Time to say GOODBYE!
CAN MAX FIND THE STRENGTH TO LET DYING ABI GO?
The day that the Branning family has been dreading arrives this week, as Abi’s doctors prepare to switch off her life-support machine.
For her loved ones, the moment has been inevitable since they learned that Abi was brainstem dead, and that she’s only being kept alive by a ventilator. However, as Abi’s devastated father Max refuses to accept that nothing more can be done for her, he goes to dire lengths to stop medics from pulling the plug…
“Max is clinging on to hope that Abi might still recover,” sighs our Walford insider. “Her consultants have conducted numerous tests and come to the same conclusion every time, yet Max has convinced himself that she is still showing signs of life. He’s not prepared to let Abi go without a fight.”
Sadly, a fight is what unfolds at Walford General after Abi’s specialist is forced to give Max a harsh reality check. Tensions flare, and grief-stricken Max resorts to threatening hospital staff in a desperate bid to save his younger daughter.
As his family attempts to reason with him, not even Lauren can convince Max to stand down – and it’s only when a nurse shares her personal experience from a similar situation that he eventually backs off.
Meanwhile on the Square, Jay accepts a package that has been delivered for Abi – and drops it round to Max after he returns from the hospital. Her distraught dad opens it to discover a flat-pack cot that she’d previously ordered for her new baby – and still refusing to accept the truth, Max insists on building it for when she wakes up.
“It’s just another distraction for Max so that he doesn’t have to face facts,” reckons our source. “Of course, the thought of Abi dying is breaking his heart, but there’s a great deal of guilt resting on his shoulders as well.
“Max is the reason that both his daughters were up on the Queen Vic roof, trying to prevent him from taking his own life. Now Abi is on the verge of losing hers, and he doesn’t know how to live with it.”
After Lauren, Jack and Dot all attempt to help Max see sense, the sight of his granddaughter’s fully constructed cot is what tips him over the edge. Overcome with grief, Max explodes and destroys the furniture – only to break down in his brother’s arms as the severity of Abi’s situation sinks in.
With that, her clan head back to the hospital and confront their worst nightmare. But while Lauren accepts that it’s time to say goodbye to her sister, can Max summon the fortitude to do the same?