Hopefully this make s up for last time's shorter chapter - over 2,000 words long - my longest chapter ever.
Thanks again to everyone who has read this story, and special thanks to those who have alerted, favourited or reviewed.
Please enjoy!

Not quite sure what he was angry at, Dylan threw the radio at the opposite wall of the cave where it shattered into a thousand pieces.
"Because that's really mature Dylan. So sensible!" The sarcasm in Sam's voice wasn't masked, nor was her annoyance with him.
With no reply that would not simply make him sound like more of a child, Dylan stalked away from the woman he still secretly loved, and settled uncomfortably at the other side of the cave.

With Sam and Dylan actively ignoring each other know, it was down to the unfortunate David to keep the conversation going - not giving up the task that Sam had given him almost two hours ago of making sure that Amanda stayed awake, and by extension Sam, as she was now more injured than Amanda had been at any point of this stupid accident.

With Amanda drifting in and out of consciousness so much, there was not much he could do other than watch Dylan check her regularly to make sure she wasn't having any troubles, he focused his attention on keeping the two doctors at least semi social-able, and not wanting to incite another argument, he chose a topic that neither could have overly strong feelings about. Or at least he hoped so.

"Is Amanda going to be okay?" David asked Dylan, knowing that the male doctor was the one who actually knew what was happening to Amanda, no matter how good a doctor you are - there is very little treatment you can perform while trapped under a rock yourself.

"As long as she gets to hospital soon, otherwise..." his voice trailed off, unwilling to say the words, but David knew what he was going to say - truthfully he had known it since they first fell (or in his case, was pulled) down into this godforsaken hole.

"I was gonna ask her out. You know, on a date," David continued, not allowing himself to outwardly acknowledge the doctor's words. He laughed slightly with self regret. "I chickened out, afraid she would say no, or laugh." With a uneasy smile, David turned to look at the blood-stained woman once more.

"I knew this bloke once," Sam's voice was hoarse, and it made Dylan's insides freeze both from the unfamiliar tone of the previously familiar voice, and from fear of what she was going to say. He was saddened to hear his fears not at all unfounded. "His marriage was dying in his boots ... and he just hid in a bottle. That's cowardice." Sam avoided Dylan's gaze, as she regretted the words instantly, but there was no way to take them back - at least without herself making herself look like an idiot. She didn't know why she felt the need to put him down after everything he had done for her, but it was just a protective measure - she was pushing him away, shutting him out, so that when he decided he did not want to even be technically married to her any more, it wouldn't hurt as much. Of course it would still hurt, she loved him more than anything else in the whole world, but she just knew that he no longer felt that way about her, if he had ever done in the first place - sure he may have cared for her, but Sam did not know if he had ever loved anyone - Dr Dylan Keogh wasn't exactly known for his emotional capacity. "Not asking a girl out on a date," she snorted slightly to show that she found it (supposedly) amusing, "not even on the scale."

For once glad of the near-darkness, Sam turned away from Dylan and David as much as she could, and tried to hide her reddening face, she wanted to apologise to Dylan, 'I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I still love you.' But she couldn't. And that was cowardice enough for Sam.

But Dylan did not Sam already knew he would do, and retorted in anger. "I agree," he hissed, almost in her ear, though loud enough for David to hear every word he said. "I knew a woman who cheated on her husband and tried to convince him in all sincerity it was an attempt to save their marriage." Dylan was screaming at himself to stop from the inside, why was he doing this to Sam, he didn't care all that much that she had obviously moved on, why did he torture himself by reminding himself that the only woman he would ever love, had left him. But he couldn't stop the torrent of words that flowed involuntarily from his mouth. "She couldn't even tell him it was over, she had to force it on him. I think that's cowardice." No, he yelled internally, cowardice is not telling her I still love her. I'm cowardice. But it was too late, the words already said.

"Is that really what you think?" Sam couldn't believe his cheek - he was trying to blame it all on her, to be fair she had just done almost the same to him, but ... she couldn't justify her thoughts so simply stopped them and continued speaking in the same indignant tone. "That you're innocent, and I'm the one who crushed you?" Sam's words rolled up into an accusation, daring him to retaliate, to hurt each other even further - to elongate that spiral of self-destruction that had become entangled in.

