X-Sammii-X, I think Louise is very vulnerable, but she does a very good job of hiding it. I think Duffy will be a good influence, but I really wanted to show the best sides of Lily in this story. Rita is lovely and she's the ideal person to help Iain if he'll let her. Max has lost Zoe too many times already. Thank you for your review.

InfinityAndOne, thank you for your review. I can't quite see Lily giving Louise a hug (or Louise accepting a hug from Lily), but I think her strong and forceful way of speaking could be positive and helpful in the right circumstances. Maybe it will give Cal and Robyn some comfort to have someone who understands how they feel.

Guest, I think Zoe is still Max's favourite too! She is a brilliant character and I really miss her - I hope she will come back one day. I really like Elle, but she's not the same as Zoe! Thank you for your review.

LittleBritishPerson, thank you for your review. I love it when Cal puts Ethan first. I think he always did in a way, but often it was only after he'd convinced himself Ethan wanted the same thing as he did! I love Cal though. His flaws make him perfect. Iain has Rita to help him - though whether that's a good thing is open to question!

Tanith Panic, it would be very tragic if Max and Zoe died now - or if Cal lost Ethan, for that matter - but I do like a bit of tragedy. Usually. I'm enjoying writing Lily in a positive way - I really hope she'll get some positive storylines from the real writers too. Lofty is completely squished. Didn't I tell you? Thank you for your review.

p3rfectlyn0rmalx, thank you for your review. I'm really glad you're enjoying this. I just felt like making some of the other characters suffer a bit more!

20BlueRoses, I always thought Ethan would look incredible in anything - or nothing - but those jeans didn't suit him at all! Cal was very worried about Ethan in the episode, but I couldn't resist making the situation a bit worse. Thank you for your review.

Thank you to earthling1970, Casualtyfan9 and p3rfectlyn0rmalx for the follows and favourite.

Max grabbed Zoe around the waist and pulled her away from the window as plaster and metal continued to fall. There was a spark of electricity and they stood, frozen to the spot. For a moment, Max couldn't even breathe. If the room caught fire, he didn't know what they'd do.

A large chunk of ceiling hit Zoe on the arm. She gasped in pain and Max finally came back to life.

"Into the corner!" he said. They ran to the far corner and stood with their arms around each other. They could hear the noise behind them as the ceiling disintegrated and a part of Max wanted to look, but he kept his face turned away and held Zoe more tightly. They heard another crackle and Max suddenly realised that he and Zoe might not get out of this alive.

This led him to wonder about their friends.

A helicopter crash was always serious and it had obviously hit the ED. Anyone in the waiting room, as well as everyone standing outside awaiting the arrival of the helicopter, would have been in danger.

And Grace, of course. Only ten years old and fighting for her life even before the helicopter had fallen.

Max closed his eyes. Minutes before, he'd only been praying for Zoe to be all right, but now he thought of his other friends. Cal, Ethan, Jez. And Robyn: oh God, his sister. She could be out there too.

Max gripped Zoe more tightly and held his face close to his, speaking to her over the noise. "I love you, Zoe. Whatever happens to us, I love you."

He felt Zoe quiver in his arms and she lifted her face to his. "I love you too, Max."

"We've been hit!"

Iain gasped as he felt the helicopter tilt. He glanced briefly at the pilot, but then his gaze went back to Grace. She'd done so well to hang on for so long, but he couldn't see her surviving another trauma.

Please don't let us crash. Please keep control of the helicopter.

I don't care about me, but Grace is just a child and she's been through so much already.

"Iain! Iain!"

He heard her voice in his mind. He'd hoped never to hear her voice again, so why was he thinking of her now when he could be about to die?

"Iain, listen to me," said Rita. "I need you to listen."

Was he dead already? Did God have Rita's voice or was this his own private hell with the woman who (albeit in various ways) had done nothing but drive him crazy?

"Hold on, Grace," said Iain. "Hold on for me. Hold on for your mum."

He felt hands gripping his arms, but that was impossible. There was no-one there to hold them.

The helicopter began its descent.

What had happened?

He opened his eyes and looked around. Something was lying on him. Something heavy. He breathed in and out once or twice and was relieved to find he still could. He had no idea what had happened, but he had a feeling he was lucky.

Lofty thought back to the last few minutes he could remember. He remembered falling backwards. He remembered something falling towards him: probably a bookcase. There were books all around him, as well as paper, furniture and just about everything else.

But why had it happened?

He couldn't think what could have caused this. A bomb, perhaps? There had been a bomb last year in the main part of the hospital. There had also been explosions following Zoe's wedding, a year ago now. That had begun as a fire.

Lofty breathed in again, but he couldn't smell smoke. Considering he couldn't move, that was a relief. He was uncomfortable and he could feel pain in his head, his back, his arms, his legs… everywhere hurt. All he could do was wait until somebody came and he realised that could be a while.

