S6 E26 (30 Mar 04) : Pastures New by Paul Coates
Episode Summary
Kath is delighted when she is offered the new job but, during the course of the day, questions what she wants out of life. Larry once again visits her during the day and brings her flowers and balloons. When he asks if she wants to go down to the sea for the weekends, she has to admit that she does not have time to, not with the new job that she will have to get used to. Later Sally Stone, the mother of Kerri – a young woman with Alzheimer’s, who is in hospital after getting her arm cut in a lawn mower – collapses in the corridor and with only Kath and Donna around, Kath has to perform a procedure that is outside her remit, in order to save Sally’s life. When Sally finally is rushed into theatre, with a rectal bleed, Ric admits that she saved her life, only to later remind her that she could get in trouble because of it and that it could be labelled gross misconduct. Kath admits that she does not have the strength to fight anymore and she decides that life is too short and she should leave Holby altogether, to relax by the sea with Larry and do whatever she wants to, rather than nursing and having to follow rules all days long. The future does, on the other hand, not look too bright for Sally. She is shocked to find out that she has got herself into such a bad state by ignoring herself and her own health in order to take care of her daughter. She needs a colostomy bag and they also realise that she has got kidney problems that might need dialysis, leaving her unsure about her own and Kerri’s future.
At her leaving drinks she is touched by Ric’s kind words where he admits that she was the best nurse and even Donna admits to Kath that she actually is okay. Before leaving she has a word with Lisa, saying that she does not want to leave anything open and offers Lisa the chance to ask her anything she wants. After being asked, Kath confesses that she did helped Terry to die, because she did not want him to suffer anymore, knowing that is she did not help him he would try himself. Upset, Lisa admits that Terry asked her to help him, but she could not face it and, in tears, she asks Kath what kind of daughter that makes her. They cry in each other’s arms and both admit that they miss him a horrible lot, having finally settled their differences. Without any regrets she then walks away from the hospital, together with Larry, finally feeling free. Chrissie does not save any time, when finding out about Kath leaving. Realising that her chance has come, she phones one of the people in charge to ask if the job is hers, now that Kath is not taking it.
When a homeless patient dies after being run over by a car, Ed spots an opportunity to give his father the heart transplant he so desperately needs. They cannot find the family of the homeless patient, Stuart Blackburn, and therefore they do not know if he would have wanted to be an organ donor – but Ed does not see this as a problem and does not understand how they could let the chance be wasted, knowing that otherwise there will be little hope left for George. Instead, he makes sure a fake statement of health is faxed from Stuart’s health centre, records that claim he is in a really good health. However, there is a complication. Lab results show that the man is CMV positive, while George is not, which could potentially be dangerous for George. Ed is willing to risk anything to save his father, so Ed begs Rankin, the lab technician, to delete any record of the virus found in Stuart’s heart, even offering him money to do so. At first Rankin protests, but Ed insists. With no relatives to claim the homeless man’s body or protest at the removal of his organs and with everything looking like there would be nothing medical in the way, George’s operation goes ahead. After the successful operation Zubin finds some test results slightly strange, but Ed and Tom, who is the only one to have suspected what Ed has been up to, cover for it and pretend that it might be a normal reaction. Tom asks Ed to stay out of the way as much as possible, so as not to ruin anything by saying the wrong things, and that he will be able to cover it up, knowing that they both will be in trouble if the truth comes out.
Mubbs finds it increasingly difficult to cope with Rosie’s children and the whole new lifestyle. Mubbs lashes out at Leena over breakfast, when she breaks his cd player while arguing with him. Horrified, Rosie quickly leaves together with the girls and splits up with him. Later, at work, Mubbs admits that he lost it, but that everyone does that sometimes. Rosie says that he scares her and that he cannot hit her children, and expect her to still like him. At the end of the shift Mubbs admits that he is jealous of the girls, because he knows she will never be able to love him like she loves them. Rosie finds it sick and understanding that they no longer have any future together, she decides to move out, but, realising the children should not suffer because of them, Mubbs suggests that he should be the one moving out, agreeing to stay at a bed and breakfast instead.
Ric arrives at work with a cut on his head. He explains to a worried Jess that he was robbed on the way to work and that his wallet and watch were taken, but he insists that he is okay, even though he never saw who did it because he got hit from behind. A while later, however, Robert arrives, suspiciously also with a cut on his forehead, to ask Jess out for a date, but she turns him down, saying that she has to work all evening. Knowing how high thoughts Ric has about their ‘relationship’, she tries to hide him from Ric, and literally pushes him out of the ward, wanting him to leave and at the same time making it clear that she no longer is interested in Robert’s company.
Lilly Morton comes to the hospital for a fertility assessment and she and her boyfriend Carl are hoping to finally get a child, even though she has been through IVF before and it has not been successful. Mubbs, however, finds out that she no longer is fertile and while in theatre, he also removes a couple of polyps that he finds, even though he is less successful with removing them and accidentally causes a bleed. With Lilly no longer being able to get children through IVF, she wants to use some embryos that are left from before, but Carl is less keen – the embryos are not his, but those of her dead husband David, meaning that the child would not be his. Lilly, however, does her best to try to convince him, knowing that this is her last chance ever, especially with the embryos only having four months left of storage time until they will be destroyed.
Patients
Stuart Blackburn, a homeless patient who is confirmed brain dead after being run over by a car
George, finally gets the heart transplant he needed
Lilly Morton, has come to hospital for a fertility assessment, finds out she is no longer fertile
Kerri Stone, a 34-year-old with Alzheimer’s, has a badly injured arm
Sally Stone, Kerri’s mother, collapses with a rectal bleed and kidney problems
First Scene/words
Zubin: Okay, it’s been five minutes without any respiratory effort.
Jess: What next?
Zubin: The CO2 test and then we can confirm if his brain is standing dead. Let’s put the ventilators back on, please.
[He hands Jess some blood samples]
Zubin: pCO2.
Jess: Okay.
Last Scene/words
Rosie: Call me, let me know where you’ll stay.
[They look at each other for a while]
Rosie: I gotta go and get the girls.
Mubbs: I think I should swap my shift. I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to work together. You were the one I wanted to grow up for.
[They walk away into different directions with Coldplay – The Scientist playing in the background]