All Saints - Season 2

Sister Bernard again questions Terri about her commitment to All Saints and apparent lack of commitment to the Order's community house. Terri is outraged to learn that Bernard has already taken the liberty of discussing the situation with the Superior General. To Bernard's way of thinking, Terri needs to make a decision about what really is the priority in her life. When Connor learns that his brother Greg has been admitted to All Saints, he is reticent about making contact. The pair has not seen each other for over a year and their relationship is far from rosy. Connor swallows his pride and arranges for his brother to come to Ward 17, hoping that this could be his chance to build bridges with his estranged sibling. But Greg's antagonistic behaviour is not making things easy for either of them. A newlywed couple begins to think they are never going to make the cruise they have booked for their honeymoon. The groom has been brought into All Saints on his wedding night following an asthma attack at the reception. Just when it looks like he is about to be discharged, he suffers another attack and Mitch has no option but to keep him under further observation. Then, when the evacuation happens, it really looks as if they will miss the boat. An unidentified male patient who attempted suicide is sent up from Emergency. He is believed to have taken a non-lethal dose of a sleeping pill. What starts out to be a straightforward babysitting job turns nasty when the patient suddenly arrests and dies. Von and Steph are in the process of laying out his body when the pathology lab puts through an urgent call to Mitch. The blood tests indicate the patient has swallowed a highly reactive agricultural chemical which has reacted with the fluid in his stomach. The dead man's body is consequently leaching toxic fumes. As a result, Ward 17 needs to be evacuated. A disaster plan is put into action. When all the patients are removed from the ward, the staff themselves are shepherded outside and ordered to take blood from and examine each other. All are told to be on the lookout for possible side effects of exposure. Realising they are dealing very much with an unknown quantity, Steph worries that her fertility may be affected. Bron is disillusioned about her career in the ambulance service. She is frustrated that she is unable to use a lot of the skills she acquired during her years of nursing. But while she and Ben are transporting a patient from Ward 17 to St Angela's, both her nursing and ambulance skills are required to help treat a fitting patient. This experience renews her commitment to the ambulance service and she decides to study for her Level 2 exams.

Terri takes another step in defining her newly-found independence, she invites her parents to dinner. Mitch knows Ryan and Eileen Sullivan from the "old days" and his concern suggests Terri may be in for a difficult evening. Terri reluctantly extends and invitation to Mitch but it proves to be a wise move. As the evening progresses, so does Ryan's mood — from avuncular father to aggressive bully. The mood swing is connected to Ryan's heavy drinking. But Mitch is called back to the hospital and Terri has to deal with the end of the evening solo. Her father's anger is aimed at her moves for independence and he accuses her of betraying her calling. When he turns his anger on his wife, Terri fakes an illness to give her mother a reason for staying the night. The next morning, Terri spots bruises on her mother's arms and realises that Ryan's drunken bullying may extend to physical abuse. Mitch suspects the same thing but when he tries to raise the subject with Terri, she shuns it. It is not something she wants to admit or face. Ben has left Steph and is back living with his parents. He has told Bron but no-one else knows. Ben and Steph are keeping their miserable secret, ashamed to admit their marriage has fallen apart. Ben takes refuge in work but even this seems to only underline his disenchantment with the so-called virtues… love, fidelity and human decency. But his professionalism rises above his anger at a young criminal, and he saves a life. Working night shift, Steph encounters two motor vehicle accident victims, rammed while making love in their car. She chooses to place her own interpretation on this relationship, especially when the first word the female utters is her husband's name. Steph may have lost true love but at least it is real for these two. She is disillusioned when she discovers the couple are adulterers, cheating on their respective partners. Her enthusiasm swings to anger and she is prepared to let the truth come out. However, she is outvoted by the rest of the staff who attempt a coverup as the male victim's wife arrives. Unfortunately, the wife discovers the truth. It is ironic that she lays her bitterness on Stephanie. In the end, Ben and Steph have the opportunity to talk, to communicate how they really feel. But the moment is lost. Connor is looking forward to a quiet night shift in Ward 17 but it is not to be. A post-op hernia patient, Billy, proves to be a chronic snorer, keeping the rest of the patients awake. While amusing at first (unless you happen to be a patient or a member of the suffering staff), it becomes potentially tragic. Connor suspects the patient is suffering from Sleep Apnoea, and his insight saves Billy's life. Mitch is summoned back when head injury patient Jeff Huxley collapses after a minor stumble. Von worries that the blame may be laid at her door. But Mitch diagnoses a slow bleeding spleen caused by the accident that gave Jeff the head injury. On top of all this, Von knows that there is something seriously wrong with her. She is counting on Mitch to come up with the answer, but he cannot give it to her yet.

