Episode 6868

Extended Summary

Dean is collecting wood in the bush. Willow comes into the Diner on the phone to the hospital and learns Dean discharged himself against medical advice. Irene is similarly worried about Ash and guesses that they’re together. Willow rings Dean, who points out she didn’t visit after the first day and guesses she was busy with Justin. Willow offers to hang out now and asks if he’s with Ash. Dean says he’ll let her know when he’s free and Willow rings off. Dean tracks Ash down by the lake and says they can go back to the Bay or head north. Ash refuses to go anywhere so Dean says he’ll go and get supplies, refusing to leave Ash on his own.

Justin runs into Willow in Salt but she immediately goes to leave. She tells him to accept they’re over. Justin wants to fix it but Willow says it’s better this way. Meanwhile, Ben is bringing Maggie home from the hospital. He is preparing to make a week’s worth of lunches since the next day will be his last before starting work. Maggie asks him to watch a movie with her, even offering to watch Point Break, but Ben says he has a stack of chores to do so Maggie heads off to bed.

Next morning, Ash is alone by the riverside. He has flashbacks to his confrontations with Robbo at the cabin and the clifftop, seeing Kat and his son’s bodies and the funeral, ending with him repeatedly hearing his own voice saying he doesn’t want to say goodbye. Down on the beach, Justin finds Willow finishing off a training session and tells her they’re going to keep running into each other. Willow tells him to focus on Ava. Justin says he’s lost them both but Willow reminds him Nina didn’t put a complete end to them seeing each other and advises him to call her. Justin can’t believe she’s giving up but Willow walks away.

Dean is asleep in his car and is woken by his phone ringing. He sees he has a missed call from Willow. He then sees Ash wandering around, muttering “Stop.” Ash tells Dean there are noises in his head and it started with a nightmare about seeing Kat and Robbo at the station and how he could have stopped them. Dean tells him it’ll never make sense but he needs to get it under control. Later, as they sit talking, Dean says he’s going to tell him something he’s never told anyone. After his accident, worse than the pain was that he’d lost Colby and had no idea what had happened to him, not even knowing he was okay until years later. He says in prison they made him see a shrink and it helped.

Ben tells Maggie he’s cleaned the gutter, then starts on the washing up. Maggie gets him a towel and tells him she’s going to do some paperwork in her room and doesn’t need him clattering about, so he should go for a surf. Ben says there’s one thing he has to do first and kisses her. Down on the beach, he meets up with Justin, who asks about Maggie. Ben tells him about the new job and how they need stability, then asks about Ava. Justin says she’s getting there but is back in the city with Nina. He tells him about Willow breaking up with him. Ben thinks she was right and Justin needs to concentrate on his family.

Dean is putting out the campfire while Ash is loading up his bags. Dean wonders what Ash wants him to tell people and Ash says to tell them the truth. Dean thinks they’ll want to hear it from Ash. Ash advises him to tell Colby he wants to hang again. He rings Irene, who has just got home. Irene says people have been worried about him. Ash says he needs to get away for a bit and thanks her for everything. Irene tells him to look after himself. She goes to see Justin, who is worried about the garage and Tori. Irene is sure Ash will be in touch about the business but thinks the ship has sailed with Tori. Justin then gets a phone call from Nina, replying to his message: He sounds pleased at her response, asking what changed her mind.

Ben arrives home to find Maggie more relaxed. She shows that she’s bought him some new work boots, since his old ones were full of holes, and tells him to put dirt on them if he wants to look impressive. She has also made lunch, although she promises she got Brody and Ziggy to do the heavy lifting. Later, Maggie is in the bathroom brushing her hair as Ben calls out wondering if they should get dessert. Another clump of hair falls out and Maggie falls silent, but when Ben comes in she doesn’t say anything about it, instead agreeing he should go and get mud cake. After he’s gone, she looks teary-eyed.

Willow finds Dean on the beach and asks about Ash. Dean notes he’s gone away for a while and says it was full-on. Willow sees him rubbing his leg and advises him to listen to the doctors. Dean asks about Justin and Willow admits they’ve broken up. Dean says they’re only friends when it’s convenient for her and tells her to stop using him, walking away. Later, Willow tracks him down at Salt and apologises, but also says she cares about him, noting he’s rubbing his leg again. Dean says he was hit by a car recently and Willow says it was the other leg. Dean says he can’t get his head around the fact that the person that walked away from him after his accident just saved his life. Willow advises him to talk to Colby, saying he needs answers.