ETWentHome, thank you for your review. I'm glad you like Louise helping Robyn - it's sad to see them not getting on in the series when Robyn is usually so kind and easygoing. You're right about Lily - she can be a little bit too focused on doing her job at times - there's actually more about that in this chapter.

Tanith Panic, I do apologise for Louise's inner thoughts! And for not warning you about them. I'm sure you know I don't agree with her. I was worried about writing that, but I thought that was exactly the kind of stupid thing Louise would think. I think she would judge people without getting to know them properly and would label someone as stupid just because she saw them drop something once. But she is starting to realise that her judgements weren't correct and I think that's the most we can hope for at this stage. Thank you for your review - I'm glad you're still enjoying it despite that idiot Louise!

Honey gazed at Ethan as they drove towards the hospital. "I can't believe that you just walked out of the police station when they wanted to speak to you!"

"How could I stay?" said Ethan. He punched the steering wheel. "How could I stay when Cal's in danger and it's all my fault?"

"It's not your fault." Honey reached out and touched Ethan's arm. "He's the one who chose to disobey rules and go charging in there like a rhinoceros! And you couldn't have known there was going to be some big emergency."

"I suppose not," said Ethan, but he still didn't look happy.

Honey squeezed his arm. "Seriously, do you have any idea how amazing you are? Running out of work to rescue me and then running from the police to rescue Cal? And you save lives all the time in the hospital too. You're a hero, Ethan. And that's the hottest thing ever."

Ethan looked as though being hot was the last thing on his mind right now, but he did smile.

"I'm proper proud of you," said Honey. "I was actually wondering if this was working; if you were maybe a bit too… a bit calm for me, but you've totally changed my mind now! My own superhero!" An idea came to her and she squealed in excitement. "Oh my God, Ethan, do you think there might be, like, fire engines?"

"If there's a fire, there probably will be," said Ethan. He bit his lip and clenched his hands around the steering wheel.

Honey squeezed his arm again. "Don't worry, Ethan. You can get Cal out safely. You're a superhero, remember? I was just thinking you'd already run away from the hospital and the police: if you run away from some firemen too, you'll have done the complete emergency services, won't you? And all in one day!"

"Apart from the coastguard," said Ethan.

Honey leaned closer to him. "Well, if you wanted, we could head down to the coast later…"

"That does sound lovely," said Ethan. "But I'll have to see how Cal is."

"Of course you do," said Honey. She held more tightly to Ethan's arm and put her other hand on his knee. "He'll be okay, Ethan. I know he will. He's got his superhero brother looking out for him, hasn't he?" She kissed him on the cheek. "And every superhero has a ditzy sidekick, don't they? We can be like Superdoctor and Honeygirl! You save lives and I give people magic tea and read their auras."

"You're not ditzy," said Ethan. "Honey…" His voice shook slightly. "I'm so glad you're here. When I thought you'd left me, it was one of the worst feelings I've ever experienced. You've made me so happy in more ways than I knew it was possible to be happy. You're the reason I'm able to knock out bullies, evade arrest and go into possibly-burning buildings to save my brother. I couldn't do any of this without you and I'm just so happy you're still in my life." He let go of the steering wheel and put his hand over one of hers. "I love you, Honey."

Honey's heart soared. She'd been beginning to believe that Ethan was never going to say the words, which had put her in a difficult position because there was no way she was going to say it first. "Isn't this just typical of you? You would finally tell me you love me when we're driving at sixty miles an hour - which is over the speed limit, by the way - and I can't even kiss you!"

"Sorry. I think I'm better at breaking the law than I am at romance," said Ethan. "But I'll try to improve."

Honey smiled and rested her head upon his shoulder. Good-looking, good job and a good old-fashioned superhero too (with the emphasis on old-fashioned). Could this man get any more perfect? "I love you too, Super-Ethan."

Connie couldn't speak: the pain was too bad. All she could do was sit very still and concentrate on not throwing up. She was absolutely, one hundred percent not going to throw up in front of Rita Freeman.

