Doctor Hamilton says the patient’s name is Josie Summers and she had Motor Neurone Disease in its final stages. Her mother died and she had to move up to Mt Thomas. Her brother, Greg Michaels, asked how much longer she had to live, that she was in a lot of pain and the end would be muck quicker if she gave her the right pill. There hasn’t been a crime committed so PJ and Tom can’t really do anything. But Zoe just wants them to back her up as she wants to apply for an intervention order so she can put Josie in a hospital. Tom and PJ bring Greg in to have a chat.
Tom tries to persuade Greg to release her into the care the hospital has to offer but Greg says he promised to help Josie and that she hates hospitals. Tom warns Greg that any attempt to kill her will be treated as murder when Greg compares her to a dog (who, in her condition, would be shot).
Dash asks Nick what MND is as they arrive at the Michaels property. He tells her that it affects the nervous system and breaks it down. He adds that some “famous” actor had it when he died. Dash has never heard of him so Nick runs off a list of movies that he’s been in. Dash thinks that going to a doctor for “help” is the easy way out and where there’s life there’s hope and that sort of thing. Nick doesn’t really agree but keeps quite. They go in to talk to Abby Michaels.
Abby tells them that they should be talking to her husband but they’ve already done that. She thinks it’s not worth her being in the house. To her, it’s too much trouble because Josie can’t do anything for herself any more. Greg went to talk to Doctor Hamilton about options but that’s all it was - talk. She says Greg will keep her until it kills him because he made her a promise. Nick suggests that maybe that’s only until it kills her. They go to speak to Josie.
Josie is lying in a bed and is breathing with the aid of a respirator. When they enter, Abby tells her that there are some people here to see her. She makes a noise and Nick gets Abby to take off the mask. Nick talks to her and she makes sounds back, not really understandable to anyone. Abby says that Lucas (Josie’s son) says he can understand her. He is at school so Nick and Dash go to pick him up.
They arrive at the school and he comes running towards them. He wants to see his mother and they tell him they want to talk to Josie. Lucas says that then they’ll need him. Dash changes her mind about going on living since she’s seen Josie.
Back at the Michaels, Nick asks Lucas if he and him mum are alright. He says he guesses so. The Michaels mean well but he wishes they’d lay off him about going to school because he would rather be at home looking after him mum. Lucas tells Nick about the code of blinking - one blink for yes and two blinks for no. Nick and Dash leave Lucas with his mum even though they said they’d run him back to school.
Back at the station, Nick tells Tom that Doctor Hamilton is just over-reacting - that’s her hobby. There are no signs for the need for an intervention order as Nick says Greg was just checking up options. Tom hopes that one of those options wasn’t murder. Dash reckons that whole Lucas is there she’ll be fine. Tom tells Nick to tell Doctor Hamilton about what they’ve found out. He does the “Do I have to?” routine again before he leaves.
At the hospital, Nick tells Zoe that it is inappropriate to take out an intervention order. Zoe can’t believe what she’s hearing. Nick explains that they are to prevent domestic violence but Zoe calls murder pretty violent. Nick says they need some evidence that there has been some abuse. Zoe challenges Nick again and says “so you need a body first”. He explains the lack of evidence and tells her to pursue other options. She already has and has applied through the Advocate for a guardianship order. She walks away leaving Nick to digest what he has just heard.
Tom says he’s already heard and the Advocate recommends they move Josie into a hospital overnight as a precaution.
As they move Josie, Greg is talking about how change isn’t good for her condition. Lucas says Greg doesn’t care. Greg denies it but Lucas asks why he wants to “bump her off”. He says he hates Greg and Greg says he’s got it all wrong. Abby warns Lucas not to listen in on their conversations. Lucas doesn’t want to stay with them and would rather stay at the hospital. When Greg moves to accompany Josie in the ambulance, Lucas pushes him out of the way and gets in himself. Greg heads with his wife back into his house.
Dash is coughing and spluttering again and Maggie is concerned about her room-mate. She doesn’t want to see Zoe - she’ll be fine. Tom recommends a few days off but Dash declines. Nick tells her half jokingly that MND isn’t catching.
Nick is picking up the lunches and Chris talks to him about Josie’s past. She was really smart and that but you wouldn’t know to look at her now. Greg has a good reputation, with Rotary and all. The lunches arrive and Nick leaves.
At the station, Nick is handing out the lunches when Abby comes in to report that Lucas is missing.
They interview Abby about Lucas’ disappearance. She says that he’s taken his rucksack and raided the fridge. She has no idea where is may have gone. Nick thinks he left because he knew that she was safe in hospital. Abby says she was safe at their house and that it was only a misunderstanding.
Tom thinks Greg and his wife were looking after Josie without really worrying about Lucas but Nick maintains that he knew his mum was safe in hospital. Nick has let all the police stations in the surrounding area know, rung the missing persons department and the stations know. Greg comes in with a photo. Dash brings up Lucas’ dad. He was working on a Bass Strait oil rig according to Greg. They haven’t seen each other for ages.
At the pub that night, Adam says that if he had MND he’d try to “top himself”. Nick says easy said but how do you know when? Maggie agrees - what if they find a cure for it next week? Nick says to Zoe that MND is incurable isn’t it - you just waste away. What if Josie wanted to die? Zoe says she hasn’t said that she wanted to die but Nick says that she is in no condition to so do. She says she could have signed a living will (which Nick has) saying that if there’s no reasonable chance of recovery you shouldn’t be forced to live on. Nick doesn’t thinks Zoe should make decisions about letting people like Josie live and they have a quiet, verbal argument. Tom reminds Nick that euthanasia is still illegal.
