Wed, Nov 24, 1999
After learning that Darwin Ward is going to be split in half to accommodate a new general surgery ward, cardiothoracic consultant Anton Meyer and registrar Nick Jordan return early from a medical conference in Florida. On the flight back to Holby, Eleri (Annette Badland), the woman Nick is sitting next to, experiences a severe bleed. Nick and Meyer discover that she is seven months pregnant, and have to perform a Caesarean in order to stop the bleed. At the hospital, SHO Victoria Merrick flirts with new healthcare assistant Danny Shaughnessy, and registrar Kirstie Collins has a HIV scare when senior staff nurse Ray Sykes accidentally sticks her with a needle which has been used on a HIV positive patient. Kirstie takes a HIV test, which comes back negative. Ward sister Jasmine Hopkins returns to work following her stabbing. She tells her friend, staff nurse Julie Fitzjohn, that she wants an abortion. Julie attempts to deter her, and tells Jasmine's ex-fiance Carl (Alex Avery) about Jasmine's pregnancy. He angrily confronts Jasmine, who in turn is furious with Julie for telling him. Jasmine accuses Julie of wanting to take her job, before collapsing in pain. Nick and Meyer arrive back at the hospital with Elerie. Despite their ordeal, Meyer insists that Nick takes part in a hospital blood drive, determined that Darwin staff will donate more than the general surgery staff.
Wed, Dec 1, 1999
Jasmine experiences a bleed and is admitted as a patient. She and Julie make up, and Julie stays with her as Jasmine miscarries her baby. Ward Sister Karen Newburn visits Jasmine, who asks her if she and Nick, her estranged husband, ever considered having children. Karen admits that the reason she and Nick split up was not his infidelity, as suspected amongst the staff, but because they could not conceive a child. When Ray remarks on the division of Darwin Ward, Karen proposes him as a union representative, seconded by Julie. Following his treatment of a patient on board a plane in "Search for the Hero", Nick is given two complimentary tickets to Paris and a hotel for the weekend by the airline. He asks both Kirstie and Victoria to accompany him, and is turned down each time. Karen is aware that she is his third choice, so strings him along when he asks her, pretending to agree before revealing she will actually be spending the weekend in Rome with her boyfriend Dave.
Wed, Dec 8, 1999
The team races against time to find a donor for a girl in need of a lung transplant and, in the meantime, the patient's wilful sister takes a poorly man waiting for a new heart off on a joyride. At the end of the day the staff unwind at the Christmas party - except for Karen and Nick, whose relationship takes an unexpected turn.
Wed, Dec 22, 1999
The victim of a racially motivated stabbing is brought in at the same time as his badly wounded attackers and, as police and vengeful relatives create a clamour in the new ward, Nick Jordan pursues Karen, determined to keep his marriage alive. Meanwhile, Kirstie asks Danny for a date, only to find he's waiting for the right moment to approach Victoria.
Wed, Dec 29, 1999
Staff are sceptical about a mysterious man who arrives at the hospital carrying a sick woman, and claiming to know the whereabouts of her desperately ill baby. Meanwhile, a drug addict causes problems on the ward, Meyer's future at the hospital seems uncertain, and Nick Jordan decides to spread a little festive cheer.