'PART THREE'
"What is going on in there?" Elliot Hope clambered out of his car and stared in dumbstruck horror at the sight of the burning hospital. Then he saw Mark. "Mark, boy am I glad to see you." Mark had once been the CEO of Holby City but had resigned following attempts by Henrik Hanssen to make senior consultants redundant. Since leaving Holby, Mark had taken a trip around the world and had only recently returned at the request of his daughter, Chrissie. Mark tried to smile at Elliot but the feeling of helplessness was overcoming him.
"It's a mess Elliot, countless people are trapped inside."
"Has there been a tally on who's here or not?" Elliot asked.
"Yes, there are still several yet to be accounted for."
"Do we know who the missing are?"
"Most of the patients had no time to escape at the time of the blast," Mark said with a sigh.
"What about staff?"
"Jac Naylor, Frieda Petrenko, Penny Valentine, Elizabeth Tait, Oliver Valentine, Henrik Hanssen and...Chrissie" Mark replied.
"Has there been any word from any of them?"
"No rescue attempt has yet begun, they're still making sure it's safe," Mark told Elliot with a pained expression on his face. "It's been hours Elliot, we don't know if they're even still alive in there."
"We mustn't lose hope," Elliot assured Mark.
"There's so little to hang on to," Mark said emptily. Elliot looked over at the car park, deep in concentration. Leaving Mark to his thoughts, Elliot wandered towards the car park. Something had caught his eye, a car he recognised. He checked. He double checked. It was the same one. Concerned, Elliot returned to Mark.
"Mark, there's somebody else trapped."
"Who?"
"Joseph Byrne."
"Joseph!" Jac couldn't see. The dust and ash had blinded her and she stumbled around the burning wreckage feeling for her way with her arms outstretched. "Joseph!" There was no answer, Jac began to feel isolated. A wave of helplessness washed over her as she tried to move forwards in the dark. "Joseph!" Jac yelled out. "I need you..." The words hit her like a stone. I need you, she thought. She'd never really needed anyone before in her life. Yet here she was, calling for help. Her world had been turned upside down. Nothing made sense anymore. One minute she's an amazing surgeon working in the country's top hospital, the next she's stranded in a dilapidated corridor, blinded by ash calling the name of her lover. Jac screamed. She screamed so loud and for so long it almost deafened her. Her breathing began to sound rugged, laboured. Passing her hands through her long hair, she screamed again. Grabbing tufts of hair she began to tear, ripping sizeable chunks out. As the hair fell on the floor, tears began to float silently down her face. She couldn't see, there was no point in going any further. Jac slid down where she stood until she was sitting, cross-legged on the floor.
"Joseph are you sure?" Mark asked Elliot. Elliot nodded.
"His car is over there. If he's not outside, he has to be inside."
"What's he doing back?"
"The obvious suggestion would be Jac Naylor."
"I see, well that makes sense," Mark said quietly. He looked up at the Fire Chief walking towards him. "Hold on, something's happened..." Elliot nodded again. The Fire Chief had now approached them and taking a deep breath said,
"The rescue operation is beginning."
"About bloody time!' Mark said irritably.
"We are now assured that the area is not liable to further explosions." His message delivered, the Fire Chief turned away from them. Mark and Elliot watched as he gave the signal for his men to enter the burning hospital.
"And so it begins," Elliot said.
Joseph placed a white sheet over the body of the girl's mother. The girl, she must have been no older than eight, was shaking, whimpering. Joseph took hold of her hand and squeezed it.
"Everything will be alright. Trust me, I'm a Doctor..." Joseph told her in a low, comforting voice. The girl sniffed.
"What about mummy?" she asked. A pained expression fell over Joseph's face. For a few strained moments everywhere was silent. Then at last he responded.
"Your mummy was an incredibly brave woman," he said. "I am so very, very, sorry," Joseph continued, his voice cracking with emotion. The girl fixed him with a steely look.
"Is my mummy dead?" she asked in a painstakingly straight voice. Joseph said nothing, he merely put his arm around her.
Frieda and Penny sat next to each other. They had hold of their hands yet they were silent. Frieda looked up at Penny. She looked back down at the floor again. Penny raised her eyebrows.
"Something the matter?"