The next day they still haven’t found Lucas. Nick still thinks he’s gone to Melbourne. Tom thinks it’s too far fetched and tells Maggie and Dash to go out to the school. Tom and Nick attend the meeting at the hospital with Zoe and Greg and members of the Advocate. Zoe maintains there may be some danger if Josie wen home and tells the members of her visit by Greg and their conversation about euthanasia. Nick tells Zoe about the blinking communication. This is the first she’s heard of it. Josie says that she isn’t happy in a hospital and that Greg’s care is adequate for her. Greg wants to take her home.
Maggie and Dash are called to a disturbance at the Michaels house. Lucas is there with his father. Greg doesn’t want him in the house - he is not her wife any more. Dash and Maggie take Lucas’ dad down to the station.
Lucas was the one who told his father what was going on. He thinks that Lucas and his mother should be with him. Nick got the idea that they were separated. He says that they went through a rough patch and she asked him to leave so he did. He didn’t know her condition was so bad, or that her mother had died. Lucas was the one who filled him in. He claims he wants to take care of her. But as he does shift work, Maggie sees that she may be better off where she is. He says he could get some time off and hire a nurse.
Dash is having yet another coughing fit and Maggie again asks if she’s made a doctors appointment yet. She says no because she’d been busy. Zoe comes in to see Tom to tell him that Josie had been found dead.
Zoe goes out to the Micheals house to examine Josie. Abby comes in and finds out that Josie is dead. She was only gone for an hour. Zoe says she isn’t prepared to issue a death certificate and orders a post mortem to be done.
They bring Greg in for an interview. He left after she was settled in because he had some work to catch up on. He was notified of her “merciful release” by the nurse who was helping out. He doesn’t see what all the fuss is about.
Abby, on the other hand, also left when Josie was settled back in to go down to the pharmacy. She was gone for about an hour and left Josie with the nurse. She wasn’t there when she died.
PJ calls the alibis a little too convenient but Nick believes them. PJ decides to talk to the district nurse.
The nurse says she wasn’t the last one to see Josie alive. Lucas came by and she went to prepare her food. He was gone by the time she got back - when she found Josie dead.
Dash is still drinking the concoction that Siobhann gave her and she asks Maggie about her mum. Maggie’s mum wasn’t sick for too long. She left it too late so the cancer spread pretty quickly. Dash had always been against euthanasia but seeing Josie half changed her. Maggie says that I f it were her, she’d want to keep fighting. Dash starts to cough again. Maggie questions her about the doctor’s appointment and Dash says again that she’s been busy and she’ll do it later. Maggie doesn’t believe her so she rings and makes the appointment on Dash’s behalf.
PJ and Maggie interview Lucas with his dad present. He did go to see her. Maggie takes Lucas out to get a drink, leaving PJ to talk to Lucas’ dad. He says that Josie raised the issue of euthanasia as well. She hated feeling helpless. She made a living will. Maggie and PJ now think that if Greg know about the living will, he could have taken the law into his own hands and killed her.
PJ and Maggie go to see Greg. He shows them the papers but there are some missing. They could have been accessed by anyone. Maggie thinks that Lucas really wanted his mother to live and may have hidden it or destroyed it. They begin to look for it. Maggie finds it hidden in a comic.
Lucas says he took it because the (Greg and Abby) could use it as an excuse. Abby was always complaining how hard it was to look after Josie.
Doctor Hamilton comes in with the blood report. Someone gave Josie some insulin and that is the likely reason why she died. She wasn’t a diabetic.
PJ and Maggie interview the district nurse about the insulin and suggesting that she may have given it to Josie. She denies it which leads PJ back to Lucas. He wants to talk to him again.
PJ and Maggie go to check out Josie’s room only to find that Greg and Abby are clearing o ut her room. They find Abby tidying up the room - destroying evidence? Maggie finds a container which has a syringe with the needle and carriage still attached. They should have been separated. They send it down to the labs. As there is no sign of blood and it is used to draw blood.
Meanwhile, Dash arrives for her appointment but Zoe is busy and tells her to wait.
Back at the station, PJ and Maggie are told that both Abby’s and Greg’s alibis check out and that insulin was found on the syringe Zoe found.
PJ and Maggie interview Lucas again. His dad is present. Lucas tells them that when he was there it was just him and the nurse - no-one hanging around outside. He was with his mother for about 5 minutes although the nurse said her was there for about 20 minutes. PJ tells them about the insulin and Lucas confesses to killing Josie. PJ doesn’t really believe him and when they ask him where he got it from since he wasn’t a diabetic, his father confesses to the crime. He is the diabetic.
Lucas’ dad says that when he saw her when she came back from the hospital it was the first time in 3 years. She was completely helpless. She looked at him and he knew what she wanted. He just wanted to spend some time with her. He told Lucas to leave them alone so Lucas left. He went in and asked her if she “wanted out”. She blinked once - yes. He asked her if she was sure - yes again. The nurse’s bag was open and since he was a diabetic he knew what to look for. He took the syringe and the insulin. He held her hand until the breathing changed and left. Somebody had to do something.
Nick is showing Lucas how to play solitaire when Greg comes to take him home. He doesn’t want to go with Greg but Tom persuades him to go with Greg for the night. Greg is prepared to put up the money for bail because he did what he didn’t have the courage to do. Lucas agrees on the condition that he goes with his father when he is free.
Dash is being checked by Zoe. She had the flu - a bit run down as well as a chest infection. Zoe prescribes anti-biotics. Dash thanks Zoe and leaves.
At the pub, they discuss the future of Lucas dad. Zoe thanks them and offers to buy a round. Nick goes to help her. PJ predicts peace on the Nick/Zoe front.