When Ben and Bron turn up with a patient who is desperately ill but refuses to enter the hospital, they present Luke with an opportunity to think outside the square and to meet what develops into a very personal challenge. The patient turns out to be an Anglican priest who is absolutely phobic about hospitals. After initially rejecting the challenge of this patient, Luke uses every angle he can think of to win the confidence of the man, even examining him in the hospital's chapel as a first step on what is to be a difficult journey. Terri, meanwhile, is dealing with the usual complications of an overworked ward, including the arrival of Stan Ridgeway's mother for care and observation. The fact that Luke has seconded Jared to deal with his ex-officia patient doesn't help matters at all. She goes down to the chapel, only to discover that Luke has determined the necessity of urgent surgery for the priest — he has a potentially fatal dissecting aortic aneurism. Terri becomes a part of Luke's strategy and together they manage to encourage the priest up to Ward 17 and from there to the operating theatre. Luke's unusual tactics win him brownie points on the ward and, boosted by his success, he invites Steph out to dinner. She accepts, herself on something of a high after recent academic success. But their date is doomed to failure because Steph still is not sure about her separation from Ben and also she is about to make a major professional mistake. Tony Hurst, the ward clerk, is struggling to keep his head above water while he deals with equipment breakdowns and a busy schedule. Steph inadvertently leaves an exposed needle at the nurses' station whilst she is responding to an emergency, and Tony suffers a needlestick injury. It is the beginning of a turn for the worse for everybody. The needle in question has been used on another difficult patient — a young woman, Simone, who is apparently suffering from kidney stones. It turns out she is just scamming Mitch in order to get free pethidine shots and she is actually a recidivist junkie. Steph goes out on her date with Luke, encouraged by him to try to cheer up. The date turns out badly. Steph would be even more miserable if she knew that Ben has heard about the date. Steph, unbeknownst to Ben, has realised, via the date, that her affection for him is far from dead. She tries to approach him and, without telling her that he knows about her seeing Luke, he rejects her in no uncertain terms. The only person who seems to be getting any good news on this particular day is Von, who finally learns that her illness is not, as she suspected, cancer but lupus. Her euphoria is a source of concern for Mitch, who would like her to take things a whole lot more seriously.

Connor is stunned to find Alana, a female patient, is a pre-operative transgender. His resolve to cope is shattered when he subsequently learns that she used to be his football coach, and a mentor after Connor's father died. Repulsed and betrayed, Connor wants nothing more to do with Alana. Nor can he understand how Alana's son Tom, also an old friend, can be so accepting of the situation. Alana is diagnosed with breast cancer as a result of the hormone therapy she is on. She refuses to have a mastectomy and will not stop taking the hormones, as it would mean returning to the body she felt trapped in all her life. Connor confronts her for being a coward. Surely any life is better than none at all? Tom helps Connor appreciate the significance and bravery of Alana's transformation. Her distress over the injustice of her fate and insistence that she is still the person Connor admired, finally makes him accept not only the choice Alana has made, but Alana as a woman. While Steph worries about her husband, Ben enjoys the freedom of being a separated man by flirting with a woman he is called to attend. However, innocent banter suddenly becomes serious when the woman offers her his phone number and then a lift home. Ben succumbs, ending up in bed, only to regret it. Von refuses to heed Mitch's constant nagging that she must adjust her lifestyle to accommodate her lupus. Her day is not made any easier by Colin, a flamboyant chef who refuses to change his long hours, copious drinking and rich diet despite his diagnosis as a diabetic. Von is finally forced to read the riot act to him and can no longer ignore the relevance of the lecture to herself. Mitch drives the point home. If Von does not look after herself, she won't be able to hold down her job — and her work is the only thing Von has in her life. She goes home to begin educating herself about coping with lupus. Terri learns Mitch is seeing an employee at All Saints. She becomes totally preoccupied with finding out the woman's identity, finally discovering it is Juliette, a physiotherapist. Mitch's refusal to divulge anything only frustrates her further. Not only is she cool towards Juliette, she is also snappy with her staff. Terri can't believe she has become the victim of the green-eyed monster and resolves to pull herself together, offering Mitch her genuine blessings for his future with Juliette. Jared is the only nurse to readily accept caring for an obsessive-compulsive patient. At first, he and Sharon get on well, sharing their liking for cleanliness. However, as Sharon's condition becomes more and more trying, Jared starts to recognises some of his own behaviour in her. He tries his best to fight his own 'tidy' instincts, but is destined to fail.

