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Character Profiles > Nicola West Imogen Bailey

Nicola West 2008
Lived: 26, 30 Ramsay Street
Born: c. 1971/'72/'73
Parents: Yvonne West
Siblings: Miranda
Family Tree: West
Occupation: Medical Researcher, Nurse at Erinsborough & District Hospital

The confident and sexy younger sibling of Miranda Parker, Nicola and her elder sister were always fairly close but the two women couldn’t have been more different. Several months after Miranda and her family had moved there from Sydney, Nicola pulled up to Ramsay Street in a black BMW convertible. Finding no one home at Number 26, Nicola all too easily found the front door key under a plant pot and let herself in. Returning home from their cleaning job at the school, Miranda and husband Steve looked to celebrate their wedding anniversary alone but were shocked to find Nicola in the house, with the champagne at the ready. Nicola told Miranda and Steve she was in town to help them celebrate after she heard from mum that they were planning on throwing a big party for the occasion. However, Miranda revealed that there was to be no party as she had lied to their mother about it, going on to explain that her mum had been giving her a hard time lately and kept suggesting expensive ways to celebrate their anniversary, so to get her off her back told her they were having a cocktail party. As Nicola then began to question why Miranda and Steve were dressed the way they were, Miranda was forced to admit that they were the school cleaners and once again, had lied and not told their mother about their new jobs.

Nicola then learnt of the Parkers financial plight and offered to help after declaring she was now in the money, thanks to a credit card paid for by their wealthy mum. However, Miranda refused the offer, unable to put herself in debt to her parent. Soon enough, Nicola was the life and soul of the party, telling stories about her childhood with Miranda, and warmly greeting her adoptive niece and nephew, Bridget and Riley, though Riley seemed less-than-pleased by her arrival.

Later that night, when Riley was getting a drink from the fridge, Nicola came into the kitchen wearing nothing but one of his shirts. She told Riley that in 2 years he hadn’t changed a bit, and he disagreed, so Nicola asked him to prove it. Riley stuttered and tried to leave the kitchen, heading back to bed, but stopped halfway in his tracks, turned around and kissed his auntie. The following morning at breakfast, Nicola was still wearing Riley’s shirt and she told Miranda it was all she could find. Feeling uneasy with the situation, Riley suggested to Bridget that they go outside for a kick about, which Nicola promptly invited herself to. Then, when Nicola and Riley were left alone at the breakfast table, Riley informed her of his girlfriend Heather and how nothing more could happen between them, following their kiss.

Later at Number 26, Riley was packing his things as, desperate to escape his aunt's clutches, he'd agreed to move in with Heather. Nicola walked in and apologised; fearing she’d pushed Riley away but she then reminded him that what they did wasn’t wrong, as they aren’t blood related. Beginning to get more flirtatious, Nicola got closer to Riley and the pair ended up kissing again, just as Heather walked through the door. A furious Heather slapped Riley and instantly ended their relationship.

When Bridget’s relationship with Ringo Brown fell apart, Nicola realised that Bridget may have misinterpreted some of the advice she gave her. Feeling sorry for her niece, Nicola marched down to the General Store where Ringo was with friends and started to give him a piece of her mind and later, as Steve started to give Bridget a hard time for sharing a hotel room with Ringo, Nicola admitted to him that she may have had something to do with it all, due to her bad advice. Realising Ringo wasn’t the bad guy either; Nicola went over to Number 28 and apologized to him. Meanwhile, an unhappy Riley started to ignore Nicola, still annoyed with himself after his relationship with Heather had spectacularly ended. But when Riley started to give into temptation towards Nicola he leant in for another kiss with her, but this time, Nicola teased him and told him he’d have to wait as no one ignores her and gets away with it.

Following the revelation that Jim Parker was not Steve’s real dad, Nicola met him at Charlie’s and offered him a drink, fully knowing he’d had an alcohol addiction in the past. Jim succumbed to the temptation and started drinking in Charlie’s, and soon enough he was drunk as Nicola watched on. But when he didn’t leave after bar owner Steph refused to serve him anymore, Nicola intervened and called Steve, telling him to get to Charlie’s right away. Following this, Steve finally learnt the truth about what really happened to his father from a drunken Jim and the next morning Jim decided to go back home to Oakey with the family crisis now resolved. Though pleased to have helped fix the problem, Nicola was upset that her efforts had gone unnoticed and she was still on the outer with the Parkers.

