Harold's Café
Saskia is sitting alone at a table when Jane and Wendy come in together. They are talking about Sadie having been invited to the No 32 barbecue, but Wendy tells Jane not to get her hopes up about a reunion between Byron and Sadie; she was there just as a friend and they didn't spend much time together. Saskia listens to this carefully.

Jane is disappointed; she always thought Sadie was good for Byron. Wendy agrees, and thinks Sadie should've taken Byron back as soon as she realised Darcy was messing with her head.

WENDY: Maybe she just needs a nudge.

Saskia suddenly slams her mug down on the table quite hard! Jane and Wendy notice and turn to her.

SASKIA: Oh, uh... sorry. I misjudged the landing.

Jane then gets a phone call and is very upset by what she's told...

Erinsborough Hospital
Jane rushes into the waiting area, where Nicolette, Aaron and Remi are already present. It seems the mystery patient was Byron, and he's suddenly dragged past on a hospital bed. Remi explains he's being taken for a CT scan.

REMI: Byron was found in the Greenway unconscious, with significant trauma to the head.
JANE: What, did he fall?
REMI: The spread of his injuries is actually more consistent with an assault.
JANE: What, so somebody did this to him?!
REMI: We can't be certain until we speak to him (...) Byron's been in and out of consciousness since he arrived. He hasn't been able to tell us what happened (...) I can't tell you anything for certain until we get his scans.
JANE: Well, what are you afraid that the scans might show? What is the worst- case scenario?
REMI: Any knock to the head can be a cause for concern. But with the extent of Byron's injuries - and I am not saying this is the case - the worst- case scenario could be damage to the brain.

Jane, Nic and Aaron are horrified. Remi promises to update them again as soon as she knows more, and rushes off, while the family is left to comfort one another.

No 32
Holly is staring pensively at her phone, when Max appears behind her and snatches it from her hand, complaining she's been preoccupied with it all morning.

MAX: What are you waiting on, a hot date?
HOLLY: No, I, umm... I reached out to Mum yesterday.
MAX: Why would you do that?
HOLLY: Because she's my mum?
MAX: And now she's ghosting you... I just don't understand why you and Dad are always ready to go easy on her. Like, all she ever does is let you down.
HOLLY: She's still my mum.
MAX: Yeah, but that doesn't mean you owe her anything.

Holly doesn't look too impressed with Max's perspective on this, but at this point Taye comes in and whines at Max to come and help him clean the pool. Max complies, but before he goes, he kisses Holly on the head and says, rather patronisingly...

MAX: Put your phone away. She's not worth it.

Holly says nothing as he leaves the room.

Erinsborough High School
Wendy is teaching a class comprising JJ, Saskia, Archie (the obnoxious kid from Andrew's self- defence class a few weeks ago) and extras. It's a maths lesson and Wendy is standing in for Jane, who herself was meant to be standing in for the maths teacher.

ARCHIE: Cool. Free period with the art teacher!

Everyone laughs except JJ who disapproves, and Saskia who smiles conflictedly. Wendy asks for a volunteer to solve an equation. No one is willing but eventually JJ gets up to write an answer on the board. Wendy starts searching for the correct answer in a textbook to check it. Saskia tells her the page number she can find the answer on. But this causes Archie to declare Saskia a 'pick- me girl' which everyone giggles at. Saskia looks annoyed.

No 26
Andrew is in disbelief over what Cara is telling him about Lydia Hardy blackmailing Taye into sleeping with her, and is sorry she's having to deal with it. Cara tells him it's been way worse for Taye, and that she's just keeping her head down at the police academy. Andrew offers to 'pull some strings' in Cara's favour, but she tells him that Byron has already put in a good word. Instead she suggests Andrew help her with her next assessment, and he agrees.

Andrew is about to head to the hospital to check on Byron, but at this point Sadie comes in, and Andrew is forced to tell her about the attack on Byron.

Erinsborough High School
In the corridor, JJ is apologising to Saskia if Dex came on a little strong with her yesterday. But...

SASKIA: Stop. Your brother's a total cutie pie. I just hope I didn't hurt his feelings when I turned him down.
JJ: No. He'll be fine.

At this point, Archie storms in holding a wheel from his bike, and demands to know who slashed the tyre on it. Saskia smirks to herself, and JJ is laughing too.

ARCHIE: You think this is funny, Varga- Murphy?
JJ: A little bit, yeah. Whoever did that is my new hero.

Archie begins to issue threats about what he'll do to the responsible party, but at this point Wendy walks in and drags Archie off to discuss his bike. Saskia allows herself a smug smile.

