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Friday 17
th May (5242)
A shocked Bella refuses to accept Zlata’s baby-for-cash deal, and Zlata is forced to accept her offer of help to be a better mother.
Bella begins her mothering boot-camp, and Murray and Wendy are impressed at how well Bella is able to handle Zlata.
Zlata’s irritated by Bella’s new focus, and makes a play of trying to feed Luca alcohol on his dummy to highlight she shouldn’t be looking after a kid.
Bella falls for it, and after intervention from Wendy, realises she’ll have to try a different approach to help Zlata to bond with her baby.
With prompting from Zlata, Bella agrees to a job and baby-share arrangement.
Sarah arrives for her first shift in ED determined to put personal acrimony aside, but is annoyed to be working alongside Josh.
When Josh is defensive about a patient treatment plan, she gives him the benefit of the doubt so as not to cause waves.
Later, when Josh’s patient doesn’t respond, Sarah offers her opinion as an alternative.
But Josh accuses Sarah of setting him up to fail and TK is forced to step in to break up the argument.
Sarah’s aggrieved to be in a compromised position but is willing to do what it takes to make it work in ED.
When she and Josh work on a patient together, she gives him props for a job well done and their working relationship thaws.
Fronting up to a hurt Ula, Jared is torn between her and his promise to Vasa to keep it platonic.
But Vasa’s praise proves can't make up for the loss of his relationship with Ula .
When he and Ula get on better, Jared fools himself into thinking that they can just be friends.
Vinnie witnesses a charged moment between Ula and Jared and he’s concerned Vasa’s plan to separate the teens isn’t working.
He assures Jared that being part of the family means he receives unconditional love, whatever mistakes he’s made in the past.
But Jared knows that Vasa’s love comes with a major condition - stay away from Ula.
Realising he can’t live with Vasa’s rules, he confronts her, issuing some harsh home truths in the process.
Thursday 16
th May (5241)
Brooke’s frustrated when her emotional connection with Boyd is undercut by his father Alasdair’s demand for money.
Boyd wants to pay him off as quickly as possible, and Brooke’s worried to realise he may need her help.
She raises her concerns, and Boyd offers to dissolve their marriage.
But, realising her relationship with Boyd is more important than money, Brooke decides to support him financially.
Boyd’s blown away by Brooke’s generosity and realises he’s let his stoush with his father rule his life.
He decides on a more modest payment plan, making him and Brooke equal financially.
Their commitment to each other is strengthened as a result.
Chris resolves to prevent any legal repercussions surrounding Sarah’s dismissal.
Sarah plans to fight the decision, but Chris points out she’ll damage Shortland Street’s reputation.
Sarah accepts she overstepped her bounds as Clinical Director, and she and Chris come up with a compromise: she’ll drop her personal grievance in return for Rachel signing her ED contract.
Chris expects Rachel to be relieved, but she’s frustrated Chris has gone behind her back and refuses his solution.
Harper manages to change Rachel’s mind and Chris is concerned to think Rachel deliberately discounted his advice.
Surprised by the realisation that Luke had a son, Bella queries why her parents kept Zlata’s reappearance a secret.
Wendy and Murray justify that Zlata’s after Luke’s money, and they wanted to save Bella from stress.
She meets with Zlata, who convinces her she only wants what’s best for Luca.
Bella invites Zlata and Luca back home, and insists her family welcome them to the house.
They begrudgingly do so, and Bella’s hopeful Luca and Zlata will become honourary Coopers.
However, Zlata reveals she wants to raise Luca overseas, and Bella scurries to put the kibosh on her plans.
She offers to set Luca and Zlata up in Ferndale, and help her raise her son.
A desperate and stressed out Zlata offers to give him to Bella in return for a payout from Luke’s estate.
Wednesday 15
th May (5240)
Sarah’s left reeling when Rachel tells her to clear out her desk and go.
TK glosses over his written warning and Josh is irritated that it hasn’t been taken further, but Roimata convinces him to let it go.
Sarah tries keeping a brave-face when she learns that Harper’s been appointed to her old job but blames Rachel not Harper.
When Seth learns of Sarah’s unfair dismissal, he tears strips off an unrepentant Rachel and doesn’t realise that he nearly causes her to have a panic attack.
