Tanith Panic, thank you for your review. I'm glad you like the contrasts - I think Cal is more the emotional one in the series, but an unflappable Ethan wouldn't have worked. Yes, poor Cal! And for once, no-one could say he deserves it!
Tato Potato, that sounds like a very good idea! But they've got to realise there's been a mistake first! Thank you for your review. I imagine being identical or almost-identical must be very confusing!
CBloom2, Cal won't be on the receiving end of any violence in this chapter, but I can't make any promises about the next! Thank you for your review - I'm really happy you're enjoying it.
beckyboogle, they do need to find out the truth and as quickly as possible! Ideally before Sarah gets any ideas about hitting Cal. Thank you for your review - I'm glad you like the intensity.
X-Sammii-X, thank you for your review. I'm glad you liked Ethan not telling Cal what's wrong - it helps the plot along if he won't tell Cal, but I can also imagine Ethan doing it.
ETWentHome, thank you for your review. When everything is sorted, I can imagine that Cal at least will enjoy the confusion, but for now, the situation is bad!
Sarah peered cautiously out from behind the pillar and satisfied herself that Cal had gone. It had given her a bit of a fright when her boyfriend had appeared (she'd been so caught up in thoughts of seeing Ethan, she'd somehow forgotten that Cal worked here too), but luckily, she'd managed to hide in time.
She hadn't failed to notice that Cal had swollen and bruised-looking nose and she was very concerned about him, but Cal would have to wait. First she would deal with the man who'd broken Emma's heart, then she would deal with whoever it was who had punched Cal.
Sarah returned to her seat in the waiting room and continued to watch out for Ethan. She didn't have to wait long. He walked into the waiting room, opened his mouth to speak… and then saw Sarah.
Sarah was surprised to see how different he looked. His hair was a messy and his face was red, as though he'd been crying. But Sarah doubted that was really the case and besides, Ethan didn't deserve her sympathy. Not after what he'd done.
Sarah marched up to him. "I want a word with you."
Now she was close to him, she could see Ethan had tears in his eyes. "I don't think that's a good idea," he said unsteadily.
Sarah took a step closer. "Now!" she said simply.
Ethan looked at her for a moment, but then he seemed to realise she meant business and nodded weakly. "Okay. We'll go to the staff room."
They walked together, in silence. Ethan opened the door for Sarah and she went inside.
"Would you like a cup of tea?" said Ethan.
"Maybe I will!" said Sarah. "Then I could have the pleasure of pouring it over your head."
Ethan stared at her.
"But that would be too good for you," said Sarah. "I know exactly what kind of man you are, Dr Ethan Hardy, and let me tell you that I don't like you. You probably think you're so clever with your medical degree; so handsome with your big, brown eyes; so funny and witty with your stupid jokes and puns. But you're not." She looked at him coolly. "You're just a stupid, worthless, cruel, nasty, idiotic, miserable specimen of a human being and if you ever come near my-"
She stopped. Ethan had tears pouring down his face. As Sarah watched, he put his hands over his face and cried as though he was never going to stop.
Sarah looked at him in consternation. She'd wanted to make Ethan feel small, but she hadn't meant for this to happen.
"What was that for?" exclaimed Cal, still holding his cheek.
"Because you're a two-timing rat!" said Emma.
Cal shook his head in confusion. "I'm not. I know I've got a little bit of a reputation, but that's in the past. I would never cheat on you, Sarah. I really care about you."
Emma stared at him in shock as she realised his mistake. "I'm not Sarah!"
"What are you talking about?" said Cal. He was starting to look annoyed now. "What's wrong with you? First you hit me, now you're saying you're someone else…"
"I'm sorry I hit you," said Emma. "I honestly thought you were cheating on my sister."
"Of course I'm not cheating on your sister!" said Cal. "I'm cheating on you!" He closed his eyes. "Oh God. No. I didn't mean that. I'm sorry, Sarah. I'm not cheating on you. And I've never even met your sister."
Emma looked at the red mark on his cheek where she'd slapped him and felt terrible. "Cal, I'm so sorry. There's been a big misunderstanding. My name's Emma. I'm Sarah's identical twin."
Cal laughed humourlessly. "Yeah. Good one."
"It's true!" said Emma. She thought for a moment. "Okay. Which arm is Sarah's bad arm?"
"Her right arm," said Cal.
Emma held up her bandaged left wrist.
"You could have switched the bandage," said Cal.
"But there's no bruising on this one," said Emma, showing it to him. "Cal, did you know you did my blood test for me?"
Cal sighed. "Sarah, of course I did your blood test. That proves nothing."
"No, you did mine," said Emma. "Ethan did Sarah's." She reached into her bad for her phone and found a picture of herself and Sarah. "There: look at that."
She saw Cal's face fill with amazement as he looked at the two identical girls. "Emma, I'm so sorry. I had no idea."
Sarah wished Ethan would stop crying. She was starting to feel guilty and that was most unfair. A man couldn't go around treating Emma like dirt and then make Sarah feel sorry for him. It shouldn't be allowed.
Ethan was trying to speak, but it wasn't making any sense to Sarah. The only word she recognised was Emma. Sarah couldn't tell if he was saying he'd made a terrible mistake and he loved Emma or that he didn't care about Emma at all.
She sighed and handed Ethan a tissue. "I'm sorry if I went over the top. I didn't mean to upset you this much."
Ethan took his glasses off and started to dry his tears. He said something, but he was wiping his nose and Sarah still couldn't understand what he was saying.
"Did you have a really bad day yesterday?" said Sarah. "Sometimes, when people have a bad day, they do say and do things they don't mean."
Ethan sniffed and looked at her hopefully. "You didn't mean it, then?"
Sarah wondered what he meant and then remembered what she'd said to make him cry. "Not really. No. Everyone makes mistakes."
"It won't happen again?"
"Well… no." Sarah didn't think she'd have any reason to say it again. Emma's exes could do what they liked as far as she was concerned. It was only Emma's boyfriends she expected to be on their best behaviour.
"Oh, I'm so happy!" said Ethan. He threw his arms around Sarah and placed his lips on hers.
Cal felt like a little bit of an idiot. He didn't know how he'd failed to realise that the girl in front of him wasn't Sarah. Emma was very pretty – beautiful, in fact – but she didn't excite him the way Sarah did. She was far more Ethan's type than his.
"Emma," he said. "You don't happen to be Ethan's girlfriend Emma, do you?"
Emma shook her head, her eyes filling. "I used to be. He doesn't like me anymore. He came to see me yesterday and he told me to go away and not come near him again."
Cal put his arm around her in a friendly manner. "Ethan was in a very strange mood yesterday. He punched me and wouldn't say why! He said I ought to know. I've been trying to think, but I haven't come up with anything. Until But now…."
"Yes?" said Emma eagerly.
"Sarah came to the hospital yesterday to meet me," said Cal. "We kissed. What if Ethan saw Sarah kissing me and thought she was you?
Emma stared at him in horror. "Oh my God, yes: I'm sure that's exactly what happened. So then I arrived a little bit later to see Ethan, but he was upset because he thought he'd seen me kissing you. So he told me to go away."
"And then he came home and punched me," said Cal. "He wouldn't tell me why. He said I knew. And if I had been kissing his girlfriend, I would have known!" He groaned. "Oh God."
"Are you in pain?" said Emma anxiously. "I'm sorry I hit you. I thought you were cheating on my sister."
Cal shook his head. "No, it's not that. I'm fine. But I just thought of something. Something awful."
"What?" said Emma.
"You just cheated on Ethan. With me!"