzy." His head flopped against Cal's chest, and he had to grasp on to Cal's forearms to steady himself.
"Whoa there, let's get you sat down, alright?" said Cal, moving one of his hands from Ethan's shoulders so that he could wrap an arm around his waist.
He felt Ethan nod against his shoulder, leaning more of his weight on Cal as he tried to bury his roasting forehead in Cal's chest.
"No one's looking, buddy, just try to concentrate on breathing," Cal rubbed his back, helping Ethan to slowly inch forward towards the staff room.
As soon as Cal started moving him forward Ethan wanted to scream his protests, but he didn't think it would do anything for his headache and Ethan doubted he'd be able to sum up enough energy to shout. The hospital in front of him was spinning, tumbling tauntingly in front of Ethan in the hazy depths of his stuffy head. Being so close to his brother wasn't helping either; it seemed as though Cal's body heat was only elevating his temperature further. Cal's movements seemed too rough and too quick and Ethan felt as though his whirling head couldn't keep up. He felt his body sway to the side again as he cringed away from the heat, but Cal was quick to bring him back close. "Stop…" Ethan panted, swatting away Cal's hand and blowing out a shaky breath.
His head felt way too heavy as he squinted around for something to latch on to. He didn't get much luck though; his already diminished vision was obscured by a cloudy mist. Ethan blinked several times, but the world indecorously refused to normalise.
It wasn't long before he felt Cal's freezing hands on his back again, but his arms felt too feeble and achy and too heavy to lift up in protest. He could just about hear Cal's calls of his name over the ringing in his ears, but in his jumbled state it was as if he'd forgotten how to form a reply. Ethan closed his eyes, trying to lean into Cal's support if he couldn't fight against it, however it didn't do anything to dismiss the nausea in his stomach or the pounding in his head. If he could just stop his ridiculing head from spinning then maybe- maybe he could…
Cal was half expecting Ethan's knees to buckle when they did and – with his arms full of not-so-baby brother – he realised the whole ordeal could've been avoided if he'd just carried Ethan into the staff room in the first place. "What am I going to do with you?" he muttered, sighing heavily under his brother's weight, and decided not to tease him about his height for a while, considering their present arrangement. He supposed Ethan would also be glad that he was small enough for Cal not to award him with an abundance of bruises, courtesy of the ED floor.
Cal heard the heels before he saw her. "Dr Knight? Would you consider this appropriate behaviour for an Emergency Department?"
Cal cringed, looking over his shoulder and instantly regretting the eye contact he made with his boss. "Ethan fainted, Mrs Beauchamp. I was trying to get him sat down in the staff room but we-"
"I'm your boss, Dr Knight, not your biographer. Dr Hardy can rest for an hour and then I want him back on the shop floor, unless he's feeling any worse by that time, in which case tell him he can come and find me, okay?" Mrs Beauchamp upheld eye contact.
Cal felt as though she was glowering right into him. "Got it, boss."
Without so much as a correction, Connie stalked back into her office, heels resounding across Admin.
Cal patted Ethan's back, hoisting him up as he felt him slipping. "I'm sure you'll look forward to it, won't you, buddy?" he murmured.
Disappointingly, Ethan didn't feel very refreshed when he woke up.
He'd been eager to wake to find himself buried under his duvet, birds chirping and sun beams gently shining through gaps in the curtains.
As it was, all he was met with was the uncomfortable staff room sofa and a pounding headache.
The only noise in the room was his brother's persistent calls of his name, though he could hear the faint hum of the ED, but Ethan guessed the staff room door had been closed. He opened his eyes, so much for that idealised fantasy.
No gentle sun beams or comfy duvets were anywhere in sight, just the blinding glare of the bright hospital lights. Ethan felt as though his stomach might rebel, but he couldn't comprehend that that was only down to the sight of the staff room. He closed his eyes again, wondering if he would've fathomed over why the lights were so intensely glaring, if a hospital was supposed to be a welcoming and comfortable for sick people, if he didn't feel so drained.
He heard his brother say his name again and frowned, wishing the older deigned to expand his vocabulary. It might've given Ethan a little more incentive to engage with the day again, maybe. Cal was nothing if not consistent, though.
Ethan rolled away from Cal, sniffing and rubbing his eyes.
He felt Cal's hands on his shoulders. "Nibbles, I know you're awake."
"Mmmm," Ethan grumbled, burying his face into a cushion to try and escape the luminescence. "Why am I here?" he whispered. The sofa felt scratchy against his skin and Ethan could only conclude that his aching head had been laying on an armrest of igneous rock for centuries.
Cal raised his eyebrows. "Well, it was the closest place to carry dead weight to."
