Episode 3676

Extended Summary

RECAP
Hayley demands a mirror from the nurse
Hyde catches Henry and Max fighting and asks that they sort out their differences in the boxing ring.
Hayley is shattered as she sees her injured face in all its glory… but should be comforted by the fact she hasn’t broken the mirror.
Jade is horrified to discover Kirsty’s sordid secret… she’s not pregnant after all. Kirsrty begs Jade not to tell anyone – especially not Rhys or Kane as it’d ‘kill them’

***

BEACH HOUSE

Kirsty vainly attempt to justify her actions to Jade – they’d just got married and Rhys was intent on splitting them up. Irene finds them arguing and upon seeing the state of Kirsty, assumes it’s morning sickness. Jade shoots Kirsty a look that could kill, and walks out, Kirsty excusing Jade’s behaviour as a result of school stress. Irene has noticed that something is up with Kirsty and assuming it to be morning sickness she decides to stuff her job and take some time off to care for Kirsty, setting about making her peppermint tea.

HOSPITAL
Hayley is absolutely horrified to see the state of her face in the mirror, and hysterically thrashes around in bed as Flynn enters to give the nurse a hand. Noah stands dumbstruck, and is soon on the recieving end of Hayley’s upset. They sedate her in order to get her back under control so that they can redo the dressing on her head.

CARAVAN PARK
Max is feigning sickness to get off school, and although Beth is sympathetic Rhys is characteristically not impressed – they’ve only been back at school a couple of days. Matilda blames Max’s sudden bout of illness on the fact that Henry is going to flatten him, and informs Beth and Rhys of the upcoming boxing match, courtesy of the demon headmaster. Rhys reckons it’s ‘old fashioned’ and Beth is horrified – why can’t talking do the job? She can’t understand why Hyde is supporting it, although Rhys seems to lose interest in the subject, asking Max for a hand at the kiosk before school.

OUTSIDE SURF CLUB
Rhys has got Max some boxing gloves and they do some training, with Rhys giving Max advice and words of encouragement. Although Max reckons he’ll be “squashed like a bug” Rhys reckons Henry needs to be taken down a peg or two. Max decides to use the trusty ‘distract your opponent’ technique, calling out to greet ‘Auntie Beth’ and whilst Rhys is distracted, Max floors him.

HOSPITAL
Noah is still stunned after having seen the state of Hayley’s face, and Flynn is reassuring – her injuries are new, and she has some bone and tissue damage – she’ll need some surgery and reconstruction, which will fix ‘most of the damage’. Noah’s reaction was totally understandable, and in time Hayley will calm down – he just has to be there for her during her recovery.

OUTSIDE SURF CLUB
Max takes a drink from some outdoor drinking fountain (?!) and the terrible twins roll up to inform him that he’ll soon have Henry’s fist embedded in his face – Henry will ‘cream him’, and Matilda reckons it’s payback for he perving on her in the shower.

SCHOOL
Max arrives at school, where some ever-friendly Aussie schoolkids decide to tease him about not standing a chance – “dead man walking”. Max decides to make the most of a bad situation, and decides to take bets on the match, fervently backing himself at 5-1, as opposed to Henry at 10-1. Falling for it, the group of boys hand over their cash as Matilda watches, not knowing what Max is up to, but tells Max that he’s lucky Henry didn’t see that. Max informs her that there’s more than one way to win.

BEACH HOUSE
Kirsty lies on the couch as Irene waits on her hand and foot, bringing her some peppermint tea and some dry crackers to help with the supposed morning sickness, and advises Kirsty to leave some of the crackers beside the bed at night. She assurees Kirsty everything will be worth it in the end, when Kirsty holds her baby in her arms, which predictably upsets Kirsty more. Irene silences Kirsty’s upset and feelings of stupidity, assuming it’s just the fact she’s pregnant that has been a shock to the system, and offers to call Kane for her – Kirsty refuses the offer. Having realised that she is somewhat late for work, Irene rushes off, leaving Kirsty to cry alone.

HOSPITAL
Noah sits in the corner of Hayley’s room as she sleeps, and Flynn advises him to get off – it’ll be a while till she wakes up. Noah isn’t enthusiastic about going to work, but Flynn persudes him to take a break from bedside duty. They have a chat outside the room about Hayley’s way of dealing with things, and Noah just wishes he could turn back time and react differently to seeing the full extent of the damage. Flynn tells him not to worry about it – he’s sure that Hayley won’t

CARAVAN PARK
Rhys arrives back, telling Beth that he has been at the hardware store, but she knows him too well and asks how the boxing training went. He apologises, but is adamant that if the match goes ahead, Max must at least stand a chance – Henry is bigger than Max… most people are bigger than Max. Despite Beth’s disapproval of Hyde’s methods, Rhys is more willing to give it a go – after all, they have tried to relieve the tensions between Max and Henry themselves with no success. Beth determinedly states that someone must talk to Hyde. Rhys confidently replies “yes”, and leaves it at that.

