LittleBritishPerson, I'm not keen on textspeak either - I find it much quicker to type the actual words than remember the short forms! It did hurt Cal a lot, but Ethan and Megan needed him. And now Cal needs Ethan! Thank you for your review.
Tanith Panic, I hope Ethan's listening to you because you're exactly right! I would go mad if a doctor tried to cut up a pair of my shoes. Unless they looked like Cal, Ethan, Lily, Connie or Zoe, in which case they could do anything they wanted. Thank you for your review!
CBloom2, thank you for your review. I'm glad Ethan has so much support - he really needs all the support he can get at the moment and not everyone is understanding of phobias.
Tato Potato, thank you for your review. I'm sure Ethan would want to help really, but he's struggling a lot as you said. I think a lot of people would be struggling after that ordeal, even if they weren't usually scared of heights.
X-Sammii-X, don't worry - I'm grateful for reviews whenever they come and I love your new fanfiction so your time was well-spent! I like Cal's serious side too - he doesn't usually joke around when someone really needs help. Thank you for your review.
tracys dream, thank you for your review - I think everyone is hoping Ethan goes to help Cal! So if I've written something different, I'll be in trouble!
ETWentHome, thank you for your review - I'm so glad you like the story. Ethan really was in danger and luckily, our knight in shining armour can't resist a doctor in distress! Especially if he gets to meet a damsel straight afterwards.
Ethan heard the phone ring, but he didn't want to answer it. What was the point? It was probably just Cal letting him know that he hadn't reached Megan in time and they'd lost her. A text arrived shortly afterwards, but Ethan ignored that too. He hated himself so much.
He buried his face back in the cushion and cried, but the text message was haunting him and he couldn't leave it unread. Even if it was bad news, he had to know.
Ethan sat up, sniffling, and pulled his phone from his pocket. More tears fell from his eyes as he read Cal's text. He didn't know how he was supposed to help Megan. He was useless. If Cal couldn't help, Ethan had no chance.
He started to crawl back under the duvet, but then he stopped. He couldn't ignore this. If Megan had multiple injuries, Cal probably couldn't treat them all at once and the small first aid kit he'd taken was very limited. One of the large bags would be far more useful to him. Even Ethan ought to be able to cope with carrying a bag to the flat next door.
Ethan wiped his eyes and nose on a tissue and put his glasses back on. He had no idea where Cal's medical bag was and Cal wasn't always good about replacing what he used, but Ethan, on the other hand, had a full supply of everything. He also knew exactly where it was, as long as Cal hadn't moved it. Luckily, he hadn't, and Ethan was about to leave when he remembered something. Cal had left his crutches on the balcony. He'd been struggling to walk without them even before he'd had to rescue his stupid brother; his ankle would be feeling even worse now.
Ethan hurried towards the balcony, but then he stopped, remembering what had happened the last time he'd been there. He remembered his foot slipping. He remembered the drop below.
He was shaking as he approached the balcony. The sight of the rail reminded him of when he'd climbed over it and his feet stopped moving as more tears poured down his cheeks. He felt his knees buckling and he collapsed on the floor, sobbing. To think he'd always called Cal the useless brother when all the time…
Ethan only lifted his head when the need to blow his nose became paramount, but when he did look up, he realised something. Cal's crutches were on the floor. He could reach them without standing up.
Ethan was still terrified. He was sure the balcony would be less stable after he and Cal had been climbing all over it, but he knew he couldn't give up. He sobbed as he crawled across the floor and felt sick with terror, but at last, his hand closed around one of the crutches. He reached out for the other one and after a few calming breaths, he was able to turn around and go back into the flat on his knees.
He'd done it. He was a stupid, useless, cry-baby, but he'd still done it.
Ethan checked he still had his doorkey, slung the bag over one shoulder and grabbed another tissue so he could deal with his tears on the way. When Ethan knocked on Megan's door a few moments later, his tears almost gone, there was no answer, but he knew Cal wouldn't be able to get to the door very quickly. Ethan waited patiently and soon the door was opened.
"Ethan!" Cal looked pale but relieved. "I'm so glad you came. Megan has a minor head injury and an open fracture of the left tibia. She's showing signs of shock, but she's still conscious, though she can't move or speak."
"I brought your crutches," said Ethan, and shoved them into Cal's hands before running towards the balcony. When he realised what he'd almost done, he stopped on the threshold, looking down at the patient and trying to persuade himself to step out onto the balcony and help her. He saw the gauze resting lightly on Megan's head, doing nothing but soaking up more blood, and a heavily-padded bandage around her left leg.
He heard the click of Cal's crutches as he hopped over to join Ethan. "Can you sort her head out while I check her over for other injuries?"
