'Mac- what's wrong with me?'

'Nothing mate. Why'd you ask?'

'Well I seem to have annoyed pretty much everyone in the hospital.' Ian had been moved from ITU into one of the side rooms in the ED about a week ago but both Lofty and Ian were looking to be discharged and finally sent home. Both of them still needed help to do some simple tasks but Lofty had Robyn to look after him at home. Ian had no one.

'What'd you mean?'

'Well, no one's been in except you since Connie came to see me. Not even my sister has dropped by.'

'Everyone's got a lot to cope with at the moment. Do you have any idea how your sister must have felt sitting my your bedside? When you finally come around you instantly complain about your situation. We understand that it's bad and we get that it can't be easy and it won't get any easier for quite some time but you have to understand that other people have just as much negativity as you. Caleb's got his brother still in ITU. A brother who he doesn't exactly treat all that well but shows he loves him when it gets tough. Like now. Connie is a nurse and a doctor down and is under pressure from Cal and some of the others to find out why the cave collapsed and why they were allowed in if it was unsafe. Dixie isn't over Jeff no matter how much she says she is. Jeff died, Tamzin left, I left and now you've left. She's lost close friends in different ways. You're not Jeff but you do remind her of him. Your sister has been looking for you for years. She was so terrified of not being able to tell you that she was your sister that she barely left your bedside since she arrived. It broke her heart to see you like that.'

'What about me though Mac? What about me?'

'What about you Ian?'

'Doesn't anyone care? It feels like no one gives a damn anymore.'

'They care Ian. They care far too much and that's part of the problem.' He glanced into the corridor. 'Look- I should be getting back to work. Get some rest. I'll be back later anyway. Think.' Mac turned to leave.

'What?'

'Think Ian. Think.' And he was gone.

Cal was sat by Ethan's bed. It was supposed to be their day off. They had planned to go hiking, as Cal had requested, to do some 'proper' brotherly bonding.

'So. Ethan. You're really messing things up downstairs. Connie seems to have had a hard time replacing you. Everyone misses you. And you screwed up my hiking plans. I was really looking forward to that! I guess that's just how this is going to be then. Me talking to you. You not listening to a single word. Funny how it's changed. Normally it's you talking and me ignoring you, pretending to listen-'

'You never fooled me.'

'Ethan!'

'No, sorry Cal it's me.' Cal's head whipped around to the door to see where the voice had come from.

'Oh. Hi Lily.' His voice was flat and lifeless- the polar opposite to what it had been just seconds previously.

'Sorry. How's he doing?' Lily wandered towards the bed, keeping her distance from Cal.

'No change.'

Silence filled the room.

'I have an idea!' The excitement returned to Cal's voice.

'Care to share it?'

'I was reading last night about how people in comas can still hear what's going on in their surroundings and how sometimes a certain sound can trigger a memory that- that-'

'What?'

'I can't remember exactly but it basically causes someone to wake up again. I might get my brother back!'

Cal rushed out of the room, leaving a shocked Lily to watch over Ethan.

Hours later Cal returned holding a battered blue ukulele. Lily questioned his possession with confused looks.

'What the hell?' Lily muttered under her breath.

Cal ignored Lily and started to strum the ukulele. To say it was out of tune would be an understatement. It took several minutes of dodgy tuning and questionable notes before it eventually came together. Cal started to play a sequence of chords. His tongue sticking out with the effort.

'Seriously Cal you are going to have to explain this.'

'One summer when we were kids our mum came home from work with a present for each of us. Two ukuleles. Mine was green and Ethan's was blue. It made the two of us so happy! I'm still not sure why. Ethan played piano for a while but stopped when I trapped his hand in the car door.' Cal frowned. 'He didn't play anything after that but he could play this. We both could. We spent half our summer messing around with them. I blew it all when we went back to school. I took mine in and broke it. I came home to find Ethan on my bed playing his. I threw if down the stairs and watched it shatter on the floor.' Cal continued to strum the strings. 'Never was a good brother to him. I'm still not most of the time! We were so, so happy playing together. I lost what made me happy and I wanted him to suffer too.'

Lily didn't respond. She didn't know how to. It was all a bit bizarre.

'Now all I want is him to be okay. For him to be back to normal. For everything to be right. Funny how things change isn't it?'

'Yeah. Erm, Cal I should be getting back. My breaks almost over. Let me know if anything changes.'

It was Cal's turn to not respond. He was too wrapped up in his ukulele playing to notice as Lily slipped away.

Cal fell asleep with his hands still holding the ukulele, his fingers stroking the strings. The music finally stopped.

'Keep playing...' A voice whispered. It was quiet, barely audible, but it was recognisable. Ethan. But by now Cal was fast asleep and moments later Ethan too fell back into sleep.