I genuinely have no idea if anyone will still be interested in reading my Cal/Ethan drabbles but despite being over 3 years since Cal died, this is the only bit of writing I've managed to make any progress on in months, so I thought I may as well post it. It's sooo far from perfect writing but if you're after an OTT dramatic plot then it's certainly got that haha.


1.


It's dark, raining heavily, and the last place Cal would usually be found in these circumstances, is the hospital car park. He can't justify it for any better reason than he has a bad feeling. A really bad feeling.

Answer your phone, you idiot, he thinks, come on, answer.

They've both dealt with difficult patient relatives before, but there was something in Scott Ellison's eyes as he glared at Ethan, that Cal didn't trust. The only comfort was that while Scott remained in the E.D. he could keep a watch on him. But around the same time he'd finally convinced his brother to leave work, the other man also disappeared.

Ethan's voicemail kicks in. Cal hangs up and immediately redials.

Luckily there hadn't been much of his shift left but he'd spent it distracted, convinced that Scott wasn't the type to give up and go home. He'd left at the first opportunity without even stopping to get changed.

As he hears the voicemail again, Cal swears. "Ethan, how many times, right! That voicemail is not funny," he snaps. He squints through the darkness. "Listen, are you still around? Cos I think Scott is definitely after you, alright?" He huffs down the phone. The rain is getting heavier and he's damned if he's standing around in this all night. "Look, just get yourself home so I know that you're safe. I mean it, Ethan, okay?"

There's no-one around and that's unusual in itself; there's usually a junior doctor having a sneaky cigarette at least. No other idiot would be out in the rain. He sighs. Here he is soaked to the skin for Ethan and his brother won't even answer his bloody phone for him. The obvious answer is he's distracted by Alicia, and this is nothing more than paranoia because of a difficult day. He rounds his shoulders, shoves his hands into the pockets of his hoodie and neglects his search for the sanctuary of his car.

At home, he drowns his guilt with a beer and a final attempt at getting through to Ethan. It proves futile, as expected. He doesn't bother to leave a message this time but they'll be having words tomorrow. Ethan's lectured him so many times about abandoning him for girls that it's only right he hears what a hypocrite he is.

Cal takes his beer with him through to his bedroom and pulls off his wet clothes, leaving them in a heap on the floor. He's tired but here's no point attempting sleep while he still feels so stressed, so he loads a comedy on his laptop. Halfway through the film, he finally starts finding things funny. It puts him in a frame of mind where sleep may be possible, so he shoves it under his bed and shuffles down under the covers.

Just as he's drifting off, a noise jolts him awake again. He listens. Yeah, they're back. He'd know Alicia's giggle anywhere. He suddenly feels irrationally annoyed. He's been worrying all evening when, from the sounds of things, they were clearly out enjoying themselves. If he hears so much a squeaking bedspring tonight, he's going to kill them.

As he's trying desperately not to think about his brother and his ex together, a loud bang makes him jump. He freezes, frowning in the direction of his door. Then there's another crash, slightly quieter this time, but immediately followed by the sound of a woman's scream.

He's out of bed and down the hallway as fast as he can. Their front door has been bust open and is hanging on by just a hinge. His heart is hammering as he rounds the corner to their lounge but then it seems to stop altogether. He can only see the back of the intruder's head but he already knows who it is. And he has a gun to his baby brother's head.

His entrance has caused enough of a commotion for Scott to glance over his shoulder. The man looks him up and down and smirks. Cal's in nothing more than a pair of old joggers but he realises in a moment of absurd clarity that he's not the only one in a state of undress. Ethan's shirt is unbuttoned and Alicia's shivering without her jumper.

Scott seems to read his thoughts. "Looks like I interrupted a quiet night in." He turns back to Ethan and pushes the gun harder against the side of his head. "Sorry about that," he says without any feeling.

Cal rushes towards him before he's had chance to think it through. "Leave him alone," he says. It sounds a lot less authoritative that he'd intended. Ethan's eyes flicker to his. It's just for a second, but in that second Cal can tell that he's terrified.

"Not when then there's a score to be settled."

"What are you talking about?" Cal snaps.

"I'm not in the habit of allowing people to get away with doing me wrong," Scott replies.

"No-one's done you-" Cal begins, but he's interrupted by his brother.

"Scott, I am truly sorry for your father's passing," Ethan says. "But I want you to understand that we did all we could for him.

As usual, Ethan sounds a lot more measured than him and Cal holds his breath hoping he can talk their way out of this.

