Episode 6724

Extended Summary

Hunter follows Wally out of the surf club, apologising for what he said. Wally knows that Hunter means it however and admits that he wishes Hunter had never found him as well, so there’s no point stringing it out. He explains that he let go of the idea of being a father a long time ago and suggests they sleep on it. Hunter goes back inside and fills in Leah, VJ and Olivia, none of whom are impressed with Wally, particularly Leah, although Hunter himself is more understanding. Hunter tells Olivia she’d better go and see Mason on her own. Olivia offers to stay but Leah and VJ promise to keep an eye on him, with Leah encouraging Hunter not to give up hope.

John and Marilyn have taken Raffy to the hospital to see Mason. John tries to get Raffy to tell Mason about the test paper she did but Mason is barely listening, spending all his time looking at the corridor outside. They decide they need to take Raffy home, as Olivia turns up to take over. She says that she needs to rant about Wally for a bit but Mason is still not looking at her. He tells her about Beth, who he considers the girl of his dreams. Olivia takes him out in a wheelchair and suggests they look for her.

Roo turns up at the Palmer house with some test papers for Raffy to do. Raffy would rather get on with her homework but Roo and John encourage her to give them a try and, with a bit of prompting, give her some space. John suggests that Raffy could move up a year and Roo agrees. Raffy overhears and doesn’t look overjoyed at the idea, answering the question she’s doing with a large question mark. Back at the surf club, Hunter tells VJ that, despite what Leah said, he’s pretty much given up on Wally. VJ points out that he and Hunter didn’t get on to start with but Hunter counters that he’s been looking for Wally all his life yet there’s no connection. VJ says Hunter still has his family in Summer Bay and asks how much of an impact it would have if he never saw Wally again.

Mason and Olivia run into Beth, now out of uniform, on one of the other floors. Olivia introduces herself and stresses a few more times than necessary that she and Mason are just friends. Beth says, when prompted, that she’s just finished a shift. Mason brings up the fact that Tori’s head of emergency and didn’t know her. Beth says that she’s a new casual and probably hasn’t done the same shift as her yet. She says they’d better get Mason back and Olivia leaves them alone. As they arrive back at his room, Mason asks what Beth’s doing now and she jokes that she’s planning to skydive and then go cage diving with sharks. Mason convinces her to stay with him for a while and they share a bit of a moment.

Roo looks over Raffy’s work and distractedly gives her permission to go down the beach. John waits for a glowing report but Roo tells him that Raffy didn’t do very well. John goes to the Diner and tells Marilyn that Roo thinks Raffy deliberately messed it up, adding that Raffy didn’t even attempt some of the questions which they both agree is out of character. Nearby, Leah serves Wally. She tells him that she knows how much getting to know him means to Hunter and asks him to reconsider.

Beth helps Mason eat and jokes about his dislike of jelly. Mason asks for the nurses’ opinion of medical students and suggests that they hate them, playfully adding that he’s an exception. He notices that Beth is having to lean against the side to stay upright but she says she’s just tired. A doctor, Pandza, comes in and wonders what Beth is doing there; she says she was visiting Mason. He tells her they need her back downstairs. Mason, confused, checks that she’d finished her shift and Beth says they probably just want to discuss a patient.

Wally and Hunter meet up at Salt. Hunter apologises again but Wally says it’s good that he was honest. He asks Hunter if he thinks they’d be friends if they met in different circumstances; Hunter’s silence is telling. Wally says they shouldn’t force it because of a few strands of DNA. Hunter agrees that they come from different worlds and Wally ironically noes that it’s their first common ground. Hunter heads to the Diner and tells Olivia that he and Wally sorted it…and that Wally’s packing, because that’s what they sorted. They can still contact each other if they want to but it doesn’t matter if they never see each other again because Hunter already has Zac as a dad.

Next morning, Olivia again visits Mason at the hospital. They discuss Beth, with Mason enthusiastic after their meeting. Downstairs, Beth (still out of uniform) goes into Pandza’s treatment room and he tells her to start the oxygen. Beth does…for herself. A short time later, Olivia is at the surf club as Hunter and Wally say their farewells and hug goodbye. Olivia muses on how Hunter came to Summer Bay looking for his father. Hunter says it feels like he’s finally got some answers and there’ll be no more looking back.

John and Roo are looking over Raffy’s papers when Marilyn arrives. They think Raffy doesn’t want to move up. Marilyn says she shouldn’t have to but Roo points out that they’ve still got the problem of her not being challenged by class and underachieving. Marilyn is bewildered however to learn Roo’s gone this far without talking to Maggie and insists they do it properly. When Raffy arrives home, she thinks they’re going to tell her she stuffed up the test but instead they say they know she did it on purpose. Despite John and Roo’s arguments, Raffy says she doesn’t want to move up to Year 10. Marilyn agrees but even she balks when Raffy curtly says Roo isn’t a proper teacher. Raffy says they’re trying to force her to do something she doesn’t want to and storms out.