CBloom2, you're not awful at all! I don't care about Alicia either. I'm just using her to make Ethan suffer a little bit more. Now, that really does sound awful! I can't really see myself writing them a happy ending, though stranger things have happened! Thank you for your review.

InfinityAndOne, I'm sure you and Robyn aren't the only people who think Cal needs his head examined! Rita will definitely want to follow Iain, but she might feel Jacob needs her. Ethan is brave. I still can't believe what he did on the Ferris wheel! He's amazing. Alicia doesn't know how lucky she is. Thank you for your review.

westlife4ever80, it must be horrible finding an orphaned baby like that, though it would be even worse if the baby wasn't alive. Ethan is just amazing - his determination to get to Alicia might not be entirely professional, but he does whatever he can to help people. Thank you for your review.

X-Sammii-X, thank you for your review. I love how caring Rita is - she's human and she makes mistakes, but she's very kind. Iain is really lucky and he needs to realise that! I'm glad you think the phone thing is typical of Max. Cal somehow seems to know Ethan needs help - and he's right!

Tanith Panic, thank you for your review. They probably are used to being brave and unselfish as part of their jobs, but I feel at the ED, they really do care about each other so they can't switch off and be professional as they can with the patients. It shows the strength of the team, but it's also a vulnerability.

Guest, I was just about to update when I got your review. There are two segments of Ethan and Alicia in this chapter, so I hope you enjoy them - if that's the right word! Thank you for your review.

Rita moved quickly, feeling guilty for ignoring Jacob but knowing she had to get to Iain. Jacob was going through something terrible, but Iain wasn't himself. He didn't know where he was.

She paused for a moment by the ambulance station. It was a mess. The scaffolding outside it had collapsed and from the look of it, some of the main wall had too.

She shivered. What if Iain had been in there when the helicopter had crashed? What was happening to Iain now was awful, but at least he was alive. Thank God there had been no-one in there. Rita didn't want to think about what might have happened.

Rita kept on walking, her eyes moving left and right. She rounded the side of the hospital and stopped.

Someone was there, crouching by the side of the hospital. Rita couldn't see his face, but she didn't need to.

She would always recognise the man she loved.

She hurried to his sideHe was muttering to himself. Rita couldn't catch what he was saying, but he thought one of the words might have been 'Grace'.

"You did everything you could, sweetheart," said Rita. "You got her into the helicopter and I think Jacob's getting her out now. They'll get her into Resus and do everything they can."

Iain lifted his head sharply. His eyes were bright and feverish, but they looked through Rita, rather than at her. He slowly got to his feet, one hand braced against the wall.

"Iain, can you hear me?" said Rita.

Iain started to run.

He had to get his knee free. It didn't matter how much it hurt. Alicia needed medical help and he was a doctor.

Ethan shoved at the thing trapping his knee, trying to move his leg to the side at the same time. He knew he was making a terrible noise – groaning and screaming and yelping with pain, but he didn't care. Sweat was pouring down his face, which he suspected was either white or green. His eyes streamed with tears, mingling with the sweat.

He wanted so badly to stop because then the pain would lessen, but every second could be critical for Alicia.

With another almighty push and something between a shriek and a roar, Ethan managed to free himself. For a moment, he stood panting and sobbing, trying to persuade himself he wasn't going to vomit. As soon as his stomach had settled slightly, he started to move. His knee was agony and he knew he should try to reduce the dislocation, but the injury wasn't life-threatening and Alicia had to be his priority.

Ethan propelled himself to Alicia's side, fighting back another wave of nausea. He pushed the hair back from her face, which looked pale and slack. So different from the beautiful girl he'd gone outside to comfort, but his feelings were the same. He wanted to protect her. From everything.

He still didn't trust himself to lean too close, but he felt for the pulse in her neck. It was weak and fluttery, but it was there. Now he was closer, he could hear her rapid, shallow breaths.

"Alicia?" whispered Ethan. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Alicia, can you hear me?"

Louise blinked away tears as she turned back to Lily and the baby. "I think we've lost them all."

"You did everything you could," said Lily. She was holding the baby in her arms, rocking her gently.

"So, this baby… she's lost her parents?" said Louise, almost unable to bear it. She looked back at the bodies. "I've got to try again. I've got to help them. We'll make a stretcher somehow and take them to the pub. Or send them to St James'. I'll call an ambulance."

Lily hesitated. Just for a moment, Louise saw uncertainty: something she didn't think she'd ever seen on Lily Chao's face before. Then her face became set and determined once more. "No, Louise. There's nothing we can do for them. We need to think of the baby."

