'Connie, I have the HART team on the radio at the army base. They need to talk to you.'

'Not now Charlie I'm busy.'

'It sounds pretty urgent.'

'You take the message. I'm busy.'

Charlie sighed and let Connie's office. It was no use talking to her when she was in one of these moods. He went back up to the radio and began to talk into it.

'I'm sorry- she's not currently available. I can just take the message.'

'Are you a senior member of staff?'

'Yes I am. What do you need to tell us?'

'First of all the name of our trapped man who fell: Sargent Ian Dean. Yeah your MERIT team told us that you used to work with him. Secondly there has been a major collapse of the structure of the cave due to the weather. Your doctor and your nurse are now trapped. We can't contact them and we don't know what condition they are in.'

Charlie ran his hand through his hair. This was not happening.

'What rescue procedures are being carried out?'

'Currently there's nothing we can do. They were using our best ropes, they have all the equipment, the only route into the cave is blocked and the weather is appalling. It's far to dangerous to attempt a rescue.'

'So you're just going to leave them there?!'

'Look I'm sorry. There's little we can do. We are currently organising a plan to get all three of your colleagues out safely.'

'Thank you. Keep us updated.' The line went dead. Why couldn't Connie have taken the call? He walked up to her office and knocked before entering.

'That was the HART team.'

'Oh good. Are our MERIT team on their way back? It's about time.'

'No they aren't and they won't be for a while. If they come back.'

'Charlie- what the hell do you mean?!'

'I came to tell you that there's been a collapse at the cave. Ethan and Lofty are trapped with their patient, who, by the way, is our Ian Dean who only left a few days ago, and they have no radio contact. All three of the boys might be dead.'

Connie had gone very pale. Last time her staff had got injured was the minibus crash last October, the crash that killed Jeff, the crash that's repercussions echoed for months following. There had been enough close-to-home near-death experiences then to last a lifetime. Cal had been one of the hardest hit because of Ethan's condition. Ethan. Now trapped in a cave. Possibly already dead.

'Find Dr Knight and tell him. Then tell the rest of the staff. Make sure that they still have hope. If Dixie doesn't already know tell her too. I'm not sure why but an ambulance doesn't appear to be on sight.'

'What? How do you know?'

'I asked at ambulance control while you were talking to the HART team. Dixie would have told us sooner that it was Ian.'

Cal felt good. Despite not being chosen to go on the rescue his day had been alright. After the initial rush of patients at the start of the shift things had quietened down and he now had time for a coffee break in the staff room. He sat scrolling through Twitter on his laptop, smiling at the video of a cat failing to jump from a counter to a window sill. Charlie came in behind him, his presence causing Cal to turn around.

'Hi Charlie- want a coffee?'

'Erm, no, thanks. I need to talk to you.'

'Sure. What about?'

It was even harder to tell Caleb when he was in such a good mood.

'Its about your brother.'

Cal's face fell. This wasn't going to be good.

'What about him? He's okay isn't he?'

'Ethan and Lofty were sent to the army base to rescue a man who had fallen in a training exercise. In a cave. They started treating him successfully but the cave collapsed. All three of them are trapped.'

'Three?'

'Ethan, Lofty and Ian.'

'What the hell is Ian doing there?'

'He's the man who fell in the first place.'

'Charlie! I don't know what to do. You can get him out can't you? He will be fine? He is okay?'

'He's trapped, they haven't heard from him and they can't get to him.'

'Have they even tried getting to him?'

'The only access route to the cave was been blocked and the torrential rain they're having hasn't helped. They've had about 6 inches of it.'

'Charlie I can't lose him.'

Cal was sobbing, tears poured messily from his eyes as Charlie wrapped him in an awkward hug.

'I know. None of us can lose any of them.'