Dawson jumps up. Ellis rises to his feet with way more grace, even tired as he looks.
“Yes?” they say as one.
Doctor Connelly raises an eyebrow at Ellis.
“I’m Cal’s brother,” he says, unprompted.
“Ah. Alright.” She pinches the corner of the papers in her hands, her lips forming a thin line. That can’t be good. “The blood results just came through. They revealed Cal had alcohol in his blood.” A pause. “In quite a high concentration.”
“Fuck,” Ellis says under his breath. While he might’ve expected it, it must hit different when faced with a confirmation of his fears—especially if he doesn’t know that finding Cal with a bottle is not a rare occurrence.
“Okay,” Dawson says carefully. He can’t quite feign surprise at the revelation, he’s not that good an actor, but the fact that Cal sat behind the wheel while drunk off his ass is surprising. He’s usually more careful than that, being a control freak and all. “Will that complicate his healing?”
“Nothing you have to worry about,” the doc says. “But we have to notify the police.”
“The police? But no one else was hurt, were they?” Oh God, please, don’t let there be casualties.
“Not to my knowledge. But the police are involved every time there’s an accident. It’s a standard procedure. And we’re obligated to release the test results since they’re likely the reason why the accident happened.”
Ellis steps forward, determination oozing from him. “I’ll take care of it. I’ll give you my contact details if you could forward me the information.”
“That can be arranged.”
“Can I see him?”
She shakes her head. “I’m sorry. We’re still running tests. You can see him tomorrow. And if all goes well, we might take him off the sedation then.”
Sensing an argument incoming, Dawson puts a hand on Ellis’ arm to get his attention. “Ellis, you’re tired. Cal’s unconscious. There’s nothing either of us can do. We can come back tomorrow.” He really doesn’t want to come back here. God, what if Cal is awake when he comes back?
Ellis seems to mull it over. Maybe chewing it over is a better expression, given how hard his jaw works. “What if something happens?”
“We’re continuously monitoring him. If something were to happen, we would respond immediately. There’s no better place he can be.”
“Fine,” Ellis begrudgingly agrees after a long moment of teeth grinding. “I’ll leave my number so you can contact me directly.”
“Of course.” The doctor nods, smiling tightly before she walks away.
“They’re just trying to help,” Dawson turns to Ellis after she’s out of earshot. “You don’t have to be rude.”
Ellis’ eyes flash. “Yeah, well, my brother almost died because he was drunk driving. Forgive me for being on edge.” He must see the way Dawson flinches and closes in on himself, because he takes a step back and an apology passes across his face. “Sorry. I’m just tired.” He grimaces. “I forgot to book a hotel.”
Ignoring his fight-or-flight response, Dawson says, “You can stay at Cal’s apartment.”
Ellis’ brows shoot up. “With you?”
Dawson would be insulted if he didn’t know that the Reeves family has the emotional range of a rock. What on earth did he marry into?
He gives Ellis a look. “It’s up to you if you wanna be looking for a place at this hour?”
Ellis watches him for a moment. “Fine. Just tonight.” Could he sound any more inconvenienced?
Dawson goes to fetch Kieran to tell him they're leaving.
"Definitely brothers," Kieran says, his expression disapproving.
Dawson chuckles. "He's tired. He doesn't have a hotel, so he'll be staying with me."
Kieran's eyes almost pop out of his skull. "With you?!"