Louise looked at the bodies again. Some of them were hopelessly mangled. She knew, as a nurse, that there was no hope of getting them back. But as a human being… "I don't want to let another baby down."

Lily held out the baby. "Then don't let this one down. Look after her. Do everything you can for her."

Louise looked at the baby in panic. She was a beautiful little girl, but it was a task she regarded with terror. "What if I do something wrong?"

"All new parents make mistakes," said Lily. "It's natural for you – even as a trained nurse – to make mistakes too. But I know you will do everything you can to keep the baby safe."

"Of course I will," said Louise. She would have done it anyway, but as she looked at the baby, something stirred in her heart. She was so beautiful and tiny. She'd lost her parents, but that only meant she needed more love and care for Louise. And despite all her fears, Louise found she wanted to do it.

Lily nodded in satisfaction, but there was something else in her eyes too: something close to admiration. "I know you will care for the baby very well. I will look through the bags belonging to the accident victims. Whoever was looking after her probably has nappies and possibly milk formula."

"Should we do that?" said Louise doubtfully. "I mean, this is a crime scene."

"Our job is to preserve life," said Lily.

Louise couldn't argue with that – and there were so many lives they hadn't preserved today. She rocked the baby in her arms. The baby gave a small cry. "It's okay, sweetheart. I'm going to look after you. You're safe with Auntie Louise." She smiled at the baby and tickled her under the chin, amazed to find herself doing such a thing.

Lily bent down and started to search through the bags, but a sound had caught Louise's ear. A sound that worried her.

"Lily? I don't like the sound of her breathing."

Zoe looked into Max's miserable face. She knew it was unfair to blame him. She didn't doubt that Max had had a very big role to play in organising Charlie's party. He'd probably been working on it for weeks. It wasn't surprising if he forgot things.

She touched his cheek and spoke softly. "I'm sorry, Max."

Max's gentle smile warmed her heart. "Don't be sorry, Zoe. None of this is your fault."

"I mean I'm sorry for having a go at you about your phone," said Zoe.

"Don't be sorry for that either," said Max. "You're right: I should have made sure I charged it last night. I didn't know this was going to happen, but I might have known something would go wrong."

"How could you know that?" asked Zoe, raising her voice slightly as another chunk of ceiling fell. The crack in the ceiling was growing. It wouldn't be long until it reached them, but Zoe felt strangely calm. She didn't want to be in this situation and she especially didn't want Max to be here, but she felt happier and more at peace than she'd done for a long time.

Max's eyes lit with humour. "It's the law of Holby, isn't it? If you're planning anything special, you can be sure it will go wrong. Especially on a Saturday."

Zoe laughed. She didn't know why she was laughing when they could be about to die, but she felt so happy.

Alicia could tell something was wrong.

She wasn't fully awake, but there were warning signals going off in her brain. She lay for a moment with her eyes closed, trying to assess how she was feeling.

Not good, she realised. She felt as though something – or possibly someone? – was lying on top of her. Her head felt as though it was being attacked with hammers and she felt woozy.

Am I ill? she wondered, her eyes still closed. Or am I just hungover?

"You're going to be okay," said a soft voice. "You're going to be fine. I'm going to do everything I can to get you out of here and then you'll need a little bit of medical attention, but I'm going to look after you."

Medical attention? thought Alicia. This thought was followed by: So I'm not at home then?

She felt mildly curious about where she was, but fear was beginning to creep in now. It sounded like she'd had an accident. Possibly quite a bad one. If she opened her eyes, she would have to face whatever had happened and something in her mind was telling her she didn't want to.

Her eyelids felt heavy too, which was another reason to keep them closed, and she also felt quite spaced-out and dizzy.

"I'm right here and I'm not going to leave you," said the voice, which sounded familiar. "I'll do everything I can for you." The voice wobbled and Alicia heard something like a sob.

Ethan… she thought. It was Ethan's voice and he was worried about her. She tried to speak, but nothing came out. She wasn't sure if she was even moving her mouth.

"Oh, please be okay." Ethan's voice was trembling hard, and Alicia heard helpless, hopeless sobs. "Please hold on for me, Alicia. I can't lose you too."

It was difficult to shout with something pressing on your chest. Particularly when the room was full of tiny particles of dust that caught in his throat. But Lofty tried his best.

He felt slightly guilty, not wanting to take anyone else away from their job. The ED must be full to capacity – assuming it hadn't been evacuated.

But once Lofty was out, perhaps he'd be able to help. He could hold a hand and offer words of comfort even if he was too seriously injured to move very much.

"HELP!" he called out again, but the only response was silence.