"When I get you alone."

[actionthisday]

Who: Callum MacDonald and Ethan Marshall
What: Making the most of a crap situation
Where: Outpatients Clinic, Mount Sinai
When: Saturday morning

Callum was trying to get his brain to focus on the filmography magazine he had brought with him to read while he waited for his doctor's appointment. Casey had made a therapist appointment for the same time so they only needed to make one trip to the hospital, but that meant Callum was left to wait on his own and he wasn't the most patient of people in the world. Not by a long shot. He had chosen not to sit in the waiting room because, having been as sick as he was and still recovering, he didn't want to catch anything else and his head still constantly sore to put up with kids screaming and people bemoaning their various ailments.

Instead, he told the clinic's receptionist that he was just going to wait on the row of seats lining the wall of the corridor just outside of the clinic. The seats weren't comfortable and considering he was still ill, he had that all-over ache to contend with too. He wanted to be back at the apartment in bed, where he had been spending most of his time since he was discharged from hospital and strictly told to rest... the condition he was let out sooner than he should have been.

He just happened to look up while he wet his finger to flip the page of the magazine and there was Ethan, coming down the hall in his labcoat with two other doctors. Callum wasn't shy, and because he wasn't sure when he would get another chance like this falling in his lap, he stood up before the posse of doctors passed. "Ethan," he said to catch the, let's be real, smoking hot doctor's attention. Hopefully he wasn't in the middle of some serious business doctor pow-wow that couldn't be interrupted. He wanted to carpe diem a little here, but he didn't want to be a rude prick about it.

Comments

[livingthelowlife]

It wasn't serious business at all. In fact, Ethan had just tagged up with a couple of his workmates to head to the cafeteria for their break. He had a joint consult with a patient who had a follow-up appointment that day, which was why he was away from the Neuro Unit. Clinic day was always crazy, with multiple doctors seeing patients for post-discharge appointments. So, even if he was surprised to see Callum, he knew he would have been following up with Alex here once he was discharged. He let the other couple of doctors head off without him and he gave Callum as smile as he came up to him.

"Hey, Callum. How are you feeling? You're still looking a little off-colour, but are you feeling better being out of this place?" he asked. While he had spoken to Jesse in the past couple of days, Jesse had said he hadn't caught up with Autumn or the twins because he had been trying to regain his strength himself. Plus, there was apartment hunting happening, so it was hard to fit everything in. "Sit back down, get off your feet. I'll sit with you until you're called. It's time for my break anyway."

[actionthisday]

Callum sat back down, grateful when Ethan suggested in because his energy levels were still depleted. It was just really nice when Ethan sat with him and offered to wait with him until his appointment came up. "Are you sure? They're running behind. They couldn't even give me a ballpark time that I might be waiting." He closed his magazine over and left it on the seat on his other side. "A little better. Not so much like I'm dying anyway. Just completely wiped out all the time. It's exhausting to even just stand in the shower. I've actually ended up sitting on the floor of it because I couldn't handle standing up. Case has been great, though."

He cleared his throat, finding that he was feeling a little nervous all of a sudden. "Actually, I'm glad I ran into you. There was something I wanted to ask you..." he admitted, trying to bite the bullet before Ethan went and got paged or something else doctors did that took them away from sitting in corridors with patients making small talk.

[livingthelowlife]

"They're always running behind, unfortunately. It's no bother at all. It's nice to see you're back on your feet. But even just beyond the malaria, the encephalitis will wipe you out because the brain is the epicentre of the body. If there's swelling on the brain, it takes a little time and a lot of rest to start to feel better again. The key is listening to what your is telling you. If you're feeling tired, sleep. If you're feeling sick, keep up the fluids and take it easy. Unfortunately, doctors' appointments are part and parcel of being sick. I know it's less than the ideal situation here to be sitting around waiting when you're not feeling well." Ethan glanced around, expecting to see Casey somewhere in easy reach. "Is Casey here with you?"

He nodded with an open smile. "Of course. You can ask me anything," he assured him, expecting Callum to ask more about his recovery or hints on how he could get back on his feet quicker. That was always what a usually healthy and active patient always asked. How to reduce the recovery time so they could jump back into life.

[actionthisday]

Callum's nose screwed up with distaste. "I'm not the world's most patient person, unfortunately. You're right, it doesn't help not feeling well but I get why I have to do this. Can't let Case think I'm on death's door again. He's here at the hospital. Up a few floors having a therapy appointment. He has them weekly to deal with his PTSD. It's been a bit shaken up with everything going on with Jesse, but it's okay. We love having Jesse in the equation. We want to get to know him more, but I've not been well and neither has he."

Okay, maybe a little teensy tiny bit of cold feet here that his twin would give him a smack in the head for if he was witnessing it. "Just for the record, you're not my doctor anymore, right? That was just a thing when I was in hospital and you passed me off back to Alex and it's all cool?" he asked, because he didn't want Ethan to get in trouble for this or anything. He also wanted to make sure if he was going to get turned down, he was aware of the potential reasons it might happen. Or he was just being chicken shit. No doubt that would be the conclusion his brother and sister came to if they knew about this.

