ROLE CHANGE CHAPTER FIVE

A/N: As this is a AU story the current Huntington's Disease plot won't apply here.

Cal was relieved that Sue, the carer, arrived well before he needed to leave for his interview at the Medical Centre. Sue was a chubby, pleasant woman in her late thirties and reminded Cal a little of Robyn. He'd lost a little sleep the previous night, worrying that Ethan might be difficult about his going out after all, but Ethan immediately felt a bond with Sue, even though she told him that the 'Full English' he'd been hoping for would have to be modified in accordance with the high-fibre diet he'd been prescribed.

"We'll ease you in gently, Ethan, and change your toast to high-fibre and add some fruit afterwards, if you can still manage fruit after your eggs and bacon."

Cal snorted.

"He could manage a dinosaur after eggs and bacon! There was once a poem pinned up in the ED about what people were having on their lunch breaks:

"Lofty's got cheese and pickle,

Cal's got something in a box,

Robyn's got a chicken wrap-

Ethan's got half an ox."

Ethan bristled but it was his good-humoured, playful bristling, not a tantrum. Sue, who had the most infectious giggle, found this hilarious.

With Sue's prompt arrival and Ethan's good mood, Cal was waiting in the reception area ten minutes early.

The Health Advisor, Mark, smiled on seeing this.

"That's really helpful, as you can be filling in this questionnaire before the interview. I'll come and get you soon."

"So you were actually a doctor? Why did you quit your job?" was Mark's first question.

Cal felt a moment of unease, wondering how much his honest answers to the questionnaire would work against him. He might be the only applicant but they'd still turn a bad one away rather than choose an incompetent one.

"My younger brother sustained a back injury during his shift – he was a doctor at the same hospital. He was attacked. I gave up my job so I could care for him but he's making a good recovery and is happy with the idea of carers coming in once or twice a week. He was actually the one who urged me to try for this job."

"Ah, I see. We'd need you to be there three days a week, Cal; Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Mondays and Wednesdays from eight forty- five to one pm; Fridays from twelve to three-thirty. Could you do that?"

"Yes; no problem."

Mark continued to ask questions and to inform Cal more about the job. He warned him that some of the passengers on the mini bus could be a little disruptive; some could need more attention than others, and there were one or two really introverted ones.

"Sophia's good at handling them all in different ways."

"Sophia?"

"The instructress at the gym. You'll meet her on Monday if you get the job."

The interview concluded with Mark telling Cal he wouldn't be writing or phoning him about the result of the interview. Cal sighed inwardly; he'd been sure he'd not done badly.

Mark smiled.

"I'm impressed, Cal, and I'm offering you the job outright. Can you start on Monday?"

Ben was going through hell while Cal and Ethan's luck seemed to be slowly improving. During the times they needed to be together, he couldn't help remembering the look on Sara's face when she'd 'met' him at the Reception. She was too quiet and polite to be outwardly rude to him but he knew how she felt, and the brief times they were alone proved this. What really hurt Ben was that the more she rebuffed him, the more he realised he was falling for her.

David had instructed him about Stefan's manner in public; polite but never over-friendly towards anyone. Ben had to remember never to let his smile reach his eyes. He once earned a glare from Karl after he'd smiled at the servant who had brought his coffee and had started to say "Oh thank you…" then had to amend it to a sharp "You may go." He loathed himself for such behaviour. He suddenly noticed Sara looking curiously at him but when he turned to glance at her again, the old unease and dislike was back. Maybe she was in love with somebody else and f*cking Karl warned him off, he thought sadly. He was still determined to look after her, however much she loathed him.

As part of their pre-wedding duties, they attended the ballet one evening. Ben maintained Stefan's polite, cold smile but when he glanced furtively at Sara he could see she was rapt. Is it ballet she loves, or the romance, he wondered.

"You enjoyed that; I could tell" he remarked afterwards.

"Yes, and as I remember you do not enjoy the ballet, Stefan."

"It is my pleasure to attend anything you enjoy" he told her.

Again, the resentful look from Sara. He wished he could be alone with her, drop the cold mask he had to wear, and find out just what made her tick.

Monday came round. Cal was ready and waiting to drive the mini bus and greeted everybody with a friendly smile as he was introduced to them. Chubby Stan Kelham, who didn't enjoy the gym but who loved his hour in the swimming pool located in the same building. Nervous Jeannie Hammond, who had balance issues and who kept apologising for her clumsiness and her need for help in boarding and alighting from the bus.

"It's bad at my age; there are older people on here who really push themselves" she sighed.

"Jeannie, I have a brother younger than myself who has a back injury that's slowly healing. He needs a lot of help still. Age doesn't come into it" Cal reassured her.

"Is he as good-looking as you?" yelled Denise Kirby, who liked to be seen and heard. A pensioner, Denise was proud of the fact that she could still do a competent exercise regime. She was one of the people who had contributed to Jeannie's self-guilt.

Now she'd contributed to making the normally confident Caleb Knight blush.

"Who's he with today then?" she asked Cal now.

"Today a carer's come in to sit with him."

"You want to get 'em in full-time. A good-looking lad like you should be out enjoying himself."

Cal looked down and bit his lip, not wanting to tell her to mind her own bloody business. Mark, fortunately, took over:

"What have we talked about before, Denise?"

"Sorry" Denise replied, chastened. At least for the time being.

Cal helped Mark get everybody off the mini-bus as it drew up in the carpark behind the gym.

Denise strutted on ahead, which gave Mark the satisfaction of asking her to keep with the group. Stan's eyes shone in anticipation of a whole hour of his beloved swimming.

Jeannie struggled, but had to hold the wall and looked down, her face red. Mark was going over to help when he saw Cal was already on to it.

"Come on Jeannie, give me a treat on my first day; let me hold a pretty lady's arm" he teased.

Jeannie smiled and enjoyed her moment.

Cal was not prepared for his moment, to say the least.

"Sophia, this is Cal, our new bus driver. I'm sure he'd like to take advantage of these facilities for a while. I'll give you fifteen minutes' notice to get ready for the return journey, but for now, Cal… enjoy!"

Sophia Anderson was tall. She had a perfectly toned figure, hazel eyes that looked as if they were always on the verge of twinkling with amusement, an olive complexion and glossy black hair that looked as if it owed nothing to the latest colourants.

Her smile almost finished Cal.

"Okay, now I'll need to keep abandoning you to help the others out – coming in a minute, Denise! – but first of all if you could just fill in this short health questionnaire, I'll come back and we'll set up a programme for you."

Cal decided to keep the fact that he'd used the gym nearly every day while he worked in the ED quiet for now; it would have seemed arrogant on his part and he didn't want to offend Sophia in any way possible. He was feeling a euphoria that he'd not experienced since Ethan's accident.