436
Gordon collapses onto the floor, and Andy rushes
off to call an ambulance. Irene comes through the door
and pushes Barbara and Wayne out of the way. She gives Gordon mouth to mouth,
then rips open his shirt
and starts hitting his chest. Gordon starts coughing and spluttering and Barbara
is relieved. Wayne shouts
at Andy that it's all his stupid bloody fault. Irene tells him to get out
if he can't say something sensible.
The ambulance arrives and two paramedics take a stretcher into the house.
Wayne comes out and stands
against the ambulance, looking shocked. Soon, Gordon is carried out, followed
by Barbara, Amanda and
Andy. Gordon is put in the back of the ambulance. Andy tells Barbara they'll
meet her at the hospital.
Wayne goes to his car. He tries to get it started, but it won't. Andy drives
up behind in his van, and
Amanda tells him to stop. Andy says Wayne isn't worth it, but Amanda says
she still loves him and he needs
her. She gets out and runs over to Wayne, who has opened up his bonnet. Amanda
asks him if he'd like her
to go to the hospital with him. Wayne nastily says her boyfriend's going to
give her a ride, isn't he? He
gets back in the car and drives off, leaving Amanda standing there. She runs
back to the van and gets in.
Andy asks her if she's all right. Amanda looks straight ahead and says she's
fine.
Jim and Patricia are driving along the road. Patricia tells him that Mrs.
Ryan was very keen for her to
see the children she'd be helping. They pull up outside the children's home
and all the kids rush over. Jim
and Patricia get out of the car, and Jim starts offering jelly beans around.
Patricia jokes that he can't
bribe them! Jim notices a little girl standing on her own and offers her a
sweet. She tells him they rot your
teeth and says no thanks. He asks how long she's been there. The girl asks
him why he should care. Jim
says he's interested, but the girl tells him she doesn't believe him and walks
away. Patricia and Jim go
inside the building and the little girl peers into Jim's car.
Amanda and Andy arrive back at the apartment. Amanda
says she hopes the tests on Gordon don't show
anything too serious. Andy tells her he's lucky to be alive. Amanda says no
thanks to Wayne - he won't
know what's hit him, having to take over Gordon's business deals. Andy says
it wasn't Wayne's fault - it
all comes back to him. Amanda says no one could blame him - it's just Wayne's
stupid jealousy. She says
it's bad enough him not believing they're not having an affair, but what he
did at the car finishes it. She
says all she wanted to do was let him know she still loved him, but he's blown
it properly this time. Amanda
adds that if she's the two timer he's saying she is, she might as well live
up to it. She takes her wedding
ring off and tells Andy that if someone shows some interest in her at the
gig tonight, she might just go
along with it - to hell with Wayne. Amanda throws the ring down and Andy looks
surprised.
Patricia and Jim come out of the home with the matron. Patricia tells her
she'll think over the proposal and
let Mrs. Ryan know as soon as possible. Patricia and Jim go to the car, and
the matron takes the kids inside.
Patricia tells Jim it's a little more than she anticipated. They get in the
car and drive off. Patricia says
she'll have to go through the books and see where she stands. While they are
talking, there is movement on
the back seat behind them.
Later, they arrive at the house in Toorak and both agree that seeing the kids
makes them realise how lucky
they've been. As they get out of the car, Jim notices someone lying on the
back seat - it's the little girl
from the home.
A short time later, Jim carries the girl, who's struggling, into the house.
She tries to run to the door and
when Patricia tries to stop her, the girl kicks her in the leg! Jim grabs
the struggling girl and tells
Patricia she'd better phone Mrs. Ryan.
A short time later, Patricia is on the phone to
Mrs. Ryan and apologises. She tells her the girl's been no real
trouble. The girl tells Jim her mother doesn't like her being in that place.
Jim asks why she doesn't take her
away. The girl says she doesn't know, but every time she goes home her mother's
really happy and everything
is terrific until they come and get her again. Patricia tells the girl that
Mrs. Ryan's coming to pick her up.
The girl says that when she grows up, she's going to buy a bigger house than
that, and her mother and
brother will live in it with her. She starts looking round the room, and Patricia
tells Jim the girl reminds her
of when she was a kid. She says her parents weren't well off, but she had
a rich aunt and can remember
going to her house for the first time and seeing loads of beautiful things.
Patricia adds that she used to
hate her cousin, who used to tell her aunt whenever she'd touched something.
She smiles and says it's funny
how memories come back so vividly sometimes.
Later, Shirley Ryan arrives and apologises for all the inconvenience. Patricia
tells her that Lucy was saying
that her mother wanted to take her out of the home, but the authorities wouldn't
let her. Mrs. Ryan says it's
a very sad story - the mother is in poor health and also has a son to look
after, and on her low income she
realised that the home was the only answer. She says it's the third time Lucy's
run away - she goes home and
her mother tries to cope for a while, then it's only a matter of time before
her mother realises she has to
send her back. Jim brings Lucy out into the hall. She says goodbye, and Mrs.
Ryan leaves with her.
At the apartment, Andy is all dressed up and pacing around. He looks at his
watch and shouts out to Amanda
to hurry up, or they'll be late and he'll lose the job. Amanda emerges with
her hair curled, and wearing a
slinky black number. She asks Andy if she passes. Andy tells her to remember
she's coming with him to work.
Amanda tells him there's nothing wrong with having a bit of fun at work, and
the pair leave.
JUDY NUNN
(as Irene Fisher), BRIAN BLAIN (Gordon Hamilton), ALYCE PLATT (Amanda Morrell),
IAN RAWLINGS (Wayne Morrell), SEAN SCULLY (Jim O'Brien), ROWENA WALLACE (Patricia
Morrell),
DANNY ROBERTS (Andrew Green), ELITA BYAK (Lucy Ferguson), SONJA TALLIS (Shirley
Ryan)
Written
by DON BATTYE
Directed by GRAEME HODGSON
Channel
Five broadcast: Sunday 16th February 2003