Episode 7997

Extended Summary

Police cars arrive as Justin continues to attack Conor. A bystander tries to halt things but Justin manages to hit Conor again before Cash restrains him. Rose checks on Conor and calls for an ambulance. Justin says that Conor attacked Ava but Cash arrests him for assault. At the police station, Theo sees Cash, Rose, Justin and Ava arrive back. Cash takes Justin into the interview room and Justin tells Theo to call Leah. A subdued Ava tells Theo it was supposed to be him that came after her.

Leah and Roo arrive at the Diner, chatting about adding Leah’s moussaka to the food truck. Irene hurriedly tells them about Ava getting into a stranger’s van. Leah then gets a call from Theo. At the police station, Justin tells Cash they should be talking to Conor. Cash replies that Conor is in the emergency department. Leah and Roo arrive in the public area and Theo tells them what he knows: He feels guilty about calling the police after Justin took off. Roo goes to sit with Ava while Rose tells Leah and Theo that Justin attacked the guy in the van and thinks he assaulted Ava.

In the interview room, Justin tells Cash about the message from Ava saying she was in trouble and how he arrived to find her lying on a mattress in the van and Conor putting his clothes back on. Cash gets a text but doesn’t reveal the contents, leaving Justin worrying about what happened to Ava. Roo asks for permission to take Ava home. Rose is reluctant, since she hasn’t given a statement, but agrees if she goes with them. Cash quietly tells Rose that Conor is being kept in for observation and says he didn’t do anything.

Roo, Ava and Rose arrive back at the Morgan house. Ava worries Justin is going to jail. Rose asks Ava about the message she sent saying she was in trouble. Ava says Conor didn’t do anything wrong and it’s her fault Justin’s going to jail. At the surf club, Mali approaches John in the office and suggests they go for a pizza at Salt so he can put his proposals about the board shop to him. John refuses, still insisting they be purely professional.

Roo brings Ava a glass of water. Rose asks her again about the message she sent to Theo, wondering why she said she was in danger. Ava admits that Conor was just looking after her and she lied in the message because she was hoping Theo would feel bad and come and save her. Rose concludes she was trying to get Theo’s attention.

At the police station, Leah and Theo see Cash bring an injured Conor in to give a statement. Leah is shocked that Justin did that. Conor sees Justin and asks if he’s been charged. Theo blames himself for making Ava run off and then telling Justin about her message instead of the police. Leah decides they need to get out of there and tells Cash to call her when Justin’s ready to be picked up. Cash says it might not be until tomorrow. Leah leaves anyway.

Mali brings John the remains of a pizza, saying he couldn’t finish it. He goes to leave but John calls him back, saying Mali couldn’t leave a mate to eat on his own. He acknowledges it wasn’t Mali’s fault that Dean left and says Dean barely tolerated him but he thought their friendship was more than that. Mali says Dean didn’t have time to say goodbye to anyone but John says you make time for what matters.

At the police station, Cash and Rose tell Justin that they won’t be charging Conor: Justin just saw him getting changed after a surf and both he and Ava say he didn’t hurt her. Justin asks about Ava’s message and Rose explains she made it up to get Theo’s attention. Justin sags as it dawns on him that Conor’s innocent. Cash says he’ll be charged with assault occasioning grievious bodily harm and kept in lock-up until the sergeant bails him.

Next morning, Rose has met up with Mali outside the surf club. Rose asks how things went with John. Mali calls it a work in progress. They run into Theo, who admits he stayed the night at Kirby’s and doesn’t know what’s going on with Justin, saying he couldn’t be around Ava and feels sorry for Justin. As he walks on, he calls Kirby, suggesting they get away for a bit. At the police station, Leah has brought Justin some food but he can’t stomach it and feels guilty about what he did. Cash arranges for Justin’s release on bail. Justin asks what he’s likely to get. Cash admits it could mean jail time.

Mali and Rose greet John at the surf club and John arranges to chat to Mali about his plans later. Rose is bewildered by John’s turnaround and kisses Mali in an attempt to get him to explain what he did, saying she’d be annoyed at herself if she wasn’t dating him. Back at the Morgan house, Roo greats Ava when she gets up. Ava wonders where everyone is. Roo says Theo and Kirby have gone camping and Leah is picking Justin up but he still has to go to court. Ava worries that he’s going to hate her.

Justin and Leah are walking through a bush area. Leah is annoyed at Justin losing his temper, saying he promised they wouldn’t be here again. Justin says he was trying to protect Ava. Leah retorts that he terrorised her. Back at the house, Roo tries to reassure Ava. Justin and Leah arrive and Justin asks Ava why she did it.