Tanith Panic, I hate the way Lily is treated by the others sometimes. She does upset them, but I'm sure it's an accident. I'm afraid I can't tell you about Charlie - for one thing, I haven't finished writing it! Thank you for your review.

Tato Potato, thank you for both your reviews. Yes, it is entirely possible that someone will die! I think I'd choose Zoe too at the moment, but it would have more dramatic impact to choose someone else... I'm happy you're still enjoying it.

ETWentHome, thank you for your kind words about Lily - she is a very interesting character but not easy to write. After Cal risked his life to save Ethan, I thought Ethan should try to return the favour! Thank you for your review.

Ethan was quite tempted to roar into the car park and screech to a halt outside the doors of the ED - he had a feeling Honey would like that - but he was concerned that making so dramatic and obvious an entrance might put Cal into more danger. Once he'd parked a short distance from the hospital, Ethan lost an argument with Honey about whether she should stay safely in the car (apparently, superheroes' sidekicks never waited in cars) and the two of them raced to the hospital to discover Lily giving compressions to a patient on a trolley.

"Jacob, what's happened?" said Ethan. "Is Cal still in the ED?"

"As far as we know, yes," said Jacob. "Sorry, Ethan. Glad you got out okay, mate."

Ethan nodded distractedly. He looked at the patient on the trolley and felt his heart lurch. "Oh God. Charlie."

"He had another heart attack," said Jacob. "His heart stopped in the ambulance, which has some kind of engine trouble. We're waiting for a replacement ambulance now."

Ethan wasn't sure what to do. All he wanted was to go and find Cal, but he didn't like to leave Charlie. It didn't seem fair for Lily to be the only doctor present. He wondered where the others were.

A muffled banging sound was heard from the direction of the ED.

"Oh my God…" said Honey.

The world swam.

For a moment, Ethan thought he was going to be swallowed up by darkness, but then the mist cleared and he began to run.

Robyn dried her eyes and looked up at Louise. "Okay. I'm okay. Well, I'm not okay. But I'm okay."

Louise patted her arm. "You're doing well, Robyn. Just do one patient and see how you go."

Robyn looked at her uncertainly, wondering if they ought to stay together as she was supposed to be mentoring Louise, but with so many hospital staff missing, they probably couldn't afford to. She looked towards the ED again. If anything happened to Max…

"Don't look," Louise advised her quite gently. "I know it's hard, but focus on your patient."

"Okay," said Robyn. "I can do this. I can do this. Louise, I don't think I can do this."

Then they heard it.

A sound Robyn had hoped never to hear again.

An explosion.

"Do you know what stopped you from leaving last time?" said Lofty.

Dylan couldn't quite get over how patient he was being. Of course, Lofty very seldom did get impatient: that was far more Dylan's forte. But it was such a new experience to be able to talk about his feelings to another person and to find they understood. Rita had accepted and Zoe had sympathised, but neither had understood.

Lofty, with his real gift for seeing how people felt inside, understood to a greater extent than Dylan could ever have believed possible.

"It was the number," said Dylan. "I stood up and the first thing I saw was Bay 4. That made me think I shouldn't leave."

"It might just have meant that was the a bad moment to leave," said Lofty. "If you try again now, it might be okay. We won't know unless we try."

Dylan thought, then nodded. There was no harm in doing that much and as there were patients who needed his help, he really did need to try. He accepted Lofty's extended hand and stood up.

Bay 2.

He turned to Lofty. "It's all right. I can leave now."

Lofty's face lit up. "Brilliant!" he said as though Dylan had achieved something really clever. "Let's go."

They were just leaving Resus when the world around them shuddered.

The pain was getting worse now. Rita could feel a discharge from her ear which Connie had informed her (with far too much satisfaction) was watery blood, indicative of a head injury. But she kept going. She would never in a million years admit it, of course, but Connie was the reason why she kept going.

Rita couldn't let Connie see her give up. She didn't want to show any signs of weakness. Side by side, they bumped down the stairs. Almost in unison, Rita's feet and Connie's good foot landed on the bottom stair. They supported themselves with their hands as they moved their bottoms down a step too.

"So, how are we going to get to the door?" said Rita, more than a faint note of challenge in her voice. "Because I'm telling you now: you can't walk it."

"And you certainly shouldn't consider walking," said Connie.

Rita shrugged. "I won't walk if you don't walk."

"Fine," said Connie. "I could hop, but you shouldn't. You'd fall over and hit your head again."

"Hopping would jar your bad ankle," said Rita. "We wouldn't want that."

"I suppose we could slid on the floor on our rear ends," said Connie.

Rita smirked. "I could. But I'm not sure the great Mrs Beauchamp should be sliding along the floor like that. Not with a skirt on."

Connie frowned as she realised Rita was correct.

"We could wiggle along on our bellies," suggested Rita.

"I don't think you've got sufficient chest power," said Connie, sticking her own chest out. "In order to see where you're going, you'll have to strain your head into an unnatural position."

"Then what should we do?" said Rita.

Connie opened her mouth.

Very few things stopped Connie Beauchamp from speaking.

A loud explosion, it seemed, was one of them.

Zoe moaned aloud as Max began to kiss down her neck. He'd got her dress off now and although he'd abandoned his attempts to unhook her bra (quite surprising really, considering Max's considerable experience in this department), it was fair to say the said bra was no longer performing its intended function.

"Shall we make the earth move?" said Max.

Zoe started to unbutton his jeans. "Yes, Max." She had a feeling they ought to be doing something else, but nothing mattered now. Nothing but her and Max and being back together.

Soon, they were both completely naked, Max having yanked the offending bra over her head. Their bodies joined together.

The earth moved.

Cal moved slowly through the hospital. His heart was pounding with the fear he was trying his hardest to deny as he walked softly through the corridors, his ears attuned for the smallest sound. He hadn't seen or heard anyone so far. He knew the hospital had been evacuated, but he'd expected Ethan to be somewhere near the ED or he'd have been unlikely to hear the cries for help – if that was what he'd heard. Perhaps there had been some other reason why Ethan had gone in the main part of the hospital. He might have been told to go, perhaps by Zoe or Dylan. Or perhaps he had an assignation with Honey but didn't want to be caught by anyone who worked in the ED.

Though if he had an assignation with Honey and didn't want to be caught, it would have been much more sensible to leave the hospital. That was what Cal always did.

Then he heard it. A bang.

Then something fell upon his head.

Charlie could see a light.

It was some way up ahead of him, but it burned brightly and seemed to be calling to him.

Slowly, he began to walk towards it.