'Buckle up, Dr Chao, you're in for a right ride.' At this, Lily gave him a scathing look.

'A right ride?' She repeated, dry enthusiasm.

'Yeah, ride of your life.' He repositioned his mirrors before putting the keys into ignition.

She gave a lengthy sigh, provoking a response from him. 'You're such a drama queen. Everything is a big deal.'

'No it is not.' She replied, shaking her head.

'It is, Lily.' He shuffled backwards into the seat, relaxing.

She made a point of checking her watch. 'Whatever, we're late, I'm not in the mood for a game of silly driving or something else ridiculous.'

'No, nothing ridiculous or silly.' Iain said evenly.

Not detecting anything amiss, she gave a contented 'good'.

It took several minutes for her to remember, and she did so with a groan.

'Iain!'

'I promised, didn't I?' He replied.

'I didn't mean painstaking driving, I meant sensible.'

'I said 20, we'll do 20.' He indicated, turning a corner. The cars behind started to grow annoyed.

'If you make me late...'

'Rather late and safe, than dangerous and-'

'Just drive!' She yelled, which made him smirk.

'I have a lady in the car, I'm being courteous-' He protested.

'Pull over.' She said.

'What?'

'Pull over - now!'

Reluctantly, Iain pulled in to a lay by. The cars behind seemed relieved instead of annoyed, as they could continue their journey at an appropriate speed.

'See you at work.' She muttered, reaching down into the footwell to grasp the handle of her bag.

'Where you going?' His expression turned, wild with confusion.

'I'll walk or get the bus, it will be quicker.' She replied.

'Whoa whoa whoa, you can't possibly do- have you lost your mind?' He asked.

She dithered, slender fingers hovering over the seatbelt. 'Are you going to actually drive?'

'Lily, it was a joke.'

'I know it was, but I really need to be at work.' She urged.

'Alright, alright.' He deftly drove back into the steady stream of traffic, picking up pace as they moved down the road.

'Better.' She announced.

'Glad my driving has your seal of approval.' He said.

'You and your remarks really do have no off switch.'

'I'd disagree.'

'Of course you would.' Lily flicked the radio on before he could think of another smart response.

They drove along in silence, filled only by the music of an old pop station.

'Wait a minute...' Iain groaned, as the cars ground to a standstill.

'What?'

'I don't know why we've...' He muttered, before his eyes widened. 'Stopped.' She followed his gaze to beyond the trees in the distance, straight away noticing the billowing plumes of grey. 'Oh Jesus...'

'You need to a U turn.' Lily sprung into action, assertive.

'A U turn?' He spluttered. 'Where, exactly? We're going to have to sit it out.'

'But we'll be late!' She cried.

His expression was filled with disgust. 'If I'd gone at a normal speed, we could've been in that. At least we're alive though, yeah?'

'I didn't mean it like-' Lily sobbed.

'Like what? Course you meant it.' He spat, unbuckling his seatbelt.

'What are you doing?'

'What does it look like I'm doing?' He replied, opening the car door.

'Iain...' She shook her head, eyes glistening dangerously.

'There's no fire crew, no first response, no nothing!' He protested.

'So? You have to wait!'

'I'm a paramedic. You're a doctor. If you had half an ounce of compassion, you'd be coming with me.'

'You are putting yourself in jeopardy!' She pleaded. 'Wait!'

Dithering, his eyes darted from the scene back to Lily. 'I love you.'

Now furious, she wrenched her own car door open.

'Iain!' She yelled, but her voice got lost amongst the roar of traffic. Cursing under her breath, she followed him up the road.

In the midst of the chaos, he noticed her. 'Get back!' He shouted towards her.

'Why should I?' She shouted back. 'You told me to come too.'

'What?' He yelled.

'I said, you told me to!' She almost screamed the words at him before recognition dawned on his face.

'Yeah, before I knew how bad it was! Seriously, go to the car, take the keys.' He tossed them to her.

'What makes you think you're any safer than I am?' She hollered back, indignant. By this point, he couldn't hear her, and didn't make an effort to.

'There's a woman and a baby in this car!' Iain shouted to onlookers, the alarm growing on his face. She felt her stomach sink.

'Can you, can you-' She stuttered, helplessly watching as he scaled the metal.

'I'm trying, I-'

The heat prickled Lily's face, harsh and unrelenting. Then, out of nowhere, a bang. Then, screaming. Her own.

After some time, Lily regained consciousness. At no point had she passed out, but she had switched off. Frozen, numbed. Someone foreign to her had wrapped a tree-trunk arm around her shoulder. It did little in the way of comfort, and served to agitate her more. This firefighter - Daniel, he'd said his name was - had managed to wrap a foil blanket round shoulders too. She hadn't been burned, but she might as well have been.

'He's an idiot.' She muttered, over and over again.

'What's he like?' Daniel asked.

'He's like...' Her teeth chattered as she desperately tried to gather her thoughts. 'Like no one else in the world. He's like validation of all the cheesy movies.'

'He's a hero. Amazing thing he did, managing to throw that baby and woman out.'

Lily thought a while. 'He's always saving people.'

'Yeah?' Daniel asked, as they numbly watched the chaos unfold from behind the tape that cordoned off the area.

'Yeah. Paramedic.' She whispered.

'Ah, he looks the sort. That explains why he dived in there like a maniac. You look smart yourself, if you don't mind me saying.'

'AE Doctor, same hospital.' Lily breathed.

'That so? Workplace relationship, then?' He asked her. She became aware he was only asking to make small talk, to ease the shock if nothing else.

'Mm.' She uttered a non-committal response. 'I should be helping him, I-'

'No, you shouldn't, darling. Leave that to the paramedics. Last thing we want anyone else getting injured. You can go with him though when they've sorted him out. I'll tell you when.'

She just nodded. 'I knew something would happen. I just knew.'