Another chapter already? I think this is some sort of record of mine!
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Sam, on the other hand, saw the entire thing - the boulder falling, the boulder crashing, and the boulder moving again, until it came to its final stop.
Right across her abdomen.

Silence reigned, and nobody moved, in the small cave as the rock fall lessened, until finally it was just a slight shower of dust and small rubble once again.
Still, no one moved.

Then, brushing the debris from as much of his clothes as possible, David stood up, trying not to jolt Amanda who still could not move, and climbed out from under the rock shelf.

"Dr Nicholls?" David called cautiously, he couldn't see well in the near-darkness of the cave, but he knew that the young doctor was not moving.
He started to approach her, and his eyes widened when he saw the large boulder pinning her to the ground.
Walking closer again, even slower this time, he opened his mouth to speak to her once more, when her radio crackled into life.

"Sam. Are you receiving, over?" It was a male voice, and slightly worried - David recognised it as one of the voices shouting down earlier.
Guessing that she wouldn't be moving any time soon, David picked up the black box that had fallen out of her uniform during the rock fall and spoke into it.
"A boulder just fell down, and it's trapping Dr Nicholls underneath," although he tried to hide it, clear worry crept into his voice.
Looking at the previously immobile Dr Nicholls, David realised she was now awake, even if not yet completely aware. She gestured for the radio, and spoke into it firmly and clearly, "We're going to need another Doctor down here immediately."
Sam heard Jeff sigh on the other end, "The fire brigade won't allow anyone down without experience in line rescue."
Sam let out a groan that David assumed was probably equal parts pain and annoyance. "Well they're going to have to," she snapped - something she reasoned was made okay by the fact she was getting crushed under a boulder
"Want me to try other hospitals?" Jeff asked her patiently, figuring it wouldn't be wise to aggravate her.
Sam sighed in defeat, she really didn't want to do this - but it was the fastest to way to get her out. "It's too far." There was a slight pause. "I know another doctor at Holby who can abseil."

Nothing changed for close to fifteen minutes - David kept talking to Amanda to keep her awake, and Sam (unable to get any morphine, or any pain relief - she'd settle for even a paracetamol at this point) kept focused on breathing in and out and in ... anything to ignore the continuous thudding pain in her middle region.
Then it suddenly darkened in the cave, and Sam's breathing increased, her mind spinning through what could have happened for it to go so dark so quickly - it was only when she realised that it was Dylan beginning the slow descent that her breathing became more normal.

The radio came to life once again, "Sam, are you receiving, over?" Jeff's voice. Sam was about to answer when he continued. "Dylan's on his way down with the air bag you wanted. We've found a possible alternative exit. We're checking it out now. Sit tight okay."
Sam had to let out a wry chuckle at the last statement - where did he think she would be going.
Again the only noise was that of David and Amanda's hushed conversation, and the steady rubble falling due to Dylan's moving.

Thirty seconds, he was halfway down the shaft, and he called to Sam - unable to see her in the darkness. All he had been told was that things had become complicated due to a boulder trapping one of them - and he wondered how it must have trapped one of the casualties for Sam to admit she needed help. More than that, he wondered how she had even headed down into the cave in the first place due to her terror of the dark.
"Sam?" Came the first word, and he was slightly ashamed that the worry and confusion were clearly heard, to him anyway.
"Yes?" Was the reply, short but sounding perfectly normal, but there was something in it that he didn't quite understand.
"You okay? Okay Sam?" He called again, for he had to know what was wrong. Trying to look down at his wi... Sam, his foot caught a clump of loose mud and rock, causing it to run down, hitting the three people below him.
"Careful!" Replied Sam, almost shouting at him for his stupidity, but Dylan didn't miss the fact that she avoided answering his question, and her voice had tapered off slightly at the end - something Sam never did.
"Can you hear me?" he tried again, there was something seriously wrong - he just didn't know what. A fact all the more cemented in his mind when she did not even answer his question.

It was another minute until Dylan was at the bottom of the cave, and his eyes adjusted enough to see in the near darkness, in which time a number of scenarios, each more improbable than the last, made their way through his mind.
Nothing could have prepared him for what it was, for he had not even thought that it could have been Sam who had been trapped by the boulder - her face was screwed up in severe pain and she was on the verge on unconsciousness.

Immediately beginning his assessment of her - seeing that Amanda had already been assessed and given plenty of morphine to dull the pain, of which Sam had been given neither.
Giving Sam enough morphine to dull the pain for at least an hour, he started to talk to her, if only to keep her awake - he was more than happy to sit in silence.
"You okay?" he asked her, it was as good a start as any other.
Sam eyes opened, and flashed with annoyance before gesturing with her arms to the giant rock. "What do you think Dylan?" Sarcasm was clear in her voice.
"I meant before the rock," he retorted, annoyance in his every syllable.
Her face guarded, she replied with distrust, "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
He raised an eyebrow, "You were always a little scared of the dark," the slight emphasis on 'a little' angered Sam slightly - who was he to ...
"I was never scared of being in the dark. I was only ever scared of being in the dark with you." It was a lie and they both knew it - Sam had been terrified of the dark for longer than she could remember, long before she met Dylan.

But surprisingly, Dylan did not call her on her lie, but instead changed the subject - most likely not wanting to annoy her overly whilst she was in her current state.
"You might have told them I've only ever abseiled twice, and then it was for charity." But Dylan was not really all that upset - he didn't truly trust anyone else to treat Sam in this condition.
She snorted at his statement. "So getting me into bed was a charity."
"You two a couple?" asked Amanda, jolting Sam slightly who had forgotten David and Amanda were even there.
"No." Dylan answered immediately, and firmly.
Sam's answer was a bit delayed and spoken almost sadly. "No," she repeated.

Listening to the two original casualties talk about French films, Dylan raised an eyebrow, even though it was (for once) a subject that he had no experience about nor any wish to join in.
He knew they were just trying to distract themselves from their situation, and for a moment wanted to do the same.
"This rock is really planted across your abdomen," he muttered supposedly to Sam, but mostly to himself, his eyes flitted up to Sam's face once again.
Though Sam lay still as Dylan completed his assessment, and both husband and wife remained silent, the lack of noise and movement did not stop the fleeting expressions that flickered across Dylan's face.
Closing her eyes against the pain, Sam broke the lingering silence between the two. "That bad Dylan?" she remarked wryly, opening her eyes to watch his face.
"No," came his short answer - too soon, too fast - and his face tightened minutely once again.
Not wanting to argue, despite knowing he was lying through his teeth to her, Sam rested her head against the floor - concentrating on numbing the pain.
Who knew boulders could be so heavy?

Thank you for reading, and please review,
Mia