Only Dylan knew he was here – and he doubted Dylan would have told anyone. Everyone would be busy now, in any case. Dealing with whatever had happened. He hoped that, as the night drew on, Dylan would realise he wasn't there and become concerned, but what if Dylan hadn't gone to the party? What if he had no idea of what had happened?

Lofty felt chills running through his body, but he was used to functioning under stress. He let his professionalism rise to the surface as he pushed away his fears. He tried to move his arms from left to right, but he couldn't. He pushed upwards with them instead, hoping to lift the bookcase, but all that did was hurt his arms. He tried again with his legs – without success.

So I am trapped, thought Lofty, fighting back panic. I'm trapped and only one person knows I'm here. Even if he does know about the accident, there's no guarantee he's checked his phone.

He told himself someone would find him eventually. There were worse things than being trapped for hours. As a nurse, he'd treated people every day who'd been through worse.

The thought didn't make him feel better.

Louise wiped her eyes and looked at Lily. She wasn't sure why the doctor was still there, but Louise found she did feel a bit better.

"You will be okay," said Lily, her voice firm.

"Yeah…" Louise knew that 'okay' was an exaggeration. She didn't see how any of them could be okay for a long time.

Lily spoke gently. "We must continue our work now. The triage area has been set up in the pub."

Louise nodded: she'd heard Charlie telling Lily. He'd also asked Lily to leave Louise and get on with helping people, but Lily hadn't. "I'm okay now. Thanks."

Lily didn't often show emotion, but her relief was plain. "If you are struggling, come and look for me."

She didn't smile, but her eyes met Louise's for a fraction of a second. Then she turned and walked away.

Louise got to her feet and walked over to another casualty. Louise didn't need Lily's help to ascertain that this person was also beyond help. Her injuries were clearly too severe. Louise moved away quickly, moving towards a group of people, lying still, half on top of each other. Louise bent down and extending her hand, preparing herself for the awful moment when no pulse fluttered beneath her fingers.

Then a sound caught her ear.

Louise listened, first in surprise, then in horror. A moment later, she was on her feet and running towards Lily.

Lily heard her coming and turned. "Louise, what is it?"

"Lily." Louise's breathing was laboured: she knew it was partly panic and emotion. "There's a baby."

Ethan had started to feel scared of calling her name. Every time he stopped and waited and listened, the silence was worse. If Alicia was awake, she would have been able to hear him.

But she wasn't awake. And that meant she needed him even more.

Fear and determination gave Ethan some of the strength he'd lacked before. He shoved hard at the object that had his pinioned, using his arms, shoulders and chest to force it away from him. In the millisecond before it dropped, he panicked that perhaps Alicia was closer than he'd thought and he might be in danger of dropping something on her head, but the sound of it hitting concrete and landing squarely on the ground reassured him.

Ethan's chest hurt, but he hoped he'd got free quickly enough to prevent a serious crush injury. He couldn't sit all the way up, but his arms were free. One was hurting quite a lot and he knew it could be broken, but he'd used it to lift the thing off his chest. He could use it again. Gritting his teeth, he reached for the large piece of wood that was on top of his knee. He pushed and strained, but it refused to move. Ethan hit it in frustration and then cried out in pain as he jarred his knee, but he knew it was no use.

He couldn't move it. He couldn't get to Alicia.

"Alicia!" he screamed out in frustration and terror, but there was still no reply and the name got stuck in his throat, making him cough.

Once he'd stopped, he tried to calm himself. He was in a better position than he'd been in before. He could now sit up and had one working arm – two if the situation was desperate. He might be able to see Alicia even if he couldn't reach her. If he could just reassure himself she was alive…

He took of his glasses and wiped the moisture from his eyes, telling himself it was probably caused by dust. He wiped his glasses on his top. It was difficult putting his them back on one-handed, but he'd done it before.

He looked around and his breath caught in his throat as he saw her.

Cal gratefully grasped hold of the door of the pub and pulled it open, leaning heavily on the doorframe as he looked around. Charlie and Fletch seemed to have taken control. Duffy was helping too. So were several people he didn't recognise.

But there was no Ethan.

Cal reached out for chairs and tables to support him as he made his way towards Charlie. "Charlie, have you seen him?"

Charlie turned to face him. There was strain on his face and it was the few times Cal was aware of Charlie's age. He might not look like a spring chicken, but he had so much energy and vitality, he somehow gave the impression of being a much younger man – yet with the wisdom of one considerably older. "I haven't seen Ethan. Are you okay?"

"No! I've lost my brother!" Cal gripped the edge of a table tightly as his legs threatened to let him down.

"Sit down, Cal." Charlie helped him into a chair and bent to examine his head wound. "You'd better stay here: you need treatment. A couple of my former colleagues arrived together a few minutes ago: they're both doctors. I'm sure you'll forgive me for not introducing you now."

Cal let his head fall into his hands. Charlie patted his shoulder and returned to the patient he was treating, but Cal knew he couldn't stay here. Ethan was still missing – and he wasn't about to let a little thing like being clipped by a propeller get between him and his brother.