Thank you so much for all your kind words - I hope you know just how much they mean to me.

Seeing as Casualty isn't on tonight, I'm writing another chapter to get my Cal/Ethan fix. I hope its ok.

This was supposed to be up last night but my computer decided to play up so I've borrowed my sons – hence the rugby talk.

A Family's Love - Chapter 3

Ethan exited the staff room, closely followed by his brother, when he saw his patient arriving back from CT.

Once John and Rich were situated in cubicles, Ethan joined them with his tablet, awaiting the CT results.

"How are you feeling John?" Ethan asked, as he glanced at his tablet.

"I feel ok, can I leave now?" John asked squirming impatiently on his bed.

"Stop John," Rich looked at him pointedly, "I know you hate hospitals but you have to make sure that there isn't any long term damage," the older man said, his face pinched with worry.

John huffed audibly, but he didn't argue.

An alarm alerted Ethan to the results of his tests. He looked at them carefully, nibbling at the side of his cheek as the read them.

He quickly looked up seeing the two brothers looking at him expectedly, "Well, I have the results and everything seems absolutely fine. No head injury. Your shoulder and legs will be sore for a while, so if you just take your usual painkillers that should be fine. You need to rest and if there are any problems then you can see your GP..."

"Dr Hardy, can I ask you a question?" John enquired.

"Of course, anything."

"Do you know someone with Huntingtons?"

Ethan shuddered involuntarily, "Why do you ask?"

"You won't look me in the eye for starters. You seem incredibly uncomfortable around me..."

On hearing his brother's question and watching the young doctor's reaction to it, Rich stepped forward, angry that a member of the health service, who was supposed to be helping his brother, would treat him in such a way.

"What's going on?" he demanded, taking another step towards the awkward doctor.

"I...I...don't..." Ethan stammered, at a loss.

Cal, who had been reading a file at the nurses station, suddenly looked up. Something had made him look up - his brotherly instincts on heightened alert. He noticed the older brother of Ethan's patient almost getting up in his brother's face.

He abandoned the file and dashed over to the cubicle, "Dr Hardy, is everything alright in here?"

Ethan looked at him with shocked eyes, "Erm, yes - I think so..."

"Would you be so good as to step away from Dr Hardy please," Cal asked Rich, as politely as he could in the current circumstances.

Rich looked towards Ethan and John, and seeing that his brother didn't seem in any distress, he moved away from Ethan, throwing a dirty look Cal's way.

"I'm very sorry if that's what you thought John," Ethan said sincerely, "But yes, my brother and I recently lost our mother, who had Huntingtons..." he trailed off as a lump formed in his throat.

"I'm sorry to hear that," John told him, "That must have been hard."

"Yes it was. But what made it harder was that we had only knew her for a few months - you see we only found out a couple of months ago that we were both adopted. We were taken away from our real mother because she had been deemed unfit to care for us, even at the beginning of her illness."

Cal watched his brother closely, looking for any signs of distress, while being surprised that he was sharing their story with someone.

"Then you and your brother did the test and you found out that you have it," John said finally, causing Ethan to almost drop his tablet in shock.

The young doctor found out that he couldn't speak at that moment, so he just nodded his head, unable to look at John once more.

"How long have you known?"

"Only a few weeks," Ethan told him, his stomach churning.

"So on a scale of 1-10 how furious are you that you have it?" John asked, watching the younger man curiously.

Ethan shook his head, "I haven't thought...I mean...nine and a half," he finished honestly.

"How many times have you asked yourself 'why me'? What have you ever done to deserve it?" John felt emotions welling up inside him as the weeks after his own diagnosis came into the forefront of his memories, "You feel like your life is over - how could you possibly live a 'normal' life now?"

Ethan nodded his head very slightly but all three men picked up on it.

"Have you ever wished that your brother had been the one to have it and not you?"

Ethan gasped at the blunt question, but couldn't deny the answer, "Yes, I have...but I don't really wish that at all," he admitted.

John looked at Cal, who was stood next to Rich, "You're his brother aren't you?"

Now it was Cal's turn to look shocked, "How did you know?"
"The way your eyes keep darting in his direction - like you're checking he's alright. Also the look on your face is almost the exact same look that Rich had on his face for the first few months after my diagnosis."

Rich dropped his head slightly, his own memories coming back to haunt him, "I had never felt so guilty and so helpless in my life," he told Cal, who nodded his agreement.

"If I could take it away from Ethan I would do it in a heartbeat," Cal said aloud.

Ethan glanced at his brother, a lone tear streaking down his cheek, "I wouldn't want you to have it."

"And yet, you've spent time hating him because he doesn't have it and you do..."

Ethan looked shocked as did Cal, but not Rich.

