EDSidekick, thank you for your review. I hope things will make a bit more sense after this chapter! I know where things are heading, but all I can say is be prepared for twists and turns.
Tato Potato, I'm so happy you like it! I was a little bit wary of writing a comedy as you obviously enjoy drama, but your request seemed to invite comedy! As do Cal and Ethan. Thank you for your review and I hope you had a good birthday.
beckyboogle, I'm really happy you're enjoying it too. It was supposed to be a one-shot, but I don't think I'm very good at one-shots as they always end up as mini-novels. Thank you for your review - I hope you enjoyed your birthday.
Tanith Panic, I thought it was one of my worst, but I'm really happy you disagree! I was going to start the story with Chapter 2, but then I decided to give the OCs a bit of background, as well as a few more scenes together. Thank you for your review.
CBloom2, thank you for your review. I was a bit worried about the brothers' banter as nothing really happens, so I'm really glad you like it. I hope you continue to enjoy the story.
ETWentHome, if you don't want anything to go wrong, you might not like the story... but some things are going to go right, so I hope you'll like those parts! Thank you for your review - I hope I don't disappoint you!
"Nearly there," said Emma, her voice higher than usual.
"You've been saying that for the last fifteen minutes," said Sarah. "And it's still not true."
Emma looked surprised. "Do you really think it's fifteen minutes?"
"It feels like that," said Sarah.
"Yes, it does, doesn't it?" said Emma.
Sarah was quite glad to find something they agreed on. Slowly and shakily, they made their way along the wall. Every time they stepped down to a lower level, she told herself they were a step closer to safety.
"Now we really are nearly there," said Emma.
Sarah thought she probably couldn't argue with her this time. They just had to go down one more step and then they'd be able to jump down onto the drive.
She took another step, but the wall wasn't where she expected to be and she felt herself falling. She screamed: a shrill, thin, sound of fear.
Emma screamed too as she grabbed at Sarah, but the force of Sarah's downward momentum was too much for her and they both fell to the ground.
Cal staggered into the waiting room and stood for a moment in the vain hope the pounding in his head might abate a little bit. It didn't. "Sarah Mealing?"
A girl squirmed her way out between the heaving mass of bodies (who fortunately weren't heaving in the sense of throwing up but unfortunately most of them weren't heaving their bosoms either).
Cal stared at the girl, unable to believe it. She was gorgeous. Beautiful. Stunning.
She was probably also some kind of sorceress. All of a sudden, Cal was feeling much better.
"I'm Dr Knight," he said, smiling at her. "Call me Cal. Would you like to come this way, please?"
Sarah was cradling her right arm against her chest. (There didn't seem to be anything at all wrong with her chest. Cal made a point of making a visual examination and was favourably impressed.)
Cal started to show her into the wrong cubicle. "Sorry, no: it's this one," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder to steer her. "If you could sit on the bed for me, please? Now, how can I help you, Sarah?"
"My wrist," said Sarah. "I was trying to climb down from a wall and I… fell off."
"What were you doing on a wall?" said Cal as he gently took hold of her wrist.
Sarah winced slightly. "Well, you see, there's this really hot guy who lives next door to me. I thought that if I stood on the wall, I might be able to see into his bedroom."
"And could you?" said Cal as he carefully checked her wrist over.
"Yes, but he had an inflatable man in his room," said Sarah. "I thought that was really exciting at first, but on second thoughts, I think it might mean the rumours that he's gay are true."
Cal smiled sympathetically. "That must have been a disappointment."
"It was at first," said Sarah. "But then I realised my wrist was hurting quite a lot and to be honest, I stopped caring very much."
"Pain often does make everything else seem quite unimportant," said Cal, who considered himself a bit of an expert on the subject after this morning. He stroked his thumb over her wrist. "You must have a good head for heights."
"I did on the way up," said Sarah.
Cal nodded. "That's often the way. I'll climb up anything when I'm drunk, but I'm not so good with climbing down."
He felt a bit worried she might think he was a bit pathetic, but she looked as though she understood. "The thing about drinking is that it makes your legs a bit unsteady and then the world starts spinning," she said. "How are you supposed to climb down anything when you're dealing with that?"
"A girl after my own heart," said Cal.
"I wouldn't go quite that far," said Sarah. But she was smiling.
"Emma Mealing?" said Ethan.
He heard a voice saying "Excuse me," several times, and then out from the crowd stepped the most beautiful girl Ethan had ever seen. "Hello. I'm Emma."
