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SERIES 7        EPISODE 1        RACE AGAINST TIME

David and Claire are finding it hard to keep their passion alive thanks to William crying throughout the night.

Dawn arrives at The Beeches suited and booted and ready to impress. She is helping out by filling in for Kim who is interviewing for a new job with better money, prospects and a base nearer to her new partner Kevin. Dawn tells Kim she has to get the job as she is not having The Beeches one back!

DAWN:    So fill me in on Andrew. Is he still pining for the evil Erica?

KIM:        Hardly, he hasn't mentioned her in months

DAWN:    Hasn't replaced her either

KIM:        Well it's hard getting someone to fit in at this practice

DAWN:    Wasn't the practice I was talking about

Alice tells David about her daughter Patricia and her grand daughter Nikki. Nikki has Leukaemia and has recently had a relapse. She needs a bone marrow transplant. Alice explains that Nikki’s parents aren't a match and tells David she wants him to test her to see if she is a compatible donor. David and Patricia are old school friends and he tells Alice to call Patricia and ask her to bring Nikki home.

Andrew and friend Ronnie prepare for the Cardale rally race. At the last minute they bicker over who is driving, Andrew is adamant that he wants to drive and Ronnie reluctantly allows him to. As they are racing they come across a crashed car and pull over to help. As they pull to the side of the road the crashed car explodes, sending Andrew and Ronnie’s car flying down the hilly bank. The car takes a battering as it falls to a standstill.

Andrew gets out. He has a few minor cuts and is clutching his stomach but he goes to the passenger side to check on Ronnie. Ronnie complains of pain in his legs and when Andrew looks he see they are trapped. The paramedics arrive soon after and Andrew performs a chest drain on Ronnie who is beginning to lose consciousness. With the paramedics unable to do anymore and the fire brigade taking an age to arrive, Andrew phones Derby County hospital and asks to be put through to a surgeon. His call is transferred to Dr Joanna Graham who is a surgeon in the Accident and Emergency department. Andrew explains to her that Ronnie is in a bad condition and says he is not sure how much more he can do for him. He begs Joanna for help and tells her that Ronnie is a really good friend of his. He also tells Joanna she won’t be able to reach him by Ambulance and will have to come by air. Joanna promises Andrew she will help him.

Joanna contacts the surgical consultant on call but his pager is switched off. She tries to contact all areas of management but meets answering machines and call diverts in each of them. Seconds later she emerges in full greens and takes off in the air ambulance with full medical team on board. She meets opposition from the hospital administrator who says she doesn’t have permission to take the aircraft out. But Joanna insists that a man will die if he doesn’t get her help and goes anyway.

JOANNA:    There is a man out there who's going to die if he doesn't get my help, so you're just going to have to explain the rules to me when I get back

When Joanna arrives at the scene she tells Andrew Ronnie’s spleen is ruptured. He needs hospital treatment now and the only way to get him there is to amputate his leg. Ronnie’s leg is crushed and dead and can’t be saved, she explains amputation is the only way of saving him.  She asks Andrew to tell Ronnie as they need his consent. Andrew tells Ronnie what has to happen and a distressed Ronnie puts his trust in Andrew and Joanna. Joanna performs the procedure and takes Ronnie back to Derby County in the air ambulance. Andrew is left on the ground and tells one of the paramedics he has fractured his ribs.

David arrives home in a foul mood. He tells Claire that he and Andrew were supposed to be meeting a prospective partner for the practice and Andrew hasn’t turned up. Claire tells David about Andrew and Ronnie’s accident.

David goes to the hospital to see Andrew. He is ok but tells David he feels guilty because if Ronnie had driven it would have been him in a bad way and not Ronnie. David tells him that no-one was at fault.

Joanna receives a stern telling off from the hospital administrator. Joanna argues that she had to act on her own instincts as her consultant was no where to be found. Andrew spots the grief she is receiving and apologises for causing her such trouble. He introduces Joanna to David and tells her she did the right thing, but says it’s going to kill Ronnie as he is such an active person.

Joanna turns to colleague Martin Henderson and asks if he’ll back her up if Ronnie decides to question the amputation. He says he’ll back her up by saying she got Ronnie to hospital in time for him to remove his spleen but as for the rest of it she is on her own. Joanna says that isn’t like him, Martin says it is now.

David returns home exhausted and rejects Claire when she asks him to show his feelings.

Andrew opens up to Joanna and tells her he can forgive and forget most things but he can’t forgive betrayal. Ronnie wakes up and tells Andrew he should’ve let him die.