Continuing her pursuit of Riley, Nicola discovered he was going to the beach to catch the surf, so she duly decided to invite herself along. Riley was furious that Nicola was there and angrily told her it was over between them, but she tried reasoning with him and told Riley that all she needed right now was a friend and someone to talk to. But as usual it once again ended up with the two passionately kissing, however this time Nicola stunned Riley by accidentally calling out Steve’s name during their moment of passion. Riley quickly proceeded to leave as Nicola kept claiming it was a mere slip of the tongue, but during another heated argument between the pair, Riley confronted Nicola over whether she has feelings for Steve and she admitted that she may have had a crush on Steve years back, but it was before he and Miranda were even married.

Meanwhile, as Bridget prepared for the formal she wanted Nicola to keep news of her date, older Chris Knight, a secret from her parents. Though Nicola said her secret was safe with her, when Bridget ran into some trouble with Chris on the night of the formal she had little choice but to admit to Steve and Miranda that she’d known all along that Bridget was going with Chris. And following Nicola calling out Steve’s name whilst she was kissing him, Riley informed Nicola that he’d been watching closely how she acts around Steve and he gave her an ultimatum - to head back up to Sydney and leave their family alone otherwise he would spill all of Nicola’s secrets. But instead, Nicola moved in closer to Riley and kissed him once again. Riley however stuck to his guns and threatened Nicola once again that he’d tell Steve and Miranda everything if she didn’t leave. Nicola called his bluff though and egged him on to call them and tell all, but Riley just couldn’t do it.

When Nicola met up with Riley in his van to talk she insisted to him that she wasn’t here to cause trouble. They ended up kissing again, just as Bridget was walking past. Bridget was horrified at what she’d just seen, confronted them and then ran off. Fearing things with Nicola were getting out of hand, Riley accepted a job as a journalist in the Middle East. In the dead of the night he walked out of Ramsay Street, leaving only a note for Miranda and Steve. A note which Nicola got to first and, after reading the letter, she hid it in her pocket. Bridget meanwhile was still angry with Nicola and blamed her for Riley leaving but she kept her secret, and Nicola started to feel guilty about what she’d done lately so she began to regularly cook breakfast for the family and even helped pay Steve and Miranda’s bills. But it soon became apparent that Nicola’s mum had cut off her credit cards and, realising she needed a job, she spoke to Karl about working at the hospital, taking a demotion to nursing from the highly-paid work in medical research she'd been doing previously.

Still in possession of Riley’s goodbye letter, Nicola began to read it again, but was caught by Miranda. Mortified that Nicola had kept it from them all, Miranda turned on her sister and a massive argument ensued between them, in which Miranda wanted to know why Riley had written a warning in the letter for them not to ever trust Nicola. Nicola lied and told Miranda that it was all because Riley had a ‘thing’ for her. As the argument got more and more heated, Nicola told Miranda how she’d always been the golden girl growing up and how she felt her only use had been to provide the bone marrow for Miranda when she had leukaemia. Following the argument, Nicola considered leaving Ramsay Street and heading back up to Sydney but Steve told her that instead of running away she should stay and sort out her problems.

As Steve went on trial for the death of Chris Knight, Bridget threatened Nicola not to tell her parents that she was forging a signature so she could go to court. Instead, Nicola forged it for her, knowing that Bridget would tell all about her lurid affair with Riley. Later, in court Bridget and her friend Declan arrived just in time to hear Steve’s sentencing, and Bridget was going to stop the proceedings in the courtroom and admit to killing Chris, but Declan stopped her. Then, to everyone’s surprise Nicola stood up and shocked the court by announcing that Steve didn’t kill Chris. This then gave Bridget the confidence to stand up herself and to admit in the courtroom that it had actually been her that had accidentally killed Chris Knight.

