Bronny9: Thank you for the review. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter, I think we all enjoy it when the brothers are getting on.
CBloom2: Thank you for the review. I blame Alicia as well, I don't like this rift she's about to potentially cause between the brothers, I felt sad for Cal too. Feel like Ethan should have apologised.
sweet- as - honey: Thank you for the review. I'm sorry you found it really sad, but I'm glad you loved it. They could have. It was sad to see Cal struggling, I felt sorry for him.
sweet- as - honey: Thank you for the review. I'm glad you found the chapter sweet, I like portraying a vunerable Cal. Enjoyed writing his concern for Ethan.
Ethan doesn't have the gene.
This chapter was prompted by Lauren with the summary: Can you do a chapter where Ethan has a TBI or a stroke and Cal has to adapt the flat in order to look after him?
I'm no doctor so the medical information might be wrong, I looked on the internet.
The chapter is rated T for swearing by Cal and for the stuff about strokes and the medicine side.
The Secret Life Of Casualty.
Chapter 283.
They say a doctor should never take their work home with them, and it was a rule that Caleb Knight had abided by. Until now. Cal had refused Iain's offer of a pint in favour of going home to see Ethan, who had the day off and was at home.
Cal walked up the stairs, taking two at a time and soon found himself standing outside of the flat door. He pulled his key out of his jacket and unlocked the door, walking inside. Ethan was in his room. Cal went in and asked if he was alright. Ethan simply nodded.
Ethan felt dizzy but decided not to tell Cal, as he would just worry about him, he didn't want his older brother to worry. He had a headache, as well, but he figured he could ease that off with a glass of water, but it seemed fate had others ideas.
As the left side of his face had drooped to the side.
Cal, who had gone for a walk, forgot his keys and knocked on the door, but Ethan didn't answer as he couldn't move, he felt weak, as having a stroke left them feeling exhausted and extremely weak.
"Ethan." Cal shouted as he knocked on the door. "Ethan. " He shouted again, he was getting concerned now. He decided he had no choice but to boot the door in. He booted and booted it until it come off it's hinges and he walked in, finding his brother.
Cal panicked. "Shit. " He exclaimed.
"Think. Think" Cal muttered desperately to himself. He thought back to when both boys were in medical school and their lecturer had taught them about FAST which stood for:
F: Ethan's face may have drooped to the side. Yes, it had.
A: Could Ethan raise his arms?
C: Speech. It was slurred.
E: Was Ethan going to be ok?
"Ethan?" He gently shook his brother. He needed a response from him, even if it was just "Cal, leave me alone. " or "Don't call me, Nibbles. "
With a shaking hand, he reached for his phone which he had thrown on the floor when he found his brother and dialled an ambulance. He stayed with him, holding his hand as he ended the call. "It's ok, mate, I'm here. " He soothed, wishing the ambulance would hurry up.
Finally, Cal heard Iain and Jez's voice and opened the door. They slid a board under Ethan's back and Cal held his head still as Jez put a collar on him. Him and Iain they lifted him on to the stretcher and strapped him down, before carrying him carefully down the stairs, through the double doors and out on to the street. Jez opened the back doors as Iain loaded the stretcher in, Cal sat down, beside Ethan as they were driven to the hospital.
"This is Ethan Hardy, 30, he's suffered a stroke, the stroke lasted for about 5 minutes. "
"What happened?" Zoe asked, as she noticed the stretcher being wheeled in to RESUS.
"He had a stroke," Cal told her.
Zoe nodded as she helped pull the spinal board over to the bed as she started an initial assessment of Ethan, who had an oxygen mask around his face. Zoe set up needles and injected him with the medicines he needed such as tissue plasminogen activator. She had gave him aspirin as soon as he had arrived in RESUS.
When Ethan come out of his stroke, he was groggy and whimpered. Cal stroked his hair as Zoe come in to the private room.
"How are you feeling?" Zoe asked.
The type of stroke Ethan had, had was called a blood Haemorrhagic stroke.
