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Rachel Armstrong, an old friend of Leah Patterson-Baker, didn't have the easiest time when she started her new job at Yabbie Creek Hospital - she had to deal with her first medical emergency before she got inside!
On her way in for her first shift, she spotted Kim Hyde lying unconscious on the grass. The staff didn't have a clue who she was at first, but it's lucky she was there as the other doctors were unavailable. Rachel's quick-thinking solved the mystery of what had caused Kim to enter a comatose state, and she did her very best to calm an understandably devastated Barry and Irene.
Within her first week in Summer Bay she has to deal with medical dramas, power cuts and a housemate who's just separated from her husband. Surely things can only get better for Summer Bay's new resident medic?
Perhaps not. She nearly lands herself in hot water when she has to help out Leah who is being held hostage in her own home. On top of all that, on her first proper day as psych registrar, she begins to fall for her patient, Kim. At their first meeting she's very giggly and chatty, but then cools off when she begins to fell uncomfortable about being attracted to a patient, eventually suggesting that Kim switches to another registrar.
Kim however wasn't so keen to give up on their romance and persisted with his campaign to woo her; everything from flowers to serenading her through the window of Leah's house. Besides trying to fight her feelings for Kim, Rachel was also dealing with sexual harassment at work at the hands of her Mentor and boss Senior Doctor Helpman. Understandably his proposal of 'sleep with me or I'll make your life a misery' was not appealing to Rachel who turned to Kim for support and realising she could no longer fight it, Rachel and Kim shared a kiss. Of course things still weren't plain sailing as Doctor Helpman found out about the affair and used it as another tool to bully her with, refusing to drop his campaign even when she saved his son's life.
Eventually and with Kim's support enough was enough for Rachel who reported Helpman to the hospital board at the same time confessing to her own affair. Unfortunately the hospital board didn't appreciate her honesty and she was struck off only to be reinstated at the eleventh hour and offered a new position in Accident and Emergency after being specifically requested by the new guy in charge at A & E.
Curious as to who had saved her job Rachel was further shocked to find out that her new boss was none other than her father, an esteemed Doctor himself. The tension between father and daughter was obvious and little by little the reason Rachel had never talked about her family to Kim was revealed. Her father was strict and overbearing, insistent that Rachel follow in his footsteps as an A & E Doctor except that Rachel could never quite live up to his expectations. Add to that the fact that her mother Elaine was in a hospice having lost her memory in a car crash in which her father was driving, it was no wonder there was tension.
Initially keen to re-build her relationship with her father Rachel started to become suspicious of his motives and she was revealed to be right when her father asked her to lie in order to protect his career. It turned out he had been drunk whilst performing surgery and the patient had died and now the family was seeking compensation. Initially torn Rachel then became enraged when it was revealed the day in question was the same day her father had been driving her mother home and had crashed the car causing her mother's permanent brain damage and memory loss. Refusing to cover for him, Rachel's father then disappeared, taking with him all their savings and leaving Rachel to care for Elaine.
Now happily settled in her relationship with Kim, it was time for something else to go wrong. Enter Charlie, a seemingly innocent young boy who was lonely after caring for his sick grandmother in an isolated shack for years. Initially feeling sorry for him Rachel and Kim befriended him only for Rachel to become increasingly concerned as Charlie was found wearing Kim's clothes, imitating him and becoming increasingly infatuated with him. The final straw came on the night of Jack and Martha's engagement when Charlie held Rachel hostage in a deranged plan to get Kim to himself, only to have Kim rescue Rachel in the nick of time and knock Charlie out causing him to have a seizure. Despite the fact he had just nearly killed her, Doctor's instinct took over for Rachel and she saved his life with the poor lad eventually being taken into psychiatric care and leaving Rachel furious with herself for not having recognised the signs sooner.
Rachel was thrown a further dilemma when she was offered the promotion of a lifetime, only problem was that it meant moving to New York. Initially she turned it down, not wanting to jeopardise her relationship but when Kim found out from a typically interfering Colleen he proposed and offered to go with her and a delighted Rachel accepted. With their leaving party planned to coincide with Jack and Martha's wedding Rachel, Kim and Elaine all attended the wedding.
However with the reception venue blown up as part of twisted Eve's revenge plan, Rachel was thrown straight into action at the hospital. With Kim only suffering from burns and her mother seemingly okay, Rachel's attentions were focused on helping the injured parties out but while she was helping everyone else, her mother suddenly arrested and died leaving Rachel understandably devastated. Unable to deal with her grief Rachel shut down, focusing on what she did best, tending to the sick. She arranged a helicopter to transfer those with the worst burns to a hospital in the City for plastic surgery. Except that the helicopter crashed in a storm and with its occupants Martha, Robbie, Belle, Kit and her fiancé Kim all missing presumed dead and a grieving Alf holding her responsible, Rachel quickly spiralled out of control.
Drinking and popping pills at an alarming rate, being arrested for drunk driving and slapping Leah were just a few crimes on her downward spiral until an exasperated Leah called Rachel's brother Brad in to help. Not even Brad could reach out to Rachel though as she spiralled further and further out of control, eventually being found unconscious by Brad and Sally and rushed to hospital to have her stomach pumped. It proved to be the wake up call Rachel needed though and when Kim was eventually found alive the pair were reunited. However there was further heartache in store for the luckless Doctor when she overheard a phone conversation revealing that Kim had actually slept with his ex Kit while lost together in the Bush. Understandably devastated, Rachel initially reacted badly and ended things only to forgive him later.
