Episode 7293

Extended Summary

At the hospital, Alex arrives to check on Colby, who says the pain relief isn’t working. Nurse Freya notes another police officer was with him when he came in but the pain wasn’t as bad then, while Colby says he’s broken bones in the past but this is the worst pain he’s ever felt. Alex orders tests. Colby asks for his phone to call Dean and Bella. Alex says they’ll do it. At that moment, Dean and Bella are near the Diner with Bella good-naturedly complaining about Dean getting takeaway instead of cooking for her and joking that she’ll tell Patricia how traumatised she was by it at her counselling session tomorrow. Dean gets the call from Alex and says they’ll be right there.

Justin is sitting while Irene finishes a phone call with VJ, who is relieved to hear that Leah’s safe. She suggests Leah comes to hers for the night but Justin says Tori and Grace are already asleep and he can sleep in Raffy’s room. He notes Leah doesn’t know about Mason or Robbo; he’ll tell her, but will wait until she’s stronger. They wonder what happened to her, since she still won’t make a statement or talk to the police and they haven’t heard from Colby. Leah emerges, clad in a bath robe, but gives little reaction as Irene offers to make supper. Meanwhile, Dean and Bella arrive at the hospital and join Colby. They quickly realises he’s in pain and call Alex over. Colby is hurting so much he begs Alex not to touch the leg. Alex realises a major blood vessel has been damaged and he has compartment syndrome from internal bleeding: He needs urgent surgery.

Willow is lying on her bed. She gets a phone call from Bella but rejects it. Moments later, she gets a text from Bella saying “Call me ASAP” but doesn’t respond to it. At the surf club, Ziggy has got a call from Dean, telling her about both Leah being found and Colby being injured, and shares the news with Ben. Mackenzie is coming past and is horrified to hear about Colby being in hospital.

Mackenzie arrives at the hospital as Freya is telling Alex that the surgeon will be another forty minutes. Alex says they can’t wait that long, she’ll need to relieve the pressure now. Colby shouts at Bella to get out and Mackenzie leads her away, positioning her with her back to what’s going on. Alex gets Dean to hold Colby while she makes cuts to the legs. Later, Colby, now sedated, is brought out for theatre past the others. Dean reminds them that Colby nearly died last time he had anaesthetic and Alex assures him it’s in the notes. However, she can’t tell them that he’ll be OK.

Irene, Leah and Justin get ready to eat but Leah goes into a panic at the sight of the table, rushing to add place mats and neatly position the serviettes and cutlery, then standing back and waiting until Irene and Justin are seated before joining them. Despite Irene telling her not to let the food get cold, Leah waits until Justin has started eating before beginning to shovel in her own food. Later, after they’ve finished, Justin tells Leah his suggestion about her taking their room and him sleeping in Raffy’s. Leah simply says whatever he thinks is best, and when Justin mentions Tori and Grace being asleep, she says she’ll try not to disturb them. Irene gets a panicked call from Bella wondering where Willow is and heads off to look for her, although she doesn’t tell the others what’s happened. She tries to reassure Leah before she goes but Leah again flinches away at the touch.

Irene arrives home to find Willow lying on the sofa and asks why she isn’t answering her phone. Willow says she didn’t want to talk about her break-up and Irene says not everything’s about her. At the hospital, Dean tries to reassure Bella, before Willow arrives and apologises. Mackenzie is wondering if she should go when Alex arrives and tells them Colby’s out of theatre. It’s gone well so far but there’s still a risk of nerve damage or kidney failure and he could still lose the leg. When Bella asks if he could still die, Alex hesitates before admitting he could. As they wait again, Dean asks Willow what’s going on between her and Alex and Willow admits they broke up. Colby is brought back through and Alex tells everyone that the blood flow to his leg has been restored but they’ll know more in the morning.

During the night, Leah gets up to get a glass of water. However, she is startled when Justin turns the light on and drops the glass. Justin tells her to stay still while he cleans up the glass but Leah goes into a panic and rushes out. Soon after, she is down on the beach with Justin standing a short distance away. He says she doesn’t need to answer but asks what happened to her. Leah tells him not to.

Alex calls Dean, Willow, Bella and Mackenzie into the room where Colby is lying asleep. She notes Bella looks tired and could do with some rest. Bella doesn’t want to leave Colby, saying he didn’t leave her when she was ill, but is convinced to come back in the morning since he’s expected to sleep until then. Soon after, Ziggy is at the Diner flat as Dean, Bella and Willow arrive back. She has got food in but they just want to crash. Willow asks to stay there for the night. Dean offers her Colby’s room but she says she’ll sleep on the floor in Bella’s room and the two of them withdraw. Dean tells Ziggy what happened.

At the hospital, Mackenzie sits by Colby’s bedside, holding his hand and crying. Next morning, Ziggy and Ben are outside the surf club discussing covering Dean’s surf lessons between them. After Ben has gone, Mackenzie comes past looking very tired and Ziggy asks how long she was at the hospital. Both of them are surprised at how Mackenzie reacted given that she and Colby are meant to be over.

At the Diner, Bella calls Patricia to cancel the counselling session. She is frustrated that Dean has ordered a meal when she was supposed to be going to the hospital but he says Colby’s having tests done. Roo comes in and asks Irene about Leah. Irene says she’s fine, adding that the police have caught the person who did it and he stabbed Colby in the leg. She gently scolds Bella for scaring her with the phone call and Bella says it was scary and she’d never seen someone in so much pain. She still wants to go there immediately but Dean still delays. Roo suggests they talk about her schooling now she’s been refused distance learning but Bella shouts that she doesn’t care and her brother nearly died, storming out.