The younger sighed, making a pathetic attempt to slap Cal's shoulder. "Sorry…" Ethan's cheeks flushed.
"It's fine, you're really sm-" Cal remembered his own word. Even though Ethan was safely on the sofa by now, he wouldn't want to risk it for the sake of a little teasing over a few inches. Besides, there were plenty of alternative things to rally about when it came to his little brother. He sighed. "Are we going to talk about what just happened?"
"No," said Ethan, his eyes still closed.
"It's just, I'm pretty sure dust has never made you faint before… Well, actually, there was that one time where you-"
Ethan's hand met with his arm again.
"Okay, okay. So I'm assuming you're completely fine and perfectly able to walk right out of here and go and deal with all those patients in the waiting room, then?" Cal smirked.
The younger whimpered, pushing feeble fists into Cal's chest to try and shove the older away. "Head hurts, Cal…"
"Oh! So you're admitting being ill?" Cal snickered, enclosing his own hands around Ethan's knuckles and moving them out of range. "Paws off, Nibbles."
Ethan made a noise of protest, letting his arms go weak in Cal's grip. He bit down on his lip when he felt it begin to wobble, nodding slowly. He felt a bit helpless.
Cal smiled sadly, stroking his thumb over the back of Ethan's hand. "Do you want me to get you anything? – I'm going to go and see Mrs Beauchamp – but I can make you some tea? Or fetch some paracetamol or tissues?"
Ethan pulled away slightly and stifled a sneeze into his elbow. He whimpered, lifting his arm hurt.
"Bless you; I'm guessing that's a yes to the tissues."
Ethan sniffed. "There's some in my bag," he handed Cal his locker key.
"Okay, one sec," Cal forsook his position, trying to be sharpish when he heard Ethan sniff again from across the room.
He handed Ethan the tissues. "Do you need anything else before I go? Something to eat or drink? – you did just faint, actually, so that's probably a good idea…" Cal stopped when he caught a glimpse of the grimace on his brother's face. "What?"
Ethan swallowed, "I guess some tea would be okay." He immediately felt his stomach protest, as if it was punishing him for the impending mistake. "But no sugar… please."
"That's not like you," Cal immediately picked up on the abnormality.
"Mmmm, I feel a bit- quite sick, rather, so…"
"Sensible plan then," said Cal, grabbing a teaspoon and – "Do you want milk?"
"…Only a small bit," Ethan rested a hand on his stomach.
Cal nodded in understanding, swinging the fridge door closed.
He looked over at Ethan sympathetically. The younger had sat up now, but he was still curled up in the corner of the sofa, shivering, and his head seemed to have taken a particular liking towards the back cushions. Ethan at present had half of his face buried in tissues, but Cal could still spot how tired he looked.
He sneezed again as Cal was pouring the hot water from the kettle.
"Bless you." Cal went to sit beside Ethan whilst he waited for the tea to brew. He rubbed the younger's back when he lent forward with another three sneezes. "Bless you!"
Ethan moaned lightly, burying his face in his tissues and resting his forehead on his knees.
"Eth?" Cal stroked his brother's arm, sounding concerned.
"I'm okay," Ethan said congestedly, "just feel a bit faint."
Cal frowned. "Are you sure you don't want anything to eat?"
Ethan shook his head, burying another sneeze into his tissues.
"Bless you." Cal rested a comforting hand on his brother's knee whilst he sighed deeply a couple of times and blew his nose.
"Sorry…" Ethan mumbled, holding his tissues to his face as he continued to fight against his fluttering eyelids.
"You're fine," Cal patted his knee. He felt his brother flinch and immediately silence his hitching breath when the staff room door opened, but all the younger could do was turn to face the wall and stifle the next two sneezes into his tissues.
Cal rubbed Ethan's back when he sighed heavily, and handed him another tissue for his teary eyes.
"Bless you," The two men looked around to see Zoe sat across the room. She looked up from her notes when Ethan muttered his apologies and a concerned frown made its way on to her face. "Are you sure you should be here, Ethan?"
"My thoughts exactly," Cal said, patting Ethan's knee again and jumping up to save the tea before it was thick enough to stand a spoon in.
Ethan just sniffed in reply, sighing heavily and resting his throbbing forehead on his knees.
"I was going to go and see Mrs Beauchamp," Cal continued, "but I think even she could see that Ethan's about to keel over, so I think I'll take him home now - instead of waiting for her - if I can clear it with you?"
"Yeh, course. I'm sure Mrs Beauchamp would appreciate you coming back once Ethan's settled though, Cal."
Cal nodded. "Wouldn't expect any less." He sat back down beside Ethan, ruffling his hair. "Have a drink of that for a bit," he handed his brother the mug of tea, "and then we'll get you home, buddy."