Connor reckons Jared should stop sitting at home pining for Samantha and get out more. To this end, he hassles Jared into going to the gym with him. Jared is driving them both to the gym when he knocks over Roger, a very fit guy who trains for triathlons. Roger, who is a very full-on personality, leaps up and says he is fine. Jared wants the guy to have a check-up but Roger says he does not have time and cycles off. Jared sees Roger again at the gym and is amazed by his fanatical approach to training. At the gym, Jared also meets Mel, an attractive instructor. As Jared leaves for work he finds Roger collapsed on the side of the road. Jared calls the ambulance. At the hospital it takes a while for Mitch to diagnose Roger, who is going into body meltdown (Rhabdomyolysis). Roger admits to Mitch he has used training as a way to avoid confronting his feelings about a broken relationship. This admission and a subsequent conversation with Mitch propels Jared back to the gym to ask Mel out on a date. Connor is delighted to find Cougars star Darren Rigg admitted to Ward 17 and under his care. Darren is a fervent and very public anti-drugs campaigner. He is faced with the treatment decision of whether or not to use a steroid medication to make the football injury heal faster. If he does not take the steroids, he will not heal in time to take the field for the Grand Final. But, if he does take them, he feels it could compromise his anti-drugs position. Darren's fiancee is none other than Simone Carlisle. She is a drug addict who has managed to clean herself up but has hepatitis C. She agrees to allow Mitch to perform a liver biopsy but does not want to tell Darren about her hep C or her past. Simone's presence in the hospital is the talk of the ward, particularly as she may have inadvertently passed the hep C on to Tony via his needlestick injury. Luke falls into the trap of joining in laughter at Steph's expense over the incident (in the previous episode) where she was responsible for a patient losing confidence in a doctor. This week, however, it is Luke's turn. Olivia, a large diabetic woman, has a reaction to antibiotics and can't breathe. Luke mucks up his attempt to intubate her. Swelling around her throat forces him to do a tracheostomy. After he cuts her neck open, he cannot find the windpipe in all the blood and gore. Stan Ridgeway, who is on the ward looking for Steph's incident report, come to Luke's rescue and the patient is saved. But Luke is completely humiliated. Terri is forced to come to work out of uniform because both her uniforms were stolen from the clothesline, along with some of her underwear. The main suspect is Neil Phillips. Ben and Steph's romance heats up, with Ben sending flowers to the ward and Steph slipping a note under a windscreen wiper on the ambulance. The flowers are a source of confusion to Terri, who thinks they are from Luke as a means of apologising to Steph.