After Steve’s conviction had been quashed, he was released from prison and returned home. However, it soon became apparent that he’d got in to a scrap in prison as Nicola caught him treating one of his injuries. Steve admitted to her that a man called Pete Ferguson and a few others were after him and pleaded with Nicola not to tell Miranda. After another altercation with Pete, Steve soon enough had to tell Miranda what had gone on and later, as Miranda and Nicola were out walking, Nicola admitted to Miranda that Steve had already told her earlier about his trouble in prison. The two of them then came across a stray dog and Nicola, looking for any excuse to spend time with her brother-in-law, wanted to take it to Steve so he could possibly treat it, but instead the dog ended up biting her. When Nicola and Miranda got home she continued to be concerned about the welfare of the dog and persuaded Steve that they should go out and find it again - at the first attempt the pair couldn’t find the dog that Nicola had christened Bronte but whilst walking together they found her and Steve agreed to look after her at the surgery.

As the residents of Ramsay Street gathered in the National Park to celebrate Marco’s birthday and to help with some tree clearing, little did they know that tragedy was just around the corner. As a raging bushfire spread around the residents, panic started to set in as Daniel Fitzgerald lay injured on the floor having earlier been trapped by a falling tree. Nicola was on the scene to try and assess Dan’s injuries, but the rest of the group started to become increasingly impatient, as the fire got ever closer. As the group rallied together to rescue Dan, they were all eager to get out the park but as they walked through, trying to find the safest way out, Nicola slipped and fell down a small hill, but due to the thick smoke and everyone’s concentration on helping Dan and getting out of the park, she became detached from the rest of the group. Having later realised that Nicola was missing, Steve quickly went back to find her. He discovered her at the bottom of the hill and helped her up, at which point, to Steve’s complete surprise, she kissed him. As the residents were all led to safety from the fire, Nicola spoke to Steve and apologised for the kiss, claiming that she was just happy to have been rescued. She urged Steve not to tell Miranda about what had happened, but Steve said he would have to as he didn’t ever lie to his wife.

Wanting to get away from spending time with Steve and Miranda that evening, Nicola on the spot made up a story at how she was going on a date with local lawyer, Toadie. Later, Nicola stunned Toadie by asking him out and he happily accepted, meaning that Nicola could keep her false pretence up. However, at dinner, Toadie soon noticed something was up and confronted Nicola about it. She admitted she’d got him on a date with her under false pretences but lied to him again when she told him it was because Miranda was always on her back hoping she’d fall for a ‘nice’ guy. The next morning Nicola thanked Toadie for going along with the plan and surprised him when she kissed him on the cheek.

As Toadie’s suspicions grew over fireman Jay Duncan being the firebug, he became determined to find out for himself and to save ex-fiancee Steph from any potential danger she might be in. Figuring she owed Toadie a favour, Nicola agreed to help with Toadie’s plan and having gained access to Erinsborough News’ archives, Nicola soon found several articles about Jay rescuing blonde, single mums from fires. Desperate to find enough evidence to convince Steph that Jay was dangerous, Toadie decided that he had to warn her, but Steph had become furious with Toadie for suspecting Jay of such a thing and when Jay whisked her away on a romantic weekend in the country, Toadie and Nicola realised Steph could be in serious trouble. Toadie and Nicola tried to stop Steph from going on her weekend away with Jay, but it only made Steph angrier and more eager to get away. As Steph hastily got in the car to leave, Nicola planted the newspaper articles about Jay in her bag. Worried that if Jay found the articles first he’d hurt Steph, Toadie began to panic but Nicola was on hand and together they started looking for more evidence to pin on Jay. They ended up tracking down one of the women featured in the newspaper articles, Madeleine Cray and she agreed to meet them and told them the truth about Jay. She vaguely described to them an address in which Jay took her and fearing that was where Jay had taken Steph, Toadie and Nicola sought to find the place so they could track them down. Toadie and Nicola eventually managed to locate the cabin in Waddle Grove and on their way found Steph's young son Charlie sitting by the roadside. Nicola was left to look after Charlie, whilst Toadie drove up to the house and rescued Steph.

With Steph in hospital having been stabbed by Jay, Nicola realised just how much Toadie and Steph cared for one another and she urged Toadie to tell Steph about his feelings for her, but Toadie refused. As Toadie asked Nicola where their friendship was going, she told him that nothing could happen between them as she was in love with someone else – Steve Parker!

