"Hey Dr. Finch" Peter Benton said flirtatiously and walked over to where his girlfriend was standing by the admit desk.

Cleo spotted him and put down the chart that she had just picked up from the rapidly growing pile on the desk. "Hey yourself" she said with a smile and reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. She gave him a passionate kiss and nuzzled her head in his shoulder.

"What do you say to dinner after this shift?" Dr. Benton asked, enjoying Cleo being in his arms.

"I'd say, let's skip dinner." She pulled away and regarded him. His cheeky smile told her that he had been thinking the same thing.

They stopped, suddenly feeling very self-conscious and looked around.

"Erm... We should get back to work," he said urgently and they reluctantly walked away from each other.

They didn't get very far, though.

There was a sudden shout and a series of earth-shattering bangs. It was as if everything was in slow motion and nothing made sense.

"Cleo! Nooooooooo!" Peter dived to the floor, pushing his girlfriend down with him but it was too late.

Peter was lying in a crimson pool of blood, and it was not his own.

* * *

"Right Megan. Why don't we go across the hall to see your mummy and leave Dr. Carter to finish in here?" Chen asked.

"Ok." The six-year-old girl smiled and hopped off the bed enthusiastically.

Chen called over her shoulder as she walked through the door, holding the girl's hand that was not in the sling.

"Will you be OK?"

"Yeah, sure. It's only some clearing up, I'll cope" Carter grinned back.

Chen walked along the corridor towards chairs, with the girl in tow.

BANG!

Jing-Mei felt a sharp, searing pain travel down her arm and envelop her whole body. The pain was so great, she had trouble standing but managed to keep her balance. She heard more shots being fired. She caught her breath and inspected her wounded arm. It had only scraped the skin, but it still hurt like hell. Thank God that's all it was.

"Shhhhh... It's OK Megan, It's all..." She turned round, ready to comfort the little girl but she didn't get the chance. Megan was lying unconscious on the floor, a little way behind.

Chen froze in shock but knew what she had to do. She leaped into medical mode, ignoring the overwhelming pain as best she could.

* * *

"Mr. Sanderson?" Dr. Dave Malucci called into the waiting area, ready to treat his next patient. He didn't want to be here. He never wanted to be here. Sometimes he wondered why he became a doctor in the first place. That's right, Girls.

"What seems to be the problem?"

"I've got a terrible migraine and aspirin doesn't make a blind bit of difference."

Dave sighed. Not more people moaning. He got enough of that from Kerry.

"Ok, I'll go and get you some stronger medication and I'll be right back. In the mean time, I'll leave you in the very capable hands of Miss Chuny Marquez."

"Yeah, yeah" Chuny shook her head as Dave left the room smiling. He never gave up.

* * *

"Oh my god! John!"

Abby saw her best friend and work colleague fall to the ground and the shattered window of the suture room on the floor. "Carter!"

She rushed in and knelt by his unconscious body. There was blood everywhere and she was covered in it but she didn't care. At that moment, she cared about nothing else accept saving Carter's life.

She grabbed the sheet off the freshly made bed and applied pressure to the deep wound on Carter's chest. She was close to tears but could not let herself get lost in emotion, for John's sake and everyone else's.

She glanced out the door, looking around desperately for help. But what she saw shocked her more than she could imagine. Absolute chaos.