"Hello," said Ethan. "I'm… um, I'm Dr Hardy."
"I'm Emma," she said. "Or have I said that already?"
Ethan smiled. "Would you like to come this way?" He showed her into the cubicle. "How can I help you?"
"I've hurt my wrist," said Emma. "I was trying to climb down from a wall and I lost my balance." She shuddered slightly.
"It sounds terrifying," said Ethan, meaning it. "But you're safe now and I'll do everything I can to help." He held out his hand. "Would you mind if I had a look?"
Emma blushed slightly and held out her wrist.
Ethan held it gently. "I can see there's a bit of a bruise, but it doesn't seem to be swollen, which is a good sign."
"Does that mean it's less likely to be broken?" said Emma shyly.
"Theoretically, I'm afraid it doesn't necessarily work like that," said Ethan. "Swelling happens when chemicals are released into the capillaries following injury. Capillaries are like small veins and arteries. The chemicals causes the capillaries to widen, which means more blood enters the capillaries and fluid leaks into the site of the injury. It's the fluid that causes…" Ethan stopped. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to lecture you."
"No, I thought it was interesting," said Emma.
Ethan had to admit she looked interested, but perhaps she was a very good actress. "Really?" he said doubtfully.
"Really," said Emma.
Cal frowned. "So, you say you felt dizzy?"
"Yes, but that's normal, isn't it?" said Sarah. "If you're up somewhere really high and you look down and you suddenly realise it's not quite as low as you thought it was?"
"It is normal if that's what caused the dizziness," said Cal. "But I'm concerned it might be something else. Do you often feel dizzy?"
Sarah could think of quite a few instances. There was every time she saw Dominic, for a start. And when she'd heard Cal's voice for the first time and again when she'd seen him. The man was gorgeous – and the fact he seemed to know it was becoming less and less of a problem. "I suppose I do feel dizzy sometimes."
"Is it always when you're looking down from a height?"
"I suppose not," said Sarah. She'd had to look up in order to see Cal. "But it's not like it happens for no reason."
"When you felt dizzy on the wall: was that the first time you'd looked down?" said Cal.
"I'm not sure," said Sarah. "I wasn't making any particular effort not to look down, though I was most interested in looking straight ahead of me into Dominic's bedroom."
Cal smiled. "Do you like seeing men's bedrooms?"
Sarah smiled back. "Are you quite sure that question has any medical relevance?"
"No, perhaps not," admitted Cal. "But I am a bit worried. While you're here, I think I should take some bloods."
Sarah swallowed. "Take some bloods? With needles?"
"I could try the vampire way if you really want me to," said Cal.
"I think I'm desperate enough to try anything!" said Sarah. "No offence."
Cal laughed. "None taken."
Sarah felt sudden hope. "I don't suppose 'none taken' is an option with the bloods?"
Cal shook his head. "Sorry. I really think this is something I need to look into. But if you don't like needles, we would do everything we can to make you feel as comfortable as possible."
He had such incredible blue eyes. Sarah smiled into them. "I suppose I could give it a try. For you."
Cal smiled back. "Careful. I might get a big head."
"Don't worry. I think you're past the stage of worrying about that," said Sarah.
Emma looked up at Ethan in alarm. "I don't get dizzy that often."
"Perhaps not, but I still think it's worth looking into while you're here," said Ethan.
"But… but isn't it really busy?" said Emma. "Wouldn't you rather get rid of me as soon as possible?"
"That's the last thing I want," said Ethan.
Emma blushed.
"I mean, I want to make you better," said Ethan. "Completely better. I wouldn't be doing my job properly if I didn't take the bloods."
"I just…" said Emma, looking at the floor.
"Whatever's wrong, you can tell me," said Ethan. "I'm sure it's nothing I haven't heard a hundred times before. And if it is, I'm always interested to discover something new."
Emma lowered her voice. "I really don't like blood. At all."
"Does it make you feel sick or faint?" said Ethan understandingly.
"No, it just makes me feel scared," admitted Emma. "I don't know why. It just makes me think I'm dying and I get into such a complete panic because I quite like being alive."
"We don't take nearly enough blood to do any damage," said Ethan. "But I imagine you've been told that already. Facts like that aren't very helpful when you're afraid. Miss Mealing, if you really don't want me to take the bloods, it is your decision. I can't force you. But if you did agree to it, I would make sure that you didn't see the blood."
Emma looked into his kind brown eyes. "Do you really think it would be a good idea to get this done?"
"I really do," said Ethan.