"He went into ventricular fibrillation. That means his heart wasn't pumping in the rhythm it should be which then caused a cardiac arrest. I suspect the post-mortem will show he had an existing heart condition he was unaware of."

"You're blaming him-?!"

"Of course not." Ethan's voice wavers for the first time. "I'm just trying to explain."

"Explaining isn't going to change anything."

"You can request an enquiry. And I promise you, I promise, if anything suggests that I'm at fault then I'll seriously reconsider my career."

"I don't care about your job!" Scott hisses. "And anyway I know what you doctors are like, ganging together, covering up, you look down your noses at the likes of us."

"No, that's not true."

"So you're denying you lot found us difficult then?

"All of our patients get equal care regardless."

"Then why did my dad die, huh? Why do you claim to save people's lives and then the one you fuck up happen to be someone you didn't like? I know what you thought of him."

"For fucks sake," Cal snaps. He can't bear that gun being so close to Ethan's head. "We get it, it hurts like hell losing a parent, but this isn't his fault. It isn't anybody's fault."

"You stay out of it."

Cal takes a step closer. He's not sure what he's planning exactly, but it's common sense that if he can get that gun out of Scott's hand, they'll all be a lot safer. "Can't do that."

He's so close to them now that he can see the anxious rise and fall of Ethan's chest, can hear the heavy breaths Scott's taking. If he can move quickly enough, he's sure he can knock that gun out of Scott's hand before he has chance to pull the trigger. Out of his peripheral vision, he sees Ethan shake his head. He ignores the warning. He primes himself, ready to throw himself at the other man. Before he can, he sees an arm racing towards him. The butt of a gun collides violently with the side of his head. The last thing he hears is Ethan yelling his name.

When he comes to, he's in the recovery position on their floor. He blinks a few times for the room to come into focus. Alicia's fingers are around the top of his arm. Ethan and Scott are the other side of the room with that blasted gun still angled towards his brother. With Alicia's help he scrambles into a sitting position.

"You okay?" she murmurs. Her breath smells like alcohol. It's hard to imagine she and Ethan were relaxing in the pub such a short while ago.

"How long was I out for?"

"Not long. Ethan freaked."

He brings his fingers to the side of his head and tentatively presses around the area where it stings the most. It makes him feel sick. When Alicia makes him remove his hand, his fingers come away bloody.

"Let me," she says. She kneels up in front of him, so her back is to Scott, and moves as close to him as she can. Mascara smudges darken her eyes. It hurts as she examines the wound, but he's distracted as she starts to whisper. "I tried to ring for help. He took my phone. Where's yours?"

"In my room."

"Okay. One of us needs to-"

"Shut up!"

They both jump violently at the sound of Scott's voice. Cal almost pushes Alicia away from him in his haste to make sure their actions hadn't worsened things for Ethan. His brother's red eyed and visibly shaken but he's still okay. Still alive.

"Sit down and don't move," Scott orders, "or I shoot."

"Okay," Cal says. "Okay. You put down the gun and we'll do as you say."

Scott laughs at that. A deep, twisted laugh. "Nah, it doesn't work like that. You don't get to blackmail me when I'm the one with the weapon."

"Please don't hurt him," Cal tries instead.

"I told you to shut up," Scott says. He turns back to Ethan. "I don't know why you were blubbering over him. But anyway, seeing how you reacted over him earning himself a little knock to the head gave me an idea."

No-one speaks. Cal realises how badly his head is pounding.

"My Dad was my favourite person in the world," Scott says. "I reckon I was his too. Chip off the old block, he used to call me. He taught me how to box. Bought me my first pint. He had real values did Dad. Saw the world for what it was and wasn't afraid to call people out on their bullshit. Yeah. I loved him. We never said it, didn't want people to think we're soft, but I could tell from the way he always had my back. And from the way I always had his."

He pushes the gun against Ethan's head. Cal wishes he could rush over there and beat the weapon out of Scott's hands but he's too afraid a wrong move will end up with a bullet through Ethan's skull.

"That- that's lovely," Ethan stammers.

"Yeah. Like I say; my favourite person in the entire world. And you took him away from me." In one sudden movement Scott grabs Ethan by the back of his neck and forces him to walk over to where Cal is on the floor beside Alicia. "So who's your favourite person?" Scott finally moves the gun from Ethan and Cal's halfway to breathing a sigh of relief when he sees the barrel of the gun line up between his eyes. "Him?" Scott asks. "Or-" he shifts the gun towards Alicia, "-her?"