S6 E14 (6 Jan 04) : All the King’s Men… by Debbie O’Malley
Episode Summary
Ed visits his dad, George, in prison and is delighted to hear he is due to be released early. He is going to be released within a month and even though George mentions that he wants to move up north and start all over again from a clean sheet, Ed is determined to persuade him to move in with him, so that he can make up for everything.
Alan Reid, a man in his twenties and one of Tom’s patients from before, comes into hospital with breathing difficulties. He seems to be extremely lucky, because at the same time as they realise that he is need of a transplant, they find out that a heart has become available. The heart, however, gets stuck in a traffic jam on the ring road, following a pile up, and when Alan quickly deteriorates he has to be taken into surgery before the heart has even arrived. Tom is desperately wanting to save Alan and when the transplant co-ordinator Susan finally arrives with the heart, only minutes after Alan has died on the table waiting for a heart, he cannot cover his frustration and finds it hard to break the bad news to Alan’s adoptive mother.
Susan starts trying to find another transplant recipient and is trying to find a way to fly it to Manchester in time, but Tom argues that there is another patient, Don Logan, already in the hospital and who also is in the need of a heart. Initially Susan refuses to listen to him, explaining how the system is there for a reason and that the heart has to go to the most urgent case, but finally she agrees, realising that they are running out of time and Don Logan is rushed into theatre. Once in theatre they hit some problems: the clips from heart surgery he had 15 years ago take time to remove and by the time they get the new heart ready, it simply does not work – it has been kept waiting for too long and they have to tell his unsuspecting daughter to prepare for the worst, with only machines keeping him alive. Having lost the life of two potential recipients, Tom vents his frustration about the current system, which he feels is letting people down. Believing the urgent register list is a farce and each case should instead be assessed on an individual basis, he directs his anger at Zubin and transplant co-ordinator Susan.
It is New Year’s Day and Chrissie regrets waking up with Mubbs. He is annoyed when she uses him to wind up Owen and reminds her not to let their secret out. She puts him in his place and tells him it was only a drunken fling because there was noone better on offer. When Chrissie cuttingly rejects Owen’s offer of friendship, he decides to forget about building bridges and goes for a drink with Rubinda, who once was one of Rosie’s students and now is there for the day. Rosie asks what happened to Rubinda’s interest for Mubbs and she explains that he is the kind of man that is alright only for a one-night stand, but nothing more and is shocked to find out he is seeing someone – and that it is Rosie. Tricia has been transferred to the Darwin ward, having completed her training and will be working permanently with Chrissie. Chrissie gets short-shrift when she asks Zubin to rectify the situation; he tells her it is tough and that she will have to live with it, because of a shortage of nurses.
Kath is back and makes an effort with Lisa since it is the anniversary of Terry’s death. Lisa is upset, but has to work since Jess it at home even more upset because of Nic, and she is hard towards Kath and ends up breaking down alone. The news about Nic’s death has also reached the press, leaving Zubin to deal with headlines such as “Killer nurse’s brother dies in surgery”.
Judy Miller is pregnant with her sixth baby and has come to the hospital because she is in pain. She is upset, because she is sure that her partner Ken wants to leave her and when he does not pick up his phone she gets even more sure that he is seeing someone else. In the end after Judy has gone into labour, however, Ken comes to the hospital, but that does not calm Judy down – instead she starts shouting at him, blaming him for not wanting her because this pregnancy has got her fat. Unlikely with her other children, giving birth proves to be difficult this once and it does not help that she cannot calm down because of being angry at Ken. After some complications she finally gives birth to a baby girl and after having a word with Rosie, Ken realises that he has been neglecting Judy and that she really thinks he is going to leave her. He runs to the shops and returns with a chocolate box – and a ring inside. He asks her to finally make an honest man of him after so many years and explains that he has been working hard because he wanted to afford buying the ring before the baby was born. After seeing the happy ending, Rosie decides to talk to Mubbs and tells him that she asked Sami for a divorce, but she does not get the responds she had expected. Mubbs is still fuming because of Chrissie and he tells her that she cannot keep coming back to him whenever she wants to and that he does not want to be her rebound man, leaving Rosie on her own.
Patients
Alan Reid, a young man in the need of a transplant
Judy Miller, a woman giving birth to her sixth baby,
Don Logan, also needs a heart transplant
First Scene/words
[Chrissie wakes up next to Mubbs]
Last Scene/words
Tom: The day we care more about watching our backs than care about our patients, is the day we should stop practising nursing.
Zubin: Tom, what are you getting at?
Tom: Power corrupts you. Today is cost two lives.
[Tom walks away, leaving Zubin confused]
Notable Facts
* Cathy Tyson plays Susan.
