The rehabilitation process was beginning to get underway. Ethan had his first physio appointment scheduled soon and he couldn't wait for the start of what was going to be a long recovery process. Cal had driven Ethan to his appointment and then insisted on staying, despite protests from Ethan. Finally they were called in.

'Dr Ethan Hardy please.'

Cal went first, following the young nurse closely, Ethan began to fall behind. Unable to keep up with their walking speed on his crutches. The cage was now off his leg but the whole ordeal had left it very weak and he was unable to support his weight. Cal was already sat in a chair in the treatment room when Ethan finally arrived.

'How nice of you to join me!'

Ethan was too out of breath to reply. The corridor seemed to never end. A young man walked into the room.

'Hi. I'm Sean Tilredd and I'm your physio. Dr Hardy isn't it?' Ethan nodded and shook his outstretched hand.

'Just Ethan, thanks.'

'And you are?' The physio turned to Cal.

'Dr Caleb Knight. Cal.' They too shook hands.

'So you're both doctors in Holby City Emergency Department? That must be exciting. Never a dull moment- eh? I met my partner at work too.'

Cal and Ethan exchanged horrified looks.

'What?!'

'Well you're together- aren't you?'

'Erm no. We're brothers.'

'But the surnames...'

'Yeah, everyone keeps mentioning that but it's a long story. Really long.'

Due to the fact that today was Ethan's first physio appointment it was a relatively boring hour filled with forms, treatment plans and rigorous exercise schedules. Upon leaving Sean, who once again apologised for mistaking the brothers for partners, they walked into Lofty and Robyn. Seeing as the pairs were both friends and colleagues it was surprising that they hadn't seen more of each other, especially as they were floating around the hospital most days, attending a variety of services that the hospital provided.

Connie had given Cal a substantial amount of time off work to care for Ethan but his time off, like Robyn's, had slowly drawn to a close. Today was their first day back to work. Ethan was pretty independent. He was comfortable going virtually anywhere on his crutches. It was simple really. Place the crutches. Swing. Land on opposite foot. Easy. Yet still Cal insisted that he permanently had his phone on him- just incase something happened. This was a drastic improvement from Cal's original demands that Ethan should be given a community alarm to wear around his neck. This was met by Ethan's protests- he was injured, not a ninety-something old pensioner!

Cal had been gone for three hours. Ethan had just woken up. He checked his phone for any messages. The screen flashed. 'You have 7 unread messages.' They were all from Cal. Ethan wrote a half hearted response before putting it back on charge and getting out of bed. He had barely slept. Every time he moved or rolled over he hit his leg and the agony woke him from his restless slumber. There was very little supporting it. Just some basic bandaging for his cuts and a tubular bandage that ran the length of his leg with an extra layer around his knee and ankle. He got out of bed and hobbled to the kitchen. It was relatively tidy, a rare occurrence normally but, due to the crutches and Cal's protective nature, if was becoming more normal. Ethan went to the fridge, opened the door before promptly closing it again. He had a mooch in the cupboards before closing them too. He settled for having an apple. Maybe not a wise choice. The hospital had given him auxiliary crutches that nestled in his armpits meaning that he struggled to carry anything. He had gotten used to carrying odd items of food in his mouth, mainly packets, but couldn't carry anything round. Normally Cal was there to take it for him. Momentarily he thought about calling Cal and asking for a hand but soon thought better of it, after all he was trying to prove his independence.

Ethan had three choices:

1) carry the unwashed and slightly grubby apple in his mouth

2) throw it in the direction of the sink in the hope that it would land in the water

3) choose something else for breakfast

He chose option 2. And, for once, managed to get the apple into the sink. He would have been stuck if it had landed on the floor- he still couldn't bend over to pick anything up. Ethan made his way towards the sink, picked up the apple and turned on the tap soaking himself, the cabinets and the floor but, remarkably, leaving the apple in the same grubby state. Eventually the apple was clean and Ethan turned to go to the front room, apple in mouth, where he was planning on watching some of his beloved daytime TV. He never made it to the TV. He didn't even make it out of the kitchen. He slipped on the wet floor, crutches flying from beneath him, hitting his head on the worktop with a sickening *thunk* before he slumped, unconscious, to the floor.