Tato Potato, thank you for your review. Ethan really needs support at the moment. I'm not sure who's had the worst day, but nearly losing Cal and Honey (if in different ways) getting into a fight and running from the police probably puts him up there!

chloeshdw, I felt like I should kill someone after all those hints! But I won't necessarily stop at one. Thank you for your review - I'm really happy you're enjoying it.

CBloom2, it's natural to have favourite characters and I completely understand about being more interested in Cal and Ethan than the other characters. I'm just glad you're enjoying it. Thank you for your review.

ETWentHome, thank you for your review. Connie does blame herself - she's usually so professional, but occasionally, there are cracks. Thank you for your review - I'm happy you're enjoying it.

Georgy-Girl, thank you for your review. I'm glad you liked the Dylan and Lofty scene. I really love that they have so many scenes together so much in the series now.

Tanith Panic, Robyn always seems so sweet and gentle, but she does seem to have trouble forgiving people sometimes. Maybe when she's calmed down a bit, she'll see sense! Thank you for your review.

20BlueRoses, that's a brilliant idea about Cal and Max! The only problem is they won't necessarily both be in a position to do that. Thank you for your review - I'm really pleased you're enjoying it.


Max could hear someone calling him. Just his name, over and over again, like a wave of sound. It sounded like it came from a long way away, but he could feel pressure on his hand and immediately knew who was holding it. It was a hand that had held his in many ways, but never as gently; as carefully as it was doing now. As though he might break apart.

As he felt himself floating upwards, the explanation for Zoe's tender hold became clear. He was in pain: terrible, excruciating pain which he wasn't sure he'd experienced even after a heavy night of drinking. Besides, the pain wasn't coming from his head. That was almost the only part of him that didn't hurt.

His eyes opened and he looked up to see the hospital ceiling. He was in bed. He was hurt. Zoe was here. He didn't know much beyond that, but if he had to be injured, he was in the right place with the right person.

He tried to speak, but his throat felt dry and unused. He wondered how long he'd been unconscious. "Zoe," he croaked, and heard his name again, this time in the midst of a sob. "Pain," he added, this being the second-most important thing on his mind.

"Dylan?" said Zoe. "Give him some pain relief!"

"Of course," said Dylan's voice. "Max, on a scale of one to ten-"

"Oh, just give him the strongest you've got!" said Zoe.

Dylan's voice was disapproving. "Zoe, you know the dangers of giving too much morphine. If the dosage is insufficient, it can always be increased. Max, on a scale of one to ten, how severe would you say the pain is?"

"Five?" said Max, not wanting to upset Zoe.

"Only five? That's excellent."

Zoe sounded exasperated. "Dylan, of course he doesn't mean five! He's only saying that so he doesn't upset me."

Max smiled despite the pain. He and Zoe knew one another so well.

"All right: I'll start with a small increase and see how you respond," said Dylan.

"What happened?" said Max.

"We'll talk about that in a minute," said Dylan.

Max felt a wave of panic. He tried to sit up but was assaulted by the pain.

"It's okay, Max," said Zoe. "It's going to be okay."

Max could hear the emotion in her voice even as she tried to reassure him. "Yes… as long as… we're still getting married… it's okay."

"Oh my God," said Zoe.


Charlie could feel the light on his back. It seemed to be drawing him backwards, away from Louis. He wanted to fight it but didn't know if he had the strength. He had fought for so long, against so many odds.

"Come on, Dad. You can do it," said Louis.

Charlie felt Louis' hand gripping his.

"Yes, that's it! That's it!" said Louis. "You can do it. I know you can do it. If you don't want to come back for me, come back for that woman who came in with you. Rita something? And that scary brunette woman is in the relatives' room with some nurse guy. She seemed quite upset."

"It's not just me they're worried about," said Charlie. "They tried to hide it from me, of course, but I know there are people still in the building. Younger people. Doctors and nurses near the start of their lives and careers."

"I don't even know if you can hear me," said Louis. "I could be sitting here talking to myself really. But I've got to try, haven't I?"

I can hear you… but you can't hear me… does that mean Louis isn't really in front of me?

As Charlie wondered what that meant, the image of Louis fell away.

Everything fell away.


"Ethan, are you okay?" said Honey.

Ethan realised he was holding his breath. He released it very slowly. "He squeezed my hand."

"See? Told you he was okay," said Honey.

