Chapter 4
The evening chill was biting and Cal nearly slipped on an icy patch as he walked to his car. He wrapped himself further into his coat and tried not to imagine all the different things that might have happened to Ethan.
He didn't plan to be away for long - he'd just pick up his brother, make sure he hadn't done anything too stupid, and drive straight back to the hospital to finish his shift. A small, naive part of him had even hoped he could be back before anyone - most especially Mrs Beauchamp - noticed he'd left. Unfortunately the ice was having an adverse effect on traffic, and twenty minutes later he found himself stuck in a traffic jam, drumming the wheel of his car agitatedly.
His phone began to ring, probably someone from the hospital. He ignored it. A few more minutes passed in which he moved all of twelve metres and it started ringing again.
"Where are you Ethan," he muttered, glancing out to the oppressive darkness pressing against the window. Ethan said on the phone that the last thing he remembered was being on the A-road that led from their flat to Holby... he was somewhere near the T-junction, apparently.
With a frustrated huff, Cal rejected the incoming call - from Lofty, as it turned out - and sent a text to Ethan.
What can you see near you?
A few minutes passed, and there was no response. Cal groaned - could his brother be any more unhelpful? He refused the new call coming in - Robyn this time - and dialed Ethan's number.
"Hi this is Dr Ethan Hardy, please leave a message with your name and I'll-"
"Dammit!" Cal jabbed his phone viciously and hung up. There'd been no dialling tone, so Ethan's mobile must have run out of charge.
He was coming up to the T-junction now, and he could see flashing lights. Cal wound his window down as he passed a few uniformed officers.
"What happened?" he asked them, trying to peer past at the crash site. "Was anyone hurt?"
"Driver lost control of a lorry," one of the officers answered. "Crashed into a car. We're sorry for the disruption, but he's trapped in there and the fire service are trying to get him out."
"What about the other car? Was the driver okay?"
"Taken to hospital a few hours ago," the traffic officer said. "Crushed up against the steering wheel, poor bloke... Can't say any more than that I'm afraid."
Crushed up against a steering wheel...
Cal blinked. It must have been his patient from earlier.
"Are you alright sir?"
Cal forced himself back into the present - none of this helped him find Ethan - thanked the officers and continued slowly past the scene of the accident. He was about to turn left on the junction, when he saw something.
It was a tiny byroad, unlit and nearly invisible in the night, just before the turn-off. Inspiration seized him and, hoping his intuition was correct, Cal turned slowly down it. After his earlier slip on the ice he knew there was no such thing as being too careful in this weather.
Ethan's car was halfway down the road, its front wheels in a ditch and the engine cut. Cal parked his own haphazardly and, with what he would call a "brisk walk" but many others would label "a panicked sprint", went over to wrench open the passenger door to Ethan's car.
It was dark inside, but Cal could see the shadowy outline of his brother behind the steering wheel.
"Ethan?"