I'm sorry if the medical information is wrong. It was difficult finding information on Alicia's condition so I'm not very confident about it.
X-Sammii-X, there hasn't been enough Robyn and Max recently - I'd love to see Max supporting her and getting to know Glen. Zoe and Rita both need to come back! I'd like them both to stay in this story, but I'll have to see how the story progresses and what feels right. I definitely agree about Ethan being lovely! Thank you for your review.
totti10, it was sad the way the whole ED banded together against Rita when she'd been so brilliant as a colleague and a friend. I was especially disappointed with Max, Ethan and David, who are usually so lovely! And of course Iain, who couldn't see how lucky he was. I'm glad you liked Rita's emotions. Thank you for your review.
westlife4ever80, thank you for your reviews. I don't mind eyeballs, but it's very easy to see why other people are freaked out by them. Did you think the baby was Rihanna? I'm really happy it wasn't too obvious. Refusing to be treated is a worry medically, but her stubbornness seems very much Connie!
Tanith Panic, even if it is Matilda, I can't promise a happy ending - the baby has a heart condition and unless this one does turn out to be Cal's, he has no rights. Scans are horrible - I hate the ones that make shrill noises! Yes, you can be first to comfort Dylan if you're prepared to fight Zoe for the honour! Thank you for your review.
Bonnie Sveen Fan, thank you for your review. Cal will be shocked if it's Matilda! He does seem to have forgotten Matilda in the episodes, but how could you forget a little baby girl you really loved? There is a good chance the baby has lost at least one adoptive parent. I'm glad you liked the Cal and Ethan scene.
Max led the way to the part of the ED where he and Zoe had been not exactly unhappily imprisoned. "We don't know for sure Lofty's here, but he doesn't seem to be anywhere else. I really think we need to mount a-" He stopped, blushing slightly. He really didn't need to think about 'mounting' at the moment.
The policeman nodded. "I think you're right, Mr Walker. It is possible Mr Chiltern changed his mind at the last minute and went home, but we can't take the risk."
"Thank you," said Max gratefully – mostly because of Lofty, but he did like the 'Mr Walker' too. "I don't think he'd have changed his mind at the last minute. And even if he did, he'd have let Dylan know."
"If he's that good a mate, I wonder why he didn't call you."
"He probably wanted to surprise us," said Max. "He just told Dylan because Dylan doesn't like surprises. Zoe – that's my wife… well, ex-wife… though technically still wife… and possibly not ex anymore – Zoe says Dylan gets enough surprises in his job so he really likes to know what's going on the rest of the time. You can understand it really."
Lily bent over Iain and shone her torch into his eyes. He flinched away.
"Please keep your head still," said Lily.
Iain seemed to recognise this as an order. His head was motionless as Lily finished her examination, checking his nose and ears for cerebrospinal fluid and blood.
"Do you have a headache at all, Iain? Do you feel sick? Dizzy?"
Iain gave a very firm negative to every question and correctly identified the number of fingers Lily was holding up. When she asked him to walk up and down the length of the cubicles, she could discern no problems with balance or walking generally.
"Do you remember what happened to you?" asked Lily.
It took Iain a moment or two to answer, but any confusion was unsurprising in the circumstances. "I was in the helicopter with Grace. I think Jacob got her out. But then Rita told me I was back in the helicopter and I had to get out of it again. But then I saw the other helicopter and it was the first helicopter and the other one wasn't real."
Lily looked questioningly at Rita.
"He was obviously stuck in his memory of the scene of the crash," said Rita. "I thought perhaps if I treated it as being real, I could get him out of the imagined situation and back into the real world. It seemed to work at first, but then he realised it wasn't real and thought I was lying to him."
"You were lying to him," said Lily. She saw the hurt on Rita's face and found herself adding: "But it was a good idea."
Rita's look of gratitude made Lily glad she'd said it.
"Okay, there are no signs of a more serious head injury as yet, other than the flashbacks, but with your history of PTSD, they don't necessarily indicate injury," said Lily. "Your GCS also suggests the head injury is minor. But I will send you for a CT scan to make sure and you will need to be kept under observation for 24 hours. Do you live alone?"
"I can stay with him," said Rita.
Lily eyed her doubtfully. While she felt the gossip about Rita and her behaviour towards Iain was probably much exaggerated, she was concerned it could be an ordeal for Rita as well as for Iain. "It might be best for him to remain in hospital, considering the psychological issues."
"I don't have psychological issues!" said Iain.
Rita sat on the bed beside him. "Iain, you thought you were back in the army."
Iain looked at her through narrowed eyes. Lily guessed he couldn't be sure who he could trust at the moment. Not Rita – and not himself.
"We will wait for the result of the scan before considering a psych referral," decided Lily. "Rita, I also have to look after Matilda and Robyn and I was also treating Cal until he disappeared, so perhaps you could stay with Iain and watch out for any deterioration in his condition or recurrence of the flashbacks."
"Matilda?!" said Rita. "Do you mean…" She glanced towards the baby.
Lily nodded. "The baby's name is Matilda. It is a very common name. We don't know any more than that at present."
Zoe had forgotten what it was like when a colleague was the patient.
No, that wasn't quite true. You never forgot. Not completely. But the latest news about Connie was almost more than she could bear.