Later, an unhappy Sarah is touched when TK vows to get her a job in ED.
Murray is pleased to convince Wendy that Zlata has to move out.
When Wendy breaks the news, Zlata tugs at her heartstrings by pointing out that she’ll be homeless and jobless.
Her plan backfires when Wendy and Murray sort out a job and a homestay for her.
With no excuses left, Zlata packs but rethinks when she intercepts a phone message from Bella who says she’ll be home tonight - a day earlier than she planned.
Zlata engineers to stay in the house until Bella arrives and, just when Bella’s due home, Zlata starts an abusive argument with Murray and Wendy.
When Bella walks through the door, Zlata plays the helpless victim.
Bella, however, only has eyes for Luca, who she immediately realises is Luke’s baby.
A protective Murray and Wendy are gutted to observe the strength of Bella’s connection to baby Luca.
With their friendship back on course, Brooke is buoyed by Boyd’s support at work.
However their united front irritates Vinnie and he becomes increasingly convinced that Brooke is taking advantage of Boyd.
Unable to resist prying, he asks Brooke outright, but Brooke reveals she signed a pre-nuptial agreement and has no claim on Boyd’s money.
Later, Vinnie publicly reveals that he’s cracked Brooke’s plan - she’s going to lull Boyd into a false sense of security and trust, then she’ll wear him down.
Though there’s a lot of truth in this, Brooke is hugely humiliated, especially when Boyd also hears Vinnie’s theory.
However, when Boyd fiercely defends her honour, Brooke struggles not to swoon.
Later, Boyd arrives on her doorstep and romance blossoms for real.
However later that evening, both Brooke and Boyd are shocked to learn that Boyd’s father is charging him nearly a million dollars for his medical school education.
Tuesday 14
th May (5239)
Ula digs deep and uses her first aid knowledge to help Dayna.
When Dallas and Jasmine arrive, Ula’s calm, focussed and ready to help.
Later, she’s quietly proud to receive praise from Dallas and basks in the kudos of a job well done.
Ula’s new self esteem enables her to reach out to pregnant Taylor.
Later, gratified to have Dayna’s thanks, Ula begins to understand how it feels to have really helped someone.
Though she brave faces, Brooke is deeply wounded to hear staff members gossip about her desperation and loneliness.
Concerned that Brooke is being distant, Boyd tries to rark her up, but when a fragile Brooke verbally attacks him, Boyd’s rattled.
Later Boyd apologises and Brooke opens up and admits she was a phone sex worker in her former life.
So when Boyd offered her cash for something she viewed as an act of friendship she felt humiliated.
Boyd’s genuinely moved to see the level of Brooke’s vulnerability and the two share a close moment.
Murray’s frustrated that Wendy is taken advantage of by Zlata.
Aware that Bella will be vulnerable to Zlata’s request for money if she meets baby Luca, Murray’s under pressure to get rid of Zlata before Bella’s return.
Later, Wendy comes to realise that Murray was right - Zlata has been taking advantage of her and she vows not to let that happen again.
TK’s wounded by Roimata’s public display of affection with Josh, but has to wear it.
Meanwhile, Sarah’s relieved when she deduces that TK is in the clear in Harper’s report, despite hitting Josh.
But Sarah’s rattled to see a smug Josh baiting TK and, protective, issues a heavy-handed threat to get Josh to back off.
Harper submits her report to Rachel, assuring that Sarah is able to separate professional from personal.
Sarah’s reassured that TK’s job is protected, but she’s unaware that Josh has lodged a formal complaint against TK with Rachel.
When Rachel asks Sarah about any tensions in ED, Sarah lies to Rachel.
Later, when she is summoned to Rachel’s office, and advised she’s had to make a serious staffing decision, an angry Sarah presumes TK has been fired and launches into an impassioned defence.
But Sarah’s floored to learn that TK hasn’t been fired - she has.
Monday 13 thMay (5237 & 5238)
Feeling empowered, TK returns to ED to reclaim his department.
Off TK’s anger at Josh, Roimata’s given hope TK still cares, but she’s knocked when he rejects her.
Hurt, Roimata uneasily accepts Josh’s suggestion that they go out in public.