With Steve still keeping his kiss with Nicola from Miranda, there was an uneasy time when Miranda came home a little tipsy from Charlie's Bar and wanted to know about everyone’s secrets. The following morning made Steve realise he couldn’t keep it from Miranda for much longer so decided he had to tell her. Scared by how her sister would react, Nicola decided to pack her things and leave, but just as she was about to walk out, Miranda saw her and realised she was planning on skipping town. Miranda demanded to know why Nicola was going to leave without saying goodbye and Nicola had no choice but to reveal to her what had happened between her and Steve during the bushfire, except Nicola twisted the truth of the story and claimed that it was Steve that had kissed her. Miranda confronted Steve and he convinced her that Nicola was lying about who kissed who, prompting Miranda to go and talk to Nicola at Charlie’s. There, Nicola finally admitted to Miranda that she’d kissed Steve because she loved him. Struggling to get her head around the news, Nicola then accidentally hinted that something had gone on between her and Riley, and Miranda soon picked up on it. When Miranda voiced her worst fears and Nicola could not deny them, Miranda was absolutely horrified to learn that her sister and her son had been having a secret relationship.

As tensions between Nicola and the Parkers reached sky high, Nicola tried to apologise and speak to Miranda. However, she was having none of it, and in the heat of the moment, Nicola questioned her sister on whether Steve knew she was in love with another man when they got married. Steve soon became suspicious about what the two sisters were talking about and Miranda was forced to admit to him that she loved another man - her economics lecturer Dean Norton - just before they got married over 20 years ago. With the Parker marriage in tatters, Nicola tried to talk to Steve about the recent family troubles, at Declan Napier's 18th birthday party. But once again, she mistook Steve’s kindness and kissed him. Miranda was furious with Steve and it seemed their marriage was beyond saving as she threw both Steve and Nicola's things out onto the street. Meanwhile, things were little better at work, as Nicola was getting a hard time from some of her colleagues, including fellow nurse, Jodie Smith. Her food had been getting stolen from the staff room and Jodie kept pilling on the work for Nicola, believing she'd brought all of her recent problems on herself. However, when Karl heard Jodie being rude to Nicola, he stepped in and put her back in line. Nicola thanked Karl and he started to realise the many problems Nicola was facing when she revealed she didn’t have a home to go to. He then arranged for Nicola to move in with Toadie at Number 30 and though Nicola was grateful, it prompted Karl's wife Susan to question whether it really was a good idea for him to arrange it so Nicola was living on the same street as Miranda and Steve, especially after their recent troubles. Susan forced Karl to tell Steve that Nicola had moved in at Number 30 and he was understandably unhappy about it. He went over to Number 30 and demanded Toadie to not let Nicola stay any longer with him as his marriage was hanging by a thread, then with Miranda and Nicola’s relationship still in tatters, Miranda confronted her sister on why she was still in Erinsborough. Nicola told her it wasn’t because of Steve, but because she wasn’t going to give up on making up with her sister. Hoping to reconcile with her sister, Nicola decided to go along to a fundraiser at Charlie’s Bar, but couldn't resist causing more trouble when she started to bid for Steve in the Dingoe’s auction.

When Steve’s vet practice got broken into, it soon became clear that past family enemy Pete Ferguson was responsible, particularly when Nicola suddenly had to treat him at the hospital. Nicola instantly phoned the police and informed Steve of the news, and Steve was absolutely furious when the police said they couldn’t charge Pete Ferguson with the robbery due to a lack of evidence. However, desperate to get back on her family's good side, Nicola stepped in and told Steve and Miranda that she would sort something out. As she continued to treat Pete Ferguson in hospital, Nicola decided to hold off from giving Pete an injection to stop the pain in his arm and explained that unless he told the police the truth about the break in at the vets then he wouldn’t be getting his pain relief. In absolute agony, Pete succumbed to Nicola’s demands and eventually admitted everything to the police about the break in. After his confession, Nicola went to treat Pete and to this time give him his injection, but during the procedure, Pete grabbed Nicola and in the scuffle between the two she got pricked by the needle.