Ethan worked himself out of his stunned state and spoke to Cal again. "Caleb, if you can hear me, can you squeeze my hand again, please?"

Cal squeezed his hand.

"I felt it!" Ethan blinked back more tears.

"Ethan…" It was only a whisper, but Ethan heard it. He watched as Cal's eyelids fluttered and then opened fully.

"Cal?" said Ethan as the tears flowed again.

"I heard… I forgive you." Cal closed his eyes again. "Doesn't matter."

"Cal? Cal, don't go back to sleep!" begged Ethan. "Squeeze my hand again, Cal? Please?"

Cal didn't respond.


Lily entered the staff room to encounter a sight she never expected to see: Lofty and Robyn having an argument.

"She cheated on my brother!" wailed Robyn. "How am I supposed to forgive her for that?"

"Max has forgiven her," said Lofty.

Robyn sniffed loudly. "Then he's stupid, isn't she? How can he go back to her, knowing what she's capable of? People like that never change. They just do it again and again. You're supposed to be Max's mate!"

Lofty nodded. "I am Max's mate. Max has made the decision to get back with Zoe and because I'm his mate, I'm going to support him. And if it does go wrong again-"

"-which it will!" interjected Robyn.

"-which it might, then I'll be there to support him."

Robyn's voice rose to a shriek. "Oh, what would you understand about any of it? Like you've ever loved anyone."

Lily walked over to them. "I think you both need to calm down," she said sternly. "It is a very upsetting situation for everyone, but arguing doesn't help. Our first concern should be for Max's physical wellbeing. If this interests you, I would be pleased to give you an update."

She watched as Robyn hung her head. Lofty gave Lily an apologetic look.

"How is he?" said Robyn softly.

"Max has regained consciousness," said Lily. "He has been given pain relief and so far there are no signs that he has suffered any complications. It will be a slow and difficult recovery and he will need a lot of support from his family and his friends. I'm sure it would also help Max if you could refrain from killing one another. We have been very fortunate today not to lose a member of our hospital. I would like to keep it that way."

Her voice trembled just slightly during the last sentence, but Lily found she was grateful for, rather than annoyed by, Lofty's look of silent compassion.

Lily paused for a moment, then sat beside Robyn. "At present, we have no physical cause for concern and his spirits seem good. He has some difficulty in speaking as he finds breathing slightly painful, but we hope this will be alleviated by the pain relief and this will of course be temporary." She put her hand clumsily on Robyn's arm. "We do have one slight cause for concern: Max appears to have lost a portion of his memory. He believes the wedding has not yet taken place."

Robyn gasped and looked at Lofty.

"Do you think his memory will return?" asked Lofty.

"It is impossible to say," said Lily. "There was no sign of a severe head injury, though he will have another scan to be on the safe side. Dr Keogh and I believe it is possible that his loss of memory is a reaction to the fact he has only recently regained consciousness and was then almost immediately given pain relief, which can cause drowsiness." Lily paused. "If you'd like to see him, you can come with me now."


Connie looked down at the tiny figure on the bed. There were many adjectives that she'd used to describe Rita over the time they'd worked together (or perhaps 'failed to work together' would be a more accurate description), but none of those words came to mind now. The first thing that struck Connie about Rita was how beautiful she looked. How fragile and vulnerable. Connie had always thought of her as quite a hard, aggressive person, but she could see no signs of that now.

Is it death that changed her? wondered Connie. Or was she always this way and I just didn't know?

She felt Jacob's hand squeezing her shoulder.

"She looks so… small," blurted Connie.

"I know," said Jacob.

Connie extended her hand slowly towards Rita's, which lay on top of the blankets. She'd touched the dead many times. Some of them were friends. Yet to touch Rita now, to extend the hand of friendship when Rita had nothing more to give, filled her with a sense of desolation that was new to her.

She felt as though she should say something but didn't know what. Sentences entered her mind, only to be immediately dismissed as trite or self-pitying or simply wrong. So instead she looked at Rita and held her hand and felt glad to have known her. Then, after some time had passed, she slowly let go and turned to Jacob. "Can we go now?" she whispered.

Jacob smiled sadly and brushed tears from her cheeks she hadn't known were there. "Whatever you say, Connie."

"We'll go and see Charlie: get an update," said Connie tremulously. "Then we'll go back."

Jacob nodded. "But you won't be going back alone."