I Take Care of You

Chapter 7

Truth

By the time Ethan finally woke up, Cal had given in to sleep, events finally catching up with him. He lay sound asleep hunched over Ethan's bed.

Ethan opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. He knew where he was instantly. But what had happened?
It was all a blur. He could remember people shouting and he could remember sirens, but he had no memory of what had taken place.
He spotted Cal asleep at the bottom of his bed, he must have been out for a while.

His throat was so dry, Ethan sat up quickly not knowing the extent of his injuries. It was a bad decision.
He was hit by a wave of pain shooting up through his chest, it hurt so much it took his breath away. He cried out alerting Cal that his brother was awake.
Cal shot up and was at Ethan's side in an instant;
'Hey Ethan! Hey Calm down it's okay! Just breathe' Ethan listened to Cal and his breathing returned to normal.
Cal poured Ethan some water and held the cup while he drank.
He closed his eyes and groaned in pain, what the hell had he done to himself?

Cal was concerned. He could see Ethan was in terrible pain but he didn't know what had happened.
Cal wasn't looking forward to breaking the news to him.
He didn't want him to have to relive the whole thing again. Maybe it was better he didn't know.
Cal wished he could block out the images in his head of today.
The smoke, the screams.
He would give anything to tell Ethan that everyone made it out okay. But he couldn't lie. People had died.
Somewhere in the hospital relatives were grieving for their lost loved one, their whole lives had changed in a matter of minutes. One day had changed the course of their future, one person would be missing from weddings, birthday's, Christmases for evermore. Cal couldn't imagine how that must feel. He didn't have to.
Because Ethan had made it. He had survived and Cal would never take him for granted again. He could so easily have been adjusting to another life, life without his 'loved one', without his world. But he was lucky. His world hadn't gone. His world had just been injured and now it would take time for it to recover, but Cal would be there every step of the way.

'Cal, what happened, how did I end up here?' Ethan grew more confused by the minute.

Cal sat down next to Ethan and told him the whole story. From him coming into work this morning, to being sent to Connie's office. Standing outside the wreckage desperate for a sighting of his brother. How they had to revive him on the site and Cal had waited in the chapel, praying that Ethan would make it. And how some people didn't.

When Cal had finished, Ethan just sat in silence, taking in the events. A single tear fell down his face. He couldn't get his head around it.
How could something like this happen? One single act had taken away lives. He probably knew these people.
And once again Ethan had survived, exactly like the explosion that had claimed Jeff's life.
The feeling of guilt crept back, making Ethan feel sick.
He grimaced in agony and then realised that Cal hadn't told him what his injuries were

'And what about me? What happened to me? Why does it hurt so much?' he asked shakily.

Cal took a deep breathe and answered his brother's question.
'You're floor took the brunt of the collapse. You were trapped under the rubble and it took the emergency services time to clear the area and rescue you. You've broken some ribs, it's punctured your lung and it had to be repaired. They've had to remove your spleen because of the bleeding in your chest. You're shoulder separated in the accident and it's been reset. There's some cuts and bruises too. Now it's going to take some time for you to recover and you're going to be sore for a while okay? You're going to be resting up and nothing else. You'll be sleeping a lot while your injuries heal.'

Ethan sighed. He knew it was bad. He felt pain in every single part of his body, and right now he wasn't going to argue with Cal. All he wanted to do was sleep, he had the morphine to thank for that. He shifted uncomfortably, the pain was so bad.
'Listen I'm going to get Connie okay. She can review your pain relief and then I'll come and see you later.' Cal knew Ethan needed to sleep.

'Yeah thanks...'

Cal smiled to himself as Ethan drifted off to sleep again...