Worried about her needle stick injury, Nicola was desperate for Pete to give a blood sample so she’d know how serious it could be for her, but Pete refused. As Nicola tried to come to terms with what had happened, she sought comfort in the arms of Karl who was only too happy to lend her his support, angering Susan. With Pete still at the hospital, waiting to be transferred to a prison hospital, Nicola went to treat him and whilst he was asleep, sneakily took a blood sample from him. Nicola then took the sample to Karl’s office and without his permission she filled out the paperwork under Karl’s details so the sample could go off to the laboratory to be tested. Still reeling from her needle stick injury, Nicola turned to Karl once more and the pair hugged just as Susan walked into his office. As Susan began to fear the worst, she froze Karl out prompting Nicola to tell Susan about her injury. Susan and Karl later made up, but worse news was to follow when Karl found out that Nicola had taken a sample from Pete without authorisation and the results had come back positive.

With the Parkers attention focussed on finding missing Mickey, Nicola had to inform them of some even worse news – Pete Ferguson was out on bail. After his diagnosis with HIV, Pete was furious that someone had taken a blood sample from him without his consent. Knowing that it was Nicola who had taken the sample, Karl agonised on whether he should come clean to the medical board about Nicola’s malpractice or continue to protect her and be her friend. For Susan, there was no choice for Karl to make. He simply had to be honest with the medical board, but when Pete arrived at Erinsborough News claiming Dr. Karl Kennedy to be a dodgy doctor, Susan had to rethink as she knew that if the story was published, either by Erinsborough News or a rival paper, then Karl’s career would be in tatters. Having bought Karl some time by paying Pete $5,000 on the promise Erinsborough News would run his story, Susan urged Karl that he had to get Nicola to come clean to the board. Nicola reluctantly agreed but in front of the medical board, Nicola claimed that it was Karl who had given Pete the unauthorised blood test.

With Karl suspended pending a full investigation, he continued to try and persuade Nicola to tell the truth to the board, but she refused. But when Pete’s story appeared in a side column, buried deep in the newspaper, Pete was furious and took Elle and Susan hostage. Susan escaped, while Pete used Elle to get Paul to bring Steve to him. But Nicola and Miranda arrived to save Steve and it’s Nicola’s bravery that sees Pete restrained and arrested. After the event, Miranda and Steve are both grateful to Nicola for saving the day. It gives Nicola the opportunity to admit to her sister about her needle stick injury. Miranda begun to understand Nicola’s recent plight and offered a fresh start to her troublesome sister. Nicola admitted that she was tired of lying and with Miranda’s help; she went to the hospital to tell the truth to the board.

With Nicola having told the truth and her relationship with Miranda on the mend she started to become much more friendly and helpful with the Parkers. But it was clear that both Miranda and Steve were still having problems with playing ‘happy families’ with her. Together they told her to just take a step back and that for them, things weren’t that easy to forget.

When Nicola discovered she was clear of an HIV infection, she struggled to be happy about it following Miranda’s talk with her. Toadie pleaded with Nicola that she should tell her sister the good news but Nicola remained adamant that she didn’t want to make the first move. As a result, Callum, unhappy that Nicola was still having problems with Miranda, decided to invite Miranda and Steve over for lunch so Nicola could tell them her ‘good news’. Later in conversation with Toadie, Nicola admitted she still wasn’t over Steve and she just couldn’t bear spending time with him as she feared Miranda would pick up on it. In the end, Miranda and Steve came round to celebrate Nicola’s good news, but Steve was still insistent to Nicola that she should either get over herself or leave Erinsborough for good.

With her dog Bronte, Nicola went out for a drive to clear her head. She stopped off near the woods and allowed Brontie to jump out to do his business, but when Brontie didn’t return to Nicola, she went off into the woods to find him. From a distance, Nicola saw Brontie in the middle of the road, just as an oncoming car was approaching. At the wheel, was unstable teen Donna Freedman who’d took off in her Dads police car upset. Whilst driving she got distracted by her phone ringing, and as she looked down to see who was calling, her attention was diverted from the road and she ended up hitting Bronte and Nicola. As a shocked Donna got out the car to see what had happened, she saw a motionless Brontie on the ground. However, Nicola was out of sight, lying unconscious in the woods, a few feet away from the road. Donna and her friend, Ringo immediately took Bronte to Steve’s vet practice and both he and Miranda were shocked and slightly confused as to what was going on. Miranda tried countless numbers of times to get in contact with Nicola but to no avail. Nicola was still lying by the road side unconscious.