Ben and Bron arrive at a shooting to find the victim is a Family Court judge, well known for his strong views on family values. Fearing whoever shot the judge will return to finish the job off, police arrange for him to be under strict police guard as he is taken off to All Saints. The police presence on the ward puts extra pressure on the nursing staff; it is not only the hassle of showing ID every time they enter the judge's room but the feeling that every person who walks on to the ward could be the one who shot him. The judge's son waits dutifully for him to return from theatre. On first impressions they appear to have a strong relationship. It is not long, however, before the cracks start to show. As police begin to suspect the culprit may be a lot closer to home than first thought, Nicholas reveals to Terri it was he who shot his father — having caught him in the arms of a woman other than his mother. Bearing the weight of his confession, Terri attempts to resolve the family dilemma. She finds herself entangled in a situation which, emotionally, resembles her own family. Her sympathy with the boy's feelings, if not actions, bring to the surface desires Terri had kept hidden in the deep cavities of her mind since childhood. Luke and Bron spend their last morning together before Luke heads off to a so-called medical conference in Alaska. Bron, who thinks it is unfair doctors get to have all the fun, would do anything to join him. Out on the road with Ben, it is all Bron talks about. After transporting the judge to hospital, the pair is off to a backyard accident at a suburban house. Having injured herself while committing a mischievous act, 10-year-old Tess has hidden from her mother and is refusing to come out from under the house. Ben decides that, since Bron is the smaller of them, she should go under the house to drag the kid out. Bron does so and in the process receives a nasty cut (and, unbeknownst to her, a bite from a funnel web spider). When she returns to All Saints Bron goes for the regulation tetanus shot. Soon after she begins to feel woozy. Thinking it is her weak attempt at getting sick leave so she can go overseas with Luke, Ben teases her. It is not until she collapses that Ben starts to take her seriously. With Ben's help, Mitch diagnoses her condition. It is a tense wait as the anti-venom kicks in and Bron begins to recover. Seeing the girl they love so vulnerable makes both Luke and Connor realise how important she is to them. It is Connor who finds himself on the backburner, again, when Luke tells Bron he loves her. Everyone is a little surprised when Simone Carlisle is admitted to hospital with a threatened miscarriage, not least of all Tony. Any ill feelings he has towards her are pushed aside, however, when he learns she has lost the baby. Simone's fiance, Darren, is keen to try for another child straightaway. Mitch warns Simone against this, advising that the management of her hepatitis C must take priority over becoming pregnant. Mitch says Darren needs to be aware of her condition, especially if he is to be her life partner, but Simone is afraid of revealing her past to Darren, and risking losing the man she loves. With Mitch's support, she tells Darren about her hepatitis C status, and her history of IV drug abuse. Her worst fears are realised when Darren walks out. It is Tony who helps Simone find the strength to face life alone. Von covers for Jared, who is suffering the effects of a strenuous gym routine.

Connor enters the ward to confront a tense exchange between a mild-mannered young man, Scott, and a middle-aged woman, Margaret, demanding to be allowed to see her dying son — alone. Connor's sympathy for Margaret is secured when he witnesses a tearful bedside reunion with her emaciated son. But there is more to this than meets the eye: Scott is the dying man's lover of ten years, during which time Margaret has utterly rejected her son. She would not even know Mike was dying if Scott had not phoned her. The scales fall from Connor's eyes once Margaret reveals her true colours — she is a bitter woman desperate to regain some control over her son's life, even if that means hijacking his final hours. Connor does what he can to help Scott spend time with Mike, which only serves to enrage Margaret further. When Scott magnanimously invites her back into the room for Mike's dying moments, she rewards the gesture with the crushing announcement that she — as Mike's mother and next of kin — is claiming her right to dispose of her son's body and possessions, denying Scott any participation in the funeral arrangements. Helpless in the face of the law, all that Connor can do is invite Scott to help lay out his dead boyfriend's body. Steph is nursing a teenage girl suffering from cystic fibrosis. Deb has recently been removed from the lung transplant list for non-compliance with the strict medical regime required. This non-compliance has also led to the staphylococcus infection for which, in part, Deb has been hospitalised. The misery of this, combined with the news that a close friend has just died from the disease, initiates a dark spiral of depression from which not even Deb's devoted boyfriend Tim can lift her. When Steph finds the two entwined asleep on Deb's bed she does not at first suspect the awful truth: that they have entered a suicide pact and injected themselves with insulin. Once the pact has been discovered, only a cool, efficient response from our team ensures that the two silly kids survive. It's then compassionate counselling from Terri and intervention from Mitch that secures Deb's place back on the transplant list and gives her renewed hope for the future. A lively 60-year-old jazz drummer succumbs to heart block as she tangos around the ward with the young man everyone has assumed to be her grandson. There is universal surprise and a small measure of comic revulsion at the revelation the young man is, in fact, her husband. Bron plans a lavish homecoming for Luke, meeting him off his plane from Alaska with a limo and champagne. The sexual heat generated transfers to their afternoon shift — backfiring badly when, finding nowhere to satisfy their ardour they take refuge in Terri's office and Von walks in on them.

