Thank you for all the amazing reviews, and for the new follows and favourites.
beckyboogle, I'm so happy you enjoyed the chapter. I hope you enjoy this one too! Thank you for your review.
Tato Potato, I like a heroic Ethan too. I love him all sweet and awkward most of the time, but heroism means a bit more in some ways from someone like him! Thank you for your review.
Paradoxilla, thank you for your review. Let's hope Cal has seen the light! Putting your brother before the con-artist is always a good start. I hope you enjoy the new chapter!
ETWentHome, there's more of Lily and Louise in this chapter so I hope you enjoy it! Maybe the chair was a bit over the top, but he did punch Cal when he treated Lily badly so I thought he'd better do something! Thank you for your review.
Georgy-Girl, thank you for your review - and thank you so much for saying that I write all the characters well - it's been a big challenge, but I'm enjoying it and it's really good to know you like the way I write them.
Tanith Panic, I'm so glad you enjoyed the chapter! I think Lily and Louise have certain similarities and I can imagine them respecting each other. I'm happy you approve of Cal's and Ethan's actions! Thank you for your review.
CasualtyFanForever81, I love the word Louly! Thank you for teaching me it and there is more Louly to come. I'm glad you enjoyed the update. Thank you for your review.
Robyn was talking to the boys when she saw something out of the corner of her eye: someone running. She couldn't see who it was, but something compelled her to look.
It was Max.
He was running towards the building, oblivious to the shouts of the police.
Robyn didn't think. She ran after him, calling his name, but found her arms firmly seized.
"I'm sorry, Nurse. You can't go in there, I'm afraid."
"But that's my brother!" said Robyn, and burst into tears. "You have to get him out of there! You have to!"
Lily finished speaking to the policeman and turned to face the crowd. Butterflies filled her stomach at the sight of them. If they were injured or ill, she would be able to treat them without any difficulties. Addressing a crowd was a completely different matter.
"Come on, Lily! You can do this," said Louise. "Wait a second." Louise left her side and returned minutes later with a trolley. "Stand on this. I'll put the break on to keep it still."
"I don't really like heights," said Lily nervously.
Louise sighed. "Lily, you'll be three feet off the ground, not three hundred! But I'll be there with you." She put the break on, scrambled on to the trolley ad then held out her hands to help Lily.
Lily took a deep breath and climbed up. She turned to face the crowd. "Excuse me. If I could have your attention, please."
Nobody heard. They continued talking, panicking and milling around.
Beside her, Louise took a deep breath. "QUIET!" she bellowed. She waited until everyone was silent and looking at them. "Dr Chao would like to say a few words to you all."
"Thank you, Louise," said Lily. "My name is Dr Lily Chao and I am a registrar with the emergency department. The more seriously injured among you have been taken to St James' Hospital, but I know some of you are also unwell, injured or upset and we need to help you. You will all please form lines. It doesn't matter how many lines there are or how long the lines are: I would simply like you to stand in lines and keep still so you can be assessed one at a time. If you are unable to move without assistance, please do not attempt to move until a member of our medical team is there to help you. Once the lines are formed, doctors, nurses and anyone else who is healthy and has medical training will please report to me. Are Noel Garcia and Max Walker here?"
The receptionist raised his hand. "Here, Dr Chao."
"Max?" said Lily.
"He's not here!" called Jacob, who had his arm around a weeping Robyn.
"Thank you, Jacob," said Lily. She tried not to feel annoyed with Robyn. It was understandable that she was worried about her brother, but Lily needed her help. "Noel, you will please come and speak to me. The rest of you, get into lines as I said." She climbed down from the trolley with Louise's help.
Noel arrived beside them, an easy smile on his face. "How can I help you, Dr Chao?"
"We need to make a record of everyone who is here," said Lily. "Would it be possible for you to hack into the system on your phone?"
"I can certainly do my best," said Noel.
"Excellent," said Lily, and went to help someone who was lying helpless on a trolley.
Once the lines were formed, Lily called the medical staff over to her. "Do you all have notebooks and pens? Good. Please speak to the patients one at a time, making notes of names and medical conditions. If anyone needs immediate emergency assistance, you will of course help them. Noel will try to access the hospital records, but if not, we can make our own records. Please try not to think about what is happening inside the hospital. As always, our priority is our patients."