Erinsborough Hospital
Jane, Nicolette and Aaron are still waiting for news on Byron. Andrew is here too, talking to Taye, Max and Holly to in a bid to try and work out who attacked Byron, while Sadie stands some distance apart from the rest. Nicolette joins them and reports that Byron met her at lunch and didn't seem unsettled then - Taye says he was fine at the house earlier too. Sadie listens worriedly. Aaron assures Jane that Andrew will find the perpetrator.

JANE: But what good is it gonna do? Byron's already injured. And he may never recover. Why - why do these bad things keep happening to us? And why can't I protect any of you?

Remi emerges with news for Jane, who looks at her expectantly...

A few seconds later, Remi leads Jane, Andrew, Aaron and Nicolette into Byron's hospital room. He has severe concussion, a fractured cheekbone and bruised ribs, she reports - but there's no bleeding or brain damage, according to the scans, and he'll recover with a lot of rest. A woozy Byron greets Jane.

BYRON: We can't catch a break, can we?

He initially can't remember how he landed up in here, but Andrew tells him to take his time. He recalls that he was walking home via the Greenway after his meetup with Nicolette, when someone hit him from behind. He says it was just one person, who pinned him down and kept hitting him - but the person was wearing a hoodie, so Byron didn't get a good sighting.

ANDREW: Can you think of anyone who would want to do this to you?

But Byron doesn't seem to have any ideas, so Andrew asks them to call him if he remembers anything, before leaving.

Erinsborough High School
Wendy is chatting to Andrew on the phone about how her substitute maths class went. She wraps up the call just as Saskia and JJ approach along the corridor. She asks them if they'll be okay with the maths homework they were set.

WENDY: I know we finished before I could go through it properly.
SASKIA (snarky): Yeah, lucky for you!
WENDY: I beg your pardon?
SASKIA: Oh... I was kidding. The homework's fine.

Saskia walks off followed by JJ. Wendy looks disconcerted.

Erinsborough Hospital
Max, Taye and Holly are now in the hospital room chatting to Byron. Sadie hasn't gone in, but is watching them through the window. Jane approaches her, and suggests she go and join them, but...

SADIE: I feel like I shouldn't even be here. Even as a friend, I was too harsh with him.
JANE: Well, you *are* here, which means you care.
SADIE: I do. I just don't want to give him the wrong idea.
JANE: You know, I think a situation like this... it puts into perspective any ill will that Byron might be feeling. Because despite everything that's been happening, your support will mean the world to him.

Sadie gazes sadly through the window, and then walks in.

BYRON (smiling): Hey, you're here.
SADIE: Have been the whole time.

Lassiter's Complex
Max is with Holly, and stressing about Saskia getting home before him - he doesn't want her going home to an empty house as he promised their mum he'd look after her. Holly reminds Max that Saskia is seventeen and perfectly capable of looking after herself for a few hours.

MAX: Yeah. Am I treating her like a baby?
HOLLY: A little bit.
MAX: I don't mean to. She was just super young when our parents split, and I guess I got used to acting like a third parent.
HOLLY: Well, maybe you should find a way to enjoy being her brother again.
MAX: Yeah. Like a brother who's there when she gets home from school.

Holly gets a text from her mum, Izzy, who is on her way to the Maldives and says she'll call Holly in a few weeks.

MAX (scoffs): Yeah, if she remembers.
HOLLY: ...
MAX: Oh, I'm sorry - I'm sorry. I just wish you could see how awful she is to you. But - you know - stuff her. You've got Karl, and you hit the stepmum jackpot with Susan - and you've got me. I mean, who needs Izzy Hoyland when you've got all that?

Holly puts on a fake smile.

HOLLY: Not me.

But the smile fades as Max walks on.

No 32
Max comes in, having brought Wendy with him to see Saskia. Wendy has brought a 'little welcome- to- Erinsborough gift' for Saskia. Saskia is scowling to herself at first, but when she sees what Wendy has bought her - a pair of homemade earrings - she declares that they are 'so pretty'.

WENDY: I thought they might bring you some more confidence at school.
MAX: Wait, are you having trouble again?
SASKIA: Oh, I'm not. It's just -
WENDY: Saskia is just finding her feet. I know it must be hard being the new kid, but trust me - they're gonna love you once you let them see that Saskia sparkle.
SASKIA (smiling): Thanks, Mrs Rodwell.

Wendy leaves, and Max wonders what all that was about. Saskia says it's 'just girl stuff'. When Saskia wonders where everyone else is, Max begins to tell her about Byron being hospitalised...

