I never understood how the nurses didn't get into trouble when they refused to work with Sid but I've gone with it anyway! I hope you enjoy the chapter. Love, IJKS xxx

Chapter Three Hundred and Seventy Four

"No Joey today?" Elijah asked when he arrived at the bait shop and found Angelo there.

"She's gone off somewhere with Romeo so I'm afraid you're stuck with me," the former police officer replied.

Elijah smiled pleasantly at him.

"Well then I'd like to hire some fishing equipment for a couple of hours please," he requested.

"Sure," Angelo replied, setting to work. "I didn't know you liked fishing."

"I don't get to do it all that much but it's a good way to find time to think," Elijah replied, digging in his pocket for his wallet.

"Got anything particular to think about?" Angelo asked.

Having watched Joey with customers, he realised he had to do more than hand bait over to them.

"I'm meant to be doing a careers talk at VJ's school," Elijah explained. "They've pushed me back in favour of a fireman so I need to make my own talk extra interesting!"


Joey hung back just as little as Penn faced Romeo. They both looked fierce.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, going behind Nicole's back?" Romeo demanded.

"I was convincing this girl and the rest of the other theft victims to drop the charges against Colleen," Penn replied evenly.

Romeo narrowed his eyes, not quite sure whether to believe him or not.

"He was," the girl said, hovering nearby.

"You can check with your girlfriend if you don't believe me," Penn said to Joey.

"Okay," Joey said quietly, tugging on Romeo's arm to pull him away.

"I still don't trust you," the surfer warned. "And if you dare hurt Nicole…"

"Then you'll have a tantrum and not actually do anything about it," Penn fired back.

Romeo's aggression increased. Joey held him back and warned him that she had to get back to work.

"Have a nice day now!" Penn called with false cheer.


"I need some help in here!" Sid bellowed.

He had been looking after a pregnant woman all day. When he had come back into her room, he'd found her struggling to breathe, drifting in and out of consciousness. He yelled for the nurses to assist him again, doing everything he could on his own. Nobody came.


"Just like that?" Colleen asked.

She had ventured to work in a very conspicuous disguise. Charlie had taken her to one side and let her know that all the charges had been dropped against her.

"Just like that," Charlie said, pleased with this particular turn of events. "Penn Graham convinced everyone to withdraw their complaints so there's no case to answer."

"Thank you Sergeant Buckton!" Colleen said, surprising them both by hugging her.


"Somebody help!" Sid bellowed as he attempted to save his patient's life.

Hearing him, Rachel rushed into the room, assisting him without hesitation. Various nurses hovered outside but nobody came in.


Charlie returned to her patrol car with two coffees. In the passenger seat, Watson happily accepted her drink.

"Joey just texted to suggest a few of us went for a quick drink between work and boxing this evening," Charlie said. "Would you like to come?"

Watson sighed.

"I should probably spend what little time we have left with Monica," she said glumly.

"You could always invite her," Charlie suggested.

Watson nodded thoughtfully. It would certainly defuse some of the tension building up between them. These days, whenever they were alone in a room together, it felt like they were running out of air.

"Yeah," she decided. "That would be nice."


Sid stormed out of the side room and into the toilets. His patient, his pregnant patient had died. And it was all because he'd treated his female colleagues with so much disrespect that they had refused to work with him. The whole thing made him feel sick.


It didn't take long for word to get out that Penn had saved Colleen from faces charges for theft. Suddenly he was in everyone's good books. Well, almost everyone. Joey remained sceptical and Romeo would not budge on his own opinion. Miles and Marilyn were beginning to waver.


"Are you free tonight?" Joey asked, as she and Angelo packed up for the day.

He looked confused and then suspicious.

"Why?" he asked cautiously.

"A few of us are meeting at the Surf Club before we go to our boxing class," she said. "You're welcome to join us."

Angelo continued to look cautious.

"Why would you invite me for a drink?" he wondered.

"Because deep, deep down, you're not quite as awful as I thought you were," she replied.

He smiled.

"And you're not as awful as I thought you were," he said. "So yes, a drink would be great."


By the end of his shift, Sid was exhausted. He was bereft at losing his patient and had found it extremely difficult to break the news to her husband. The only light in the darkness was that the baby had survived and looked very healthy, despite being premature. And something had changed among the nurses and they had all promised not to strike against him again. For that, he was extremely grateful.


Charlie, Joey, Watson, Monica, Marilyn, Miles and Angelo all sat round in a circle at a table in the Surf Club.

"I'm still not convinced," Miles admitted. "I mean, I know it's great that he convinced everyone to drop the charges against Colleen but… there's just something about the guy that I don't trust."

"I think he's genuine," Marilyn put in. "I wasn't sure at first but…"

"Romeo hates him," Joey said. "And even if they were discussing the case, even I saw how intimate he looked with that girl."

She sat back and rested against Charlie, who put her arm around her.

"Was that when you were skiving?" Angelo remarked.

"I was not skiving!" Joey protested. "I do double the work your lazy arse gets round to in a day."

"I don't think so!" Angelo replied.

"Nope," Joey agreed. "You probably don't think."

He opened his mouth to reply but couldn't think of anything to say. Joey smirked at him. Everyone else looked confused.

"Oh, this is us being nice to each other," Joey explained.


Having returned home from his fishing trip, Elijah was full of ideas about what to share during his career talk at VJ's school and he couldn't wait to talk through them with Leah. While she cooked dinner, he told her of his missionary work, rebuilding destroyed towns, literally feeding the starving and creating a space for worship for people who had nothing. Leah nodded and smiled and made the right noises but deep down inside, she was worried. She hadn't realised the extent of Elijah's life experience. Very quickly, she began to panic that life in Summer Bay wouldn't be enough for the man she loved.


Dex was thrilled that Tony had allowed him to help with the boxing classes. He was surrounded by women, most of them beautiful, all bouncing around and keeping fit. The best of them were Charlie and Joey. He could hardly believe that he had moved to a town where he could gaze at hot lesbians for as long as he liked. They hadn't even noticed him. They were too busy jiggling around and exercising. Life in Summer Bay this time around was already proving to be wonderful.


Next time… Marilyn's friends are unsure of her date with Sid, Charlie and Joey enjoy their Saturday and Bianca Scott arrives in Summer Bay…