Bonnie Sveen Fan, I'm glad Iain was there to comfort Rita too. If only he'd been properly there for her in Casualty! It is difficult for Ethan. All his wishes are coming true, but that's not enough to ensure his happiness. Thank you for your review.

20BlueRoses, thank you for your review. I love flustered Ethan too and his modesty is one of my favourite things about him. It would be horrible if there were misunderstandings over Alicia - the brothers need each other at the moment. I'm relieved you felt the Dylan scene was in character. I think it's quite likely Cal doesn't remember running around the hospital in a panic about Ethan! He's very good at forgetting inconvenient facts.

Guest, thank you for your review. Here is the update you requested - I hope you like it.

Tanith Panic, I'm not crazy about Alicia either and I never intended for the story to go in this direction, but I couldn't stop it! She does appreciate Ethan though, which is good as there's a lot to appreciate when he's being himself. The Dyfty bromance is definitely back on! Dylan isn't concerned about Iain's scan - I'm sorry that wasn't clear. Thank you for your review.

totti10, maybe it's a good thing the Iain and Rita sections have been relatively short if you're holding your breath throughout! That's true that Iain has had two jobs where his instincts are very important. But his instincts have already failed him at least once and he can't detach emotionally where Rita is concerned, so he hasn't felt able to trust his instincts and he probably finds that quite frightening. Thank you for your review.

X-Sammii-X, thank you for your review. Cal has got his Toad back and I doubt we're the only ones who don't want him to let her go! I do love Connie and Zoe's friendship - they hated each other at first, but they couldn't help respecting each other and I think that grew into genuine affection. Iain and Rita are the best!

InfinityAndOne, maybe it is a bit out of character for Alicia to be so honest with everyone! But the old Alicia was very caring. I'm glad you liked Louise seeing right through Cal - and I think she'd really enjoy saying so! It's good to know you thought I paced Iain and Rita's scene about right too. Thank you for your review.

"I love you," said Zoe. "I really, really do, Max."The doctor showed Zoe and Max to the nearby waiting room, then he left them alone. Perhaps he simply had to get back to work, but perhaps knew there was talking to be done.

A lot of talking and hoping and… Zoe sighed sadly.

There was no point in hoping. She knew that. All she could do was talk to him and hope he understood why she could never come back to Holby. Not permanently.

Max's eyes were unwavering. "I love you too."

Hearing the words made her heart beat faster, but it also made it ache with sadness. They loved each other, but she knew what Max was dreaming of couldn't happen. Not now. She had Edward to think of now. She'd made a promise and she couldn't break it.

She didn't want to break it.

"You're my wife," said Max simply. "I love you. I want to be with you. Nothing else matters. Stay with me, Zoe. Please."

"I can't," said Zoe sadly.

David told himself it wouldn't matter. He'd never see Amira again after today. He could say the words, just this once. "I thought they could have been my family."

Amira couldn't quite keep the surprise from her face. It hurt David, but he knew he wasn't the sort of man people expected to have a family.

"I have a wife and son," said David. "I don't live with them. Things… went wrong. I did things I shouldn't have done. I haven't seen my son for a long time."

"You must miss him," said Amira.

David nodded. "I do miss him. And that family. They make me think…" He stopped.

"You can tell me, David."

"I thought when I was away from my wife and son, it was better," said David. "Because then I couldn't hurt him."

"And now?" Amira's voice was sympathetic.

"Kai's dad went away," said David. "But something still happened. It's going to be difficult – maybe impossible - to put things right, but it was only when they were all together that there was any hope of making things better. Like they gave each other strength."

"Families can do that," said Amira. "Not all families, of course. But if you miss your son, David, you should tell him that. Kai knew his dad wasn't perfect, but he missed him. That's partly why it went wrong: because his dad wasn't there and he didn't know why. But now he is there…"

"It makes a difference for all of them," said David.

Ethan's breathing finally slowed. He turned to face Alicia, his heart turning over when he saw the slight trembling of her lips. "Alicia, I like you. I've liked you from the first moment I saw you for the second time. No. That doesn't make sense. I'm sorry. I'll start again. I like you."

Her tentative smile calmed him slightly. "It's okay, Ethan," she whispered. "Take your time."

"I like you, but we can't be together," said Ethan sadly. "You've been through something terrible and that can affect your emotions. I don't want anything to happen until you're absolutely sure it's what you want. Though even then…" Ethan looked at her sadly.

"What?" whispered Alicia.

"I'm so sorry, Alicia. I told Cal you wanted to be with him and he agreed to take you on a date. I don't think he likes you that much, but…" Ethan gasped. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to say that. I'm sure he likes you very much and I'm sure he's very happy he's going on a date with you, but what I meant to say was he's only just met you - except he has met you before, obviously, but that was different – so he might not be in love with you yet and he might not mind at all if you tell him you've changed your mind. But he's still my brother and even though he's got into the most terrible messes and caused me all sorts of trouble, I love him and he's saved my life twice now and I don't ever want to hurt him, so I can't be with you at this time and I'm so sorry." Ethan blinked hard.

