Tanith Panic, I hadn't heard of naughty bags either, but none of the words in my condom vocabulary seemed to suit the situation so I had to resort to google for that one! Thank you for the review.

TimeLadyOdair, thank you so much for your very kind review - I'm thrilled you liked it so much, but I hope this one won't be disappointing in comparison. I'm sorry for making you cry and for any resulting awkwardness with your Nan! I hope this update isn't too late.

"Sophie… I'm sorry for… you know," said Ethan. "I didn't mean it. I do like you. I like you very much."

Sophie looked shocked. "Really?" she said softly.

"No! I mean yes! I mean…." Ethan took a moment to calm down. "Of course I like you. I like you as a friend and I admire, respect and like you as a colleague. Cal was teasing me and I overreacted. I didn't mean it the way it sounded. I'm so sorry." His voice shook slightly. "I love working with you, Sophie, and I'd never want to hurt you."

Sophie smiled. "It's okay, Ethan. I think I overreacted too."

"Of course you didn't," said Ethan.

"I think I did," said Sophie. "And I like, admire and respect you too. As a friend and a colleague."

Ethan was doing his best to get over his disappointment when she hugged him. At first, he was too shocked to move, but his senses gradually returned and he hugged her tightly. As the relief flowed through his body, he began to smile. He knew they should be getting back to work, but he didn't want to move just yet.

Actually, he felt as though he could cope with not moving again ever. It felt so good to hold her in his arms. Her body was warm, her arms were affectionate and her scent was intoxicating. No, he definitely didn't want to move anywhere in the near future.

Sophie pulled away from him. Her breathing was shallow. Maybe she was still upset. "We should probably get back to work, Ethan."

"Only if you're ready," he said.

"I'm ready," said Sophie. She stood up. "I… I look okay, don't I?"

"You look b… you look fine," said Ethan. "Though you might want to go and find a mirror or something. But you do look fine."

Sophie laughed. "So I look good for someone with eyeliner everywhere except around my eyes."

"Yes," said Ethan. "Or maybe I mean no." He laughed a bit nervously. "I'm actually not quite sure what I mean. I mean whichever one isn't insulting."

"You know what? I think I'm going to take your advice about the mirror," said Sophie.

They both laughed and Ethan stood up. She was nearly as tall as he was in her unsuitable shoes. Their mouths were almost level. They were so close, they were almost touching. He looked into her eyes and it seemed so easy. All he had to do was put his lips on hers.

And then all she'd have to do was slap him.

And all Cal would have to do was punch him.

"Right. Let's get back to work then," said Ethan, and took a very large step back so she could go ahead of him.

Cal was still annoyed with himself. It should have been so easy. A few well-chosen words and Sophie would have been all his.

But Cal hadn't been able to do it and now she and Ethan were best friends again, laughing over something that Cal almost certainly wouldn't find funny.

Cal told himself he didn't care what they were saying, but he found he was edging closer, his ears straining for a snippet of conversation.

"But I really wanted to go," Sophie was saying. "I felt like I'd die if I couldn't go."

"How did you get in?" said Ethan with bated breath.

"I blagged my way in," said Sophie. "I insisted I'd been left off the guest list and if they didn't let me in, there would be a really big row and they would be the ones who suffered. So they apologised profusely and made me a special name badge. Dr S. Matthews. I've still got it. I thought it might be useful. You know, in the future."

Cal sat down next to her and smiled reminiscently. "I used to do that all the time when I was a student."

The look on Ethan's face was comical. "Caleb, you're not serious."

"Not that there were many parties I wasn't invited to," said Cal quickly. "Most people knew it wasn't a party unless I was there."

"This wouldn't have been a party even if you were there," said Sophie.

Cal looked at her, confused. "What?"

"We weren't talking about parties," said Sophie. "We were talking about industry conferences. The ones we'd been to; the ones we wished we'd been to; the ones we wished we hadn't been to…"

Cal was having trouble producing words. "You… you blagged your way into an… an industry conference?"

"Yes, I did," said Sophie. "What's wrong with that? Apart from the fact I had absolutely no right to be there."

"But… but why would you want to go in the first place?" said Cal, completely bewildered now.

"I liked one of the speakers and I wanted to see him," said Sophie.

"Oh, I see!" Cal was so relieved there was a rational explanation, he didn't even feel jealous. "Which speaker was it?"

"Guy Self."

"Guy Self?" Cal almost shrieked. "You think Guy Self is attractive?"

Sophie cringed. "Ew, no, of course not! I just thought he might have something interesting to say. As it happened, he didn't. He was a boring old windbag."

Not even the terrified look on Ethan's face as he checked they hadn't been overheard could restore Cal's equilibrium.

"But the rest of it was good," said Sophie.

"But…." Cal floundered. "Okay. Boring old windbag: fair enough. But the rest was good?"

Ethan was probably trying not to smile, but he was doing a terrible job of it. "Face it, Caleb. I'm not the only one who finds industry conferences enjoyable. Maybe next time I go, I should take Sophie along as my plus-one."

"You do that and I'll tell Sophie about that time we went to a conference together and that pretty girl dropped her bag at your feet and you bent over to pick it up!" said Cal menacingly.

