On call at night, Will drives past the scene of a road accident. He stops and asks the police officers if he can be of assistance. He is shocked to see the body of his patient Bob inside the crashed car. He is joined by Carol who was also involved in the accident. She explains that she and Ted were travelling in the car behind Bob and his wife Marie as they were on their way to a dinner and dance. She says Bob appeared to black out before he lost control of the car. The following day, Will lays some flowers at the site from himself, Kate and Charlie.
Tom, Alex and Peter go to The Black Swan for a drink. Alex isn’t feeling well and leaves early. She later goes to the shops and buys a packet of cigarettes. She is obviously worried about something and it doesn’t go unnoticed by Tom, Carol and Bridget.
At Bob’s inquest Will takes the stand to give evidence of Bob’s medical state. He tells the court about some tablets he had prescribed Bob previous to the accident. It soon becomes apparent that the tablets could have caused Bob’s black out. The inquest is adjourned as a further post-mortem is to be carried out. Will is asked for a statement and is advised to consult his defence union. Carol finds herself in the middle of the mess when Marie asks for a lift home. Carol obliges, leaving Will alone. Ted tells Carol he can’t believe that Will had been so careless in his prescription.
Will explains the situation to Tom and Alex. Tom stands by him and says he would have prescribed the same pills for Bob’s condition, he assures Will that he won’t be struck off. Will thinks Marie will prosecute privately and doesn’t understand why Bob didn’t tell her about the tablets he was taking. Will also has to deal with Bob and Marie’s daughter Elly who has been unwell. Tests have shown that she has an immune deficiency. Alex, still distracted asks Will if she or Tom should take on Elly’s case. Will says no, he doesn’t want Marie to think he can’t face her.
Alex gives herself a blood test and uses the name, Janet Gibbs to disguise the fact that it’s hers. She asks Bridget to send it off immediately. Tom later sees her smoking in The Beeches car park.
Will tells Marie about Elly’s condition. He prescribes some antibiotics but Marie is a believer in alternative medicine, and practices privately. Marie later consults a solicitor over Will’s treatment of Bob. Carol and Ted look after Elly while she is gone. They are worried about her progressive illness and call Tom. Marie has left vitamins behind for Elly to take but Tom is not happy with their appearance and takes them with him back to The Beeches. He tells The Beeches staff that he wants the vitamins tested. Will says he can’t as he took them without Marie’s authority, he also says he doesn’t want to push Marie at present. Alex walks out of the meeting.
Will asks Carol why Bob didn’t tell Marie about the pills he had prescribed him. Carol says maybe Marie prescribed him something and he didn’t want to upset her by admitting he was taking the pills Will had prescribed. Marie arrives at The Beeches and complains about the stronger pills Tom has prescribed for Elly. He explains that it is necessary for Elly to have them or she will not recover from her slight tonsillitis. Marie causes a scene in Will’s office and says she wants nothing more to do with any of The Beeches staff, including Carol. Will says he didn’t want this to happen, but Tom says it had to happen as he thinks Elly should be on the at risk register.
Kerri asks Alex what is wrong. Alex tells her that Janet Gibbs test results have shown raised hormone levels. Alex tells Kerri that her own mother died of ovarian cancer. Kerri realises that Janet Gibbs is Alex and the test results are actually hers. Alex confides in Kerri that she has had a lot of pain recently. Kerri asks her if Tom knows, Alex says she doesn’t want him to know as he has already been through this with Joanna. Kerri offers Alex comfort and Alex finally breaks down.
KERRI: Those results don’t mean you’ve got what your Mum had
Marie’s solicitor goes to The Beeches and asks to see Bob’s files. Will tells them all the required information has already been looked at by the coroners. Marie’s solicitor says he wants to check nothing has ‘gone astray’. Will says no and states that any further queries can be made through his solicitor.
Tom asks Alex out for dinner, she says she has already made plans with Kerri. He says that’s fine and says he’ll join them. Alex tells him she doesn’t want him to. Tom asks her what’s wrong and asks why she has started smoking again. She is silent as Tom tell her he loves her but snaps at him and says declaring his love for her is not a good place to start. He tells her she is scaring him but she says they are too involved and says she wants to be on her own. She apologises but says it’s been building up for some time.
TOM: We used to share a bed remember
Peter asks Alex what’s wrong and they look through a photo album together. Peter tells her there is so much she doesn’t know about her mother. She tells him he can’t put anything right as he’s left it too late. She tells him he is of no use to her.
Elly is very sick and is having difficulty breathing. Carol wants to get a doctor but Marie won’t let her. However, Carol calls Will and when he arrives at the house Ted lets him in. Elly has an abscess in her throat caused by Marie not giving her the tablets which could have prevented her infection getting worse. Elly needs to go to the hospital and despite Marie’s protest Will takes Elly in his car with Carol by his side. Ted and Marie follow on and are alarmed as they see Will stop his car by the side of the road. He pulls Elly out the car and lays her on the roadside. She has stopped breathing and is going to die unless Will performs life saving surgery. Carol assists as Will carries out the surgery and saves Elly’s life. Marie later thanks him and says she should’ve listened to him about Elly’s condition.
Peter tells Tom that he thinks Alex is ill. He tells Tom not to stand by and do nothing as he is counting on him to look after her as she has no-one else. Kerri and Alex go for a drink. Alex has too many and asks Mike how he felt when he was ill. He tells her he realised life was short and he set about putting right all his wrongs with people. Alex gets tearful and Kerri takes her home.
The inquest proves that Will was not at fault for Bob’s black out and consequent death. They apologise to Will but when Marie asks to question Will he has to take the stand. She asks him if he would act differently if a similar situation were to occur in the future. He says he made a mistake and says he’s learnt from it.
Alex arrives home and starts to slag of her father. Tom tells her to stop it. He tells her he loves her but says that is unfortunate for him. He says he is not lonely, nor looking for a mum for Joe. As he explains his love for her she gives in and hugs him, crying. She tells him about her mum and he says that her dad really cares for her. Alex tells Tom she thinks she has the same disease that killed her mother, she tells him about the tests and says she cancelled her consultants appointment because she bottled out. He says he doesn’t care what is wrong with her – they will beat it together.
TOM: If I can’t be with you I don’t want to be with anyone. If I can’t be with you now – I’ll wait some more