"Wow," remarked David, looking at the (kind-of) couple whose noses were almost touching in their outward anger with each other. "You know, I am kind of pleased about the fact I'm single now," he told them, trying to (once again) do what he had already done almost more times than he could count - diffuse the situation between the two doctors, who had once again, forgotten they were not alone down this cave, and that trapped in the dark with two injured strangers wasn't the best place the air all of their disputes.

Seeing sense in David's attempt to prevent a full on yelling match, Sam closed her eyes and immediately screwed her face up in pain - the almost yelling match had been good for one thing, it had distracted her from her situation, a situation that was growing ever more painful by the second.

Dylan left Sam's side once again, the words 'human yo-yo' echoing around his brain, he always ended up back with her, even after everything - Afghanistan and all.

Listening to Amanda's heartbeat, he shared a glance with Sam - this one purely medical and filled with apprehension for his patient.

Heading back to Sam, he could hear David distracting Amanda with a promise of a trip to Paris, and the chance to break some sort of record in the Louvre as soon as they were both out of the hospital (a fact that relies heavily on both of them getting out of this cave alive, Dylan thought to himself), he wasn't paying that much attention to their conversation.

"I'm getting reduced breath sounds in one of her lungs, I have to..." Dylan began to tell Sam.

"Put a chest drain in now," Sam completed, knowing what it was that Dylan had to do - though not sure why he had to tell her, it gave her a good feeling inside anyway.

The procedure was trickier, and much more high risk, than it would have been had it been done in a hospital, due to the position that Amanda had ended up in during the rock fall (a position Dylan did not dare move her out of on his own), more basic medical equipment, and lack of cleanliness - but Dylan got the chest drain in easily enough, buying the now fully unconscious woman another half an hour or so more of life, but she needed to get to the hospital, and fast. She was growing weaker with each passing second.

Dylan arrived back at Sam's side just in time to see her face screw up in equal parts pain and fear - the dark was terrifying Sam, even more so due to the boulder, and though the glow sticks may have lit the cave up slightly, the green light only made it creepier.

Reading Sam's face perfectly, he gave her more morphine, despite her trying to convince him that she did not need it. Her face had always been open to him.

Settling into a comfortable silence, Sam closed her eyes and relished in the temporary pain relief.

So it was somewhat of a surprise when Dylan spoke. "Was he worth it Sam?" His voice cut through the near dark like a knife, and Sam knew exactly what he was talking about - she could always read him as well as he could read her.

Her eyes snapped open with anger, his accusation had had the intended response of keeping her aware despite the morphine. "Do you even think it was about him," she hissed, really not wanting to discuss this of all things right now, whilst trapped (or rather crushed) underneath a rather large and rather heavy boulder. "Look, I was miserable, we both were in some respect, but I never wanted you to end it. I wanted you to fight for it." Her voice lowered to a whisper, both from emotion, and from the pain that such a strong emotion brought to her fragile body. "I wanted you to fight for me."

You could hear a pin drop in the tense silence that followed Sam's passion filled statement and none wished to break it.

But all things must come to an end, and the silence was broken by a voice none expected, emanating from the device Dylan was sure he had destroyed. He let out a groan.

He had forgotten there was a second, his, radio when he shattered Sam's.

"Dylan, are you there, over." Just refraining himself from shattering this radio as well, he answered Jeff as politely as he could.

"I'm here, over."

"What happened to Sam's radio? We tried calling it,but couldn't get through."

Dylan looked at the offending pile of shards of plastic and broken electronics. "It ... broke," he finished lamely, once again wanting to smash his head against the cave wall.

"Well, Cave Rescue have finally arrived, but they're going to take a little while to set up." Jeff decided not to push Dylan's statement, despite knowing it, though not false, almost certainly not the whole truth.

"Copy that Jeff." Dylan finished, before placing the radio gently on the floor - it was the final link to the 'outside world' and it wouldn't do anyone much good to smash it as well.

It didn't stop him from throwing a handful of small pebbles at the opposite wall though, an action that did nothing to alleviate his anger.

Sat down beside Sam, he noted that she had slipped into unconsciousness, something that both concerned and relieved him - whilst he was glad she was getting respite from the pain, he had never seen her unconsciousness before, it just wasn't Sam.

Add that to the fact her breathing was off, and her pulse was all over the place, not to mention the fact that Dylan had neither the equipment nor the time to properly deal with her, one thought stuck at the forefront of his mind.

She didn't have 'a little while', he just didn't want to admit it to himself yet.

She had less than half an hour to get out, or she wouldn't be getting out at all.

Thank you for reading, and please review,
Mia.