[livingthelowlife]

"If you're still here in ten to fifteen minutes, I'll go in and pull some strings for you," Ethan offered. What was the point of having connections if you couldn't use them to your advantage a little? "I bet it has. I know it's not been easy for any of you. Actually, it's likely the stress has been what has prolonged Jesse feeling poorly. Unfortunately epilepsy is a condition that can exacerbate with stress. As can PTSD. You just need to keep taking care of yourselves and know it's okay to take it easy, process it as you're ready to."

He looked at Callum uncertainly. "No, I'm not. I was only consulting in conjunction with Alex because you had the neuro complications. Were you not satisfied with your care...?" he had to ask, even if it made him nervous. "I mean, you're more than entitled to submit an official complaint with hospital administration. I wouldn't want you think you couldn't just because I'm Jesse's friend or something..."

[actionthisday]

Generally, Callum would have turned down the kind offer, not wanting to take advantage of the situation. But at the same time, he really was in a lot of discomfort here and it was sweet of Ethan to offer his help. "You don't have to, but I can't say I wouldn't appreciate it. I'm ready to be back in bed and going back to my current day job of being a waste of space. At least I haven't had much appetite to be racking up a ridiculous food bill or anything like that. Do you speak to Jesse a lot? Case and I haven't had a chance to really talk to him. We didn't want to stick our noses in if he wasn't feeling good."

It took a moment for Callum to realise what Ethan was assuming here and he quickly waved his hands. "Oh, no, no, no! No, you were amazing. I don't want to complain about your care. Holy shit. I would never do that. There wasn't a single thing I could complain about. Sorry, dude. I didn't mean to give you a fright there. No, it's, um... I was just wondering if, maybe, if you're interested when I'm not so looking and feeling like something the car dragged in if maybe you'd like to get a coffee with me sometime? You know, like... a date?"

[livingthelowlife]

With a smile, Ethan gave his head a little shake. "No, don't think anything on it. I really don't mind helping where I can. This place can get crazy, and if you're just here for a follow-up, you'll likely not be in there too long. Unless there's been some complications? How have you been progressing with it all? I do. I speak to Jesse almost daily, depending on how crazy work gets for me, or how he's been feeling. Not as much in these past couple of weeks because he's been sleeping a lot. Jesse never feels like family is sticking there nose if. You want to chat to him, he'd love to hear from you."

Now this? Shocked the hell out of Ethan. He had just been chatting to Malcolm about how there hadn't been any dating prospect in basically forever, and now here was Callum not just randomly trying his hand at asking for a date, but checking first that it was all okay so Ethan wouldn't get in the shit. Ethan's mouth just dropped open a little, and he didn't mean to gape but that was exactly what he was doing. "You... want to go on a date with me?" he asked, dumbfounded. "I... um... I... okay, sure. If you're sure. When you're feeling better, though. Please don't been offended by this, but Jesse didn't put you up to it, did he?"

[actionthisday]

"Um, not really complications by the textbook definition. Just a whole lot of not feeling well, not feeling like eating. I've mostly just been in bed, and Case has been taking care of me. But then I did hear Jesse wasn't far off that mark either, so I didn't feel completely bad that we hadn't been able to be in touch with him. I'll drop him a line, though. I'll admit, I was uncertain about this whole having another brother thing, but the strings he pulled for me when I was sick, I'll be forever grateful," Callum admitted quietly. He did feel like a douche for wanting to bury his head in the sand with it as an initial reaction.

He shook his head, albeit carefully because he still had a constant dull headache at the moment. "No, he didn't put me up to it. I promise. I did kind of ask him about the chance you might be interested, though. I didn't want to just go in all guns blazing if you were married or straight. Plus, I didn't know if it would be weird because you had been my doctor, and you would be all grossed out because I was your patient. You were so kind when I was in hospital, and I knew you were going above and beyond. Probably because of Jesse, but that's okay. You wouldn't have done it in the first place if you weren't a sweet person. I just feel sort of awkward because you've seen me being really gross. I just didn't want to miss the chance while it was there."

[livingthelowlife]

"That's not abnormal by any means, all things considered. Just so long as you keep your fluids up, you'll be okay until your appetite comes back. If you think it's something to worry about, though, talk to Alex about it. He'll have other conservative treatments to suggest that might boost you along a little. You were very ill, and it takes time to recover from something like that. Bed is the best place you can be. Jesse's getting there, it was just a pretty bad relapse he had. He's in very good hands with Jace, Evan and Christian. They take exceptional care of him." Ethan gave him an understanding smile as he listened. "Jesse's a very selfless person. I know he'll enjoy hearing from you, even if it's just a quick text. It's been a shock to the system for everyone, but he cares for you unconditionally."

He blinked, because he had been oblivious to the fact Callum had been appreciating his company when he had been in hospital... to the point he had asked Jesse if he was single. "It would have been awkward if you were still my patient, granted. But not at all grossed out. How could I be? You're gorgeous. I'm very flattered... but considering how well-travelled you are and a Harvard student, couldn't you ask any number of people out on a date? But, no... no, don't worry about that. Every human has times they aren't well and aren't in the best way. We've all been there."