Gabrielle Flanagan is admitted onto Ward 17 to donate bone marrow for a 12-year-old girl with leukaemia. On hearing her name, Von and Steph both wonder if it is "the Gabrielle Flanagan" — a woman whose baby daughter was stolen from her 10 years ago. Connor's curiosity is aroused. He is dying to ask Gabrielle — who is his patient — if she's the one. He does not have to wonder for long as Gabrielle, being highly strung and paranoid after so much time in the media spotlight, informs him that it is indeed her. Although they have got off to a bad start, Connor's sympathy grows as Gabrielle tells him about the never-ending quest to find her daughter, whom she believes may still be alive. Gabrielle shows Connor an image projection of what her daughter would look like now at age 12. Connor thinks it is uncanny that the picture looks very similar to the 12-year-old patient Alex, who is also in the Ward, to receive Gabrielle's bone marrow. Jared tells Connor that Alex is adopted and they start to wonder if she could be Gabrielle's daughter — right age, exact bone marrow match, the likeness in the image projection picture. Gabrielle encounters Alex in the hospital grounds and is amazed at the resemblance to what her daughter should look like. She pesters Connor for details and when he can't tell her anything she manages to sneak a look at Alex's file. When she learns it is Alex who will be receiving her bone marrow she is convinced she is about to be reunited with her long lost baby girl. Meanwhile, Alex Richards is devastated to learn from her parents she is adopted. She cannot understand why her parents kept it a secret from her — obviously they must be ashamed of her. Terri manages to convince the girl to listen to her parents' explanation of why they chose to lie to her. Kevin Simms is admitted to the Ward suffering advanced emphysema. He is in a bad way and Mitch has to tell him he only has a short while to live. But Kevin is desperate to make it one extra week. He has put in for a marriage certificate so he can marry Liz, the woman he loves. Making her his wife is the only thing that will allow Kev to rest in peace — he wants to will his house to her but he is sure that his nasty sister is going to contest it. However, if Liz is his wife, his sister Maisie won't have a leg to stand on. Tony, who is feeling very depressed about his Hep C, discovers that in special circumstances a marriage licence can be rushed through. Tony seems to get a new lease on life as he sets about organising a perfect wedding for Kev and Liz. The only question is… will Kev stay alive long enough to make it to the altar? Bron and Ben attend what has been described to them as a domestic dispute. A frantic man, Raymond, meets the ambulance and tells them he's stabbed his best mate Trevor. He thinks he has killed him! Bron and Ben race in side and are more than surprised by what they find.

Prejudices come to the fore when the staff of Ward 17 discover they will be looking after a smuggler who is to be admitted with a bellyful of cocaine-filled condoms. The 'bloke' turns out to be a slip of a girl, who was once a junkie. The tragedy of her tale unfolds as she is monitored and guarded; she is desperately in love with her new husband, who is the only good thing to ever happen to her, and she wanted to help him realise his dream of a place in the country by smuggling coke — just this once. Her husband, Paul, has no intention of letting his wife go to jail, and puts a gun to Steph's head, he's getting his wife out of here! But Lisa needs surgery urgently. Paul will not let his wife out of his sight and when Luke points out that is not possible, Paul, at gunpoint, insists it is and that Luke must perform the surgery. Steph is roped in, and, Mitch volunteers himself as anaesthetist, rather then putting some other sucker at risk. The team heads off to surgery leaving Terri almost paralysed with fear. The last time there was a gun on the ward, two people died, and she eventually lost a man she cared deeply about. Von is the only one who realises what she is going through, and helps Terri cope as the ward is besieged with patients from the wing the theatre is in, evacuations having been necessary in case the gun goes off, exploding oxygen tanks. In theatre, surgery goes ahead at gunpoint; Luke and Steph working on the patient as Mitch works hard to win Paul's trust and hopefully to get him to put away the gun. Just as it looks as if he has made a breakthrough, Luke nicks one of the condoms causing the cocaine to leak out and arrests lisa. The teams work to avert the crisis and once it seems clear Lisa will be all right, Paul insists they hand over the cocaine. There is shock for a moment as Mitch, Steph and Luke think this 'act of love' has in fact been about retrieving the drugs; but Paul slashes the condoms, tipping out the poison that has ruined his and Lisa's lives. He says a tearful goodbye to Lisa, hands Mitch the gun and walks out to face his fate. Leaving the surgical team to finish with Lisa and return to the arms of their waiting partners. As Steph and Ben embrace and Luke and Bron do likewise, Terri gives Mitch a stern lecture about the stupidity of putting his life at risk. Then Rose arrives and whisks Mitch away, leaving Terri alone. Bron and Ben are called to an emergency in a local park, which turns out to be a pair of very embarrassed teenage sweethearts. Emily has called for help because Tim's penis is caught in his fly. Ben finally manages to release it and the young lovers head off hand in hand. The situation leads to Bron discovering more about the depth of Ben and Steph's feelings for each other.

