"So, how are my happy- clappy ER gang this wonderful evening?" Romano walked out of the elevator down from the surgery ward, in his usual chearful, sarcastic mood, oblivious to the drama that was unfolding.

Dr. Romano noticed their expressions but still carried on in his usual, arrogant manner. "Come on, I know being stuck down here all day can't be much fun but..."

As everyone stood there, not wanting to be the one to say anything, Yosh poked his head through the doors to the ambulance bay. "They're pulling up now."

"Who?" Romano asked, looking around at his staff.

They all looked nervously at their feet until Randi finally spoke up. "Dr. Lewis and Abby.

Abby was in an accident."

Robert looked embarassingly around and tried to avoid eye contact with anyone as he went out to meet the ambulance without saying a word.

* * *

Luka opened the door to the staff lounge and looked meeningfully at Chen. She nodded knowingly back and pulled away from Carter who she was hugging over one shoulder and looked at him.

"She's here now" she told him sympatheticly. "You can come out if you like but you've got to keep it together."

Carter sighed as more tears ran down his already red, blotchy, tear-streaked face and he nodded defiantly, trying to regain some strength. They both stood up silently and walked through the eerily quiet ER and out through the sliding doors.

Most of the staff had gathered outside, as well as well as Elizabeth, the on-call surgeaon and Romano, who had only come down to grumble at Kerry about something but now felt compelled to help in any way he could.

Romano strode up to the back doors of the rig and opened them. He closed his eyes and grimaced at the sight.

"What?" Carters eyes grew wide and his anxiety and worry multiplyed when he saw his bosses reaction. "What's wrong with her?!" He barged through the crowd and resisted everyones attempts to calm him down and restrain his struggles.

He was finally stopped at the door of the ambulance by Romano. He was only a little man but had a lot of authority over everyone in the ER and people respected him even at times like this, whether they agreed with him or not.

"I want to see her!" Carter yelled, and it took both Romano and Kovac to hold him back as Abby was wheeled out of the vehicle.

"Oh my God." Carter stared in wide eyed shock at the pale, lifeless figure lying on the gurney. That couldn't be her. She was always so full of life, but at this moment, he had a hard time believing that there was any life left in her. Only the fact that the paramedics and is co-workers hadn't given up, told him that there was a chance she could be saved.

Kerry walked to the front of the group of ER staff, huddled in the pitch black ambulance bay, just standing there staring, not believing what they saw and not knowing what to do next "All right. You all have to forget who this is. I know it must be difficult but she's still a patient and she still needs our help."

Gallant started examining her. He stopped and hurriedly slung his stethescope back round his neck. He caught sight of Carter, trying to struggle free of the doctors's grip and he was scared for both Abby and him."Dr. Weaver" he stammered, his voice little more than a croaky whisper. "She's not breathing."

* * *

"Dr. Lewis?" Chuny came up behind the exhausted looking doctor and gently put a comforting hand on Susan's shoulder. "Are you OK?"

Susan blinked an shook herself back to reality. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine" she replied in a bit of a daze, "go help Abby."

Chuny nodded, reluctant to leave Susan on her own after such a traumatic event but went inside anyway. she felt, like every single other person working in the ER, that she had to do something to help Abby.

Susan sat down on the bench by the wall and watched her colleagues urgently head down the corridor to Trauma one.

For the first time she realised that this was deadly serious. Abby's life was in real danger, it might be already gone but Susan was too shocked for it to fully register. If she had only stopped Abby from going in. Hell, if she had insisted that she didn't need to come in the first place, none of this would be happeneing but she realised that, however much she wanted to, blaming herself would just make things worse.

She leant back and rested her head on the cld, damp brick behind her. It was 11:15. She had been off duty for over 3 hours but there was no way she could go home, not while one of her friends could be dying. There was no chance in her sleeping anyway. She'd just be sitting alone, feeling guilty.

Susan felt upset, angry, guilty, frightened. But she knew for certain that whatever she was feeling, Carter must be feeling a hundred times worse.