As Lily watched the medical staff leave, uncomfortably aware that Cal also seemed to have disappeared now, she felt a light hand on her elbow.
"Good job, Lily!" said Louise.
"Thank you, Louise," said Lily. Seriously, she added: "I couldn't have done it without your help."
Connie put a hand up to her lip and felt blood. Pain seared through her ankle and she could feel multiple bruises forming.
Several steps below her, lying in a little heap, Rita was quite still.
She looked so vulnerable. To Connie, she had always seemed completely the opposite. Someone who could take care of herself and didn't care who she hurt along the way. She'd hurt Connie more than once and Connie didn't think she could ever forgive her.
But she needed help.
There were only a couple of stairs to the landing. Connie had landed face-down on the stairs and it seemed pointless to try to turn around and get up onto her feet and walk down in a dignified manner. Connie wasn't sure her ankle would hold, in any case. She tried to ignore the physical pain, just as she tried to ignore the emotional pain that hit her all the time in this job. It was all she could do sometimes to keep it inside.
Connie lifted a hand from the stair and groped for the one below. She dragged her body downwards, gasping aloud as her many bruises made themselves felt. She was glad (in a way) that Rita was unconscious and couldn't see her like this: the dignified Mrs Beauchamp, crawling down the stairs on her stomach.
It hurt. It hurt so much. Spots danced in front of Connie's eyes and she closed her eyes for a moment, willing the pain and nausea to go away or at least fade. After a moment, she tried again, forcing herself down another step. Only one more to go, though she would have to keep crawling in order to get the rest of her body down the stairs. Her skirt was bunched up around her bottom and she doubted her tights had survived the descent, but at least there was nobody to see.
And all the while, she waited. Waited and listened for the explosion she was sure would come. The bomb was in another part of the hospital, but the damage could potentially reach the ED.
At last, her hand touched the landing. She dragged her legs down the stairs, her ankle throbbing and protesting with every jolt. Connie gasped but managed not to cry out. "Rita?" said Connie, but there was no response. "Rita, can you hear me? Open your eyes!"
Rita's eyes remained closed, but as Connie shuffled on her stomach towards her, she heard a soft moan. Connie pulled herself into a sitting position, resisting the urge to bite her lips to stop herself from screaming.
"Rita, it's Connie," she said. "Can you tell me what hurts?"
"Head," said Rita.
Judging from the way in which she'd fallen, a spinal injury was also possible. Usually, the correct procedure would be to wait for assistance, but all that changed when the injured person was in danger. "Rita, does anything else hurt? Your back?"
"It feels a bit bruised," said Rita. She opened her eyes and fixed them on Connie, her gaze hardening. "Because you pushed me."
"No, Rita! I didn't!" Connie's voice rang with panic; she told herself to be calm. "I didn't push you, Rita. You were touching me and I shook your hand off."
"Do you really expect me to believe-" began Rita, but then she stopped as they heard footsteps coming up the stairs.
"Who's there?" called out Connie, just as Max came into view. She had no idea what he was doing here, but that could wait. "Max? Can you help us, please?"
"Sorry: no time," said Max. The staircase was split in two and he ran up the other one, too far away for Connie to grab him. "I need to get to Zoe!"
Connie's blood ran cold at the thought of Zoe being up there, but at least Max had a chance of helping her. "Rita, I know it's a risk to move you, but there's a bomb in the hospital. Can you sit up for me, please?"
Rita gave her a cool look. "For you, no. For myself…" Grimacing, she hauled herself up into a sitting position, but to Connie's relief, she moved easily and with no signs of severe pain.
"Rita, you're bleeding," said Connie worriedly. There was a laceration on Rita's head, but Connie had no bandages with her and no clothes that could be easily removed.
"The others are outside," said Rita. "They can deal with it. Let's go." She held the banister as she got herself into a standing position. For a moment, she swayed and Connie shuffled across the floor to catch her if necessary, but then Rita regained her balance. "What are you waiting for?"
"I can't walk," said Connie abruptly. She hated to show weakness. "I've twisted my ankle. A sprain, I think."
"Then you'll just have to go down on your bum, won't you?" said Rita unsympathetically.
Connie glared at her. "It looks like I will."