 Tess s excitement about Nick s return is tempered only by an underlying fear that it s all a dream. She finds it hard to believe that, just as she d accepted he was never coming back, he will be here this very morning. Stevie promises the nightmare will soon be over - everything will be okay once Nick is here. And when he arrives at the air strip it seems they are right, although Nick seems a little overwhelmed by the joyous welcome of family and friends. For them his return is nothing short of a miracle but for Nick it feels like there has been a strange time jump. Apart from some shadowy flashbacks of the man who mugged him at the airstrip he has no memory of what happened to him. He feels a desperate need for answers, for a way of making sense of why things happened the way they did. Tess, who is trying to protect Nick from knowing the depth of the pain she s been through, won t open up and forces a brave face. While Nick, who has a growing sense of what she suffered, can t admit he s being haunted by flash backs and guilt. Could he have done more to protect himself on the airstrip? So, tortured by these questions, Tess finds Nick going through the box of condolence cards. Nick shrugs it off but Tess is really starting to worry. Meanwhile, Kate is also keeping secrets from loved ones. She heads off into the city to have a melanoma removed without telling her Drover s family. But a courtesy call from the doctor s clinic soon has Jodi on the trail. After hitching a lift to the city she turns up in the waiting room to support her friend only to receive a frosty welcome. Kate accuses Jodi of over-reacting just before being whisked away by the doctor. And it seems Jodi might well have over-reacted when Kate emerges sometime later to say all is well and there was absolutely no need to fuss. She suggests, however, that now they are in the city they should make the most of it and stay overnight. While they are on the city streets Jodi is shocked when she comes face to face with her mother - on a poster at least - advertising her book signing. Torn between her deep desire to see her mum again and her irritation that Meg is clearly still peddling the very book that saw them estranged, Jodi doesn t know which way to jump. As she and Kate head out that night, she is surprised by Kate s new found carefree attitude but it soon starts to worry Jodi when her friend throws all caution to the wind and almost gets in a fight with some girls she gives cheek to outside a nightclub. Just managing to subvert disaster, Jodi takes Kate to a quiet area and demands to know what is going on, why she s suddenly being so stupid and irresponsible. Kate confesses she lied about her results. She has, in fact, got skin cancer and she has to have the tumour removed tomorrow. Jodi asks Kate why she lied to her and Kate tells her that she didn t want the cancer to be real, she just wanted it to go away. Fuelled by fear, alcohol and guilt Kate breaks down, although she has her friend to help her through it. The following morning the girls, more bonded than ever, head out to face their demons together. Kate has her cancer removed and Jodi decides to see her mother. Back at Drovers, Tess wakes early and finds that Nick is gone. But Nick is with Moira who is up early working on the caravan. Off the back of talking about Moira s premonition the night before, Nick asks Moira if she knows anything about the night he was mugged at the airstrip. At first Moira is reluctant but sensing Nick s pain she relents and takes hold of his arm to see if she can "see" anything but she can t. Tess, who has come looking for Nick, has seen all of this and her concern for Nick grows. Nick, not wanting to draw Tess into his own problems brushes the incident off and moves off to Killarney. While working with Alex, Nick s mind wanders to Argentina and the airstrip. We see what he remembers, a figure approaching him from behind. At the same time, Alex approaches from behind and Nick, regressing back to the air strip, strikes out at Alex by elbowing him in the guts. He sends Alex sprawling, and in some kind of trance, he jumps on Alex about to pommel him until Rob intervenes and pulls him off. Nick is further humiliated. He confides in Tess; he still needs answers. Tess delivers answers when she realises that Nick s assailant actually saved his life, by preventing him from boarding the ill-fated plane. Finally Nick has an answer to his nagging question,  why?  Seemingly tragic events happened so that he could be safely reunited with his wife and unborn baby.