Perri (Cantona Stewart) is on edge next week, as the court case against his father Carl (Matthew Holmes) looms.
After years of abuse, Perri finally found the courage to stand up to Carl and report him to the authorities, with the support of Tane (Ethan Browne).
However, having taken Perri under his wing with a promise that he’ll always have a home with him, Tane is already finding himself juggling his responsibilities now that Harper (Jessica Redmayne) is pregnant with his child.
Whilst Perri has felt insecure, feeling he would be pushed out once the baby came along, Tane’s attempts to allay his concerns have seen Harper frustrated with not being able to catch Tane alone to talk about their future.
Tane went on to assure his commitment to Harper and the baby, vowing to be there for all future antenatal appointments, but left Harper frustrated after he initially revealed he couldn’t make the next appointment, realising it was on the same day as Perri had to testify.
Although Tane assured her he’d work something out, Harper eventually found out the real reason and said she’d be able to move the scan, apologising for not giving Tane a chance to explain.
Next week, Perri is settling into his new room after he and Tane moved back to Tane’s old home on Saxon Avenue to live with Cash (Nicholas Cartwright). The only thing that would make the room complete is some posters, plus a TV which Perri hopes to save up for.
Perri’s soon brought back down to earth however when he finds a hand-delivered letter at the gym, warning him to keep his mouth shut.
It’s clearly a warning from his dad, breaking the terms of his AVO, who evidently knows that Perri is planning to testify against him in the coming days. But with no witnesses as to who delivered it, there’s little that Senior Constable Rose (Kirsty Marillier) can do.
Later in the week, Tane and Harper are pleased when Perri tells them he’s hanging out with newfound buddy Theo (Matt Evans) for the day.
Whilst it’s good that he has someone to hang out with, it also means that Tane can secretly set up a surprise in Perri’s room, a new TV.
When Perri later returns, his day with Theo having been called off after Theo was forced to work, his mood is low. He later announces that he doesn’t want to attend the hearing, scared of facing his father, particularly after Rose told him he has no option but to do it in person (apparently video link hasn’t reached the Northern Districts).
Tane reassures Perri that he will be by his side and that Carl is no longer a threat, pointing out this could be the last time they have to deal with him.
To help Perri cope, Tane suggests boxing as an outlet for his anger. As Perri punches the bag in the gym, Tane watches with empathy, seeing the pain and frustration in his eyes.
Meanwhile, over at Northern Districts Hospital, Dana (Ally Harris) is beginning to find Bree (Juliet Godwin) particularly difficult to work with, with her showing obsessive tendencies in the weeks since Felicity’s (Jacqui Purvis) death on the ward.
Bree repeatedly asks Dana for the status of all the beds in the department, and when she then asks if the resus trolley has been checked, Dana points out that it’s the first thing she does when coming on shift—the security seal still being intact means nothing has changed. Nevertheless, Dana later finds Bree checking it anyway.
When a patient (Adam Kovarik) later presents at the ED with a head wound following a workplace accident, he accidentally gets some blood on Bree’s scrubs.
Bree rushes out of the cubicle, leaving a stunned Dana to deal with the injured patient on her own.
Dana’s further confused when she finds Bree determinedly trying to clean all the blood off, pointing out that she could just put on some new scrubs and be done with it. Her advice is clearly falling on deaf ears however.
As she clocks off, Dana heads to Bree’s office and confronts her over her behaviour throughout the day. Abandoning a patient is not on, nor is the constant requests for updates, or checking things which are not part of her job.
When Bree asks if she’s done with her speech, Dana tells her that she is there if she needs to talk about anything. Bree is dismissive however, reminding Dana that her shift is now over and she no longer needs to be there.
Dana is further concerned when she returns to work the next morning to find that Bree is still there, having pulled a double shift. She points out that she really should go home and get some rest, for the patients’ sake if not her own, but Bree bluntly replies that she’ll ask for her opinion if she wants it.
Back in the bay, it’s the morning of Carl’s court appearance, and a nervous Tane and Perri wait for Harper outside the surf club, who appears to be running late. With time getting on, Rose offers to give Perri a lift in her car whilst Tane continues waiting for Harper.
But Harper won’t be arriving anytime soon, as we discover when she shows up at the hospital clutching her stomach, nervously telling Dana that she’s bleeding!
Dana quickly ushers her sister into a cubicle as she tries to calm her, and begins taking her obs as they wait for one of the doctors.
But as Dana clocks Bree beginning to make her way towards their cubicle, Dana is quick to intercept her.
Pulling Bree to one side, Dana puts her foot down to her superior.
“No,” she states. “You are not coming anywhere near my sister. Not when you’ve had zero sleep, it’s not happening.”
Bree is speechless as Dana asserts that the only useful thing she can do right now is to go home.
Theo is confused when he finds Tane still pacing up and down outside the surf club as he desperately tries to get hold of Harper, asking why he’s not at the courthouse with Perri.
Harper doesn’t wish to burden Tane knowing how important today is, so claims that she overslept when she eventually answers. But Dana overrules her decision and takes the phone off Harper, telling Tane that he needs to get to the hospital.
Will Harper and the baby be okay?
And as Perri takes to the stand to speak out against his violent father, will be be able to cope without his two allies by his side?