"Do you mean the time my trousers split?" said Ethan pleasantly. His cheeks were stained with red, but his eyes met Cal's without fear. "I've already told Sophie about that. Most Embarrassing Moments at an Industry Conference was one of the first things we discussed." He smiled at Sophie. "Come on. We'd better get back to work."

It wasn't until they'd gone that Cal remembered that invitations to an industry conference didn't even include a plus-one. If they did, he'd have found them a lot more interesting, though it wasn't a bad place to pick up an intelligent one night stand.

Not that one-night stands of any intelligence level were of interest to him at present.

Ethan could tell Sophie was dying to say something. He also knew very well what it was. He tried to change the subject. "So our next patient will be um…" He stopped. He had no idea who the next patient was.

"Ethan, did you seriously split your trousers at an industry conference?"

"Yes, I did," said Ethan. He felt himself going red again.

Sophie's eyes were full of amusement. "You never told me that."

"Can you blame me?"

"No," admitted Sophie. "But how come you lied to Cal?"

"Because if my brother decides to terminally embarrass me," said Ethan, "the least I can do is get in first and spoil his fun."

Sophie laughed. "Fair enough. I do think Cal is really lovely. I wouldn't go out with him if I didn't like him. I think he usually does mean well. But… you know."

Ethan spoke with feeling. "Believe me, I do know."

They stopped at reception and picked up the next patient's file.

"Ethan?" said Sophie.

"Yes?"

"You know that conference I blagged my way into? If it makes you feel better, I tripped over my feet and spilled Guy Self's champagne in his lap. He looked like he'd had an accident, and not the kind we usually deal with."

Ethan smiled. "Do you know something? That does make me feel a little bit better. Thank you."

Lily saw the stretcher being wheeled in and went quickly to help. She gave the patient a cursory glance. His face was a mess of blood. Judging from the small moans he was uttering, he was also in a great deal of pain.

"This is Daniel King, aged thirty-three…"

Lily didn't hear the rest. She didn't hear anything except the cry of pain she gave when the stretcher went over her foot. She collapsed onto the floor, holding her toes and sobbing with pain. As a doctor, she could cope with anyone else's injuries, but any kind of injury to herself had always been much more difficult for her to deal with. Her imagination, usually firmly squashed beneath her professional, logical brain, came to the surface as she imagined everything the stretcher might have done to her.

Her toes felt wrong. There seemed to be something sticking out of one of them. A piece of bone? Lily cried even harder as pictures of damaged, misshapen feet flashed through her mind. In her work, her feet were less important than her hands, but she spent most of her time standing or walking. What if she couldn't do that anymore?

And all the time, the pain was so bad.

Dixie came and knelt beside her. "It's all right, lovely. I know it hurts, but someone will be with you soon."

"Please help me," sobbed Lily. She hated the way she was behaving but didn't know how to stop.

Then she heard Ethan's voice. "I'll take this, Dixie. Sophie, I'm sorry to ask you to deal with this, but could you find someone to help Lily? Thanks." He grabbed hold of the trolley and helped to wheel it to Resus.

Sophie knelt beside Lily and put her arm around her. "It's okay, Dr Chao. It's going to be fine. I'm just going to ask Max to bring you a wheelchair." She shouted across the ED to Max and stroked Lily's shoulder. "I know it feels like your toe's been cut off, but toe injuries usually seem worse than they are. I ran over my foot once with a wheelchair and I think I screamed the place down, but I don't think I even had a bruise. I was quite disappointed really."

"Here you are!" said Max's voice.

"Thanks: that was quick," said Sophie. "Could you help Dr Chao into the wheelchair, please?"

Lily felt Max lifting her carefully into the wheelchair. She wanted to tell Sophie there was something wrong, but she was sobbing too hard to speak.

"Thank you, Max. I'll take Dr Chao into cubicles," said Sophie. She touched Lily's shoulder and the wheelchair started moving. "I always knew those shoes were dangerous. If I ran over my foot with your wheelchair, it would definitely hurt, but my toes would be partly protected by the leather. There's much too much give in your shoes. Sometimes it really does pay to have fashion sense."

Lily put her hand over her mouth as she fought back sobs.

At least Sophie was being kind to her. She was talking complete rubbish as usual, but in a way, Lily appreciated it. It was good to have a voice to concentrate on and the fact Sophie was talking rubbish meant she probably wasn't expecting an answer.

Sophie stopped at the first cubicle. "I wonder if this one is…" She pulled the curtain aside. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" She closed the curtain quickly. "There's a naked man in there. Quite a nice-looking one too, but I imagine your heart's going quickly enough already. Maybe I won't open this curtain: I'll just listen." She stepped closer to the curtain. "Oh, lovely! Someone's being sick. Let's not go in there." She moved Lily along to the next one. "This one seems quiet. If there is someone in here, they're obviously dead."

"Unless it's… Cal… up to his old… tricks," Lily managed to gasp out between sobs.

"He'd better not be or there'll be trouble!" said Sophie.

Lily suddenly remembered Sophie was Cal's girlfriend. "Sophie, I didn't mean…."

"It's okay, Dr Chao," said Sophie, her hand on Lily's shoulder. "I knew you were joking. I always tell jokes when I'm in pain." She pulled the curtain aside to discover Lofty with his arms around Robyn. "Well, about time too!" she said and pulled the curtain closed again.