Chapter Four-
Rescue HQ:

Lachie walked into the office the next morning, minus Lara. Michelle stuck her head out the door, confusion written on her face.

"Where's Lara?" She asked.

"She had a seizure last night and fell into a coma. They say she has secondary impact syndrome, from a second trauma. I don't know what it was though." Michelle looked down.

"Oh. That… that could be my fault."

"What do you mean Michelle?"

"She was throwing up last night when I picked her up; I thought it was just stress. I didn't think anything of it; I was more concerned about getting her away. I think Dean might have hurt her a little more than we thought." Lachie clenched his teeth. Dean came into the office, and Lachie went straight for his throat, pushing him up against the wall.

"What the hell did you do to her?"

"Nothing! Do what?" Dean was pressed up against a wall, struggling for air.

"What did you do?"

"To Lara? Nothing! I mean, I hit her, but it was spur of the moment violence. I didn't mean to, I was just so upset about Chase."

"Mate, I'm upset about Chase, but not upset enough to hit a woman. Are you crazy?" Dean shook his head.

"Oi you two, break it up!" Vince came in. "Calm down!"

"No, he has to know," said Lachie, anger in his eyes.

"Know what?" Choked Dean, struggling for air. Lachie pushed him higher up the wall.

"Lara's in hospital. You have to tell me what you did to her."

"I slapped her once, and told her to leave."

"That's not all, is it?" Dean shook his head, the colour leaving his face.

"Lachie! Drop him!" Vince tried to pry Lachie's hand of Dean's neck.

"I… I went back outside… Tried to slap some sense into her." Lachie snarled, and released Dean. He fell to floor, sucking in lungful's of oxygen and massaging his throat.

"You idiot! How could you do that to her?"

"I didn't do it on purpose!" He yelled.

"No, and now you've put her in the hospital, in a coma." Dean looked into Lachie's eyes.

"What?" He didn't believe him.

"She's in a coma moron. Secondary impact syndrome because of you, and what you did. You slapped her hard enough that her head hit the brick wall outside." Dean looked apologetic.

"I didn't mean to. I'm sorry."

"It doesn't matter if you meant to or not, it's been done now! You shouldn't be apologising to me, you should be apologising to Lara. You did this." Vince stepped back.

"You two going to be alright today then?"

"Yeah. We'll be fine." Lachie shook himself off, and sat at his desk. Heidi and Jordan waltzed in, hand in hand. They stopped when they saw Dean being helped up by Vince.

"What happened?"

"Nothing." Dean was shaken by the news of Lara. He stuck his head into Michelle's office.

"Michelle. I'm just heading out for a little while." She motioned for him to come inside her office. He sat facing her.

"Listen Dean. What happened yesterday, it was out of line. I can't reprimand you formally, but I can give you fair warning. Anything like that happens again, you will find yourself off the rescue team very quickly." He nodded.

"I understand. It won't happen again."

"Leave your phone on. You're on call. Dismissed." He left, and got in his ute. He sat with his head resting on the steering wheel, and a lone tear rolled down his face.

"What have I done?"

Vince walked into Michelle's office, and sat down heavily on one of her office chairs.

"What are we going to do?"

"What are you going to do Vince? You're the station manager, you're supposed to keep them in line." He nodded.

"I know. I didn't even see this coming. What even happened to Lara? I feel like I'm missing some of the story here."

"Chase went into anaphylactic shock last night. The nurses gave him morphine, not knowing he was allergic to it."

"Doesn't he wear a medic-alert necklace?"

"He does, but when he was burnt in the fire, Lara tore it off so she could assess his injuries. She didn't even think to look at what was on it, and didn't think about it."

"Oh. And Dean blamed her?" Michelle nodded.

"Slapped her well too. She had a deep red handprint on her face when I picked her up last night."

"You picked her up?" Vince sounded incredulous.

"Who else was going to do it Vince? Usually she'd ring Dean. She can't do that when he's the problem." He sighed.

"What else happened?"

"Before I picked her up, Dean had been at her again, outside the hospital. He hit her hard enough for her head to hit the wall behind her. I should have realised something was wrong Vince. I should know!" He reached across and touched her on the arm.

"It's alright Michelle. She'll be ok." She wiped away the stray tears falling down her face.

"I need to get ready. I have an appointment with Head Office in a few hours, to sort out this Hayden Bradley mess." He stood up.

"Everything will be ok Michelle."

"I hope so."

