She ran as fast as the dress and shoes she was wearing would allow her in search of her new husband. Her heart pounded and she felt physically sick at the thought that anything could have happened to Max. Around her she saw people who were okay tending to the people who were less so but still she struggled to spot Max. She jumped between people who were still laying on the ground, her doctor instinct was screaming at her to help them but the desire to find Max was a lot stronger. As she got near to the exit of the tent she came across her husband, laying still on the ground with blood masking his face. Reaching out she placed a finger on his neck and felt for his pulse, she found one almost immediately but things were not looking good for her husband.
"Michaela? Are you okay?" Beth asked as she sat up, the shock having passed and her doctor instinct now kicking in.
"Yeah, are you?" Michaela asked, coughing slightly before sitting up too, they looked at the sight in front of them and jumped up. Around them lay several people that the recognised from the ED so they set about trying to help.
"Hi, I'm Michaela and I'm a doctor, are you alright?" Beth heard Michaela asking from nearby.
At the side of the room now stood the majority of the people who'd attended the wedding reception, most of whom were uninjured or had sustained minor injuries during the explosion. The air was tense as the guests who were okay watched as their loved ones were helped. Zoe was still trying her best to help Max in one corner and Connie had joined her as Zoe just sobbed. Noel watched on, unsure of what was happening as a group of people crowded around Honey, his daughter who had come back for 'Hanna' and Max's wedding. Her eyes flickered gently as she drifted in and out of consciousness, her pulse slowing and then racing in a continuous cycle.
Rita lay on the floor, blood trickled down her forehead and yet she desperately felt the urge to get up and help. The pain in her neck told her that she shouldn't move and yet she tried to get up anyway before falling back down as her head suddenly became light and the room became dark.
Beth leant down over an older man, whom she recognised as the man who gave Zoe away. His pulse was weak and barely there and his breathing was shallow, dark purple splodges had began to form on the side of his face and ears.
"I need some help here now!" Beth called as the ambulances turned up.
The usually bubbly nurse lay quietly on the ground, unable to process what was going on around her. The pain that she had been expecting to feel had not come, her body felt numb and for a second she wondered whether she was already dead. Her eyes remained firmly open, Lofty sat by her side, trying to soothe the surprisingly calm Robyn. He was unable to hide the worry that was evident across his features, especially seeing as the usually flappy nurse seemed to be in a different world entirely.
Dixie sat up slightly, the world turning on its axis as she did so making her feel slightly dizzy and off balance. Beside her lay her old nemesis but now friend, Louise. Her eyes were open yet her body showed little sign of life, to her arms and the side of her face were obvious burns. Dixie leant over Louise, ignoring the pain in her own body, it was then she heard the slight gasping noise that Louise was making and the serious burns that she had sustained to her neck. She'd already had one colleague and friend die on her, she was not going to let this end with a second.
"Make him okay please, we just got married." Zoe begged through her tears to the paramedic who was now strapping Max to a board.
"We'll do our best madam, will you be coming in the ambulance with him?" The paramedic asked and got a slight nod of the head from Zoe in response. Black lines ran down from Zoe's eyes as the make up that had been so expertly applied that morning was now messily running down her face. In less than five minutes she'd gone from on top of the world to, well she didn't know what.
The six seriously injured patients were loaded onto separated ambulances, each accompanied by a loved one or friend and rushed into the ED, which had been filled with temps for the night.