Zoe showed Ethan and Cal Ethan's scans that he had, had done and They involved a CT. There was an area of red and Cal knew they were the blood vessels.
"A blood Haemorrhagic stroke is when the blood supply to part of your brain is blocked by a blood clot or a piece of fatty material. It's the most common type of stroke. "
"Yes, Zoe, I do know. " Cal said, a little irritably. "I'm not dumb. " He added.
"No one thinks that, " Zoe said as she got up from the bed.
As a doctor Cal knew that a stroke could take years, months or weeks to recover from.
Cal knew that he couldn't care for Ethan on his own, so he would have to bring in careers and maybe shorten his hour's at work. He started ringing around and found one. Cal interviewed him and based on his CV, where he had worked with the elderly, not that Cal classed Ethan as old, but he knew it would be hard on him.
Discharged from the hospital, Zoe told Cal that he could take a few weeks off.
Today, Ethan was returning to work, but in a non clinical capacity, which meant he couldn't deal with patients, he was going in to have a "Return to Work" meeting with Connie in her office.
Ethan stared at his hands, they were useless, they couldn't even do up a few buttons.
"It'll take time Ethan. " Cal said, seeing how wound up his brother was. "It takes time to recover from a stroke. "
"I K-know " Ethan said, but he was still frustrated.
Feeling guilty even though it wasn't his fault, Cal kissed his brothers head and smiled at him reassuringly. They left the flat and walked to work, Ethan was leaning on a walking stick that the hospital had leant him, they were taking it slow as Cal didn't want Ethan to overtire himself. They stopped a few times, before they reached the ED. Cal squeezed his shoulder in support as they walked in, messages of support from his colleagues.
"How are you feeling Ethan?" Zoe asked.
"I'm fine. " He whispered.
Zoe nodded and told him to take a break whenever he felt like he needed one.
"I can't " He cried.
Cal appeared at his side, wrapping his arm around his shoulder, whispering soothingly in his ear. "It's alright mate. "
Ethan turned to Cal with tears rolling down his cheeks and Cal pulled him in to a hug, before deciding to take him home, but before he could, Connie's voice stopped them both.
"Doctor Knight, Doctor Hardy, just where do you think your going?" Connie said.
Cal answered her. "I'm taking Ethan home, Mrs Beauchamp, he wasn't ready to come back in to work. "
Connie glared at them, but Cal shrugged at her before leading Ethan out of the hospital and to the car where they both sat in silence for a moment before Cal, as Ethan was in no fit state, started the engine and drove out of the car park and headed back to the flat, helping Ethan out of the car.
Professionals had been in to fit a wet shower for Ethan, so it was easier instead of raising himself in and out of the bath. What happened if Cal wasn't there and Ethan slipped, accidentally going under the water? Cal had drawn up a rota for the evenings so Ethan didn't have to do any cleaning.
Cal put a blanket over Ethan as he lay on the couch and stroked his hair, realising just how close he came to loosing his little Nibbles. He leaned forward and kissed his brothers forehead as he tucked another blanket around him.
In the middle of the night, Cal heard a bang and shot out of bed and in to the living room where he'd made Ethan a bed on the sofa. Approaching the living room, he saw that Ethan had attempted to lift a glass of water, that he had made for him, but due to not having much strength in his arm yet, his hand shook and the water spilled.
"No, Ethan, you'll cut yourself. " Cal said quietly. He went to the kitchen and picked up the dust pan and brush and bending down, he swept the broken pieces in to the pan and binned them, before going back to help Ethan. He tucked the blankets around him and again kissed his forehead.
Thank you for reading and I'm sorry if any of that was insensitive and I hope this is what Lauren wanted. Got to admit, I struggled slightly with this chapter, thought about deleting it but in the end, I hope it was ok. Sorry for the short length, I just wanted something up tonight, well it was supposed to be last night, but I forgot all about it, well this got longer than I was expecting.
Next chapter: Cal struggles with reading and writing. Prompted by Jane (Guest) Hopefully, it'll be up today at some point.
