A/N: This is going back to the story set at the present time; sorry if it's confusing. There is a reason I shouldn't write when I'm tired. Thanks again to everyone who has been reading and reviewing!

Sarah x

Edward woke Jac up gently. She stirred quietly but she wore a demanding look, expecting an explanation as to why she was no longer asleep. "Do you want to go into theatre with Serena? She needs someone to look after cardio."

"Sure, if it gets me away from Maconie and his cotton wool," Jac grumbled as she stood up. She did not seem impressed by Jonny's behaviour and, despite the good intention behind it, it seemed to be well and truly getting on her nerves now. He did not envy Jonny Maconie right now.

"He means well," Edward pointed out, knowing himself how protective he had been of his wife and unborn child all those years ago. Looking back, he was forced to acknowledge he had often gone overboard, but he had had very little control over it.

"Doesn't make it any less annoying."

"Fair enough," Edward admitted, guiding her to theatre. "You know he loves you though." Jac's head whipped around but Edward pleaded ignorant innocence. It was with a self-satisfied smirk that he distracted himself from his fear by winding the women up. What worried him was the it had poured down in the early hours of that morning, so the ground already saturated, the river already full and the pavements already pooled with rain water.

As he entered the theatre, leaving Jac to scrub in, he could have sworn he heard the walls rattling. He had to remind himself that this was Britain, where the wind alone could not pull a building to the ground. He glanced around to find the pale walls still and, he hoped, safe.

"Relax," Serena warned him. "It's OK."

"I remember a time it was my job to tell you that," he sighed. "When did the roles get reversed?" he wondered aloud.

Serena looked up from her patient and replied, "You know when." He nodded curtly and set about his work, but he couldn't help but listen carefully, even though he knew that realistically they would not hear anything from this theatre. There were no windows. There was only one exit, unless he counted the vent above them.

"Stop surveying," Serena ordered him bluntly. "You'll only wind yourself up."

"Sorry."

Just then, Jac walked in, apparently oblivious to his anxieties, and Serena's too. "At least if I'm here then Jonny can fuss over someone else for a while. I swear, if he doesn't tone it down I will make damn sure he never fathers another child."

Edward had to grin; he could see in the redhead's expression that she was deadly serious, and he remembered Serena making a similar threat to him. He had felt an inexplicable need to protect her, though it might have had something to do with the state of his mind at that point. He had not been in a good place, convinced he was going to lose his family.

"You think Jonny's overdoing it?" Serena snorted. "You should have seen Satan here when I was pregnant with Eleanor."

"Oh, yeah?" Jac grinned.

Edward realised Serena was about to tell tales on him but he didn't really mind. It was testament to how they had once loved each other, and how they had once defended each other fiercely.

"Spent most of his time watching me like a hawk, and when we weren't together he was climbing the walls," Serena explained. "Nightmare." He met Serena's eyes and saw a softness in her eyes that he hadn't seen in years; he knew it was only because she was thinking of happier times – namely when she hadn't hated his guts – but he liked to see it nonetheless.

Edward smirked. "You can't deny that you took advantage of that thought," he retorted to her. "Sending me to the kitchen every hour."

"Yeah, Mum never was too happy about the mess you made when you cooked," she reminisced. "Remember that time she threatened to make you sleep in the shed if the kitchen wasn't spotless when she came out the bath?"

Edward laughed. "I felt like a naughty ten-year-old."

"My mum does tend to have that effect, doesn't she?"

"You lived with your mum while you were pregnant?" Jac interjected curiously.

"Long story," Edward muttered darkly. He didn't want to go into detail about how they had ended up living with Adrienne for six months; it was not a happy tale, and it was one he hated to tell. He felt Serena's eyes burning into him, searching for a way in.

The telecom beeped, and Mary-Claire's sweet Irish voice came through. "We're evacuating."

"What?" Serena snapped. "Why?"

"The river's burst its banks. Spilled onto the flood plain," Mary-Claire explained. "The river's gonna surge and we don't know how close to the hospital it's gonna come."

Edward gave a short laugh of disbelief. "You can't be telling me some idiot built this place on a flood plain, can you?"

"British logic for you," the young redhead smiled. "Anyway. Anyone who can be is being discharged and we're sending all we can to St. James'. Obviously we can't really completely empty the building but..." she trailed away. It was making Edward uneasy. It was disturbing to realise that the lack of preparation in this country could cause as much disaster from an abnormal storm as a full-scale hurricane would in America. "There's another thing. We need some skeleton staff."

"Count me in," Serena immediately volunteered; it was not in her nature to shy away from trouble and hardship, and she would always be the first to sign up to help in a dire situation.

Edward's incessant need to ensure Serena's safety forced him to say against his will, "I'm staying." Mary-Claire's expression told him she knew he was staying only because Serena was.

"Me too," Jac added.

"Miss Naylor," Mary-Claire dared to address her. "Don't you think you'd best go home?"

