Episode 4248

Australian Air Date: 9th August 2006

Brad and Emily’s surprise wedding is marred by the revelation of a heartbreaking secret. Amanda and Irene race to Belle’s side in the wake of the accident.

Extended Summary

Drew goes out for a walk to visit Belle and is thrown into action when he finds her slumped on the floor, struggling to breathe from the reaction to the bee sting! Meanwhile at the Diner, Amanda waltzes in, smug with Irene at having ‘won’ Belle and Irene comments that it’s charming Amanda is planting schemes into Belle’s head to get Ric back. The tension is interrupted with a panicked call from Drew about Belle – Amanda, Irene and Rachel race to the house and Rachel immediately tends to her – she needs adrenalin, fast – Amanda insists that they don’t need Irene’s help and all race off to the hospital, leaving a helpless Irene behind… Later at the Diner, Irene gets off the phone, reporting that Belle is okay and will stay overnight in hospital. Ric feels dreadful for not believing her, but the others are supportive – she’d already pulled a stunt that day, fair enough you didn’t take her seriously. Amanda is doting on Belle at home, apologising for suggesting plans to get Ric back – he’s an idiot for choosing Cassie over you and for not coming to help! Ric arrives, Amanda is cold, but he wants to apologise. She leaves them to it. Belle assures him that she’s aware what she did was stupid, then Ric lets her know that things can’t go on like this – the stunts are getting too much. Belle promises there won’t be anymore, but he’s had enough and doesn’t want to see her anymore. He heads out leaving a devastated Belle. Drew arrives to see how she is and Belle fills him in on the Ric debacle, but Drew doesn’t know why she bothered with him, he knows someone heaps better for her and kisses her!

Amanda goes to the Diner to get a cake for Belle to cheer her up – Irene asks how Belle is – and Amanda instantly carries on about how she’s caring for her daughter. She comments that she won’t be waitressing at the Diner because she could do so much better career wise, which cuts Irene and Colleen. Irene gets her own back when Amanda picks a cake that Irene knows Belle hates – she really doesn’t know Belle at all! Meanwhile, Belle and Drew are still kissing – she comments that she wants to take things slow – she’s still getting over Ric – he thinks she just needed to be with the right guy – and here he is! As they melt into another kiss, Amanda arrives with the cake and sees the intimate pair on the couch. She’s a bit taken aback – she thought the Ric situation was still an issue – she can’t keep up!

Having done some serious shopping, Emily chats with Irene and Colleen. They think she’s a lovely girl and wonder why Brad hadn’t mentioned her sooner. Sally comes in and it’s instantly awkward for her to see Emily – both forcing politeness. Emily is secretive about her shopping spree and heads upstairs. She’s looking through her purchases when Brad arrives home and asks her what she’s bought. She won’t show him, it’s a surprise! Emily comments that Sally was a little weird with her earlier and Brad tells her she’s imagining it, knowing too well things are strained between them. Emily reminds him to tell the group about ‘tomorrow’ – he will. But what’s he going to do about Sally? Meanwhile, Sally and Leah discuss Brad – Sal was really getting along with him, then he turned cold toward her, now he’s got a fiancée! It’s really weird that he kept her a secret. She hopes the awkwardness doesn’t last too much longer… Brad is leaving the Diner moments later and runs into his sister, Rachel and invites her and Kim to the Surf Club at 7pm for a surprise. She promises to be there, wondering what’s going on?

At school, Brad is all business when he sees Sally – they need to discuss budget cuts, he needs her support as Assistant Principal in letting some staff go. She tries to push that the Department need to be challenged, but Brad is adamant that he’s got it sorted and exits abruptly, leaving Sally deflated. Back at the Diner Apartment, Brad and Emily are getting organised for their event – still secretive, but excited. Kim, Rachel and Leah are gathered at the Bar as instructed by Brad, they have no idea why they were asked to be there, when Brad and Emily arrive looking absolutely stunning in new clothes. They happily reveal that they are here to be witnesses to their wedding! Shock and excitement all around.

Rachel is a mess as the ceremony takes place, with Brad and Emily reading the vows they both wrote. Kim comforts her, surprised at how emotional she is about a wedding. But she knows there is much more to this than meets the eye. The ceremony ends and they hit the bubbly as Sally enters, clocking the celebration, wondering what’s happening? She’s clearly flustered when she learns Brad and Emily just got hitched – and declines to join them for champagne, rushing off. Emily looks to Brad for an explanation. Emily gets to the bottom of it, discovers that when Sally told Brad about her husband who died from Cancer, Brad shut down. Brad says he’ll deal with it, but Emily knows what she has to do. The following morning she goes to the school and finds Sally. Emily explains that she understands why things are strained between them all – Sally is perplexed, not knowing what is going on – then it all makes sense. Emily gently reveals to Sally that Brad shut down with the news of Flynn, because Emily herself has leukaemia. Sally is stunned…