Peter delivers some crushing news to Ric. Amanda and Peter are determined to keep their engagement a secret. Martha remains oblivious to Ash’s deception.
Extended Summary
Rocco lies deathly still in the hospital bed, machines beeping softly, tubes everywhere, as Sally tenderly watches over him, her warm heart going out to this helpless boy. Will he ever wake up? Meanwhile, at Summer Bay House, Alf shares his concern with Martha of how down Ric is since Rocco was found. He then makes his way downstairs and Alf lets him know Mattie has called him again. Martha’s surprised they’re still not talking – she just wants to apologise, but Ric isn’t interested. Sally returns and reports there’s no change with Rocco as Ric quietly heads out for a walk on the beach. His head’s full of fear for what the future holds as Mattie approaches him. She wants to talk – but Ric’s not in the mood. He moves off leaving Matilda feeling terrible and heads to the Diner. Irene, Leah and Colleen try their hardest to make him feel welcome, but it’s all too much for Ric as he clocks other Diners staring at him and whispering about him having beaten up and possibly killed Rocco. Ric heads out. Back at the house, Martha’s heading out to meet Ash – he’s back in town and wants to meet up. Sally hopes he’s kept his promise to her – Martha points out it’s Ric they need to be worried about, not her. She moves off as Alf returns, the cops still haven’t found any new evidence. They should be out there trying to find Rocco’s real attacker! Alf tracks down Peter – what’s he doing to prove his grandson’s innocence? He lets Alf know he’s waiting on DNA tests to come back, hopefully there’ll be evidence of a second person at the scene – which would help to clear Ric’s name. Peter points out he can only work with the facts, and right now they’re not going Ric’s way. Matilda turns up at the house, Ric snaps – but she tells him she isn’t going anywhere until they sort this out. She apologises for having ever thought Ric could’ve hurt Rocco – but it was just a moment of doubt. Ric then admits he’s been pushing her away cause the truth is, he realised that he could’ve done it. Maybe he would’ve if someone hadn’t beaten him to it? He didn’t want to admit that to himself. They make up, but Ric’s still in serious trouble.
Martha finds Ric at the beach and tries to get him to open up – but again, he’s not interested – he’s about to be charged with attempted murder! He storms off as Ash heads towards her. He’s told Rianna that it’s over. The kids too. They didn’t take it well, it was the hardest thing he’s ever had to do. She holds him tight, thanking him for keeping his promise.
Kelli asks to borrow Amanda’s car. No problem. Amanda thanks Kel for helping things along with her and Peter, she knows Kel pushed him to pop the question. She’s just glad to see Amanda so happy. Kelli drives the car to meet Ethan – he pops the hood of Amanda’s car and starts tinkering as Kelli watches on smiling… That afternoon, Amanda is worried about Kelli getting her car back on time – where is she? Finally she rushes in apologising and mentions that the engine was making a funny noise – Amanda isn’t concerned, it’s booked for a service soon – she just needs to get to her appointment. After she’s gone, Kelli calls Ethan: you know what you have to do. Driving along, Amanda’s car stalls as she pulls to the road side. There’s no mobile coverage – luckily someone drives by and offers to help – it’s Ethan! He finds what the problem is, while flirting with her, then realises he’ll have to drive into town to get a spare part. She’s hesitant, but gets in his car and they drive off. After getting the part, they’re returning, when Amanda fears they’re going the wrong way back. She panics, but all is good as her car appears in the distance. He fixes her car and she can’t thank him enough. He asks Amanda out on a date – but she lets him know she’s engaged. Ethan makes a light joke of it, before giving her his number – in case she changes her mind about that dinner date. Amanda gets home and tells Kelli what happened with Ethan. Let’s not share it with Peter – in case he gets jealous, no point causing trouble. Kelli smiles to herself. This is all going perfectly to plan…
Peter is grim when he receives the DNA test results. He heads straight to Summer Bay House. He lets them all know that there were no other traces of DNA from anyone apart from Ric found at the scene. And since he can’t place anyone else, he has no choice. He places Ric under arrest for the attempted murder of Rocco Cooper!