The ward is abuzz with the news a female boxer is on the ward, suffering from concussion due to a knockout punch in training. Charlie and her trainer Jimmy are itching to get out of All Saints and back in the ring — she is not too keen on hanging around for a CT scan — even though Luke fears she may have a cerebral bleed. But Steph suspects there may be other factors behind Charlie's symptoms, and a urine test confirms she is pregnant. Terrified a pregnancy will mean the end of her boxing career, Charlie demands an abortion. There's only one hitch, Luke refuses to write a referral, claiming there is no medical reason for a termination. While nursing Charlie, Steph realises the young boxers's views on pregnancy are not as clear cut as she initially made out — especially when Steph points out motherhood need not mean the end of her promising career. But even if Charlie is cleared of brain injuries, she still faces a terrible decision: abort the pregnancy or lose her big chance to crack the US professional circuit. The best-laid plans of Terri and Regina start crumbling when an elderly patient dies only hours before her long-lost son arrives on a mercy dash from the UK. Flu-ridden Bryce Jones is devastated to discover his mother has just died, but a bigger shock awaits him when he views the body — it is not his mother. In his already weakened physical state the emotional upheaval is too much for Bryce, and he is admitted to Ward 17 suffering from pneumonia. When his condition worsens and Mitch eventually diagnoses advanced cancer, Regina decides it is time to bring some happiness into the unlucky man's life. Ben faces a reunion of a different sort when his ambulance is hijacked by Jason Richards — a mixed up young man whose obsession with becoming an ambulance officer has developed into full-blown psychosis. Ben is stuck in the back of the ambulance with a critically ill patient, and needs all his wits to convince Jason to drive them to hospital before the patient dies. It is a race against time which Ben appears to be losing when the patient suffers a cardiac arrest. Ben knows the only way he can save the patient is by relying on Jason's assistance — but is it a risk he is prepared to take? Connor and Bron are shocked to discover Jared has not yet had sex with his girlfriend Mel. Connor makes it his mission to get Jared laid, whether he wants it now or not. Meanwhile, Steph's experiences with Charlie have forced her to re-evaluate her attitude to motherhood. It is the end of a long journey for Steph and she knows Ben will be overjoyed to hear she wants to start a family after all. What she did not bargain on is Ben dropping the biggest bombshell of their marriage.

