S18 E19 (10 Jan 04) : Where There’s Life by Ginnie Hole
Episode Summary
Baz is struggling for her life. She is unconscious and connected to a ventilator and all Dan and Kenneth can do is to sit next to her bed, hoping for the best. Charlie comes up to the ward every now and then, but Dan clearly resents this and keeps reminding Charlie that he is in the middle of a shift and should be working, instead of being there with them. After a while Charlie gets a phonecall saying that they will do yet another series of tests on Baz to check if her brain is responding. They are distressed to find out that she does not respond to anything and that there is no realistic chance of her ever waking up. It is unbearable for everyone and Charlie still blames Dan for the accident and for what has happened to Baz. They have to break the news to Louis, who blames himself, but Dan tries to reassure him that it was not his fault as it is the driver that always is responsible. Josh has found out that the accident actually was because of something Louis did and when Charlie’s anger towards Dan grows, Josh tells him that Dan actually has been trying to hide the truth, because he did not want Charlie to blame Louis for what happened.
Later, when the question of organ donation arises, they clash over Baz’s wishes. Charlie says that he knows that Baz would like to help and that all she has done in her life is helping others, but since there is no organ donation card it is all up to Dan in the end. Dan says that he does not want anyone to touch her, but to Charlie it partly feels like he says that mainly so that he can annoy Charlie and show him who it is that decides and who Baz was married to. Kenneth also tries to tell Dan that Baz would have wanted to do it, but Dan does not want to listen. In the end, however, Dan goes downstairs to the ED and watches the drama in the department and how new patients are brought in all the time. Seeing what it is like in real life and finding out that there in the department is a young girl, who unless her father gets a transplant, will be taken into a children’s home, makes him see sense and agree with the organ donation.
One of the army guys comes to the hospital to talk to Luke and Luke finally finds out the truth about Dale. Dale, worried that he will end up in trouble, comes to the hospital as well, trying to talk sense into his friend. He explains that they were trying to hide the accident and the drugs they had given Darrell, because it might have ruined their army careers. Luke says that it might have saved Darrell’s life if they had told him the truth immediately. Later Luke discovers that Dale has tried to kill himself, but Luke refuses to let him get away with it that easily.
Jim demands that anyone who gossips about the wedding puts money in the children’s ward tin, so he is clear to immerse himself in his work. Nikki spends the whole day trying to avoid Jim and trying to get hold of Andy. When Jim finally sees her, he questions Nikki as to why she turned their wedding day into a farce, but she cannot give him a straight answer. Eventually she finds Andy, but realises she has been a pawn in his game all along and that he made her fall for him to save his dad from another failed marriage. She is shocked when she notices that Andy has got a girlfriend and angrily she throws a brick through one of Andy’s windows before leaving.
Meanwhile, Fin is disgusted by Comfort when he has to cover for her when she has a hangover. He is frustrated that he has to keep one eye on her all the time and that he always has to worry about her. When she is home alone someone knocks on their front door and she attends an emergency in their block of flats. When she enters the flat she finds out that the young man, Alistair Roberts, who is high on cocaine, has attacked a young woman, Zanna Mills, so that she has got cuts and pieces of glass all over her arms and face. Comfort is worried because one of the cuts on her arm is quite deep and bleeding and because she finds a piece of glass in her neck. Comfort says she has to phone the police, but the woman does not want the police involved and says he only did it because he is high. In the end Comfort gets the ambulance to come there and an infuriated Fin and tells her that anything could have happened and that the drinking has got to stop. Zanna is taken into hospital and the cuts are cleaned up. Later Abs goes to clean up a cut that Alistair has in his hand and Alistair starts explaining that Zanna has been stalking him, which was driving him into a really bad state and into drugs and that he today had found Zanna in his flat.
Ian Wardie is a middle aged man with cirrhosis. The staff gets suspicious when his 13-year-old daughter Sophie, who comes in with him, tries to avoid all questions about where her mother is. The daughter later admits that her mother disappeared years ago and that she has been looking after her ill father. Lara talks to Ian, who says that there is no chance of finding the mother, but that he does not want social services to be involved – he wants him and Sophie to be able to spend their last times together. Lara finds out that he has been on a liver transplant list for 18 months and that he is running out of time. Later, a while after Dan has agreed to let them use Baz as a donor, Ian tells his daughter that he is going to get a transplant and get better again. Other patients include Gemma Terry, a 9-year-old who has been found alone in a field with a broken arm. Her mother comes in and seems sure that it is two of her friends that have caused it, but she insists she has had a fall. After a while Gemma admits that it happened when they were running away, but that she is not allowed to say what they were running away from. Later her mother overhears when some patients are brought in from a car accident, cause by some children dropping stones from a bridge onto the cars.
Elsewhere, Harry is angry and humiliated about the tape and begins a campaign against Lara, making snide comments and putting her under pressure. Bex also still seems to find the situation pretty amusing and does not miss her chance to remind Lara of it. Mavis Taylor, the MS sufferer, comes to the hospital, wanting to talk to Abs. She is still suffering and, remembering how Abs had suggested that cannabis might work, she wants help. Abs says that he does not have any himself, but he provides her with a dealer’s number.
UK Viewing Figures
9.77m
Patients
– Ian Wardie, a middle aged man with cirrhosis, in the need of a transplant
– Zanna Mills, a young woman, glass cuts all over her face and body
– Alistair Roberts, Comfort’s neighbour, cut in his finger and under the influence of cocaine
– Dale Charters, carbon monoxide poisoning after attempted suicide
– Gemma Terry, a 9-year-old, dislocated right elbow
First Scene/words
[Dan and Kenneth are sitting by Baz’s bed and Dan is holding her hand. Charlie comes into the room.]
Kenneth: Did he say any more?
Charlie: No, he can’t see any change while Baz is still on the ventilator.
Last Scene/words
[Louis is standing next to Baz’s body and turns to Charlie and Dan.]
Louis: What happens to me now?
[Charlie and Dan look at each other.]
Notable Facts
* Elyes Gabel plays Jude.
UK viewing figures
9.77m
Guide by Karin