"No nothing," Frieda replied a little too quickly. Penny jumped on it.
"OK Frieda, what is it?" Frieda groaned.
"What is it with you Valentine and wanting to know my life story?" Frieda retorted. Penny laughed. "What's so funny Valentine?"
"Nothing Frieda, sorry. I'm just concerned about you..." Frieda considered this.
"You are concerned?"
"Yes. You're a friend."
"Very well. I've been watching you Valentine..." Penny looked alarmed.
"Is this a test?"
"No, no test. Just that." Penny looked at Frieda with raised interest. Something had been bothering her for weeks, something about Frieda. Penny had felt herself being strangely drawn to her, in a way she hadn't been with anyone since Scott. As she stared into Frieda's face, Penny felt a sudden urge to kiss her. Holding back this emotion, she stepped away. What had Frieda really meant, she thought to herself. Was it possible that perhaps Frieda was feeling the same way? Penny shook her head forcefully, she had to get rid of these feelings. "What's matter?" Frieda asked with the tiniest hint of concern.
"Nothing, just trying to get a thought out of my head..."
"Right, moving on..." Frieda paused. She looked deep into Penny's eyes. "A thought you say?"
"Uhuh," Penny agreed.
"Like this one?" Frieda reached up to Penny's face and brushed a long strand of ginger hair out of her eyes. Then she leaned up and kissed her right on the lips. Penny didn't think about how to react, she just found herself going with the flow. She returned the kiss which evolved into a full-on snog. They wrapped their arms around each other...
Elizabeth shook rapidly. She looked over her shoulder to Hanssen, lying slumped across the floor. He was unconscious.
"Please, please. Wake up!" Elizabeth said under her breath. They were trapped inside the lift. In some ways it had saved their lives in others it had made things much worse. There was literally no way out. They were going to die here, forgotten by everyone. Elizabeth began to tap at the metal door with her fingernails.
"Please desist Nurse Tait," said Hanssen woozily, standing behind her. "You're making an intolerable racket."
"I'm trying to let them know we're in here!" Elizabeth shouted at Hanssen, annoyed.
"Well, I think a much less aggravating way would be to shout in English rather than scrape fingernails down the door, don't you?" Elizabeth sighed.
"It's not like any one will find us anyway..."
"Never give up Nurse Tait. They will find us."
"I'll believe it when I see it..." As she said this, Elizabeth grimaced, clutching her side in pain.
"Are you alright Nurse Tait?" Hanssen asked in what he thought was a caring voice. He missed slightly.
"I'm fine, must have knocked myself against the side when the explosion happened. Just a small twinge..."
"Would you like me to take a look?" Elizabeth complied. She lifted up her shirt revealing a tremendous bruise on her side. Hanssen peered at it. "Seems to be alright. It's just a bruise." Seeing that Elizabeth was clearly not coping Hanssen smiled. "Everything will be fine Nurse Tait. The rescue team will find us. I am one hundred per cent certain of this. We just have to sit it out for now."
Jac was still alone. Her heart pumping fast. She was a mess. She closed her eyes, blinked and opened them again. Her sight was vaguely returning but all she could see were blurry outlines of the corridor around her. Without thinking she screamed out in to the quiet air.
"JOSEPH!" But Joseph could not hear her. No one could hear her. Jac sniffed the air. Something was hovering in the air. A horrid smell. Not of the dead bodies littering the floors, but of a kind of chemical. Jac's head filled with painful memories...she found herself drifting into a deep sleep. She was in theatre. Joseph was there. He was choking. His eyes streaming. They were sitting next to each other, breathlessly. Jac was confessing her feelings. Joseph staring at her.
"You have to have respect for yourself, before you can have genuine feelings for others..."
"What's your name?" Joseph asked the girl. She looked into his eyes, feeling comforted.
"Jac," she said. Joseph looked briefly taken aback. Of all the strange happenings to date, this was most certainly the weirdest.
"Jac, that's a lovely name. My best friend is called Jac." The girl looked at him again.
"Boy or girl friend," she asked. Joseph smiled.
"Don't be cheeky," he said. Then he sighed. "Girl. My girl. My one true love through thick and thin."
"Is she here?"
"Unfortunately. She's trapped outside as we are in here..."
'TO BE CONTINUED...'