DISCLAIMER: All rights belong to the BBC. I don't own anything.
A/N: It's time guys... Thank you all very much for the lovely reviews! Here's the next chapter and I hope you all enjoy it. You'll have to read to the end to find out what might happen to these lovely characters. I haven't started the next chapter yet, but just in case I don't update for a while I have at least written the final two! Please leave a review to let me know what you think? More to come soon! Bear with :) x
CHAPTER 10
She doesn't think she can last much longer. The minutes turn into hours, the hours into days, and it feels like she's been here forever. She wonders how the others are doing, whether Charlie has managed to keep the ED under control, whether Ethan will make it, whether she will make it, whether Grace will miss her… Maybe it's better like this…
"Tell you what, princess," Jeff smiles, bringing Connie out of her daze and back into the dull greyness of what was now her reality, "Will you keep a secret for me?"
Connie's eyes crinkle at the edges; she nods slowly. Jeff carefully takes a hold of her hand again; he leans in closer. "When we get back to the ED, you and me, I'm gonna propose to Tamsin. Right there in front of everyone! And you're gonna be there to see it."
Connie offers a weak smile, silently pleased that she had guessed there was something going on between the pair. And she's happy for them. She knows there isn't much point in keeping up her icy exterior any longer; the infamous Ice Queen, the Wicked Witch, disappeared in the face of chaos and death. They probably won't even notice I've gone in any case, she thinks with a sigh. Jeff carries on talking, oblivious to her down-spiralling thought process, and she catches his last few words. "Wouldn't want to miss that would you?"
"Not for the w-world," Connie whispers. Her grip on his hand tightens.
"Hey, hey." He's nudging her arm. "Don't you fall asleep on me now, Connie. You've got to stay awake for me, alright?"
She'd only closed her eyes for a moment. Had she really been that close to losing consciousness? Jeff shifts uncomfortably, and his face darkens as he glances over to the wound on her leg. She can feel the red liquid seeping out of her bit by bit; her breathing becomes laboured. She feels sick.
"H-how's Ethan?" Connie asks in an attempt to distract herself from the blood loss, trying to keep her mind alert. She hears Jeff's dismal frown rather than sees it. "I don't know, Connie." He sounds sad. "But I'm sure they're doing everything they can for him." Then on a cheerier note, "He'll be just fine."
She wants to laugh, but the sharp scratch of a broken rib cuts her short. Jeff leans over her worriedly. "Suspected broken rib?" he says sarcastically, a disdainful tone creeping into his voice although it's meant to be teasing. "More like several."
His fingers trace the outline of her bones, and she gasps when he probes the ones that are broken.
"It's okay," Jeff says reassuringly, but she isn't so sure. Her head falls forward onto his shoulder of its own accord and she feels the life draining out of her; her fingers clutch at the oxygen over her face, her vision blurring as the world begins to darken at the edges like the blackening pages of a book held to a flame. She shivers violently and struggles to keep her teeth from chattering. Jeff rubs her hand gently in an attempt to warm them a little. "Okay, Connie, stay with me a bit longer, yeah?"
He knows they've ran out of time.
.o.0.o.
It's eerily silent in the hospital room, the monitors beeping away melodically – the only sign that Ethan is still alive. He thought he'd lost him, his little brother.
"Stupid," Cal mutters to himself. There is no one else to hear him. "Stupid, stupid, stupid." He slams fist hand down on his thigh, his mouth thinning at the dull throb that now lingers there. Memories of the hazardous procedure flood his mind, reminding him of how close he had been to failing. He stands up abruptly.
"Pull yourself together, man!" he says angrily. But he can't seem to do it. "I swear if you die, Ethan, I will kill you. You've gotta pull through this." He sits down again, tear threatening. "I know I'm a bad older brother. I know I've let you down…" He smiles a little, "but I promise from now on I'll try to do better."
.o.0.o.
"Right, Dixie!" Jeff shouts over his left shoulder. "We're doing this now!" His smile is grim, and he gives her shoulder a squeeze. "Okay, Connie, I ain't gonna lie; this is gonna hurt."
She nods understandingly, taking breaths that are too big for her lungs to cope with. Dixie's by her side, a hand on her shoulder. Jeff nods, and prepares to move the casualty, trying to ignore the piercing, terrified stare of the Clinical Lead boring into him. "Count of three."
She's not prepared for the pain.
Jeff pulls her leg forwards and away from the metal that has punctured her body. Blood seeps out quickly, dark red and vivid against the pale of her skin. A sharp scream rips itself from her through gritted teeth, her fingers digging into Jeff's wrist as she feels a muscle tearing. She realises the paramedics are trying to haul her up.
"Connie, you need to let go of my hand," Jeff says urgently, trying to pry her fingers open.
But she can't.
He smiles. "It's alright."
She doesn't want to.
"I'll be right behind you," he says with a confident smile; a gentle hand pulls her hand away. She tries to ignore the black spots at the corners of her vision, threatening to drag her down into the darkness. A shrill drone sounds in her ears and she feels dizzy. Everything begins to blur. With the help of the paramedics, Connie limps towards the ambulance, pain burning across her ribs as she leans on their shoulders for support.
Jeff huffs a sigh of relief as he leans against the vehicle ceiling, grinning widely. Dixie smiles a little. "Good job, love. I think you've earned yourself a pint there… or maybe two."
Jeff laughs. "Yeah."
"Come on," Dixie says teasingly as she turns and walks away, "before Mrs. Beauchamp wonders where you are." Dixie starts towards the ambulance and Jeff hauls himself up, carefully avoiding the debris as he makes his way out of the wreckage.
He's glad that it's over, in fact more than glad. For the past two hours a weight had been sitting on his chest, pressing on his heart, as if trying to drown him. But now that his mission has been accomplished he feels like he can breathe again.
It's then that he realises what's wrong. But it's already too late to warn anyone.
Jeff breaks into a run, and by his third step his fears become a reality. The blast of the explosion sends him flying across the tarmac, and he lands with a thud on his side, a hand over his head. He can hear Dixie screaming his name; her figure obscured by the flames. He watches as she disappears behind an unbreachable wall of fire, and his body is consumed by the smoke.