Place of Safety

 was the twenty-third episode of Series 25 and the 754th episode overall.

Plot
Bedraggled, confused and shaking, Ruth awakes in a sparse room. Deeply upset, she kicks out at Charlie as he tries to help her. Resisting attempts to talk to consultant Andrew Brookfield she searches for someone in charge. As Charlie tries to reason with her she lashes out and has to be restrained. Later she phones the Emergency Department and speaks to Tess, begging her for Jordan's help. Tess is upset on hearing this, but can't do anything to help.

Meanwhile, in a flashback scene, Ruth purposefully walks into resus where a patient lies on the slab – it's Mary, a woman in her thirties, who looks very much like Ruth, and wears a heart-shaped necklace. In a later session Ruth starts to open up to Andrew, explaining who Mary is – a former patient who Ruth suspected of having Munchausen's Syndrome during their series of fraught encounters.

Later, Ruth meets a fellow patient, Jim, and forms a bond. Jim is desperate to listen to music so that he can practise for a concert at the Royal Albert Hall, but to Ruth's annoyance the staff won't allow him to have earphones. Not to be thwarted Ruth takes Jim to the chapel where there is a piano for him to practise. He plays for her and one thing leads to another... until they are discovered by staff.

As the story of Mary unfolds, Andrew realises that it could hold the key to Ruth's problems. And when Jim tries to harm himself after their encounter, Ruth realises that it was her fault for enabling him to play music.

Just who is Mary and how can she help Andrew get to the core of Ruth's mental problems? And is Ruth ready to stop fighting those who are treating her and accept that she needs help?