This week on Home and Away in Australia, Justin dials up the damage control as he continues to try and win over Claudia – but is he being too generous?
Summer Bay Auto customer Claudia (Rachael Carpani) brought her car in to be serviced last week, but recently qualified mechanic Theo (Matt Evans) ended up getting sidetracked talking to Perri (Cantona Stewart) about his abusive father.
Theo was able to lend an understanding ear after his own experiences, but as a result both the service on Claudia’s and Tane’s (Ethan Browne) cars ended up getting delayed.
Justin (James Stewart) was fuming when he learnt of the backlog, and the two hurried through the work the following day. However, when Justin later received a call from Claudia to say she’d broken her arm in an accident after the brakes failed, Justin feared it was down to Theo’s negligence.
Pulling in a favour from the tow truck company, Justin inspected Claudia’s car and confirmed that the brake callipers were damaged. They would have been on Theo’s job list as part of the service, so there was no doubt that he was at fault.
Fearing how Theo would react, given he’s recently been feeling overwhelmed, Justin and Leah hoped that he could work out an arrangement with Claudia, offering to cover all the repair and medical costs, without needing to tell Theo what had happened.
Claudia accused Justin of trying to bribe her so that she wouldn’t sue, but he was able to persuade her to meet face-to-face in the surf club that evening.
Buying her dinner at Salt, with Leah (Ada Nicodemou) keeping an eye on things, Justin heard that Claudia depended on her car for work, and whilst he was able to offer a courtesy car, she was still left the problem of being unable to drive it.
Claudia agreed to being provided with a car whilst Justin would arrange for all the necessary repairs and panel beating free of charge.
But when Leah and Justin returned home, Theo was confused to have just received a call about Claudia’s damaged car being returned to the garage. Justin was forced to tell him that she had been involved in an accident, with Theo quickly deducing that it was his fault.
Whilst they both assured Theo that he wasn’t in any trouble, Theo didn’t think that was the point, asking how he could trust himself at work again after something so serious.
Meanwhile, Bree (Juliet Godwin) has also been busying herself with Claudia. Having initially treated her for the broken arm the previous day, seeing Claudia rubbing her neck whilst in Salt triggered Bree to return to the hospital and go over Claudia’s notes once again.
Head of ED Bree has been struggling over the past couple of weeks, following Felicity’s (Jacqui Purvis) passing. Despite Flick’s death being completely unpreventable, Bree feels she has let Summer Bay down by not being able to save her, and so isn’t taking any chances.
Asking a confused Claudia to return to Northern Districts, Bree asked about her neck and whether she had been experiencing any pain. Claudia said it had been a bit stiff but clearly didn’t think anything of it. Bree explained that she would like to look into it however, and was going to organise a CT.
“I don’t understand why we’re doing this,” Dana told Bree once they were alone. “She seems fine to me?”
“I’m the doctor,” Bree reminded her abruptly. “So just so as you’re told.”
With Claudia now worried, she rang Justin to tell him there could be further complications, and if there are then she could sue him for everything he’s got!
As a promo for this week’s episode shows, Claudia insists to Dana that she feels fine, but she explains that Bree is just trying to be thorough.
As Remi (Adam Rowland) waits at home wondering where Bree has got to, pointing out to John (Shane Withington) that they’re supposed to be going for a ride on his motorbike, he doesn’t realise that Bree is screening his calls.
Dana has a quiet word with Bree in her office, commenting that she doesn’t seem herself, but Bree insists she’s fine and ends the discussion.
Claudia isn’t best pleased when all the extra tests seem to come back clear, asking Bree and Dana whether patients are often called back in for nothing.
Bree apologises to Claudia, but as Claudia continues her rant, Bree decides to shut her down by simply stating that Dana will take things from here, and to have a nice day.
Dana is thrown by Bree’s attitude, and when she later finds Remi in Salt, still wondering where his girlfriend is, Dana explains that Bree has been at the hospital all night… and she feels there’s something wrong.
Meanwhile, with Claudia now in an even worse mood, after being forced to miss another day of work for pointless tests, Justin comes up with a radical solution to sweeten her up. He offers to be her chauffeur, driving her to and from work every day until her arm is healed.
Claudia finds the proposition intriguing.
“While she feels she’s going against her gut by allowing him to get out of what could be a costly lawsuit, she sees this as a faster solution,” Rachael Carpani told TV Week.
“It allows her to keep seeing her clients without having to take any more days off work. And – in her mind – she’s doing Justin a favour by accepting his offer.”
It appears as though Justin isn’t about to share his new role with Leah however, with spoilers for the week indicating that he’s about to start leading a “double life.”
Will Justin come clean about Driving Ms Claudia, or will Leah have to find out in a far more dramatic fashion…?
