Tom leaves The Beeches after surgery – he is going to find Alex. Will is covering for them both and tells Tom to trust his instincts and head to Alex’s Dad’s home in Yorkshire. Kate arrives as Tom leaves and comments that Tom doesn’t look happy. Will tells her that Tom is going to find Alex. Kate says The Beeches has some outstanding paperwork due, Will tells her it’s not at the top of his priority list.
Playschool leader Hazel refuses to let Will give the parents of her playgroup children a talk on the MMR vaccine. Hazel is against the vaccination as she believes it was the cause of her nephews Autism. She tells Will he will have to talk to the parents outside of her playgroup.
Alex returns to York and visits her best friend Helen. Alex tells Helen about her health problems and says the chances are that she has Cancer and it has spread.
Mike and Liz panic over their business plans to buy The Black Swan. They realise it is going to mean a lot of hard work.
Will and Kate disagree over Hazel’s situation. Kate says he should respect Hazel’s wishes and talk to the parents outside of the playgroup. Will is adamant that all children should receive the MMR vaccination.
Hazel leaves her baby daughter Mia with playgroup colleague Jane. Jane’s son Edward also attends the playgroup and she baby-sits Mia whilst Hazel is out, despite it being the day of her birthday. Alice, Julie and Nick arrive on the doorstep with food, drink and friends in tow. Whilst the party is going on Julie is alarmed to find Mia crying and alerts Alice and Jane. Alice finds a rash on Mia and calls for Will.
Will and Kate head to Jane’s house with Charlie in the car as they have come straight from the pub. Will suspects a viral infection but he wants to Mia to be admitted to hospital. Due to an ambulance crisis he and Kate take Mia to hospital whilst Charlie stays with Alice.
Leanne calls Tom as he waits outside Helen’s house in York. She tells him she’s concerned about Joe as he’s unwell. Tom asks for Joe’s symptoms and tells her to look out for a rash and to call him if he gets worse. As Tom is about to leave York, Alex and Helen arrive in a taxi. Alex is drunk and not happy to see Tom. He apologises to her for not being at the hospital on time. Alex ignores him and goes into the house, Helen invites Tom inside.
On their way to the hospital Mia goes into respiratory arrest. Will stops the car and he and Kate do their best to stabilise her. Will notices a rash – Mia has measles. As Will and Kate arrive at the hospital they are surrounded by nurses but seem reluctant to let Mia go. As they watch Mia being taken on to the children wards surrounded by tubes and machines, their thoughts switch to Emily.
Alex sits surrounded by drink, Helen tells Tom this is Alex’s way of coping. She tells him to stay and says that Alex will calm down in the morning. Helen tells Alex not to push Tom away. Alex later goes into the room where Tom is sleeping and she asks him if she can get into bed with him because she’s cold. He says yes.
ALEX: It’s my disease. It’s my cancer. It’s my choice
Kate stays at the hospital comforting Mia’s parents whilst Will goes to check on how Jane is. He notices that Edward also seems ill and is concerned he may have measles. Will explains that Edward is more susceptible as he’s recently had a kidney transplant. At the hospital Jane blames Hazel for Edwards illness due to the fact she never had Mia vaccinated against the disease.
Kate and The Beeches staff go through the files to see which children have received the MMR vaccination and which children haven’t. Will wants to call public meeting but Kate thinks he will just cause a panic. He says the more kids that have jab decreases the risk of an epidemic. Whilst they are talking, Leanne arrives with Joe. She tells them he is unwell. Will checks Joe over and says he should be fine as he’s had his MMR vaccination. Leanne explains that Joe hasn’t had the vaccination as he had a cold at the time he was supposed to receive it. Will calls Tom and alerts him to Joe’s condition.
Tom packs his and Alex’s bags and loads them into his car. He tells her about Joe and says he is going back to Cardale. Alex is adamant that she doesn’t want to go with him. He says she knew how hard it was for him to get involved with someone again after Joanna and yet she doesn’t care about him, her Dad or anyone at The Beeches. He tells her if she wants to stay in York then that’s fine. He dumps her bags on the ground and drives away.