It's Sunday on the ward. The atmosphere is more relaxed than it is on a weekday — less staff, fewer interruptions, radios are playing, no one is in a hurry to do anything. Steph is running the ward, glad of the opportunity to be in charge without Terri looking over her shoulder. There is an air of everyone pitching in, covering for each other as there are no administrative minders; nurses do their own housekeeping, take phone calls, write bed tags and collect x-rays. Eddie Furlong is brought in suffering from hypothermia, having been fished out of the river following a late night boating accident. Eddie obsessed by the whereabouts of his two crewmates, especially his young brother Marty, whom he learns has been declared brain dead following a serious head injury. Seemingly depressed by his brother's death, Eddie attempts suicide via a paracetamol overdose. But the true reasons behind his suicide attempt — guilt and remorse — are revealed when the other member of the party, Rob, who has just been discharged from St Angela's arrives on the ward to accuse Eddie of cowardice and murder. He claims Eddie was so obsessed with saving his own skin, he left his companions for dead. Despite prompt action from the Ward 17 staff, Eddie's overdose looks set to cause major liver damage and probably death. His only chance of leading a healthy life, or indeed surviving the overdose, is to have a liver transplant. And his brother's liver is the obvious candidate. But Eddie has misgivings about accepting an organ from the brother he neglected to save. Ben and Mick's day begins innocuously when they revive a wealthy yuppie who has taken a narcotics overdose. The ungrateful patient gives a false name and refuses to accompany them to hospital, leaving a bad taste in Ben and Mick's mouths. Later, Ben and Mick spot the man's sports car in the doctors' car park at All Saints. Ben and Steph are certain the person who has OD'd is in fact Tom Snowdon — an up and coming anaesthetics registrar and mate of Luke's. Luke initially dismisses the allegations against his colleague, but a mixture of self-interest and ethics finally force him to confront Tom about the overdose. In doing so, Luke realises there is more to being a successful doctor than having a huge trust account and a privileged background — Tom's background. Terri is excited to be hosting brunch for her parents' 35th wedding anniversary. But things quickly sour when her intoxicated father slaps Eileen for some alleged past indiscretion. When Ryan attempts to do so again, Terri steps in to save her mother and causes her father to fall and break his hip. Caught between feelings of guilt over her actions and disgust over her father's, Terri arranges for her father to be admitted to Ward 17. Luke advises he will need a pin and plate inserted in his femur. Meanwhile, acting on a hunch, Mitch has secretively arranged a CT scan which reveals Ryan has life threatening cancer. Terri's abused mother rushes immediately to her husband's side, and Terri realises there is now no chance of her mother freeing herself from Ryan's controlling influence. Meanwhile, Jared has a challenging day dealing with an erratic drunk suffering from Korsakoff's syndrome. And Mitch psyches up for his big dinner date with Rose's parents.

Still reeling from the news her father has cancer, Terri is informed terminal lung cancer patient Dave Armstrong is returning to Ward 17. Last time Dave was in hospital [ep 2.15], Terri got into an awful row with Mitch when she supported the patient's wish to refuse treatment. All Dave wanted was to die with dignity. However, now Terri knows her father has cancer, Dave's wish takes on a new meaning. Terri tries her hardest to avoid contact with Dave. But while Mitch performs a pleural tap to remove fluid from Dave's lung, Terri has to comfort Dave's wife Rosemary. When Rosemary goes home to rest for a while, Dave begs Terri and Mitch to allow him to have chemotherapy to extend his life a few weeks so he can see his daughters again at Christmas. Mitch has to break the news that chemotherapy now would not help. Dave has to prepare himself to die. Dave seeks out Terri and spends the afternoon with her, talking about his love for his wife and daughters. Terri feels like she is attending a dress rehearsal for her own father's death. Dave starts to fail and Terri calls Rosemary back. Terri admits to Mitch that every time Dave looks at her she can see her own father and the future. Accompanied by Mitch, Terri supports Dave and Rosemary through the last hours of his life. Alone Terri lays Dave out, telling him how much she respects him and admits to her fear she will not have the same respect for her father when it is his time. Ben and Bron attend an accident where Gordie and Col, two escaped prisoners, are trapped in a car. Ambulance Rescue work to release the trapped men and to secure the electricity lines which threaten both the rescue crews and the accident victims. Gordie is released but has no feeling below the waist. Ben feels he may have contributed to Gordie's injuries. Ben is determined to save Col but he needs the Trauma Team. Luke arrives to assess the situation. He realises Col is suffering from a slow collecting tamponade. He will die unless a small hole in his heart is plugged. There is no time to get him to hospital — Luke has no option but to open Col's chest at the accident site. Von supervises work experience student Julian Ridgeway, son of the All Saints CEO Stan Ridgeway. Julian, influenced by his surgeon mother, is determined to be a doctor. Von discovers he has little empathy with patients and no respect for nurses. Julian is particularly scathing about Jane Potter, a young mother who is now in a coma. Julian believes caring for her is a waste of time. Observing Von as she nurses her patient, Julian begins to realise nurses are a doctors' eyes, ears and hands. His respect for nurses is confirmed when Von's care for Jane results in her regaining consciousness.

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