Campbelltown Hospital:
Dean sat next to Chase's bed. He'd woken up a few hours earlier, and they'd removed his tracheostomy once they'd decided he could breathe on his own.

"Chase, what am I going to do?"

"Apologise to her Dean," croaked Chase.

"What if she never wakes up? What if I'm the one that killed her? What will I do then? I'll be a killer!" Chase shook his head.

"She won't die Dean. Think positive. She's Lara. She'll fight to live."

"I dunno Chase. What do I say to her?"

"Confess Dean."

"Confess what?"

"Confess to the fact you love her, and that everything that happened yesterday was a mistake." Dean scoffed.

"I don't love her." Dean smiled.

"You say you don't Dean, but it's written across your face. The way you look at her, speak about her. You're smitten, and you won't admit it."

"I hate it when you're right Chase. She's in a coma though. How am I supposed to tell her?"

"Just because she's unconsciousness doesn't mean she can't hear you."

"I suppose you're right." Chase gripped Dean's hand.

"Then go!" Dean stood up, pumped.

"Ok, I'll do this!"

Rescue HQ:
Heidi sat at her desk, filling in her incident report for yesterday. It was one of the longest she'd done in a while. Vince's mobile vibrated on the desk, and he answered it.

"Vince Marchello."

"What?"

"Ok, thanks for letting me know." The three remaining team members tensed, getting ready to spring into action.

"Calm down there guys. Heidi, that was the hospital. Mattie was taken from the children's ward yesterday. They don't know who."

"Really?" He nodded. She sighed.

"People these days." She reached the section in her report where she had gone back into the burning house for Mattie.

"Vince, I've just remembered something strange about yesterday."

"What is it Heidi-Ho?"

"When I went back into the house yesterday to find Mattie, I found him taped into his high-chair."

"That's not right."

"Something seems off about this Vince." He dialled a number on his phone.

"Who are you calling?"

"The police. They can continue to look for Mattie, and be on the look-out for anything suspicious."

"Thanks Vince." His desk phone jangled. Vince indicated to Heidi to pick it up.

"Hello, Rescue Special Operations."

"There's been an accident. Please! We need your help."

"Ok, give me the details." Heidi scribbled them down quickly, and hung up.

"We've got a callout!" Yelled Heidi.

"Where to?" Asked Jordan.

"Intersection in Ambarvale."

"Isn't that near Rosemeadow?"

"I think it is." She checked it quickly and nodded.

"Who are the victims?" She checked her sheet.

"Tracy and Graham Fielding."

"Aren't they Mattie's parents?"

RPA Hospital:
Lara lay on the hospital bed, tubes everywhere. They had inserted a shunt into the base of her skull to relieve some of the pressure, and she hadn't woken up yet. Now they were waiting to see what sort damage had been done. Dean clutched her tiny petite hand in his own.

"Lara." He swallowed. He felt a little ridiculous talking to someone who was unconscious.

"I'm sorry for what happened yesterday. I should never have hit you. You deserve better than that from me, from anyone. I'm sorry for yelling at you yesterday, telling you that you were never good enough to be a team leader, and how I should have been in charge. No-one can protect Chase all his life. I couldn't have even saved him if I'd been there." He felt a tear roll down his cheek, and brushed it away. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

"Vince?"

"Deano, we've got a callout at Ambarvale. Lachie, Heidi and Jordan are heading out there now. We need a fourth pair of hands. Can you get over there?"

"Sure Vince." He hung up. He held her hand for a few moments longer. Hoping she would wake up. Wanting her to be ok.

"Please Lara. Wake up." He stood up, and was about to release her hand, when he felt her hand tighten.

"Lara? Come on Lara, wake up." He let go of her hand and ran to the door, calling a nurse. Her vitals spiked, and he came back over, gripping her hand tightly.

"Come on Lara, come back to me," he pleaded. She opened her eyes, and blinked groggily.

"Hey. That's it Lara. Come on, stay awake." She tried to sit up, but Dean forced her back down. She looked at him questioningly.

"You've been in a coma. Take your time before you try sitting up." She nodded. The nurse entered the room, and checked her chart, updating it.

"You're looking better," she commented.

"Lara, I'm sorry. I have to go. We've got a rescue and they need me to help." He kissed her on the forehead, smoothing back her hair. He took in the deep hand mark that he had left yesterday.

"I'll be back later, to see how you are, ok?" She nodded. He walked over to the doorway.

"Dean?" He turned and looked at her.

"I love you."