The Paratas receive sad news as Ari is rushed to hospital next week on Home and Away in the UK, while Ryder finally makes amends with his grandfather…
If the past few weeks haven’t been stressful enough for the Parata/Anderson family, fate is about to strike again when Mia (Anna Samson) receives a phone call informing her that Ari (Rob Kipa-Williams) has fallen unwell.
Since confessing to being responsible for the killing of Chloe’s (Sam Barrett) biological father, Matthew Montgomery, Ari has been held in a detention centre (James Sweeny). Of course, the Parata patriarch was covering for Chloe, who had whacked Matthew over the head with a rock while he was arguing with Mia.
Mia had been keen to continue through with wedding plans, having become engaged to Ari the day before the incident, much to the chagrin of both Chloe and Nikau (Kawakawa Fox-Reo). She wants Ari to know that she will always be there for him, and if it means marrying in prison, so be it!
Mia is anxious this week when Ari fails to make his planned phone call, and she and Tane (Ethan Browne) are concerned that Ari is withdrawing from them, as he did when he was arrested for armed robbery over a decade ago.
These concerns fade almost quickly, though, as Mia returns home to discover her wedding gowns have arrived. She admires the gown but finds it unnervingly confronting as she tries to preserve her composure.
Mia finds it unpleasant to give Chloe with her bridesmaid outfit that evening. Chloe informs Mia that she hates everything about the outfit after trying it on at her request.
Bella (Courtney Miller) is irritated with Mia and accuses her of giving Chloe the dress when she knows she’s having trouble with the wedding concept. Mia had gone to Bella pleading for her aid with Chloe, and her discussions had so far proven fruitful.
Mia reveals to Tane the next day that Bella was correct, but her worries are quickly dispelled when her phone calls. Ari has been brought to the hospital, and it’s the prison!
Mia rushes to the emergency room, where she meets Logan (Harley Bonner), who has no idea what’s going on until Ari is brought in, writhing in agony from abdominal pain.
Mia, Tane, and Nik are forced to wait outside until Officer Martinez (Shameer Birges) can validate their IDs while the paramedics give Ari over to Logan and Nurse Freya (Francisca Braithwaite).
Logan feels Ari is suffering from appendicitis, with the chance of a rupture, after some first testing reveal just mildly elevated inflammatory markers.
Ari is carried down for keyhole surgery, but Logan returns later with the revelation that he discovered something far more terrible.
Ari has pseudomyxoma peritonei, a rare and severe cancer that began in his appendix, according to Logan. The tumours have already spread throughout Ari’s abdominal cavity, and there isn’t much they can do… Ari is on his deathbed.
Logan is surrounded by Mia, Tane, Nik, and Chloe as he gives the news to Ari. Logan informs him that they could undertake a gruelling 16-hour operation known as the “mother of all surgeries,” but even then, the tumours would grow back and the procedure would simply postpone the inevitable.
Ari inquires as to how much longer he has if he refuses the operation, but Logan can only inform him that the volume of bleeding indicates that things could swiftly deteriorate…
Will Ari opt for the procedure despite the fact that it has no guarantee of enhancing his life expectancy?
