Mitch Beats Terri

Source: TV SOAP

Date: 24th February

Terri's dream of happiness with Mitch turns into a terrifying
nightmare when he hits her, on All Saints. Mitch's (Erik Thompson) sudden
violence echoes the events of Terri's (Georgie Parker) troubled childhood when
she watched her father beat her mother. The distraught woman wonders
if history is repeating.

After his divorce from Rose (JS) was finalised, the first thing Mitch
did was ask his true love Terri to be his wife. It was the moment
she'd been waiting 10 years for and she ecstatically said yes.

But the head nurse begins to get the sinking feeling that things
aren't right. Late one night, the couple is at home. With a furrowed
brow Mitch paces the floor, with seemingly a million things on his
mind. He reaches for a bottle of Scotch and pours himself a stiff
drink. When Terri gently asks what's wrong, Mitch refused to answer
and continues to pace around like a caged animal. Terri persists and
again asks what's wrong.

She's then shaken when an evil side of her beloved partner erupts.
He lashes out at her, yelling "What the hell would you know?" Then he
raises his hand and slaps Terri across the face, sending her
sprawling back onto the sofa.

Horrified, she clambers across the room and scurries upstairs to
their bedroom, sobbing. Mitch finishes his drink and pours a few
more, oblivious to the pain he's caused his fiancée.

The next morning, a hung over Mitch wakes to find Terri has gone.
Assuming she's at work, he arrives at Ward 17 determined to make
everything right, but discovers she hasn't arrived at the hospital.

Mitch panics. The thought of losing Terri distresses him deeply and
he desperately tries to find out where she is. He tracks her down at
her sister Margaret's (Victoria Longley) house. But as Mitch attempts
to apologise and explain his behavior, for the first time in their
relationship, Terri is scared of him. She wonders whether she could
endure a marriage like her mother's.

Confused by what to do, Terri refuses to see Mitch and suddenly his
violent streak erupts again as he attacks Margaret's husband.

When he's finally subdued, Mitch agrees to leave, but not before
vowing to win back Terri.

As Mitch walks away, Terri wonders just how much of his behavior is
due to the failure of his previous marriage, the fights with Rose,
the custody battle over their daughter Lucy and the collapse of his
detox clinic.

But there's no way she can marry a violent man. Terri is devastated
that all her dreams of a happy future with her soul mate Mitch seem
to have vanished in a matter of hours.

Little does Terri know that there's something else affecting Mitch -
something that will change their lives forever.

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