Philippa Calcutt, a woman with an advanced intestinal cancer, is visited by both a friend from church and her sister, who fears the friend is having an undue influence on her. On the children's ward is an 8-month-pregnant 15-year-old girl with an overbearing mother and a young boyfriend, Dean Flynn - Steve Waring's attempts at advice don't help smooth things for any of them. Samantha Kennedy holds a joint 30th birthday and flat-warming party, even summoning up the courage to invite Alex Adams, who declines. He in fact meets up with Jess Griffin, not knowing who she is, and awkwardly ends up at the party anyway. There, Steve gets into a brawl with an old school-friend Craig Campbell, resulting in a serious injury, and the calling of an ambulance and the police, who search Ric Griffin and find his considerable stash.