In ED, Harper’s impressed by TK’s leadership.
Later, she meets up with him at the IV and though neither of them is looking for company, they have a drink together.
Meanwhile, Roimata self-consciously dines with Josh in public, hyper aware of TK with Harper.
Sarah’s worried when she hears about TK’s confrontation with Josh, but decides to take Seth’s subtle advice not to get overinvolved.
Observing the thaw between Seth and Henry, Sarah distracts herself from TK by inviting Henry to join her and Seth for dinner.
Meanwhile, a stressed Rachel is finding Zlata’s rigidity wearisome and, when Zlata cancels her meeting without asking, she decides to reinstate Henry as PA and move Zlata to the admissions desk.
Looking forward to the dinner with Seth, Henry’s torn when Rachel obviously needs him to work late.
At Sarah’s, Seth waits for Henry to arrive, unaware Henry has decided to prioritise Rachel.
At the girls confidence course, after group leader Kathy learns that two girls tried to break into the music festival, she asks them to own up.
Jasmine is keen, but stays quiet for Dayna, so Kathy imposes a group punishment.
Guilty that the others are paying for her misconduct, Jasmine confesses, then tries to make Dayna confess too, so she won’t be left on the outer.
Dayna scoffs at Jasmine’s naive belief that the other girls will embrace her for owning up.
When Ula is prickly with her and the other girls are unfriendly, Jasmine feels let down - more so when Dayna arrives with vodka and the girls agree to party with her.
Faced with alcohol, Taylor reveals she’s pregnant and talk turns to sex.
When Dayna tells her ‘first-time’ story with a much older man, the other girls see her as a victim.
As the girls start sharing their stories about their love lives, Jasmine accidentally reveals that she slept with Jared.
Ula is shocked and furious at Jasmine’s betrayal.
Despite TK’s rejection, Roimata hasn’t given up on him, and she feels bad for stringing Josh along.
At work, Roimata challenges TK to give her a second chance and when they work well together she gets her hopes up.
But Nicole transfers her to the medical ward with TK’s agreement and Roimata realises there’s no hope of a reconciliation.
Angered by TK’s unfairness, Josh threatens to lay assault charges against him.
TK’s unfazed, but sensing trouble from Josh, Sarah forces him to pull his head in.
Josh shares his frustration with Roimata, who decides to give their relationship a chance.
Seth’s disappointed when Henry doesn’t show up at dinner and Sarah challenges Henry to put Seth ahead of his work.
Henry attempts to do this, but Rachel has a work crisis and he can’t let her down.
When he finally meets with Seth later, Henry’s blown away by the offer of a job at St Cath’s, as well as a public relationship with no conflict of interest.
Henry’s tempted, but then realises that Seth could be accused of nepotism and the gossip could harm his career.
Henry refuses the job, but agrees to leave Rachel and go public, on condition he can find a suitable replacement first, hinting that Rachel is fragile and needs support.
Intrigued Rachel is having problems, Seth decides he wants Henry where he is. He claims to be willing to sacrifice his principles for Henry’s happiness and agrees to keep their relationship a secret.
Upset at Jasmine over Jared, Ula verbally attacks her, but Dayna intercedes on Jasmine’s behalf and cuts Ula down to size.
Jasmine tries to calm the situation, but Dayna reads this as a betrayal. She rejects Jasmine and goes to the festival by herself with her alcohol and ecstasy.
Jasmine and Ula resolve their differences but Ula reveals she's still hurting from Jared’s rejection.
The next day, Jasmine connects with Erin and Taylor, whose friendship is a refreshing change from Dayna’s manic behaviour.
Their camaraderie is interrupted by a medical emergency, with Kathy falling ill.
Ula’s taken with the ambulance officer, Dallas, who attends to Kathy. As the ambulance officers attend to Kathy, Jasmine recived a panicked phone call from Dayna.
Ula's intially annoyed when Jasmine insists leave to go and find Dayna.
But Ula's annoyance turns to concern when she learns Dayna’s taken dodgy pills and she and Jasmine split up to look for her.
Ula eventually finds Dayna, who is in a very bad state.
Ula wants to run for help, but realises she’s the only one who can help Dayna and is forced to overcome her fears and stay to help.
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