The scan had revealed liver damage and Connie was now having surgery. They didn't know if she'd survive.
Zoe rubbed her hands over her face. A part of her wished she'd stayed in America.
At the same time, there was nowhere she wanted to be but here.
"Zoe. I understand you're upset." Dylan was standing in front of her. "But we have other patients. We need to make a decision about Alicia and I hardly think Dr Hardy is fit to treat his brother, even if it wasn't unethical."
"I just… seeing Connie like that," said Zoe.
"Yes, it's very difficult, but there's nothing you can do for Connie, so the best thing you can do is focus on our other patients," said Dylan.
"And Grace…" Zoe always hated to see a child who was critically ill, but it was different when she knew the child. She thought of all the trouble Grace had caused on the occasions when Connie had brought her to work with her. All Zoe could do was hope that one day soon, Grace would be causing havoc and getting under her feet again.
"Look, I know exactly how you feel," said Dylan. "You might not think it, but I do. I have no idea what's happened to Ben. All we know is he texted me some time ago to say he was almost at the ED. Nobody has seen him – therefore he must be trapped somewhere. Perhaps seriously injured. Perhaps... dead."
His voice filled with emotion. Zoe touched his shoulder. "It's not your fault, Dylan. You had Connie and Grace to consider. You had no opportunity to check your phone. Lofty would understand that. If he was here, he wouldn't have checked his phone either."
A muscle worked in Dylan's jaw. "I still blame myself, Zoe. And all I want is to be out there now, looking for him. But I'm needed here and so are you."
Zoe knew he was right. She also knew she couldn't afford to fall apart – especially not when Dylan was struggling tooe. She nodded and turned back to Alicia – just as the machines monitoring her went crazy. "She's in severe respiratory distress. Dyspnoeic and tachypnoeic. Oxygen levels and blood pressure dropping."
"Alicia!" Ethan seemed about to run to her side, but Cal caught hold of his arm.
"No, Ethan. Let Zoe and Dylan handle it. You're too involved."
Ethan looked distraught. "She's going to be your girlfriend!"
"Then stay here and support me," said Cal. "Zoe and Dylan can handle it. Okay?"
Dylan looked almost panicky. "Any ideas?"
"It could be classic transfusion-related acute lung injury," said Zoe. "Okay: she needs high-flow oxygen and we also get a chest x-ray and check blood gases, please."
"Alicia!" Ethan managed to pull away from Cal.
Cal jumped up from the bed and grabbed him around the waist. "No, Ethan. They can handle this. They're doing everything they can."
Ethan struggled to break free. "Let me help!"
"Out, both of you, please," said Dylan. "Go to cubicles."
"Yeah: let's go to cubicles," said Cal. He swayed slightly, though he didn't let go of Ethan. "Come on, Ethan. You can't help here because you're too close to Alicia, but maybe there'll be something you can do in cubicles. Come on."
"We'll check the central venous pressure and normal pulmonary capillary wedge pressure," said Zoe. "If they're normal, we can rule out transfusion-associated circulatory overload and cardiogenic edema." She looked at the monitor again and shook her head. "It's not looking good, Dylan. We'll intubate with lung-protective ventilation. Haemodynamic support on standby – and alert haematology." She paused. "And then we need to arrange a transfer to ICU."
Louise looked up in relief as the doctor appeared. "Hi, are you from paediatrics? I'm Louise: I'm one of the nurses. This is Matilda." She looked at Lily, who was rechecking Robyn's intraocular pressure. Louise didn't doubt it was difficult for her, but her hand looked steady. "Dr Chao, the doctor's here from paediatrics."
Lily said a few more words to Robyn, then came to meet the doctor. She introduced herself and explained the history of Matilda's involvement with them.
"Oh, and this was with her," said Louise, handing the doctor the medical information they'd found. "Nothing about a heart condition, but… well… we're not completely sure, but we think the baby was adopted, in which case she was born in… uncertain circumstances. She might not have got the usual health checks."
"But there's no need to worry about that now," Lily cut in swiftly. "If you could take the baby up to paediatrics and give any necessary examinations? Thank you."
"Just a minute." Louise took Matilda's hand in hers and bent close to her. "It's going to be okay, Matilda. You've just got to go with this nice lady and she'll look after you. I wish I could go with you, but Dr Chao needs me to help her. But I'll come and see you as soon as I can." She turned to the doctor. "And if you don't need to keep her in, please bring her back here to me. I'm taking care of her."
She saw a slight frown on Lily's face at this pronouncement – and she could understand it. No official arrangements about Matilda had been made.
But Lily said nothing – or not to Louise. "I'll see you later, Matilda. Be a good girl."
Again, the tube wouldn't be inserted. Zoe shook her head. "It's no use."
"Let me try," said Dylan, but Zoe shook her head.
"We can't make any further attempts. We need to do a cricothyroidotomy." Zoe located the membrane.
As this was their Plan B, the kit was already waiting. Dylan offered it to Zoe. "Are you okay to do this?"
Zoe nodded. "I think so."
"'Think so' isn't good enough, Zoe," said Dylan. "We need the best people – and Alicia is a colleague."
"She's not my colleague," said Zoe firmly. She looked him in the eye. "I can do this, Dylan."