Edward suppressed a smile as Jac turned to face the nurse, her eyes dangerously cold. "And what use would I be at home when there are people who need help here?" she challenged. Thankfully, Mary-Claire seemed to know better than to argue with her. "Who else is staying?"

"Ms. Effanga, Nurse Maconie," she replied, and Jac's face drained white at the mention of her child's father. "Nurse Lane and Dr. Digby have volunteered to keep an eye on Keller. The bottom floor is out main concern though. I was gonna call Hanssen too."

"No," Serena objected with more force than Edward had expected. It betrayed just how worried she really was. "Nobody gets in. Not even Hanssen. He's not in danger now and I'm not going to put anyone in harm's way unnecessarily. Do you understand me?"

"Of course," the nurse replied. "You're the boss."

As Mary-Claire left them, Edward sighed, "Primary Defence it is then."

"Looks like. So much for two birds with one stone," Serena agreed, changing her approach to the surgery completely. The original plan been to deal with the liver and the heart in one operation, but that was out the window now. It was one of her greatest strengths, to adapt in adversity. "You know you don't have to stay, Edward," she added. Jac remained silent but Edward felt her scrutinising the situation.

"I made you a promise," he muttered, slightly embarrassed that he was still upholding it. But that promise meant more to him than anything else he had ever said. "I intend to keep it."

Neither woman said anything, and he was well aware that he had successfully stunned them both into silence. Had Serena forgotten that he had promised never to let her come into danger again? He had allowed it once and it almost cost them both their lives. He would not stand back and let that happen again. He had to put his own fear to one side and shield Serena from all he could. At the moment, it seemed he would end up doing the same for Jac; it was something he was more than willing to do.

Half an hour later, they were scrubbing out of theatre, the patient being wheeled back to the ward. "You know, I bet this is just a typical British overreaction," Jac sighed impatiently. "River surge," she snorted. "The pressure can't possibly be low enough to cause a tidal surge. Can it?" she added; she suddenly sounded less than convinced.

Edward spun at a tiny sound, seeing a drip of water on the lino floor. He looked up and saw a patch of damp that hadn't been there an hour ago. He looked at the clock; it had been raining now for four hours with a break. "You don't think the rain's getting between our ceiling. and their floor, do you?" he fretted, staring at the six inch patch on the ceiling.

"I don't see how," Jac answered, standing next to him. "It's solid, isn't it?"

"Is the rain horizontal?" Serena asked.

"Yeah," Edward replied. "The wind's been getting up quite quickly. How far is the river from here?"

"About a quarter of a mile. It meanders near the north side of the hospital," Jac informed them. "Oh, I'm sure it'll be fine."

Edward glanced at Serena. He had said that once too. It hadn't been fine. And he could see now that Serena was actually frightened of what might come. They walked onto AAU together, observing that half the patients were gone, along with most of the staff. It felt eerie and deserted as they crossed to the nurses' station.

Jac sat down. "Not much we can do, is there?" she groaned.

Edward went to look out the window; the orange lights revealed a swollen river on the other side of the car park, spilling out onto the tar. People were leaving promptly, getting in cars and on buses as they tried to get away from where water was a very real threat. This was no tropical hurricane, but circumstance left them vulnerable and he didn't like it. The river was rough, the rainwater building up on the already saturated ground as it fell down the size of pebbles.

He walked away from the window and got out his phone, deciding to text his daughter: Are you OK?

After a minute or so of nervous waiting, his phone beeped. Yeah. Are you and Mum having a good time? :P

Funny ;) keep indoors and keep the radio on. If they tell you do anything, do it, he replied anxiously. He knew Eleanor would not take kindly to being bossed around, but she was also wise and intelligent enough to do what he said.

OK. You and Mum be careful :)

We always are :P

He attempted to keep the conversation lighthearted but he could see in Serena's face that she knew who he was texting, and the basic line of what he was ordering their daughter to do. Serena allowed him a small, frightened smile and wandered over to the window to see how things were outside. He observed her carefully, trying to gauge how anxious she was. She was tense, definitely, as she paced the ward restlessly. Was she trying to find a plan to keep them all safe? Or was she merely trying to keep herself in check so as not to panic anyone?

He watched as Jac stood up and walked to see what Serena was seeing. A look of horror spread like rapid poison across their faces. "Everyone, get down!" Serena ordered at the top of her voice. Edward immediately hit the floor, kneeling with his back against the front of the nurses' station.

He heard the crash of water smashing through the windows, flooding onto the ward and drenching him. The force of the water knocked his balance completely away. His ears rang with the silence left behind as he waded himself upright through the foot and a half of water. "So much for no surge, Jac," he groaned, wiping the water away from his face. "Wait," he said, looking around the ward. "Jac? Mary-Claire? Serena?!"

Hope this is OK! And I do hope it makes some form of sense!
Please feel free to leave me a review and tell me your thoughts!
Sarah x