Monday, 07 September 2015

Cal woke up to the sound of his phone ringing. He couldn't quite identify the sound at first, having only managed to get to sleep four hours ago and so he was still very tired, but when he did he groaned loudly and wondered what the hell the person wanted.

He rolled over and grabbed his phone, swiping to answer the call. "What?"

"Dr Knight."

"Connie," he shrieked, sitting up in his bed and severely regretting his greeting. He cleared his sleep-ridden throat. "Mrs Beauchamp."

"I know it's short notice and you're technically not working at the moment but we're short staffed and having trouble getting locums in. There's a major incident and we could do with some extra hands."

Cal curled his toes and clenched his teeth, blowing out a breath in between them. He did his best to sound happy and ready for it but his mind was still slightly foggy from sleep and he was anything but happy and ready for it. "Or course. I'll be there as soon as I can." He hung up before listening to Connie's response, knowing that he shouldn't have done but not really caring.

He'd spent, since the accident, the best part of the time sleeping. And if he wasn't sleeping he was watching awful boxsets and trying to get his mind off Ethan. Max and Lofty popped round (Cal wondered if he'd have to spell it out for them: he wantefd to b E) and cleaned his flat and made him a couple of dinners - though Lofty cooked, no-one trusted Max to - and eventually left him again.

The only person he wanted company from was Ethan and the only way he'd get that would be to see the damage he had caused and the face of his ill little brother who he had let down.

But now, maybe now he could start to make up for it. After all, he was a doctor. And doctors save lives.

Dr McKay smiled at Ethan, who was looking at him through half-lidded and tired-looking eyes. "Hello, Ethan."

Ethan, as expected, made little response. He was sat up slightly, his bed having been lifted a while ago. His mouth twitched as if he wanted to say something but nothing happened.

"Do you think you recognise me?" He knew it was touch and go with Ethan's memory. They hoped that he had suffered little brain damage but everyone knew that at least some damage had been done. Now it was just a case of working out what and how they could adapt to it.

Dr McKay waited patiently for any reaponse from Ethan, hoping he was aware enough to understand. A small nod downwards, while a tiny gesture, filled Dr McKay with hope.

Ethan was responding.

Cal was determined to save this patient. The "major incident" Connie had informed him of on the phone really was major. A tow-truck (Cal couldn't help thinking of how ironic that was) and a delivery van had collided on the slippery and wet motorway, and what ensued from that was nothing short of carnage. There had been no reported deaths yet, and Cal was not going to make his patient the first.

She was only 24 years old, having been driving to work at the time. Her name was Stephanie Potter and before she had deteriorated, she had informed them that her father and little sister had died only four months prior and it was just her mother left.

And that she was scared of dying.

Cal's own heart nearly stopped beating when Stephanie's did, a mere minute after confessing how terrified she was. Cal was not going to let her die, was not going to let her mother suffer even more. He had not lost Ethan but he had come pretty close, and he had lost family in the past. He knew damn well too much about how it felt to lose the people closest to you. This family would not be ripped apart further, not on Cal's watch.

And so here he was, slicing into a 24-year-old's chest to save her life, to get her young heart beating again. Two hours ago, she was driving to her job. Now she was lying, as good as dead, on a hospital bed.

"Are you going to treat anymore patients today, Doctor Knight, or are you going to spend your entire shift watching over this one?"

Cal turned around from monitoring Stephanie (who they had thankfully got breathing and alive again and were now waiting for a bed on ICU) and looked directly into the eyes of his boss. Uncaring of what could come out of this - he'd had an awful day and that was if you ignore the constant questions about his wellbeing and Ethan's condition and sympathetic glances - he simply said, "oh, I'm sorry for caring about my patient. You should try it sometime, I believe it's called having a heart."

And it mildly amused Cal to see Connie crack a smile. "What?"

"It's good to have you back, Cal."

He huffed and turned to Stephanie's monitors, making sure she was still stable.

"And if you're up for it," Connie said behind him, "you can come back to work part, or even full time."

"Of course." Anything to take my mind off Ethan, and maybe even mend and save other people's lives considering I was so bad at doing it with my own brother.

...I'm even spiteful in my own head.

Cal entered the relatives room. Stephanie's mother had arrived a while ago and until Cal had made sure that Stephanie had gone up to ICU, he had asked Noel to make sure her mother stayed in the relatives room. But now came the hard part.

"Mrs Potter." He held out his hand. "Cal."

Her cold one took his. "Elizabeth's fine. Please, tell me. How's Stephanie? No-one's telling me anything and all I know is she was in the accident on the motorway and -"

"Please take a seat, Elizabeth. Look -" he took a seat himself "- Stephanie was in a pretty bad way when she arrived here. Unfortunately there were some complications -

"Complications? What complications? Please I can't lose her too she's all I have."

"- but we managed to sort them out." He studied her face for long moment. She looked tired and worn down, like she was stuck in a constant pit of grief. "She will be okay, Elizabeth. It's just a matter of her body healing."

"So, where is she? Can I see her? I need to see my daughter."

"She's in our intensive care unit." He held his hands up to stall her interruption. "I know it sounds bad - and the doctors up there will be able to explaon it better than I ever will, but her body is in the healing process now. She was injured very badly but she will get better. She's-she's going to need a lot of support though."

"Yes, of course. I love her to peices of couse I'll support her."

I love Ethan to peices too, doesn't make it any easier. "Yes. Right. Um, you can see her now if you'd like... it's, um, on the third floor, past the -"

"I'm no good with directions," she said apologetically. "Can you, would you mind showing me?"

Cal, begrudgingly, agreed. He doubted all this woman needed was to be shown where it was and instead needed the company, reassurance even.

He just hoped they wouldn't pass the one person that Cal desperately wanted to see, because seeing Ethan and walking away was much worse than not seeing him at all. Not seeing the better brother lying there, when he should be in Cal's position, saving lives.