Ethan shook his head. "Maybe you should do it, Cal."
Cal stood on his good leg and put his hands on Ethan's shoulders. "No. You do this, Ethan. I know you can, but you need to prove it to yourself."
"I can't," said Ethan, beginning to shake as his eyes filled with tears again.
"Yes, you-" Cal stopped, the colour draining from his face. Without thinking, Ethan took a cardboard bowl from the bag and gave it to Cal. He helped Cal to sit down and rubbed his back sympathetically as he threw up, knowing the pain in his ankle had finally become unbearable, but his doctor's instincts had kicked in now and he knew he couldn't afford to spend too much time comforting his brother. He needed to stop Megan's head wound from bleeding. It was possible there was internal bleeding which they couldn't see, but that made it even more imperative that they did whatever they could to prevent her brain's oxygen supply from weakening further.
Ethan dropped to his knees and crawled onto the balcony. "Hi, Megan. It's Ethan. Cal's brother. I'm just going to put some more gauze against your head for you. There: I hope that doesn't hurt, but I need to put pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding." He pulled a much larger bandage from the bag. "Now I'm going to put a roller bandage around your head, which will put the pressure on for me while I'm doing other things. I'll be very careful to move your head as little as possible. There you are. Now, lie there quietly and the ambulance will be here soon." He turned to Cal, who was still hunched over the bowl. "How do you know she's conscious?"
"She can move her eyelids a bit," explained Cal in a weak voice.
"Can you flutter your eyes for me, please, Megan?" asked Ethan. "I'd be ever so grateful. Girls hardly ever flutter their eyelashes at me." He smiled when there was a response. "Once more for me? Make a poor, geeky doctor very happy? Thank you. That's perfect."
He couldn't check the skin under her fingernails due to nail varnish and he was wary of pressing the earlobe because of the size of her earrings – the ear bled easily and he didn't want her to lose any more blood. But when he gently opened her mouth, he could see the grey-blue of cyanosis on the inside of her lips. Along with her fast, shallow breathing and a very thready pulse, this indicated that shock was rapidly developing.
Ethan examined her top, which looked a little bit tight, and picked up the scissors Cal had discarded. "Sorry, Megan, but I'm going to cut open your top. I need to reduce constriction to help you breathe. There you are. And now, because medicine can be a surprisingly illogical profession, I'm going to cover you up again with my shirt." He removed it quickly and put it over Megan. "There: that should help to keep you warm." Blankets would be better, but Ethan didn't want to leave Megan and he didn't like to ask Cal when he was in so much pain.
"Is that..." began Cal.
Ethan had heard it too. "The ambulance is here, Megan. The paramedics should be here soon. They'll have equipment with them so they'll be able to do a lot more than we can. We might be doctors, but we are a bit useless when we don't have equipment. All you've got to do is hang on for just a little bit longer and you'll be okay."
He checked Megan's vital signs as they waited, checking not only for a pulse at her wrist – which was still there, just about – but for a pulse below the bandages. Although the blood supply was weakened, he didn't want to cut it off still further by making the bandages too tight.
He almost collapsed with relief when he heard the knock on the door. "I'll go, Cal. You rest your ankle." He got up and hurried to the door, smiling when he saw Dixie and Iain. "I'm so glad you're here. Our patient is called Megan and I would guess she's in her 20s. She has a head injury, which was bleeding freely, and an open fracture of the left tibia. We heard her cry out, so we assume she lost her footing on her balcony, but she's barely conscious and hasn't been able to tell us anything. I'm afraid we don't know her medical history or whether she's on any medication, but I can check the kitchen and bathroom if you like. Oh, and Cal is here, but his ankle is really hurting so he won't be able to help you much."
"It's a good thing you were in the flat," observed Iain as they went through to the balcony.
Ethan hesitated, unwilling to admit to his own cowardice. He knew that saying nothing would make him even more of a coward, but he didn't want to confess that he'd let his injured brother climb along the ledge.
"We were on our balcony," said Cal. "Obviously, I'm not really in the best shape for climbing, so Ethan offered to climb along the ledge and get to Megan. Once one of us was there, they could obviously let the other one in through the front door."
Ethan gave him a grateful but guilty smile. "I'll go and check for medication," he said, and went off to the kitchen as Dixie and Iain started to examine Megan. He returned holding a box of metoclopramide, perhaps prescribed for travel sickness. "The patient's full name is Megan Barry and she is in her twenties. This was the only prescribed medication I found, but now we have her full name, we can check the online database."
Cal nodded and smiled at him. "Well done, Ethan. Good work."
Ethan knew he didn't just mean the tablets.