Episode Summary
During a tense operation, Will questions Zubin’s role in Tom’s departure. Zubin exerts his authority and Will compares the NHS to the Army, saying both institutions have their share of backstabbers. Zubin supports Will’s actions when he makes a difficult decision during the operation and, once the drama is over, Zubin explains the reasons behind his dislike of Tom. They decide to put the misunderstanding behind them. The patient they were operating on was John Dunne, a famour professor with a cyst in his throat. Will had promised the professor to only take a biopsy, against the advice everyone else had given him, so that he could make it to speak at a conference in Geneva. When they realise how big the cyst is and Will cannot stop the bleeding, he reluctantly agrees that Zubin is right and that they have to remove it, against the professor’s wishes. He is annoyed when he wakes up and realises that his voice has been ruined because of the surgery, but when they get the results that tell them it was cancer he thanks Will for what he did and realises it is time for him to retire. Will is a bit absent all day and Zubin teases him about it, saying that having lots of girlfriend does that to you. At the end of the day, Will meets his wife, who has come to the hospital with their two children because the boy, Be, would not agree to sleep without his dad wishing him goodnight. Susan, the wife, blames him of not caring about anything else than work, but Will tries to convince her that she should expect it, because being a doctor is no easy job.
Meanwhile, Donna is late for work and is not pulling her weight. She thinks having her flatmate, Lisa, as her new boss will give her an easy ride. But when she disobeys orders and Edie Veale, a patient with hernia, goes missing and she gets hernia again because of her not reasting like she should have, Lisa loses her temper and reprimands Donna for her behaviour. Lisa realises that being liked is less important than being efficiant and she declines the offer to go for drinks with Jess and Donna, opting to work late instead. However, she seems to partly give Donna right about it being important to make sure the patients are happy and not only take care of the medical side, because she phones Edie’s date for the evening and tells him that she is in hospital and wants to see him.
It is the anniversary of baby Amanda’s death and Mubbs tells Chrissie that Owen was the father. Chrissie is about to share the news with Owen but decides against it. realising that Owen did not want to know it a year ago and now he seems to be caught up with Diane anyway. Chrissie gets even more upset because Tricia keeps saying the wrong things and a patient at the wars, Gayle Horton, also brings up bad memories. Mrs Horton is 23 weeks pregnant and has in the morning been to visit Owen, thinking that the baby might have died, because she has not felt it move for a couple of days. When it proves to be alright, she asks for an abortion, but Owen says it is too late for that. A while later Gayle is brought in after being hit by a motorbike. The baby seems to be alright, but later she gets severe stomach pains and has to be taken into theatre, where Diane and Owen argue about whether the baby could be saved. Owen finally agrees that it is not possible to save the child and the mother. When the baby dies, it brings both Owen and Chrissie bad memories and Diane feels as if Owen is blaming her for killing the baby, until he apologises, explaining her what day it is.
Back at the ward Gayle’s husband is less than happy about the baby dying and he blames Diane for it. The husband is making Diane feel uncomfortable and she senses that Gayle is scared of him, so she has a word with Gayle, who admits that she walked in front of the bike on purpose, because she did not want the baby, but her husband had forced her into it. Having realised her own situation, Gayle tells her husband what she did and that she does not want to see him again, accusing him of raping her. Furious, the husband goes to find Diane and has a go at her for interfering in something that is not her business, suggesting that some bloke has given her a hard time and she is now trying to take it out on all the men. Before they get any further Owen interrupts them and Diane storms off, in tears. He asks for an explanation and when she, in tears, admits that she believes in Gayle’s story because she recognises someone who has been raped, Owen realises that it has happened to Diane too and Diane admits that they “both have baggage”. Later, at the end of the shift, Owen suggests they’d go out for a drink and talk about things. Diane says that she does not want his pity and that she was raped a long time ago, in med school, but Owen says that her behaviour does not make it seem like she would have got over it. Eventually Diane offers him to come to her place for dinner and the confession seems to have brought them closer.
Patients
Edie Veale, a woman with hernia who cannot wait to get out of hospital
John Dunne, a professor with a cancerous cyst
Gayle Horton, 23 weeks pregnant, runs into a motorbike in an attempt to kill the baby
First Scene/words
Mubbs: Chop, chop. There’s a customer awaiting the head chef.
Owen: What’s the story?
Mubbs: Didn’t say exactly. Wanted to see the consultant.
Owen: Seems a woman of sound judgment.
Mubbs: Well, maybe she’s heard the rumours of you.
[Owen pretends that he is laughing]
Last Scene/words
[Will and his wife Susan are putting the children into her car]
Susan Curtis: I’m going home now.
Will: What did you expect? The NHS was just gonna be some easy ride compared to the army?
Susan: No.
Will: Well, let me tell you: it isn’t! It’s every bit as tough, so you’d better get used to it. Look, let’s talk about this later.
[She drives away]
