Valley of the Shadow (2)

Overview

Alex Richards is free from the rubble. She is unconscious, suffering head injuries and in urgent need of surgery. Luke and John Madsen perform a craniotomy to remove a haematoma, and although Alex survives the operation she suffers a respiratory arrest on the Ward. Steph manages to stabilise her but she goes into a coma. Her prognosis is not good and her mother, Di, is distraught. Luke and Madsen are operating on Rob when the word comes through he is the one responsible for setting the bombs. Luke has just heard of Alex's decline and is so angry he does not care whether Rob lives or dies. But he learns a lesson in professionalism from Madsen. Unknown to all of them, Rob left a ticking bomb on the Ward when he went into surgery. He is prepared to lose his life for the sake of his vendetta. Jared is nursing Mrs Price who is frantic about her two missing children, Caitlin and Rowen. When news comes through the kids have been located, Jared suggest Bosco might go over to the site to entertain and distract the kids while the rescue workers try to free them. Bosco laughs in Jared's face and says he has no intention of putting his life in danger and says he is going home. Over at the Medical Centre, Bron and Ben are just at about their wit's end trying to calm Rowen and Caitlin, when out of nowhere (it seems) a clown appears. Bosco calms the kids and he finally has an audience who appreciates his jokes. In the middle of the chaos, Mitch proposes to Rose. It never occurred to him she might want time to consider his proposal. In fact, there are a few delicate matters concerning his past that she wants to discuss before she will give him a genuine answer. Tension levels on the Ward rise even higher when it is learnt Rob is being sent back to Ward 17 after surgery. When Alex's distraught mother Di discovers the man responsible for the bomb is on the Ward after she loses control. She barges into Robs room and starts to attack him. AS far as she is concerned, it is totally unfair for him to live through when it looks like her daughter is dying. Terri has to throw herself in front of Rob to defend him. It is then he tells Terri there is one more bomb...