Alicia looked teary-eyed too, but she hadn't let go of his hand. "It's okay, Ethan. I don't want to hurt Cal either and if anyone's worth waiting for, it's you. You're putting my health and your brother before your happiness. Not many guys would do that."

"Oh, I'm sure that's not true: I'm sure lots of guys would do that, especially if it's you they want to do it for," babbled Ethan. "But um… I hope we can be friends. I'm really not special at all and I'm sure you'll discover that very quickly and it will be so much easier for you just to decide not to go out with me after all than it would be to break up with me. I mean, if you ever did break up with me, I promise you I'd understand completely and I wouldn't put any pressure on you and I'd respect your decision and behave professionally at all times and-"

"Ethan," broke in Alicia softly, "of course we can be friends."

Robyn gave a squeal (that very effectively turned Dylan's attention from his emotions to his chances of going deaf) and threw her arms around Lofty.

"Careful: you have both been in an accident," said Dylan.

Lofty smiled at him reassuringly. "I'm okay."

Robyn turned to Dylan. "Isn't it the best news ever?"

Dylan was rather disturbed to realise she was expecting an answer. "Oh. Well. There's certainly been a lot of news that's been considerably worse…"

Robyn laughed and held out her arm. "Oh, come here."

"Er… what for?" said Dylan in alarm, but Lofty was holding out his hand too and Dylan's feet were showing a most disturbing habit of walking towards Robyn and Lofty.

It was probably Dylan's first ever group hug.

He didn't hate it.

"I'm going to quit my job, Rita," said Iain.

Rita gasped. "What? Do you mean… oh, Iain, is it that bad?"

"Very bad!" said Iain. "I've never had it so bad in all my life."

"Oh, Iain," whispered Rita, her eyes filling with tears.

"Rita?" Iain's grip did tighten then. "What is it?"

"I'm sorry it's so bad for you," said Rita shakily. "But I will support you, Iain."

Iain stared at her, then his tired brain caught her meaning. "I didn't mean that, Rita. I'm going to keep working. I need." He let his gaze travel towards the debris-strewn ambulance station. "But not here. I don't know where you live now, but that's where I want to be. With you."

Rita's face broke into a smile. "Then don't quit your job, Iain."

"No?" said Iain uncertainly.

"The only place I want to work is here," said Rita. "I've missed it, Iain." She looked up at him almost shyly. "Nearly as much as I've missed you."

"You're coming back?" Iain wanted to sweep her off her feet, but he didn't want to frighten her.

"I'd like to," said Rita. "I'd like to more than anything." She looked at him helplessly. "But I'm scared, Iain. What I did was so wrong. What if they don't want me back?"

Cal often liked to take stairs two at a time, but it wasn't an option now. Not when he was carrying someone so precious. It was only now, with his daughter in his arms, that he realised how far it was to the bottom.

He told himself not to be silly. If he let everything that could hurt Matilda get to him like this, he'd never be a good dad.

And that was what he wanted. More than anything.

Finally, he reached the top of the stairs and carried Matilda towards ICU. He hesitated for a moment, wondering if tiny babies were even allowed in ICU, but he remembered Matilda wasn't a tiny baby anymore. She was probably less vulnerable than most of the patients here.

Including Alicia…

Cal sucked in his breath and held Matilda closer to him. She couldn't have had any idea what she was thinking, but she pressed closer to him and reached out a chubby hand to pat his face. "Dadadadadada!"

"Thanks, Toad," he whispered, kissing her forehead. "I'm so glad you're here."

He hoped Alicia was okay. He couldn't imagine what it would do to Ethan if he wasn't. He doubted Ethan truly loved Alicia; he'd never showed her the slightest interest the last time she'd been here. But Ethan was so caught up in the idea of her, he probably believed he was in love, and the shattering of an illusion could hurt just as much as the real thing.

And if Alicia was okay… well, she was going on a date with Ethan's brother.

Cal tried not to grimace at the thought. Alicia was hot, but he hadn't been interested before all this had happened and he was even less so now. He had a sick child to look after; he couldn't be running around going on dates. Not unless it was someone really special; someone who could be Matilda's mother. He couldn't see Alicia as a mother. She was too young.

He pushed open the door and carried Matilda inside. Ethan and Alicia were talking, but Alicia's eyes widened when he entered.

"Cal?" she said nervously. She stared at the baby before turning to Ethan in confusion. "I thought you said Matilda…"

Ethan was staring at Matilda now. "Is that… is that really…"

"It's my little Toad," said Cal, smiling proudly. "She's come back to us and… Ethan! Ethan, be careful: you'll hurt her!"

But he should have known his brother better. Ethan held her gently. "Matilda, I don't know how you're back or why you're back and I'm quite frankly terrified of the answer considering my brother is involved, but I've missed you."

Cal stayed close to his brother in case Matilda was afraid, but she seemed to remember Uncle Nibbles too.

Cal reluctantly walked towards the bed. "Hey, Alicia. You look… great. So… how are you?"