Tania and Terence walk through his
vineyard. He reads her medical paper and proclaims it as very
good. He teases her by having to refer to the title to remind
himself what the paper was about but she's very serious. She's
worried about passing her exams. It's a beautiful day. Simon
talks to Vicky about Terence's budding relationship with Tania.
He's prepared a big breakfast for them but Vicky isn't feeling
very well. Food poisoning, maybe. The mere mention of food sends
her rushing back to the loo. Bob is working on the spa at the
Fitzgerald place. She offers him a cuppa during a break. Her two
sons, Tony and James, are away at school at St. Edmunds. Her
husband, Rod, is a lawyer. Rod is due home tomorrow and the spa
is to be a surprise for him. Bob mentions that he will be
stopping by see Rod on a personal matter -- one of the local
builders "did the dirty" on the contractors and, among
other things, stuck Bob for $400. When Terence arrives at the
hospital, Judy begins a tirade about the state of disarray in the
hospital. Tania is outside entertaining the children with a magic
show and Judy's not too impressed. Her final trick ends with
magical appearance of candies for the kids.
After the entertainment is over,
Molly comes inside the hospital and talks to Judy. Tania brings
the children back inside. Apparently, Tania's uncle was a member
of the Black Theatre of Prague. Judy is very crabby. It's almost
11:30 and things are backlogged. Sarah comes to see Terence.
Simon asks Shirley about Vicky's upset stomach that morning,
sparking Shirley's imagination. He insists that it couldn't be a
pregnancy but the more he thinks about it, the more he warms to
the idea. When he brings up the fact that Shirley will be a
grandmother, Shirley suddenly cools to the idea herself. Simon
can't stop his excitement, though. Terence tells Sarah that her
tests were positive; she's pregnant. She thought so but wanted to
wait until she was sure to tell Rod. It's been 11 years since she
had her last baby. She asks what he's been up to, they haven't
seen him in ages. He replies that he's just been busy, just the
same old routine. She asks Terence what he's doing next Sunday
evening -- she wants to have a small dinner party to celebrate
the news. He can bring a friend. As she leaving, Sarah remarks
with a smile "I believe she's very attractive, Terence. Not
in the same old routine class by a long shot." Cookie gets
after Bob for not giving him more notice about not coming home
for dinner. They bicker a little. Bob is going over to Molly's
for curry -- he doesn't like it (and it doesn't like him) but
can't bear to tell her. Frank stops in to tell Bob that the
builder has shot through, leaving a trail of unpaid debts behind
him. They chat a little about Tania -- Bob doesn't really trust
strangers. Bob and Simon and Molly and Vicky play Bridge but
Vicky's mind isn't on things. Simon is very solicitous but smug
as Vicky rushes outside for fresh air. Molly is suspicious as
Simon deals out a hand of Gin Rummy.
The next morning (Saturday), Vicky
feels awful about her behaviour last night. Simon's made her
breakfast. He hasn't put butter on her toast or milk in the
pitcher and he remarks that "a woman in your condition can't
afford...." before being cut off by Vicky. She assures him
that she isn't pregnant but he's absolutely positive she is. The
more she protests, the more sure (and smug) he gets. Bob comes
inside the Fitzgerald home to tell Sarah that the spa is
finished. Rod is due home any minute now and she insists that Bob
stay for the small celebration of her good news. He has some
things to do but tells her he'll come by later. Molly talks to
Brendan on the phone about Judy and Tania. He wants to help her
with the farm and she tells him that he can be the extra weight
on the back of the potato planter. Shirley is there for a visit.
She brought some vanilla slices made by a patient to share. Molly
tells her she's sure that Vicky must be pregnant. Bob stops in to
the Club. He's feeling awful after the curry the night before.
When he mentions that Vicky was crook, Cookie wonders if that
means she's pregnant. Judy has a verbal confrontation with Tania
as Frank brings Rod Fitzgerald in. He'd gone off the road after
dozing off at the wheel and is a little cut up. Frank didn't
think he looked too bad but had put a towel against the wound in
Rod's neck. He'll go tell Sarah about the accident. When Tania
tries to remove the towel in the exam cubicle, blood begins to
spurt out. When Judy comes into the exam cubicle, she finds Tania
in the midst of trying to cope with Rod's injuries. Judy is
shocked but Tania seems to know what she's doing and Judy simply
obeys. Tania's applying pressure to his neck to keep the blood
from spurting. They scramble to stitch the carotid artery in his
neck right there in the cubicle -- she found a piece of glass
from the windscreen in the wound. She decides to extend the wound
upwards when the artery keeps slipping out of reach. Terence
arrives at the hospital to find them deep into the repairs. Tania
brings him up-to-date and tries to pass it off to him. He tells
her she's doing fine and to continue. Rod is still conscious.
Tania finally manages to grab the other end of the artery and
Rod's blood pressure begins to stabilize. When he congratulates
her, Terence calls Tannia "Dr. Menzel", causing Judy's
eyes to widen.
Rod seems stable and Tania talks
to Terence about her actions. They'll have to take him into
surgery to properly repair the injury. Judy understands Tania's
non-nurse-like work habits now. Rod suddenly loses consciousness
and his BP drops. Frank arrives with Sarah. She wants to see Rod.
Frank goes to sees what's happening and comes upon the hospital
staff struggling to save Rod. Frank returns to Sarah but doesn't
tell her what he saw. She worries anyway. All of the life saving
measures have failed. Rod Fitzgerald is dead. Judy reminds
Terence to remove the blood splattered gown before he goes to
talk to the dead man's wife. She knows before he says anything
that something has gone wrong. He takes her away for a bit before
taking her in to see Rod. Tania is very upset at losing a patient
and Judy tries to comfort her. Terence takes Sarah outside for
some fresh air. Judy talks to Sue Hammond about Tania and her
medical qualifications. Sue informs Judy how badly Judy'd been
behaving towards Tania. Vicky visits Molly. She seems nervous for
some reason and Molly starts to pry. Vicky insists nothing wrong
but Molly is excitedly sure that Vicky has some news to tell.
Molly recites a list of symptoms of pregnancy and Vicky seems to
have them all. After awhile, even Vicky begins to wonder if she's
pregnant.
Terence tells Tania what his
autopsy findings show. Rod died from a cerebral infarction and
his death was inevitable. Tania is still sure that there was
something she could have done to save him, despite Terence's
assurances to the contrary. Simon reads aloud to Fatso from a
pregnancy magazine. He's even more positive that Vicky's pregnant
now. He tells Fatso about his little blonde cousin, whom he loved
when he was younger, and about what a good parent he'll be. He
leaps up at the sound of Vicky coming in and rushes into the
bedroom. She apologizes to Fatso for waking him up and when Simon
gets all gushy, she storms off into the bedroom herself, shutting
the door. A man visits the clinic to see Terence. Shirley shows
him in and he introduces himself as Sgt. Hutton from the
Coroner's Investigating Unit. He's investigating Rod's death and
the fact that Rod was left in the care of a non registered
medical practitioner. Despite the fact that she's a qualified
surgeon, Tania isn't supposed to be practicing in Australia until
she's registered. Sgt. Hutton recommends that Terence contact the
Medical Defence Union. Terence has breached the medical
practitioners act by assisting an unregistered person to perform
an operation. Terence and Tania could be facing charges of
manslaughter from the Burrigan CID. |