Episode 7354

Extended Summary

Bella is looking in the fridge while listening to music when Willow closes the door and insists they have to do something for her 18th. Colby has gone to work. Willow says being 18 means Bella can drink and vote. Dean adds that if she commits a crime she won’t go to juvie anymore. Willow suggests getting champagne at Salt and seeing if Ryder asks for ID but Bella says last time she drank, she felt sick, She isn’t keen on a movie, a shopping trip or a meal out either so Willow decides they’re going down the beach. Ziggy arrives. Dean asks if she’s spoken to Maggie about Gemma, explaining what’s happened. At the farm house, Ben knocks on Maggie’s bedroom door and asks her to talk to him. Maggie emerges but points out the irony: She’s been begging him to talk to her for weeks. Ben says nothing is going on romantically between him and Gemma so she shouldn’t base her decisions on that. Maggie simply says she has a job to apply for.

At the hospital, Marilyn offers to read John a card from Irene but he points out he can still read. Jasmine enters and asks John to blow up a balloon to test his lungs. John can inflate it a bit and calls it a dud. Tori also enters and says the specialists are pleased with John but they need to get him on a normal diet before he can be discharged. Outside the surf club, Ziggy complains to Dean that Ben isn’t answering her calls, just as Ben himself appears. He says Maggie won’t talk to him but thinks it’s just a kneejerk reaction. Ziggy is unsympathetic, wanting him to try again. Ben quickly strikes up a conversation with Alf, who thanks him for taking a delivery at the juice bar, saying he forgets how much John does. Ben volunteers to take John his post.

Jasmine tries to reassure John as he tucks into the “disgusting” mashed up food. She runs into Tori and confirms she’s just going home. Tori says Grace is more settled and admits she tried Jasmine’s raw carrot trick and it worked. Ben arrives and goes through to join John and Marilyn. He and John share a joke about John making the party by needing an ambulance. Meanwhile, Ziggy finds Maggie packing up Ben’s things. She gives her a hug.

Dean finds Willow lying on the beach and pours sand over her. Willow points out Bella having a swim, something she’s never done in the past, and they reflect how much she’s changed. Bella joins them and Dean offers her a free surf lesson as a birthday present. Bella refuses, saying it’d just be an excuse for him to boss her about. Dean says it’s good to see her happy. At the hospital, John is trying to get Marilyn to go home for a bit. Ben offers to stay with him so Marilyn acknowledges she can get him some clean clothes. After she’s gone, John admits he feels suffocated and that every day he finds something else he can’t do.

Maggie tells Ziggy she can’t bear to see Ben with Gemma and that Roo looked at her like she was a crazy person when she blew up at Gemma. She feels she needs to get out of the Bay. Ziggy says she felt the same about Brody and Simone but Maggie shouldn’t make decisions when it feels like her heart’s been in a blender. Maggie says she’s had weeks of thinking about it. Meanwhile, Ben is telling John about his marital problems, explaining about spending the night with Gemma and how, even though they mostly just talked, Maggie sees it as a betrayal. He notes he can’t convince her he didn’t do it to get back at her.

Alf and Marilyn walk near the beach. Marilyn says John is frustrated but determined and that Tori has talked to her about being his carer. Alf thinks she needs to ask whether she’s doing it because she loves him or out of duty. On the beach, Jasmine posts on the forum that her sister-in-law admitted she’s right. Willow, Bella and Dean call her over and explain that it’s Bella’s 18th. Jasmine recalls having hers in her first year at uni and using B12 injections as a hangover cure. Willow says she got the bracelet she’s wearing for hers and it’s the only thing Dean ever bought her. Dean says he didn’t buy it; Colby stole it and he gave him a slab of beer for it. Willow is disappointed and throws it at him. Dean is saved by a text from Ziggy. He meets her and hugs her when she says she can’t fix things.

Marilyn arrives back at the hospital and is surprised Ben is still there. He notes he lost track of times and leaves. Marilyn gives John his clean pyjamas and he refuses to let her help him put the top on. Tori enters and says John’s been upgraded to solid food but John remains bitter. At the farm house, Ziggy finds Maggie packing. She’s decided she can’t wait around for a transfer so is going to go to Italy, using her half of the money from the pier sale. Ziggy is horrified, saying Maggie’s blowing her nest egg, but Maggie says she’s going to go to the airport in the morning and get on the first flight. She points out Ziggy has a good life, Coco lives in another state and Ben doesn’t want her anymore.

Alf and Ben chat at Salt about how John’s coping. Alf leaves to take pizzas home. Ziggy approaches Ben and tells him what Maggie’s planning, saying he needs to decide quickly if he’s going to let her. Back at the hospital, Tori brings John a plate of beef. Despite his repeatedly telling her not to, Marilyn insists on cutting up the food for him, until John smashes the plate onto the floor in frustration, tearfully saying he just wanted some dignity.