When the local pub, The Waterhole explodes, Stephen is one of the casualties and is the first to be found in the wreckage. He wakes up in hospital and is disoriented and has no memory of Phoebe, who was keeping a bedside vigil. Stephen then has an operation to remove a blood clot on his brain and recovers and regains his memory. He is left paralysed and soon feels like a burden to Phoebe and decides to go to a rehabilitation centre but changes his mind at the last minute.