Iain watched, his heart thumping, as Ethan's eyelids went slack, showing the whites of his eyes below rolled back into his skull. 'Alright, mate.' He jumped onto his knees, turning the patient onto his side and into the recovery position. Choking, strangling sounds were beginning to leech out of Ethan's throat. 'Tachycardic. Connie, I need you to read that monitor to me.' He ordered, trying to see the patient's airway. 'I didn't see any smoke or soot in his windpipe or nostrils earlier. I don't think there is any. Up that o2, please.'

'Time it,' Connie repeated, urgently, forgetting she wasn't in charge. Iain was preoccupied, securing the oxygen to Ethan's face and checking his pupils. It was one of his more violent seizures, his head thrashing frantically against the concrete as the paramedic tried to slip his jacket underneath it to cushion it from further impacts. Froth appeared on Ethan's lips, his breathing becoming erratic.

'Lorazepam,' he ordered, and another paramedic began sorting the dose. 'He's got no allergies, has he?'

'No.'

Ethan stopped seizing, a few seconds before the drug was injected into his system. He moaned loudly, his face tightening beneath the plastic mask. A drip of blood ran down from his lips. 'Check his mouth, please,' Connie said. She reached for Ethan's hand, checking the cannula. 'This'll need changing, it's come out with him moving.'

'I think…' Dylan wheezed, 'He remove. Catheter disconnect too.'

Connie nodded, hardly listening to him. Ethan was awake but his eyes were rolled back, showing only white slices. 'Ms Beauchamp? How is he when he's post-ictal?' Iain was gently opening Ethan's mouth and flashing his penlight.

'Depends,' she pulled herself together, sharply. 'Usually not best pleased. He can vomit but I think he'd have done it by now. He's not tried to speak.'

'He's broken two teeth. Lacerations in his mouth. I can't see the fragment, he's either swallowed or inhaled it.' Iain closed Ethan's mouth. 'I'm sure Mr Self will want another scan, but do you think it's stress or injury?'

'I can't say,' Connie slid a nitrile glove on effortlessly, and carefully ran her index and middle fingers across the mess of scaring on Ethan's head. His hair was starting to grow back, but not enough to cover the mass of stitching and scar tissue. 'He could have done it getting himself off the bed.'

Dylan tried to sit up, but Iain held a hand up. 'Mate, I need another paramedic as it is, stay still, Dylan. Jaye, once you've sorted the o2, get on the radio for me.'

Despite Connie's seniority, he knew she was in too much shock to do much to support Ethan. As personal as it all felt to him, he knew it was cutting her far deeper.

Ethan was slightly grey, as much as you could distinguish his skin tone from under the ash. His throat gurgled again, and he moaned. 'Coming to. Ethan? It's Iain. You've had another seizure, mate. You're alright. Take it easy.'

Ethan's eyes felt heavy, and his vision was blurred. He felt as if he was being rolled around in circles, the world completely spinning and caving in on him. He tried to speak, but instead drooled, choking and gasping. His back was stabbing at him again. A rough feeling in his mouth kept cutting his tongue.

For ten terrifying seconds, he forgot the events of the last few months completely. His mind was stuck firmly in the E.D. He'd just dropped the saline bag, fallen to the floor during the pericardial procedure. The clamp. He needed to get the clamp. Ms Beauchamp would kill him. Alicia was watching. He needed to get a grip.

'Clamp.' Ethan's mouth bleated, detatched from his body. 'Back hurts. Give me a minute.'

Dylan, sat inhaling deeply from an oxygen mask, caught on while Connie's mind didn't make the connection. 'I've got the clamp, Ethan.' He could hear the wheeze in his own chest, a whistle when he inhaled. 'You're alright. We can cover with staff-' he caught Connie's eye, holding a finger up, mouthing- trying everything he could to reassure her that he was sane, he knew what he was doing. 'Let yourself relax. You can finish for today right now. The patient is fine, and so are you.'

The muscles tensed in Ethan's jaw and body relaxed visibly and drastically with those words. 'Home.'

'Yes. You'll be home soon. Cal's on the way. Just let us examine you first.'

That pacified him. He stared blankly into the sky as the backup team arrived, as they examined him. He was completely calm as he was taken into neurology, for a second examination that involved his back. 'Home.' He said, looking Connie straight in the eye. 'Not long, now.'

Seconds later, as his body suddenly and viciously began to tremble, and he went into the second seizure, the reality of his statement, or rather, the inaccuracy of it, hit her hard in the chest.

Apologies for such a long delay! The next chapter is already written, and I'm hoping to get back into this story- I have no decided finish point for it yet!