"Connie, just breathe," said Rita.

"You seriously think I'd stop breathing?" Connie said between gasps for breath. "Believe me... the last thing... I want to do... is make your day."

She felt Rita's hand on her arm. "Just keep still and the pain will go off in a minute."

"Oh, thank you, Rita," said Connie. "Where would I be without your superior medical knowledge?" The pain was receding now. Connie knew it would be too bit much for a lot of people, but she could deal with it. "Okay. Let's keep going." She saw Rita reach for the banister. "Don't you even think about standing up again!"

"And don't you even think about telling me what to do!" said Rita.

"I'm not thinking about it," said Connie sweetly. "It comes very naturally without thought, believe me. You have a head injury, Rita, and if you try walking, you're likely to collapse and fall downstairs and kill yourself. Naturally, from a personal perspective, I wouldn't care that much, but as a doctor, my job is to save lives. I think the only way of ensuring that we both get out of her alive is to – firstly - go down on our bottoms, as I'm doing now, and secondly, refrain from killing one another."

Rita was probably trying to glare, but it didn't have quite the same effect with mismatched pupils. "You never did like making things easy, did you, Connie?"

"Oh, I'm more than happy to make things easy if that's what you need," said Connie.

Rita held up her hand. "No. I understand your suggestion perfectly, and as it happens, I'm not in complete disagreement. So, let's do this."

"If we can both stay alive that long," said Connie.

"You'd better watch what you say to me then, hadn't you?"

"Likewise," said Connie.

Lily watched tensely as Jacob continued compressions. She wanted so badly to believe this wasn't happening. It had been bad enough in Resus when Connie was there and would have taken over if necessary, but now Lily was on her own.

She wanted so much to be a success. To make people proud. She was beginning to believe that her parents wouldn't be proud of her even if she became the best doctor in the world, so now she was working to make Mrs Beauchamp proud: to be the doctor Connie obviously believed she could be.

But now, Connie wasn't here. Nobody was here, and the person lying on the trolley wasn't a stranger. It was Charlie. And Lily knew that every single person who worked in the hospital would be desperate for her to save him.

Lily squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't want to care. She'd tried not to make friends with anybody. She was there to further her career and continue with her life plan. Her only personal interest had been in Ethan, until he'd chosen that shop-girl over her.

But she did care. She didn't want to lose any of them. She'd been hurt not to be invited to Zoe's hen party; secretly devastated when the bus had driven off without her; but by far the worst feeling was the thought that she might never see any of them again. Ethan, with his sweet smiles and incomprehensible jokes and the kindness Lily hadn't been able to cultivate in herself. Cal, with his outward strength and determination which, Lily had learned over time, concealed deep emotions a very caring heart. Connie, with her high standards, devastating intelligence and the ability to keep control no matter what.

And Charlie: the man who lay before her, his heart not beating. A man with so much wisdom, kindness and gentle humour, even Connie had to listen to him.

"Pulse check," said Lily as Jacob stopped compressions.

Jacob shook his head. "Nothing."

"Then we'd better… we'd better shock him," faltered Lily. Dixie and Iain had already brought out the AED. She watched, unable to move, as Jacob quickly attached the pads.

"Dr Chao, shall I charge up the machine?" said Dixie.

"I'll do it." Lily knelt down on the gravel and pressed the button to charge the machine. "Shocking." Her voice was more confident this time. She wasn't feeling confident, but she knew she mustn't let the others know. They were relying on her. They needed her to save Charlie, or at least do enough for him to get to St James's. There was another ambulance on the way, but Lily had no way of knowing how long it would be.

Charlie's body jumped in response to the shock. Lily's gaze moved sharply to Jacob; he checked for a pulse and shook his head.

Just another patient, Lily told herself as she took over compressions.

But it wasn't. It was Charlie.

It was the one job at which she couldn't fail.