sweeet as honey: I prefer this story and I just found the storylines merging so it was kind of pointless keeping both of them. You'll see a different side to Ethan in this chapter and maybe in some future chapters as well. Lily and Ethan are going to stay together for the time being though, for Ethan's sake.
Chapter Eighteen
Ethan couldn't concentrate properly. He'd never felt like it before, like he'd been punched in the stomach, not even when he was diagnosed with Huntington's. He thought that he was finally happy when he and Lily got married and had Ava, he never in a million years thought that the whole marriage and kids thing would happen to him. But it did and now Cal had ruined it for him, as always. Lily had taken the afternoon off to look after Ava but Ethan still had Cal to try and avoid. It wasn't as easy as it seemed.
"Ethan!" Cal shouted as he followed his brother through the reception area of the ED. "Ethan, I need your help with a patient. Come on man, talk to me. What's happened? Are you okay?"
"Am I okay?" Ethan asked and turned to face Cal with an angry look on his face. "Am I okay?" He repeated, gritting his teeth and clenching his hands into fists.
"What's happened?" Cal asked him.
Ethan didn't say anything. Instead, he just lunged forwards and punched him straight in the face. Cal stumbled backwards with a hand over his face, yelling out in pain as he quickly gripped the edge of the reception desk.
"Doctor Hardy!" Connie shouted, striding towards the scene. "What on earth do you think you're doing?"
"Just get him out," Ethan threatened. "I don't want him anywhere near me!"
"What the hell have I done?" Cal asked, dramatically holding his arms out.
"Ethan, go and calm yourself down," Connie whispered softly to him. "Now. You are not fit to be working at the moment."
"I hate you, Cal!" Ethan shouted at him. "You slept with my wife! How could you do that to me?" Cal gulped and took a few steps back, hands hidden deep in the pockets of his jeans. "You took the one thing that I was happy about away from me, I'm never going to forgive you for that."
"Ethan..." Cal went to say.
"No." Ethan shook his head and pursed his lips together. "You're not my brother anymore," he said, before storming off to calm himself down.
"Go on, you can make the tower higher than that," Lily laughed, as she sat back on the floor and watched Ava build a tower out of her different coloured building blocks. "Good girl," Lily praised and clapped her hands together, stopping mid-clap as the front door slammed shut. "Ethan!" She called.
"Just don't talk to me," Ethan muttered and threw his coat over the arm of the sofa.
"What are you doing home so early?" Lily asked, ignoring his angry request.
"Mrs Beauchamp sent me home," he whispered, without looking her in the eye. "I punched Cal."
"What?" Lily gasped. "Ethan, no! I didn't want this to happen. Come on, you have to sort things out between you and your brother."
"I'm going to bed," Ethan sighed.
"It's only the middle of the afternoon," Lily said to him.
"I don't care!" Ethan called over his shoulder as he made his way up the stairs to their bedroom.
"Is daddy okay?" Ava asked, looking at her mother with a worried expression.
"He's just had a bad day at work," Lily whispered, rubbing at her stomach. "He'll be fine. He loves us, doesn't he? And, he loves this baby as well."
"Where is the baby, mummy?" Ava asked.
"Well, I told you didn't I?" Lily said and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "It's in mummy's tummy."
Ava looked at her for a few seconds and shook her head. "I don't believe you."
"Why?" Lily laughed and frowned at her daughter.
"Because...That...That's really impossible, isn't it mummy?" Ava said, wearily rubbing at her eyes. "It can't be in your tummy because it's a baby. It doesn't make a lot of sense now, does it? Unless you eated it all up for dinner."
Lily chuckled and shook her head. "You'll understand when you're older," she said. "Are you okay to play by yourself for a little bit? Mummy just needs to go and have a little talk with daddy."
"I'll be good," Ava promised.
Lily ruffled her hair and slowly made her way up the stairs. She couldn't hear anything. She gulped and took a deep breath, before walking into their bedroom. Ethan was just lying on the bed reading his Huntington's book. He immediately looked up when Lily entered the room.
"What are you doing?" She whispered and hovered in the doorway.
"Reading that book I ordered," Ethan answered. "The one that you hid from me. What were you even doing, opening my parcels?" Lily was silent. She bit her lip, she'd completely forgot about that. "I don't even know who you are anymore, Lily."
"What do you mean?" Lily asked him.
"You've just become extremely paranoid," Ethan said. "Thinking that Cal is trying to kidnap Ava, opening parcels that are addressed to me. What about this baby, hmm? Are you even pregnant or was that just some clever scheme to keep me hmm?"
"That is not true," Lily said, pointing a finger at him. "I am pregnant!"
"Sorry," Ethan apologised. "We used to be happy though and then I find out that Ava might not even be mine. Look, it's her birthday coming up and we have this baby on the way so like I said, I'll let it go. I just don't know if I'll ever forgive you. Just...Understand that I am more angry with Cal right now."
"How can you let it go though when you have just punched your own brother?" Lily asked. "You work in the same place, Ethan. You're going to see him everyday."
"I'll figure it out," Ethan sighed and closed his book. "I do love you Lily, you...You know that right?" Lily nodded with tears in her eyes. "It just hurt me."
"I know," Lily whispered. "But it was a one time thing and Ava is definitely your daughter. I'd never cheat on you Ethan, I swear. I just...I wasn't in the right frame of mind at that point, Cal was just there."
"Okay," Ethan sighed and ran his hands down his face. "I'm going to get some sleep though, I'm feeling tired."
"Can I get you anything?" Lily asked.
"Not right now," he said. "I'll come downstairs later. Maybe we can um...Plan Ava's birthday party when she's gone to bed or something."
"I'd like that," Lily agreed, knowing that that would make them feel like a proper family again. She went to walk out of the room but stopped. "Ethan," she said, before leaving. "I love you too."
But Ethan didn't answer her as he'd already had enough for one day.
Sorry I didn't update yesterday. I really wanted to get the next chapter written but work was really busy and then I had my singing and drama class in the evening.