Ramsay Street
Cara checks in with Andrew as he arrives home, to ask if he has any leads on Byron's attacker. Andrew says they've established Byron wasn't robbed, suggesting the attack could have been personal. They both agree he doesn't seem the type to have enemies and yet someone was angry enough to do this to him.

ANDREW (testing Cara's police acumen): Tell me what you'd do next.
CARA: Oh... well, I would check the scene, try and get any footage from CCTV or doorbell cameras.
ANDREW: It's a good start. What would you do while you were waiting for the footage to come through?
CARA: ... Maybe look at recent assault reports. See if any match the MO. Was Byron attacked with a weapon?
ANDREW: No, it doesn't look like it.
CARA: Well, in that case, I would be calling the local hospitals - see if anybody presented with busted knuckles.
ANDREW (smiling): Can you hurry up and graduate already? I need you out here with me!

Cara goes on her way, and Andrew spies Holly looking a bit despondent, so walks over to ask if she's okay.

HOLLY: Yeah. Just another day in the life of being the daughter of a narcissist.
ANDREW: I'm just about to put the kettle on. Do you want to come over for a cuppa?

Holly smiles hesitantly, then follows Andrew to his place.

Erinsborough Hospital
Sadie comes back in to rejoin Byron, Jane and Nicolette having gone for some air. The atmosphere between Byron and Sadie seems to have thawed somewhat and they are smiling and joking with each other. But at this point, a concerned Saskia rushes in, followed by Max, and fusses over Byron. Sadie says it seems that Byron is being taken care of now so she'll head home. Byron thanks her for coming.

SADIE: I wouldn't be anywhere else.

Saskia frowns at this as Sadie leaves. Max then gets a call from Hudson, the manager at the garage, and goes out to take it. Saskia observes that Byron's hands look dry and offers to moisturise them for him. Uncomfortable, Byron declines and pulls his hand away. Saskia looks peeved.

Near the Community Centre
Jane and Nicolette are walking and talking. Jane is still worried about Byron, especially given they have no idea why he was assaulted. At this point, Nicolette points to the wall opposite the Community Centre. Somebody has put up a load of posters, featuring screenshots from Byron's online profile from his escorting days, with various posed photos of him captioned 'Harvey J'. Whoever is responsible has also written a phone number in paint, but it's not Byron's.

NICOLETTE: Then whose is it?

Jane gets out her phone to call the number and find out.

JANE: Hello? Who is it I'm speaking to, please? ... Well, you need to come down to the Community Centre right now!

No 26
In the kitchen, Holly is confiding in Andrew about her relationship with Izzy over a cuppa.

HOLLY: I mean, it's not that I don't know who my mum is. If I need someone to make me laugh, she's the best person in the world. But if I need advice or support or anything real, I know to go to Dad and Susan.
ANDREW: What did you need yesterday, when you reached out?
HOLLY: For Mum to prove me wrong. It's silly, I know.
ANDREW: No. No, it's not.
HOLLY: I set myself up for failure, and now I'm sad about it.
ANDREW: You gave Izzy a chance to be a decent mum. You're allowed to be disappointed that she didn't take it.
HOLLY: I don't know. When I saw you with your family the other day, it made me hope that I could have a better relationship with all my parents too.
ANDREW: I've only just met Steven. I wouldn't say we're best mates just yet. But I really do hope that Izzy gets her act together. You deserve better from your mum. And she's missing out on some great company.

Wendy comes in from the garden at this point, talking loudly about her successful day at work - but is mildly surprised to see Holly sitting with Andrew, having assumed it was Sadie's voice she could hear. Holly explains that Sadie was at the hospital with Byron, but thought she'd be home by now. Wendy wonders if there might be a 'silver lining' to Byron's situation in the form of a reconciliation with Sadie.

As Wendy goes off to put some washing away, Holly and Andrew smile at one another in silence.

Near the Community Centre
Jane and Nicolette are joined by Taye and Cara. Taye looks very uncomfortable as he recognises his phone number scrawled on the wall. Taye explains to Cara that Harvey J was Byron's escort alias.

JANE: So why is your phone number near posters of my son?
TAYE: ... I dunno.
NICOLETTE: You're clearly involved! Just tell us what you know.
TAYE: I don't know what's going on!
CARA: I think I do.

Coming up on Neighbours
- Sadie asks if Andrew has talked to his adoptive parents about his birth family
- He replies that he has, and Wendy seems surprised and perhaps annoyed that he didn't discuss it with her
- Saskia asks Sadie if it's weird being Byron's ex but also his 'protector'. 'Excuse you?' asks an annoyed Sadie
- Lydia Hardy tells a young man that whatever it is can wait until tonight; Cara watches them from nearby
- Cara later grills the young man about Lydia; he admits that she's his mum