Helen asks Alex why she is so determined to fight her problem alone. Alex says Tom will let her down just like how her Dad let her Mum down. Helen tells Alex she should give Tom a chance and says all was not what it seemed with her Mum and Dad. Helen explains that Alex’s Mum was having an affair with her Dad.
Will holds a public meeting at The Beeches. He and Kate try to stem the growing panic and Kate stresses to the public that Edward and Mia’s conditions are rare, but Will says if everyone child in the village had have had their vaccinations then they might not be in this situation. Will and Kate’s conflicting views cause confusion and Carol interrupts to tell them that Edward has been moved to intensive care. Will wants to go to the hospital but Carol says he can’t as surgery is packed. Will asks Carol to get a locum but Kate says she’ll help out as she’s still qualified to practice.
Alex can’t believe that her Mum had been cheating on her Dad. She doesn’t understand why her Dad never told her, Helen said he tried to protect her so she would always have loving memories of her Mum.
As Mia improves, Edward dies and Jane blames the situation on Hazel’s ignorance of the MMR vaccine. Will leaves Alice to look after Jane. Alice is devastated by Edward’s death but Will says they have to be strong for Jane. Jane escapes from Alice’s care and snatches Mia from the hospital. Alice finds her outside the pub and recognises the baby as Mia. Jane runs off and Alice alerts Will.
Tom arrives home and checks on Joe. Leanne apologises for dragging him back but he says he was coming back anyway.
LEANNE: I don’t know about you baby, but I think Dr Redman wants her head looking at
Tom goes to The Beeches and asks how everything is. Kerri says it’s fine – Kate’s been lending a hand. Tom walks in on Will and Kate discussing the MMR vaccine. Kate tells Will he can’t blame himself for Edwards’s death. Will says he wants to give parents the option of the single vaccine. Kate tells him he can’t do that as he’ll be breaching his terms of service. Will says he doesn’t care and says if that’s the only way his patients will have the vaccine then that’s what he’ll do. Tom says Kate is right and says he can’t give the single vaccination. Will walks out and Kate asks Tom if he found Alex. He says he did and tells her they should start to advertise for a new partner – Alex isn’t coming back.
Will asks Kate if she’d have supported him if he’d got the single vaccine – she says no, if she doesn’t enforce policies, who will.
KATE: I’m the head of the P.C.T
WILL: I’m hardly likely to forget that am I?
Alex leaves York and arrives back at The Beeches. She and Tom have a private word and she tells him she’s made an appointment to see her consultant. She says she hopes he’ll go with her. She tells him she is sorry. Tom and Alex visit the consultant and he says he has a slot free tomorrow in which he can operate on Alex.
ALEX: I couldn’t find my own front door if it wasn’t for you
Will helps search for Jane and Mia. She is found on top of a cliff face. Will talks her round and gets her to hand Mia back. As Will pulls Jane from the edge of the cliff, a piece of the cliff falls away and Jane falls with it. Will grabs her hand and with the help of the watching police officers they are both pulled to safety.
Alex goes into hospital for surgery. As she is taken down to theatre she tells Tom she loves him. He tells her not to worry and says he is not going anywhere.
Back at The Beeches Will is about to leave for the hospital when Kate asks him is she can join him. He says yes. They arrive at the hospital and Kate asks Tom if he’s alright. She talks to Will about the MMR argument and he says it wasn’t just her who ‘upset’ him. She says her job shouldn’t be a problem and asks if they can work around each other – he says yes.
Julie and Nick are concerned that Liz and Mike are only buying the pub to please each other. They confront them about it and both Mike and Liz realise that they don’t really want to tie themselves down to The Black Swan. They crack open the champagne and decide to take the money and try for a new life in Spain.
As Kate and Tom wait for news of Alex, Will talks to her consultant. He comes back and tells Kate and Tom the tumour on Alex’s ovaries was benign but an endometric cyst was found and successfully removed. The endometriosis has spread to both of her fallopian tubes, leaving a possibility that Alex could be infertile. Tom thanks Will and Kate and walks into Alex’s room. Will turns to Kate and kisses her, he says they should go home. Alex wakes up and Tom tells her she doesn’t have cancer. He tells her she is going to be fine – they are going to be fine.
