Alex and Claire deliver the baby of Tilly; one of many travelers who have taken root in Cardale. Alex and Claire disagree over the birth procedure; Claire thinks Tilly should’ve been taken to hospital hours ago whilst Alex is happy with the result; a healthy baby girl. Alex shares her concerns with Tom who tells her she shouldn’t worry about what Claire thinks. Tom and Alex’s lie in is interrupted by Leanne who wants to take Joe for his breakfast; she seems slightly put out when Alex tells her Joe is fine where he is.
Claire catches Will at the market where he is browsing with Kate and Charlie. Patient Ron Harris won’t let Claire into his house and she tells Will he is wasting her time. Will visits Ron; he has diabetes and is having to get used to looking after himself after a spell in prison. When Ron is served with an eviction notice Will wants to help him, but he finds little support from the sheltered accommodation authority or colleagues Carol and Claire, Ron was convicted of manslaughter and he has little support.
Claire catches Tom after surgery. She tells him that they are friends and she didn’t want things to change between them as Alex is her best friend, however she insists that things have changed after their ‘kiss’ but Tom is adamant that ‘nothing happened’.
New pub landlord Shaun has his work cut out when he tries to promote the reopening of ‘The Black Swan’, now called ‘The Inn in the Square’. The locals refuse to drink at his pub and their campaign is led by Alice!
At home Kate cancels a call on Will’s mobile; she says The Beeches can do without him for half an hour. She wants him to talk to Charlie about the Tony situation. She says Charlie is confused as Tony has disappeared and they have just swept it under the carpet. The phone rings again and despite Kate’s pleas Will answers the call and heads to The Beeches.
Tom is called out to Elizabeth, a teenager whose mother Judy is in charge of some building work close to where the travelers are staying. By the time Tom arrives at the site he finds out that Elizabeth has been taken to hospital. Tom travels to the hospital and is alarmed to discover that Elizabeth is one of many people from Cardale to have been admitted to hospital with ‘a bug’ – Cardale has an epidemic.
The Beeches goes in to overload with Carol suffering from the bug that half of Cardale have got. With Leanne also sick, Alex has to bring Joe into work with her. The patients are erratic and concerned and a fight soon breaks out in reception between the locals and the travelers; who are being targeted as the source of the bug.
Kate arrives with Simon from the public health authority. Alex indicates that it could be food poisoning, Simon says that they need to find the source. Will snaps that they are doctors with a job to do not private eyes. Kate says she will help out and collate the information. Tom mentions that the travelers were selling burgers at their site.
Within not time at all Cardale’s water supplies are cut off, leading the community to queue up at the tanker to get some water. Shaun takes the opportunity to hand out leaflets for the pubs opening night but is dismayed when Alice tears up her leaflet.
Will pays Ron another visit. Ron asks him about Tony. Will explains that Tony has gone and he doesn’t know if he’ll ever see him again. Sharing a similar history with his own father, Ron tells Will he mustn’t lose touch with Tony. Will continues his game of chess with Ron whilst Tom and Alex join Kate and Simon for another meeting. It appears the bug is E Coli which is in the local water streams. However it wasn’t the council who cut off Cardale’s water – it was a cable company who drilled through a pipe. Kate is concerned as to why Will isn’t at the meeting; she asks Alex where he is but Alex says she doesn’t know.
Tom and Simon arrive at the travelers site with the authorities; they are going to take some samples to see if they are the cause of the E Coli. Head traveler Danny is angry at what is happening and he and Tom have a scuffle at the site.
Will and Charlie have a game of chess, Kate is happy to see them together. Will tells Charlie that he’s not sure if Tony is coming back. He assures Charlie that he will always be there for him, Charlie is happy that they have reestablished their bond.
WILL: Tony thought he couldn’t talk to me. I want you to know you always can
Shaun’s opening night is a disaster with none of the locals turning up; none except Kerri who tells him he’s got a tough fight on his hands if he thinks the locals are just going to give in easily. Alice arrives wanting some mineral water, Shaun’s prices are so high that she settles on four bottles of brown ale. When Alice is gone Shaun lets Kerri in on a secret; as much as he would love to change the name he can’t – he’s not the owner!
Tom is called back to the travelers site. Danny’s brother Finn has been taken ill. Whilst Tom is away, Alex receives a late night visit from Tilly and her baby. Alex lets them have a bath. When Tom arrives home he is furious to find Tilly has taken the last of their water, he loses his temper with Alex and says this is not what he needs after the day he’s had. Tilly leaves and Alex follows her but its too late – Tilly has gone. The next morning, Tom apologises to Alex. He says he has been tired and has not seen as much of her and Joe as he would like too. Their kiss is interrupted by Simon who has more news about the bug.
Ron is angry when he gets a home help come to his house and sort through his things. Kate tells Will that she called social services about Ron. He says she had no right to do that as he was dealing with it. Kate says she was trying to do him a favour, Will says she was trying to undermine him. Kate replies that she was actually covering for him as he was neglecting the E Coli bug to play chess with Ron. Will is furious and tells her never to tell him how to do his job.
Tom tells Judy that the source of the bug has actually come from her building work. She has disturbed the land leading the bug to seep into the water supply. He says he thinks she owes the travelers an apology.
Ron sets his house on fire, Will arrives in time to see him taken away by the police. When Kate arrives home Will tells her what has happened. She says she’s sorry – what has happened to Ron was never her intention. Kate challenges Will about why he got involved with Ron, she says its because of guilt about what happened between he and Tony. Will denies what she is saying and says she never understood Tony and didn’t even know Ron. She tells him that he has spent more time worrying about a stranger then he has about Charlie and that it will take more then a game of chess to put things right. Will says if she wanted to make him feel guilty then she has done a good job. He walks out on her and leaves her alone.
WILL: Well done. Because if this was about guilt then you’ve done a good job
At the pub Shaun shows Kerri his answer to the village stand-off against him. He has hung up some banners reading ‘The Black Swan’.
Alex tells Claire that she’s not really good at the whole motherhood thing. Claire comments that it can’t go down to well with Tom. Alex is left speechless and on the verge of tears as Claire indicates that all Tom wants her for is a substitute mother for Joe.
CLAIRE: You must know that he is only after a Mum for Joe. Then again with you probably not being able to have kids it’s a good deal for both of you isn’t it.
