Cal swore at the phone. Why did Ethan never pick up? What was the point of having an expensive smartphone if he never used it?
It was late at night, and Cal desperately wanted to relax and get some sleep. Yet part of his mind always pulled back to Ethan, the way Scott Ellison was watching him, the intensity of his stare. He sighed. He wouldn't get any rest until he knew Ethan was safe. He swung out of bed and tapped in Alicia's number.
"Alicia?"
"Cal?" She replied blearily.
Cal didn't waste any time. "Is Ethan with you?"
"What? No. He went home hours ago... Why? Is something wrong?"
"No." Cal said quickly. "Everything's fine."
Without even saying goodbye, he hung up.
He grabbed his keys and his coat and half jogged to his car. It wasn't far to Ethan's flat, and at that time of night the streets were empty and quiet. He parked the car, not even bothering to park it correctly. He had a ominous sense of foreboding, an acidic taste at the back of his mouth. He jogged through the complex until he found Ethan's block. And there, curled outside the entrance door, was his brother.
"Ethan!" He screamed, running to his side. Adrenaline coursed through his body, his stomach tightened, his blood pumping loudly in his ears.
He pulled open Ethan's coat, searching for the cause of the blood soaking his shirt.
"Ethan! What happened? Wake up!"
Ethan's eyes opened a tiny bit.
"You're going to be alright. You're going to be fine." Cal said, his hands shaking as he pushed down on the wound.
"I...don't...want…"
Cal shushed him. "Don't talk. Just save your energy. I'm going to ring an ambulance."
His hand reached into his back pocket but it was empty. He searched his other pocket, but he knew it was hopeless. His mobile phone was currently sitting on the kitchen table back in his flat. Fuck.
"Help!" Cal roared at the top of his voice, a primal desire to save his brother giving his voice more volume. He shouted again and again until his voice was hoarse and cracking, desperate for some help.
Finally a young woman, still in pyjamas, ran out.
"Please! I need you to ring an ambulance!" Cal deplored.
She stared at the crimson blood, rooted to the spot with shock.
"Go and get help!" Cal bellowed roughly. Now was no time for niceties. This shook her out of her daze and she turned on her heel and ran back up the stairs to her flat.
Cal turned back to his brother.
"Gotta keep me on my toes, don't you? Just when I was getting relaxed. Gotta keep my edge though?" Cal said. He tried to keep his tone light and conversational, but he couldn't keep the tremor out of his voice.
The woman ran back down the stairs.
"Is he going to be alright?"
Cal glanced up at her. A civilian. Definitely didn't know anything about medicine.
"Yes. Absolutely fine. But I need you to run to my car. It's the grey one - parked just round the corner. There's a red first aid kit in the glove compartment."
The woman nodded and ran off as fast as she could in the fluffy slipper she was wearing.
"Ethan? Can you hear me?" Cal said, more gently. "I need you to keep your eyes open."
"So...tired…" Ethan murmured.
"I know mate. But fight it okay. You can sleep as much as you want later. The ambulance will be here soon and we'll get you straight to the hospital."
The woman came panting back round the corner.
"Open it and get out the bandages." Cal instructed. He ripped them out of the plastic wrapping with his teeth and plugged the wound with them.
"You a doctor?" The woman said quietly.
Cal nodded. "And this is my brother."
"Oh God." The woman breathed.
Cal could hear the distant sound of sirens.
"Make sure the ambulance knows where to come."
The woman nodded and he could hear her shouting to the paramedics. He immediately recognised Iain and Dixie's voices, clear in the night air.
"Dix! Iain! We're over here!" Cal shouted. He didn't think he'd ever been as relieved to see their familiar fluorescent jackets, their green bags slung over one shoulder, their purple plastic gloves already snapped on.
"Is that…?" Dixie said.
"He's been stabbed. I don't know how long he's been out here. I've put pressure on the wound-" Cal's voice catching, emotion that had been building up finally washing over him.
"Okay Cal. We'll take it from here." Iain said, bending down and putting pressure on the wound. "You've had quite a shock."
Cal stood back, relieved to have his hands out of his brothers abdomen. He was shaking and covered in blood.
"Are you injured?" Dixie asked. Cal shook his head.
"Please. Just treat Ethan."
Dixie met his gaze for a second, then turned back to Iain.
"I'll grab a board."
"I'm going to give you some morphine for the pain," Iain said calmly as he got out morphine from his bag with one hand, keeping the other firmly on the wound. "Then we're going to get you on a board and to the ED. Sound good?"
Ethan's mouth twitched a little in reply.
"Have you got any other injuries?"
Ethan nodded a little.
"Did you lose consciousness?"
Ethan shrugged his shoulders.
Dixie ran back with the board.
"We need to move quickly."
Ethan's eyes drooped, the effort of staying awake too much.
"Ethan, mate, it's really important you stay awake, so keep making noises okay." Iain said.
He moaned a little.
"That's great. You're doing great."
Iain glanced back at Dixie, and Cal watched as a silent message passed between the two.
"Right, we're going to get you on a board." Dixie said. Cal stepped forward and the three of them moved Ethan onto the board. He wasn't heavy - far from it, but every movement sent a jerking pain through him, and he screamed in agony.
As Dixie and Iain wheeled Ethan to the ambulance, Cal turned to the woman, who had been standing awkwardly.
"Thank you for your help."
"Don't worry," she said distractedly, watching the paramedics. "Look, can I come and see him? In a few days?"
Cal nodded, although he didn't recognise her and didn't think Ethan had mentioned her. "Sure." Then he turned and ran after Dixie and Iain.