Their relationship was further threatened when Rachel revealed she wanted kids but Kim didn't and Rachel was all prepared to end things as a result. Fortunately Kim managed to talk her into a compromise and things were back on track. With her relationship back on course Rachel was occupied supporting Brad and his terminally ill wife Emily and helping nurse Kim after he collapsed on the beach suffering from the mumps. A routine check up later revealed that the mumps had caused Kim to be infertile. Then came Tara O'Neill, Kim's client at the gym who flirted with him until he admitted he had a fiancé at which point Tara accused Kim of sexual assault. The narrow minded gossips of the town took Tara's side and having lost his job at the Gym, Kim decided to move to the City with a reluctant Rachel agreeing to follow. The charges were eventually dropped after a tearful Tara admitted to Rachel that she had lied to get her father, a senior police Chief's attention and Kim returned to the Bay.
With things now seemingly back on track Rachel launched headlong into preparations for her wedding but when pregnant teenager Lee abandoned her baby at the hospital, Rachel and Kim took him in and came to fall for him, eventually applying to adopt him. Having overcome the initial scepticism that Kim was too young Rachel and Kim were finally awarded guardianship of Joe with him arriving just in time for their wedding. Seemingly fated, a culmination events led to Kim very nearly missing the wedding altogether before turning up in the nick of time, bareback on a stolen horse to finally make Rachel his wife. Their happiness was short-lived however when only a short while later a seemingly reformed Lee re-appeared to reclaim her son, leaving Rachel and Kim devastated.
Still coming to terms with so nearly being parents to Joe, Rachel and Kim were thrown into turmoil with the revelation that Kim's ex Kit was pregnant with his child, conceived during their one night stand in the bush. Rachel agreed to stand by Kit and Kim but found it difficult to adjust to Kim spending so much ime with Kit. Agreeing to include her a little more, things were still strained as Rachel and Kit clashed over everything with Kim continually taking Kit's side. After one argument Kit developed a severe headache and Rachel rushed her to hospital only for the car to crash and hang perilously over the edge of a cliff. Luckily Kim was there in time to rescue them both and at the hospital Kit was diagnosed with a migraine but Kim blamed Rachel for the accident and the two only made up when Kit intervened. When Kit's ex James arrived on the scene and started working at the hospital Rachel was relieved as the responsibility for Kit went onto James, much to Kim's disgust. After a particulary fraught dinner Rachel confronted Kim as to why he disliked James so much only to be told he was a pot smoker. Rachel was then left with an ethical decision over whether or not to report him, finally opting to do the latter.
When James was found to still be smoking Rachel reported him and after losing his job and being thrown out by Kit, James, high on drugs, held her hostage. She was freed by Kim and Rachel and James left the Bay. With James now gone and the birth drawing close it was Kim who was again on hand to tend to Kit's every need. Eventually baby Archie was born on the same day Kit's mother, Beth died and Kim was there to support Kit, neglecting Rachel again in the process. Rachel was pleased when her old college friend Hugh arrived and moved in with them but after a few arguments and a lot of tension, Hugh moved out. After finding a photo of Kit and Archie in front of her photo in Kim's wallet Rachel went to see Hugh who revealed he couldn't be there for her because he loved her. Blocking Hugh from her mind and witjh Kim apologetic, they arrainged a weekend away and Rachel suggested to Kim that they start a family of their own, using a sperm donor. Kim initially agreed but it seemed he wasn't particulary keen and when Kit, having realised she still loved Kim, heard the announcement, she had one of her own. She was moving back to the city with Archie. Yet another argument between Kim and Rachel followed with Kim admitting he didn't want a family with Rachel. Devastated, Rachel turned to Hugh once more and this time things went a bit too far and they slept together.
The next morning Rachel was full of guilt and regrets and tried to end things with Hugh but despite everything she just couldn't stay away from him. Hugh though had had enough and gave Rachel an ultimatum. He was going to Johannesburg and he needed to know whether she would come with him. Hugh waited past his ultimatum time but Rachel never showed so he left the Bay and left Rachel with Kim. Her attempts to save her marriage though, failed, with Kim growing closer to Kit by the day. Consumed with guilt, Rachel decided the only way to save her marriage was to come clean about her affair with Hugh. Kim reacted furiously and though he admitted kissing Kit, he refused to forgive Rachel, eventually choosing to leave the bay and a devastated Rachel, to be with Kit.
In the run up to Brad's wedding to Sally, Rachel became distinctly uneasy around Brad's old friend and best man Henk, even going so far as to warn him to leave town. She later revealed to Leah that he had sexually assaulted her and when Henk was discovered in bed with Cassie, Rachel told the truth about her ordeal leading to Brad beating him up and Henk leaving town. When Brad's wedding to Sally broke down she returned his support by fully taking his side and telling Sally exactly what she thought of her.
Rachel struck up a relationship with new Doctor Lewis Reed and defended him when Sam took an instant dislike to him and he was accused of being the hospital stalker. She fell pregnant by him and delightedly gave him the news only for him to react badly. He returned a few days later to apologise but at that point Rachel had miscarried and told Lewis that they wanted different things and asked him to leave.
After discovering the jacket used by the hospital stalker she became his next target as he began sending her a series of chilling notes. To protect herself she accepted a lift from Reverand Hall only for him to attack her at her house and reveal that he was in fact the stalker. He tied her up and gagged her but before he could hurt her he collapsed and had a fit and Rachel was able to save his life before phoning Tony for help.
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