Episode 4838

Australian Air Date: 22nd April 2009
UK Air Date: 6th May 2009
Cat No: HAW5-968

Aden and Nicole struggle with their guilt. Leah discovers that Roman wants to stay single. Belle misses Aden.

KIRSTY PHILLIPS (CHRISTIE HAYES)
PIPPA ROSS (DEBRA LAWRANCE)
LIAM MURPHY (AXLE WHITEHEAD)
CRAIG LEHMAN (WINSTON COOPER)
ZOE NASH (PERSIA BLUE TOLL)

Written by Margaret Wilson
Directed by Danny Raco

Extended Summary

After Roman nearly catches them in bed together, Aden and Nicole are on edge. Guilt-driven, Aden wants to forget it happened, but flashbacks to their encounter make this difficult. He opens up to Rachel, confiding that he has slept with someone else and she advises him to stay away from Belle until he’s thinking clearly once more about what he wants. He asks her to consult with Belle’s psychologist to find out how she’s doing. Nicole’s attempt to reconnect with Aden ends in disaster and he blames Nicole for coming onto him. Nicole suggests to Aden that their guilt will be lessened if they tell Roman, but Aden vehemently refuses. Nicole’s low self-esteem takes a further battering when he says their friendship will never be the same and that she should forget about their rendezvous full stop. Hurt, Nicole retaliates and hassles him about neglecting Belle. Rachel consults Craig, Belle’s counsillor, who agrees Aden should stay away from Belle – his guilt and confusion will only set her back. Rachel relays this information to Aden who can’t bear the thought of not visiting Belle – Rachel tells him the best way to contend with this is to stay out of the way of the other girl to decipher exactly how he’s feeling. Aden realises that this will be impossible.

Upon Rachel and Tony’s return from their Airlie Beach honeymoon, Miles invites everyone to a barbeque. After visiting Roman, he asks Leah if she minds him coming along, as he worries that Roman no longer feels included. Leah relunctantly agrees, and Pippa senses her feelings, and suggests Leah try to break the ice by calling him prior to the barbeque. Leah tries, but Roman doesn’t wish to speak to her. Despite his continuing nightmares and flashbacks to the accident, Roman attends the barbeque and cracks enough jokes at his own expense to put everyone at ease, and convince everybody that he’s doing well. When Roman has a sudden flashback to the accident, and breaks out in a cold sweat, a concerned Leah follows him out. Their brief exchange reveals that they both still have feelings for each other.

Belle’s not ready to expose her feelings in a group therapy session, despite the fact that another patient, Zoe tells her own story about throwing her life away, hurting those she loves and losing her boyfriend. Craig, her counsellor, tells Belle that she needs to start opening up in group sessions or she’ll have to stay in the clinic longer, and that her attitude is just an aversion to dealing with her problems. Belle reveals that Zoe’s story got under her skin – she doesn’t want to have to cope with the fact she lost Aden and Craig sees this as a breakthrough for Belle and her attitude. Later, Belle begins to open up to Zoe but the quiet arrival of rock star Liam Murphy at the clinic is a shock to Belle and a reminder of her once out of control life.

Scenes cut from Episode:
Pippa encourages Leah to use the barbeque as an opportunity to talk to Roman about what’s happening with the business.

However, Rachel shares her suspicion with Leah that Roman’s blindness is caused by psychological issues which he is not ready to deal with. Any possibility of a future with Roman is short-lived as Rachel reveals to Leah that she overheard Roman say he wants to remain single.