Ethan's eyes flickered open slowly, his head felt like it was stuffed with cotton wool. His stomach was swollen, as if he had eaten a whole roast dinner and pudding. He felt dizzy, uncomfortable and a bit nauseous. 'C-Cal?' He groaned.
'I'm right here Nibbles' Cal whispered taking his hand. 'You're surgery went well, you just need to take it easy. Mr Self said he would pop by in a bit to check on you but you did really well and there were no issues' Cal assured him.
'Hurts' Ethan whimpered.
'I know, we'll get you some more pain relief but you just rest and take it easy' Cal whispered tucking the blankets gently around his brother.
A nurse came in and administered some more morphine and to check on Ethan.
Guy Self came in a few minutes later after hearing that Ethan was now awake. 'Dr Hardy, how are you feeling?' He asked.
'Sore, but nothing to be unexpected'
'That's good to hear. When you are up for it, we will be moving you to a private room at the request of Mrs Beauchamp, she demanded you receive VIP treatment and that you are somewhere quiet so you can receive some visitors, there will only be one or two at a time but it appears that you are one popular team member, something I must commend you on. I've never seen Connie Beauchamp so concerned for one of her members of staff before' Guy explained.
Ethan was shocked. He had never really had people worrying about him so much and caring as much as his colleagues did. Cal stood up to speak with the surgeon. He returned to his seat a moment later to stay with his brother.
'How are you doing?' Cal asked.
'Feel a bit sick, pass me a bowl' Ethan groaned.
He started throwing up, Cal dashed to his side, to comfort him. He settled back onto the bed and began to drift off to sleep, his shoulder aching and his ribs tender along with the wound to his abdomen, he wasn't feeling good but his discomfort seemed to melt away as he slowly succumbed to sleep.
When he woke, he was in a private room, his colleagues gathered around waiting for him to wake. 'Well Nibbles, you've been given a get out of jail free card, Mrs Beauchamp is speaking to Mr Self and they have agreed to discharge you, so long as this handsome knight in shining armour spends the next two weeks looking after you, along with some assistance from the ED staff' Cal joked.
'ED Medics Assemble' Lofty shouted, everyone taking superhero stances, making Ethan chuckle. Connie returned to the room with some papers.
She handed the forms to Cal. 'Right, you have got two weeks off, but if you need more time just give me a ring, you need to keep an eye on his stitches, they should be taken out on Friday at the latest, and if you need anything let us know. Some of the staff will pop by in their breaks and time off to give you a hand should you need it' Connie told Cal. 'And you, do exactly as Cal tells you and get well soon' Connie added to Ethan.
Ethan grinned as everyone left. 'What are you smiling at?' Cal asked.
'Who would have known that having major surgery would get you some time off work, we should do this more often' Ethan joked.
'Maybe not' Cal chuckled. 'Come on, let's get you out of bed and into this wheelchair' Cal whispered. He wrapped one of his arms around Ethan's mid section whilst using the other to hoist him up. He was careful not to touch his incision wound. Ethan moaned as he began to move.
'Stop, Cal, please stop' Ethan pleaded before sinking into the pillows. 'I can't it really hurts' Ethan whimpered.
'Alright, we'll get you some morphine first and see if that eases it' Cal suggested before leaving to fetch the drug. He injected it into the cannula in his brother's arm before trying to get him out of bed again. After a short amount of time, Ethan was safely nestled in his chair, comfortable and ready to go home. Cal had to take him through the ED so he could grab some things from Zoe, which mainly consisted of medical supplies for when Ethan was to have his stitches taken out and to prevent infection and relieve pain.
Cal went to her office and when he returned he found his brother talking to a young girl. 'Don't worry, I promise this young man here is so gentle, you won't even feel a thing. See the doctor did the same test to me, and look there is hardly a mark there now' Ethan smiled hugging the tiny girl. 'I promise, Lofty is a really nice guy, you should ask him to tell you jokes, he is very funny' he told her before gesturing to Lofty that he could take her.