John continued, "I love my brother more than anything, always have, and although I was so happy that he didn't have it, I hated his guts for a while because of that same reason. But then I realised that all that hate and denial wouldn't do me any good, it wouldn't change the fact that I had an incurable illness - so I made a conscious decision not to waste time on that and just use my time wisely. I've known for ten years and my symptoms are only just starting. You think your life is over? I can tell you that it isn't - use you time wisely. Don't shut people out - family, friends, they can all help you stay on track," he gasped out the last few words as his monologue had taken a lot out of him. Rich immediately moved closer to him, telling him, quietly, to get some rest.

"Look, if you want to stay for another hour or so, so that John can get some sleep, that's perfectly alright, we can sort out somewhere for him to rest," Cal told the concerned brother.

"Thank you I think that might be a good idea," Rich agreed, "Have you got a pen and some paper?" he asked.

Cal had an empty envelope in his pocket, so he passed it to Rich, who started scribbling, "Here are our mobile numbers," he explained, "In case either of you want to talk - after all, we've got an insight into both sides," he smiled as he handed the paper over.

Cal looked across at Ethan, who by now was looking exhausted, "You go and get a coffee Eth, I'll sort out John and Rich."

"Are you sure? Thanks, I could use something..." the younger man agreed.

Before he left, he took a step closer to the bed, "Thanks John, for the pep talk. Take care."

With one last glance at the two brothers, Ethan left the cubicle.

Ten minutes later, Cal appeared in the staff room to find Ethan perched on a stool, staring blankly into an empty coffee cup.

"You already finished?"

"Huh?" Ethan looked surprised to see his brother there.

"You ok? Only you're staring into that coffee cup and there's nothing in it."

Ethan looked at the cup as if he hadn't realised that he was holding it, "Oh err...I must have drunk it."

"Yeah or not even made one in the first place..." Cal chuckled, "So, Rich and John seemed to have a handle on things..."

"Yeah," was all Ethan offered.

Cal sighed. It seemed his brother had already slipped back into his old ways.

Cal decided to start getting changed as their shift had ended, mentally going over everything that had happened today - surprised and proud about how well his little brother had coped.

Before long the staff room filled up with all the usual suspects and the once quiet room started to sound more like a school playground.

Ethan stayed seated, still staring into the empty cup, mulling over the day. He had to admit that he felt a bit better after talking about it a few times and although John wasn't very much older than he was and was showing symptoms already, Ethan had felt more able to cope after being allowed to admit how he had been really feeling over the last few weeks. He glanced up and realising that everyone that he wanted to tell was in the same room as his, "Ahem," he said quite loudly to get everyones attention.

Suddenly the conversations stopped and all eyes were on Ethan, "I have something that I need to tell you..."

His palms were clammy his heart was pounding like a drum as he turned slightly to see where Cal was. Cal, sensing that Ethan needed some moral support, immediately stood up next to him, ready to help if needed.

"Let me guess - you're pregnant!" Jacob burst out, causing hysterical laughter through the staff room.

Ethan smiled indulgently, "If only it was that easy," he mumbled, causing some to stop laughing and pay attention.

"I think most of you know about our mother, our real mother, whom we found a few months ago - who died the other week. What most of you probably didn't notice was that she had Huntingtons. Cal and I have had the test done and...well...it turns out that I have the gene," his eyes filled up once more when he felt Cal's arm around his shoulders.

"So you're saying that you could develop Huntingtons?" Lily asked, her expression one of absolute horror.

"Yes that's what I'm saying. I'm alright at the moment, but obviously I don't know when the symptoms will show themselves," he tried to sound brave, but Cal knew different - he could hear the fear in his brother's voice.

Ethan sat stock still, dreading the reactions from the others, but to his relief and delight, they all accepted his admission vowing to do their very best to support him when he needed it.

The young doctor blew out a deep breath of relief, "Thank you all so much. I also need to apologise for my behaviour over the last few weeks - obviously there has been a lot going on in our lives and I haven't really handled it very well."

"You've handled yourself in a mature and professional manner Ethan, as always," Rita assured him as he nodded his thanks.

"Oh damn, I've left something at the nurses station - don't leave without me," Cal exclaimed, "Particularly as Ethan is buying the first round."

Everyone chuckled as he flew out of the door. Then attention turned back to Ethan who looked distressed, "Ethan sweetheart, what's wrong?" Rita asked as she slipped an arm around his shoulders.

"You mean apart from the incurable degenerative illness that I've got?" he retorted bitterly. He immediately regretted the words, "I'm sorry. There I go again."
"It's perfectly normal to feel so angry Ethan," Charlie assured him.

"Just seems like I'm always angry Charlie," Ethan replied sadly.

His gaze flicked towards the door, then he turned back to his friends, "Will you watch out for Cal too please? He's tearing himself apart with guilt and although he's trying to cover it up, I'm sure that it's only a matter of time before it gets the better of him."

"Always thinking of others," Robyn smiled at him, "We will watch out for you both because we are a family, and a family's love will never be defeated."

So that's it. Not my best piece, but at least it's filled a hole left by Casualty tonight. Although for once, I don't mind missing it to watch the rugby - England Grand Slam whoop!

Hope it's ok - til next time.