BREAK

DINER
Max is sitting looking glum as Colleen arrives, making Max feel a helluva lot better by telling him of the “killer instinct” of some boxers, and is worried for Max – she reckons the best thing to do would be for him to call it off. But Max’s pride is at stake, and Colleen decides that if he can’t back down, then Henry must – and Max must thing of a masterplan to make this happen.

SCHOOL
Beth rationally explains to Hyde that things are rocky enough trying to gel two families together without a boxing match, and Hyde is equally calm and controlled understanding that no caring mother would want it to happen. But he won’t tolerate fighting, and wants it sorted in a ‘civilised boxing match’, and despite her worries about “moving the problem from one place to another” and insistence that talking is the key, he assures her that he isn;t asking her to build a boxing ring in her living room, but his pupils are his responsibility. Beth reestablishes her position as he politely shows her out, telling her that she has made herself clear but conveniently not stating that the match is off, and she doesn’t think to directly ask as much

SCHOOL
Max pins a much bigger boy up against the lockers, and the boy squirms, insisting that he “won’t do it again”. Henry and Matilda walk past at the right moment to see Max acting touch, but see past the act, making Max (the fake) the laughing stock. As the terrible twins move on, the bigger boy demands his payment off Max.

SCHOOL
Kirsty arrives, late and is in for a roasting from Mr Hyde, who isn’t sympathetic to her morning sickness. Irene sets herself up for disapproval as she intervenes in support of Kirsty, and Hyde decides that Irene’s attitude is an example of why the children have no respect for authority. Hyde takes into account Kirsty’s ‘special needs’, but that doesn’t change the fact that HE is responsible for her passing her exams, and tells her that either she makes the effort or she doesn’t – if she still wants to do it, she must catch up on the work she has missed. Once Hyde has left Kirsty apologises for getting Irene into trouble, but Irene brushes it off – she has dealt with bigger bullies than Hyde in her life.

DINER
Beth can’t believe that Hyde was so dismissive, but voices her relief at having made Hyde see sense. Colleen comments that it’s not like Beth to get flustered, but Beth is still wound up about the boxing match and Hyde wanting to make them gfight. Colleen is supportive – she’d never have stood for it with Lance, and Hyde sounds like a ‘real monster’. Alf reccommends that Beth get on the P&C and do something about how things are run at school.

SCHOOL
Irene rings the bell (which seems a little old-fashioned) before grabbing her bag and making for the door. She is stopped by Hyde, who reminds her that she was an hour late for work, and she didn’t turn up the previous day – therefore she has a lot of time to make up. She protests about family crises – her kids will ALWAYS come first, but he isn’t understanding and hands her a couple of files, making it clear that he wants them typed and on his desk at the end of lunch.

SURF CLUB
Jade is distant as Seb talks to her about the elections for school captain, and excuses herself as Kirsty enters. She enquires whether she has recovered from her bout of ‘morning sickness’, before laying into her twin about how thrilled SHE was about being an Aunt .She can’t believe Kirsty is still keeping up the lie – sooner or later people are going to clock onto the fact that there isn’t a baby. Jade wonders if Kirsty realises what it’ll do to Rhys and Dani… and Kane. For once Jade actually feels sorry for him.

DINER
Flynn discusses Hayley’s condition with Sally, and Sally compares it to when she found out she had a tumour – she just wanted to push people away, like Hayley is pushing Noah away. Hayley will get through it, just as she did – they’ll be parents soon, despite not having done it the ”conventional way”

CARAVAN PARk
Beth mulls over Alf’s suggestion, and Rhys is surprised by her enthusiasm. She lists the positive, and it looks like her mind is made up – this is the only way she’s going to get a say in things.

SCHOOL
Jade realises that lists are up for the school captain elections, and Seb points out that he WAS trying to talk to her earlier – he has put his name down. Jade looks momentarily disappointed, and when asked she replies dismally she won’t be putting her own name down… Seb then asks her to be his campaign manager – she agrees

SCHOOL
Sally helpfully presents Hyde with the department rules for sporting and physical activities, but he’s quite aware of them. She warns him against making kids fight without parental consent, but he seems to know what he is doing.
Noah arrives to meet with Hyde, and the latter dismisses Sally from his office. It has taken him some time to work out why the school needed a counsellor, but Sally has told him about the merits, and he is now able to set down some guidelines. He wants to know a list of troublemakers – the best thing for the school is to root them out and improve the environment for everyone. It seems client confidentiality isn’t exactly a priority under Hyde’s regime.

HOSPITAL
Hayley is refusing to eat the hospital cuisine, but Flynn is adamant that she WILL eat – she needs to get through surgery. She doesn’t care about surgery, pushing the food away from her, and the nurse exits, leaving she and Flynn alone. She asks for the light to be switched off and Flynn complies, before leaning down to inform her that they WILL make her eat, one way or the other.