Tato Potato, thank you for your review. I'm sorry for worrying you, but this is Casualty so I thought at least one of them should have some kind of brush with death!
chloeshdw, thank you so much! I'm really happy you're enjoying the fanfic and I hope you'll continue to enjoy it. Thank you for your review.
CasualtyFanForever81, I wanted to put Honey and Ethan into the last chapter, but that would have made it too long. That's the problem with having so many storylines! They are in this one though. Thank you for your review.
EDSidekick, thank you for your review. It's always so lovely when someone can imagine the characters saying the lines I've written for them. I hope you continue to enjoy it!
beckyboogle, you'll have to wait and see if I'm brave enough to kill Charlie off! There's a chance it might result in all of you killing me off! Thank you so much for your review - it really is wonderful that you find it captivating and real.
CBloom2, I'm sorry I can't bring Charlie back in this chapter, though there is a slight development in his storyline, but I know that killing Charlie off would be a very big step for which I might never be forgiven. Thank you for your review!
Tanith Panic, I know where I'd like to take this story, but it's possible I will be influenced by the series - I don't know anything about tonight's episode and very little about the future. I can't tell you about Charlie either, but I would definitely worry in your position! I'm happy you liked Ben and Dylan's scene. Thank you for your review.
Georgy-Girl, thank you for your review. Yes, it is all Connie's own fault! I'm not sure I'd dare tell her that to her face, though!
ETWentHome, I'm happy you like Ben and Dylan's friendship. Cal probably will realise soon that Ethan isn't in the ED. I don't know why he doesn't just phone him, but that would completely ruin my plot! Okay, I won't tell you Charlie dies... Thank you for your review!
The bed was shaking. Zoe wasn't particularly surprised: the bed usually did shake when she was with Max. She could also hear Max saying her name, which was also completely what she would have expected, but there was something odd about it. It was quieter than she would have expected and he sounded more frightened than ecstatic.
Then Zoe opened her eyes and discovered she wasn't in bed with Max at all.
She was sitting on the chair in her office. Max was shaking her shoulders and it looked like he was screaming her name, but they were surprisingly quiet screams.
Max reached forward and made a grabbed at her head. Zoe jerked away without thinking about it, but Max had got hold of something (along with a handful of her hair), and yanked it from her head.
"Hey! That's my hair!" said Zoe. Then she looked at what he had in his hands.
Max was holding Dylan's noise-reducing earphones. Zoe blinked at them and then she remembered. Not just the fact that Dylan had lent them to her but the fact that she'd cheated on Max and the last time she'd seen him, he'd refused to speak to her.
So what was he doing here?
"Zoe, we've got to get out of here!" said Max. "The alarm went off and we had to evacuate the building. They're talking about a bomb. We've got to get out of here now!"
Zoe didn't move. She was too busy staring at Max in amazement.
"Zoe!" said Max. He grasped her hands and tried to drag her to her feet.
"You came to rescue me," said Zoe. "You were worried about me and you risked your life to save mine, even though I…"
Her voice trailed away.
She couldn't have said more even if she'd wanted to because Max's lips were firmly on hers.
Honey sank down onto a chair, her hands over her face. "Oh, Ethan…"
Ethan spoke, his voice stunned. "Oh gosh, did I really just hit him?"
"Yes, you did," said Honey. "And it was brilliant and heroic and sexy and so amazing, but I don't know what I'm going to do!"
She felt Ethan's arm going around her. "We're going to report him to the police, Honey. We should probably report me to the police at the same time, but you'll be fine. He was attacking you. Threatening you." Ethan's voice shook slightly. "He deserved to be hit, but now we need to leave before he wakes up."
His arm was warm and protective. Honey leaned into him. His heart was beating very fast and he was trembling. "I love you, Ethan. I love what you did for me. But you've ruined everything." She began to cry.
"Honey, I'm sorry." Ethan held her closer to him. "I'm so sorry I… wait a minute: how did I ruin everything? And why did he have a key to your dad's flat?"
Honey's only answer was sobs. It was all so complicated. And if Ethan had ruined her life, why did she love him so much?
"Come on. We need to get you out of here before he wakes up," said Ethan. "Do you think you can stand up?"
Honey tried to stand, but her knees wobbled. Ethan caught her and picked her up in his arms. He carried her out to his car. "There you are, Honey." He helped her inside and then went around to the driver's side. "Okay. Can you tell me what happened?"
"He's got pictures and videos of me," wept Honey. "Working. In the club. He said if I didn't leave you and go back to Manchester with him, he'd show them to my dad and my gran. I couldn't let him do that! My dad was so upset when I set him and Big Mac up with those prostitutes at the wedding. If he knew that I wasn't much better than a prostitute myself… I didn't want to lose him, Ethan. And my gran: she's much better now, but if she knew I was involved with something like this… I didn't want to leave you, Ethan, but these people are my family and I wasn't sure if we had a future…"
She looked up at Ethan. He looked close to tears, but not angry. The arms he wrapped around her were gentle. "Of course you couldn't let him do that to your family. But you didn't have to go along with it, Honey. Why didn't you tell the police?"
"He said they wouldn't do anything," Honey sobbed into his chest. "It's not illegal to show someone your pictures and videos, even if photography and videos isn't allowed in the club. I didn't know what to do, Ethan. I just went along with whatever he wanted. I got him a key to the flat and told him when my dad wasn't going to be around. I did everything he asked me to do. And it was horrible, Ethan. So horrible!"
Lily looked around in satisfaction at the more controlled conditions in the car park. It was actually a lot more controlled than the ED, though she imagined fear played a part in that. While fear could make you panic, it could also make you too scared to do anything except what you were told.
The ED staff had responded very well to her instructions. Although even more depleted than Lily had imagined, they had worked hard to restore order and ensure that everyone was examined and treated. She could ask for medical assistance from the main part of the hospital if necessary and had considered requesting the assistance of Charge Nurse Adrian Fletcher, who had previously worked in the ED, but as the bomb was in the main part of the hospital, she imagined all the medical staff were very busy with their own patients.
Being in charge still worried her. Cal had been the latest member of the ED staff to disappear and the police had told her that someone dressed in scrubs had entered the building via a window. This meant Lily really was the only ED doctor – even an upset Cal was better than no Cal at all.
The situation was not only frightening but confusing. She could understand why Cal had run into the building: Cal was always impulsive and had been very emotional even before he'd realised Ethan was missing. She also knew that Dylan had problems, and much as she respected him, Lily knew that she couldn't always expect him to behave in a professional manner. But it seemed odd to her that Connie, Zoe and Ethan hadn't left the ED. The police had assumed they were being held hostage, but as the bomb was in the main part of the hospital, Lily couldn't understand how they'd become involved.
She also now knew that two of their nurses were missing too. Rita was still in the building, along with Lofty. Louise had reported that the absence of both Lofty and Max had rendered Robyn pretty much useless – and Charlie of course was, for all practical purposes, a patient.
But, as Louise had said, this was Lily's chance. Her opportunity to prove that she had the ability to be a clinical lead one day. She was not going to let her patients and colleagues down. No matter how difficult, impossible and frightening it all seemed.
"Lily!" Louise caught her elbow.
Lily turned to her in annoyance: she did not like to be touched unnecessarily. She particularly disliked being grabbed unexpectedly. But then she saw the expression on Louise's face. "What is it?"
"It's Charlie," said Louise breathlessly. "He's having another heart attack. You've got to come now."