* * *

"Ok! Lets get moving! "Romano ordered the ER staff around, taking over from Lizzie, who pulled off her gloves and got ready to prep the OR.

Just what I need when I've got a mountain of paper work he thought, then felt bad that he was thinking of himself. HE quickly brought himself back into life-saving mode. He had to save this patient, regardless of who it was. He just had to save her

"Hang 2 units of O neg. on the rapid infuser. Luka, intyurbate" he ordered, bruskly, forcing himself back into his job. "GCS of 3. She's had 100 cc's of saline in the field, give her 100 more and 3 of Atropine."

The team went about they're tasks. Urgently, but at the same time, slowly, unable to put much more effort into the job when too much of they're energy was already working overtime, just trying to make sense of what happened.

Dr. Romano cursed under his breath. He was having trouble getting a line in and didn't know how long she could last without another IV. "Oh, this is hopeless!" He swore and threw the equipment he was using to one side in frustration. "I'll have to put in a central line. Pass me a needle." He paused, no reply. "Needle!"

Lydia looked up, nearly close to tears and passed it to him, subdued.

"Come on!" he practically yelled to snap them back to action, "Focus. I know you're all worried about who it is but you can't let your emotions get on top of you. You have to stay in control!"

* * *

Carter stood in the hall way, staring through the trauma room window in complete shock. Chen was standing behind him, soothingly rubbing his arm. Every nerve in his body screamed at him to do something to help. Chen had already had to stop him once. It wasn't rational for him to go charging in there, the state he was in but it didn't matter to Carter. How could he possiblybe rational when the love of his life lay in there, close to death.

As he stood there watching, through tired and frightened eyes at his work mates, feverishly working to save his best friends life, he wouldv'e given anything to be in her place. He struggled to hold back the tears that were stinging the back of his eyes, threatening to fall.

What if she dies? he thought, What if loose her before I've truly found her? She'll die without knowing how I feel.

"She's going to be fine, John" Chen said in a calm voice, as if she could read his mind. "You know how good they are at saving lives, she's going to be fine."

Carter shoock away from her grip and yelled in frustration and anxiety. "I need to do something to help!"

"Carter, you know that's not possble." A hint of desperation was evident in Chen's voice. She knew that there was not really a lot she could do or say to prevent him from rushing into something he would regret. "You'll just get in the way."

* * *

"Dammit, stats. are dropping!" Luka exclaimed.

"Pulse ox. is way down" a nurse told him. Romano didn't stop to see which one.

"There's been trauma to the throat too, The larynx is swelling, I can't pass the tube" Luka said and raised his head, looking straight at the surgeon standing on the other side of the table. "Dr. romano, do you want to do a tracheotomy?"

Romao took a look at the monitor then back down at the patient, and took a split second to decide. "Yes. move out the way. Scalpel!" he ordered, not wanting to waste any more time.

Luka looked at him questioningly. "Are you sure?" he asked? suddenly changing his mind, "isn't it a bit drastic?" He knew it was bad practice to change his mind so abruptly like that but he had to be sure.

Romano snapped upright and looked at the Attending, disbelievingly. "No!" Romao replied, annoyed that Dr. Kovac would dare to question him. "Not if you ever want her to breathe again."

The tone of the heart monitor changed, to signify that they were in the danger zone, and the room was filled with even more panic stricken faces.

"Her pressure's dropping."

"Shit!" Romano cursed aloud, "Suction now! The surgeon had made the small incision into Abby's neck and blood had come gushing out at a far faster rate than was medically safe. "C'mon! I can't see a damn thing!"

"Her stats. are still falling."

"Bag her!"

"Her airway's blocked, it won't make a difference."

"Hurry Dr. Romano."

"Hang on! I need more suction. She's loosing blood faster than we can give it to her."

"She'd proberbly bleeding internally, we need to get her to the OR now!"

Romano inserted the tube in place and the beeps immediatly started to slow, but she was far fromout of the woods yet.

"OK, done! Hook her up to the respirator. Lets go!"