With Nicola missing, the police soon found her car abandoned near the woods. The police stepped up their efforts to find her and just as Miranda and Steve were walking along the road by the side of the woods with the police, Miranda stopped to phone Nicola again. This time however, Steve and Miranda could hear Nicola’s phone ringing, so Steve rushed to follow the noise and found Nicola, still unconscious. For the next few days Nicola lay in a critical condition in hospital but when she finally awoke she appeared to have amnesia. Bridget was immediately suspicious and suggested to everyone that Nicola was faking her amnesia due to the convenience of it all. As Bridget tested Nicola’s resolve, even she herself then started to believe that maybe Nicola did have amnesia after all. Bridget tried again and this time decided to tell Nicola all about her scandalous past. Upset by Bridget’s revelations, Nicola told Miranda that she no longer wanted to return home with her as she didn’t deserve a sister like Miranda. After discovering what Bridget had said an angry Miranda made Bridget apologise to Nicola and afterwards, Miranda insisted to Nicola that she definitely wanted to bring her back home to look after. Touched by her sister’s loyalty and generosity, Nicola accepted the offer. However, despite her apology, Bridget was still adamant that Nicola was faking it and when Steve noticed Nicola smirking in her hospital bed after Miranda passionately asked her to come home with her, he started to have doubts himself over Nicola’s honesty.

Steve then arranged for Nicola to go up to Sydney to recuperate with her mum instead of moving back into Number 26. When Miranda discovered through Nicola what Steve had done she was furious and confronted Steve about it, and it soon became clear to Miranda that Steve was also now having doubts about Nicola’s honesty. She told him that if he was worried that bringing Nicola back to Number 26 would threaten their marriage, then their marriage wasn’t okay in the first place. Still trying to catch Nicola out, this time Steve suggested to Nicola that he was in love with her. Nicola played along with Steve’s plot and went in to kiss him, proving to Steve that Nicola had indeed been faking her amnesia. As Nicola realised Steve had blown her secret, she retaliated and starting screaming and shouting at Steve. Despite telling Miranda exactly what had happened, she continued to refuse to believe that Nicola was faking her amnesia.

After her spell in hospital, Nicola moved back into Number 26 to recuperate. Both Steve and Bridget were still convinced that she was faking her condition and Steve assured Bridget that sooner or later Nicola would slip up and Miranda would be around to see it. He continued to mess with Nicola’s mind and antagonise her on her memory loss, and, feeling more and more pressured, Nicola quickly began to lose her mind trying to keep up her false pretence, causing her in one instance to throw a vase onto the floor in a cry for help and in another, ripping up Steve’s shirts on the washing line as he continued to play mind games over her honesty. Wanting to impress Miranda and to settle the tension in the Parker household, Nicola offered to cook one evening, but when Miranda saw her sister using some out-of-date cheese and jokingly said she could poison someone, an idea formed in Nicola's mind, and she crushed up some pills and put them into Steve’s portion of lasagne. The following day whilst training the Dingoe’s Steve collapsed in the changing rooms in agony, and when he didn’t return home from training, Miranda and Bridget started to worry. When the house was empty, Nicola, starting to regret her hasty actions, hurriedly looked through Miranda’s fridge and realised that Steve had taken some of the cold lasagne for his lunch. She then grabbed the gym keys and on her way went over to the Kennedys' bin to dispose of the evidence, only for Callum to catch her doing so. Whilst at the gym Nicola found Steve’s empty lunchbox that contained the lasagne and when she heard Steve’s phone ringing she found collapsed on the floor. An emotional Nicola apologised profusely to an unconscious Steve, telling him that she would call an ambulance. But, realising the implications, Nicola just couldn't bring herself to do it and sat next to Steve crying. Eventually, Bridget and Zeke found Steve in the gym and Nicola rushed to hide behind a wall, still in tears.

