Oh my goodness! Thank you so much to everyone who read and reviewed the first chapter! I can always count on the Casualty faithful - you guys are brilliant.

Here comes the next chapter...

An Explosive Cocktail - Chapter 2

At first, Ethan couldn't take in what Max had told him, "What?" he choked out.

"Cal's still in there...he'd just gone to the loo...there's so much dust and smoke...I couldn't see him..." Max broke into a coughing fit as Ethan stared at him as if he'd never seen him before, "I'm sure I saw some of the others too..." he coughed out.

"MAX!"

Both men whirled round to see Zoe and Robyn pounding through the car park, both launching themselves at the stricken man.

"I think he's inhaled a lot of smoke and dust," Ethan passed on, slipping into doctor mode once more. He also saw the moment when Zoe's professional mask slipped back into place, "Robyn, take him inside and get him on some oxygen - I might be needed here. I'll be in soon," she promised her boyfriend as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. She watched them leave for a few seconds, then dragged her attention back to the matter in hand, "What do we know?" she asked.

"Cal's in there," was all Ethan could muster.

Zoe laid an hand on his arm, "The emergency services are here, they'll find him," she tried to reassure the obviously frightened young doctor.

Ethan felt a new wave of anxiety wash over him as suddenly everything seemed to be pushing down on him. The noise seemed deafening, the air was thick with smoke and debris. Before he knew what was happening, his legs were moving and he was making his way towards the battered building, "Ethan! Wait!" he heard Zoe shout.

"There are people trapped inside, we can't wait..." he yelled back as he picked up speed. After the oppresive noise of earlier, all he could hear now was the pounding of his own heartbeat.

As soon as he set foot through what used to be the doorway, he was hit by a wall of dust causing him to cough violently. He tried to cover his nose and mouth with his scrub top in a vain attempt to stop more dust from entering his already irritated lungs.

"Cal!" He called out for his brother as he stumbled through what looked like a warzone. He ducked under pieces of falling ceiling. He dodged other falling debris, hissing as one piece of ceiling connected with his shoulder. He could feel the heat from a couple of small fires, but by the looks of them, they weren't any cause for concern. All the while he was trying to get his bearings - trying to figure out which way Cal could have gone.

Suddenly, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He stumbled over towards it, hope filling his entire being. That hope, however, vanished when he came across Noel with Lofty laid out at the side of him, "Noel? Lofty? Are you hurt?" he managed to choke out.

Lofty looked at him blankly, Noel on the other hand, started looking around frantically, "Honey, have you seen Honey? She was here with us! Please, you've got to find her!"

Ethan felt a lead weight settle in his stomach, "She was next to me," Noel babbled, "Please tell me that she's alright," he pleaded.

Before Ethan could answer, he heard a slight groan coming from his left. He scrambled towards the sound, finding Honey under a pile of tables, "Honey, are you alright?" he asked as he pushed the tables off of her.

"Ethan? I'm so glad to see you. You're my hero..." she tried to smile, but it turned into a grimace.

"Court jester, remember?" Ethan tried to lighten the mood as he examined her, "Hmm, looks like a broken arm, but we'd have to x-ray it...your dad's over there, he's fine, just worried about you," he reassured her as he gently pulled her up and she tested her balance. She smiled at him as he nodded his encouragement and before long, father and daughter were reunited. Noel and Honey leaned on each other as Ethan helped Lofty, who was bleeding from a head wound.

They all staggered out of the dust filled shell, relieved to be in one piece. As they reached the fresher air, Ethan was overcome by a coughing fit, which doubled him over. Zoe took charge of the injured, but before she could do anything for Ethan a new voice joined the throng, "Dr Hardy, what were you thinking? Going in there...alone...you're not Superman you know?"

Connie's face was pinched with anxiety, but that was lost on Ethan, "People are trapped. People we work with, that we care about...my brother is..." he choked out, willing the sudden onslaught of dizziness to subside.

Connie, being ever vigilant, noticed this and slipped an arm around the young doctors shoulder, "Ethan, it's to dangerous," she told him quietly.

"I can't leave him in there...I just can't. You know he's all I've got...I can't..." He began coughing once more.

Zoe quickly joined them trying to assess their best course of action, when suddenly, another explosion ripped through the already badly damaged building. Ethan gasped audibly as he ducked more debris, feeling as if his heart had been torn in two by the sound.

After the initial shock wore off, Ethan stepped forward, only to be stopped by Connie's hand, "You can't go in there Ethan!"

Ethan pulled his arm out of her grip, "My brother's in there...I will not lose him!" he insisted. Then with once last look at Connie and Zoe's concerned faces, he dashed back into the perilous building.

Just to clarify - in the part where I wrote than Ethan felt his hope vanish when he saw Noel and Lofty, I didn't mean that he wasn't glad to see them - it was meant that he was hoping to see Cal, but he would be glad that he found the others too.