With Steve in a critical condition in hospital, Toadie also noticed Nicola's odd behaviour. He told Miranda about it and urged her to find out once and for all if Nicola is telling the truth about her amnesia. As it became clear at the hospital that Steve had been poisoned deliberately, Miranda went home to try and catch Nicola out like Toadie had suggested. Miranda told Nicola about Steve’s condition and told Nicola that they think it could have one of Pete Ferguson’s cronies who had poisoned him. Nicola agreed with Miranda and started talking about Pete Ferguson, which gave Miranda enough reason to finally believe that Nicola had indeed been faking her amnesia all along and that she’d poisoned Steve. As Miranda rushed to the hospital to let them know that it was Nicola who’d poisoned Steve, Nicola back on Ramsay Street, decided to pack her bags and run away. But Toadie saw her with all her stuff and questioned her on it, to which she lied about and said it was just some stuff for the Salvation Army. Still keeping up her pretence, Nicola told Toadie that Miranda now thinks she’s the one who poisoned Steve. Toadie comforted her and told her to put the kettle on and they could have a chat, but whilst Nicola was in the kitchen, Toadie phoned up Miranda and informed her of Nicola’s whereabouts. Miranda came to Number 30 and demanded to know what Nicola had put in Steve’s food, but Nicola stood firm and pleaded her innocence and ended up spinning another fake story of how she’s suffered at the hands of Steve’s psychological abuse. Miranda seemingly brought the story but when the pair returned to Number 26, Miranda went through Nicola’s handbag and found the tablets she'd used to poison Steve.

Still in a critical condition in hospital, Steve kept drifting in and out of consciousness, and Nicola managed to slip into the hospital unnoticed; wearing a nurse’s uniform and went into Steve’s room. A few moments later and the machines by Steve’s bedside start bleeping. The doctors and nurses sprung into action to try and revive Steve, while Nicola left the hospital in tears. On her way out, Nicola ran into the path of Bridget and Declan who were on their way to visit Steve. She told them that Steve ‘had gone’ and whilst Bridget rushed into the hospital to find out what was going on, Declan tried to restrain Nicola so the police could arrest her in time. Unfortunately a passer by broke up Declan and Nicola, and she ran away to her safety once again. With Steve revived, Bridget wanted to find more evidence to pin on Nicola and duly went and found Steve’s empty lunchbox at the gym. Meanwhile, Nicola returned to Ramsay Street to gather her belongings and leave; however Callum caught her calling out for Bronte. She then went back to Number 26 to find Bronte, but was surprised to see Miranda come into the kitchen with the dog. Miranda lied that she fed Bronte some of the lasagne Nicola had made and as her sister became distress, Miranda finally managed to force Nicola into a confession about what she’d done to Steve. Afterwards Miranda called the police as Nicola remained seemingly calm on the sofa with Bronte. However an argument between the two soon ensued ending with Nicola trying to leave the house and, as Miranda did her best to keep Nicola inside, she was pushed to the ground and Nicola fled. As Miranda got up and rushed outside to try and catch up with Nicola she saw her shouting and screaming as the police tried to restrain her. Miranda confirmed to the officers that it was Nicola and she was bundled into the back of the police car in front of a watching Toadie and Callum.

At the station, as the police started to question Nicola, it was clear that she had completely lost her mind when she told one of the officers that her name was Miranda Parker and she wanted to speak to her husband, Steve. As Miranda discovered the extent of Nicola’s woes she went to the station to try and talk to her little sister, who claimed she had no idea who the woman was and still thought she was Miranda Parker. Afterwards, Dr. Jeremy Levi completed his initial assessment of Nicola and concluded that she was suffering from extreme paranoia, exacerbated by trauma from the accident and was completely delusional. He recommended she was transferred to another facility where they could provide her with round the clock care and treatment.

Trivia Notes
• Nicola's childhood nickname for her sister was 'Panda'

Tenure
5446-5558

Magic Moments
Episode 5446: Nicola's Arrival
Episode 5557: Nicola's Departure: Part One
Episode 5558: Nicola's Departure: Part Two

Biography by Edd

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