Ross off the rails
His brother Pete wants him to get help – but Ross just wants to find his attacker…
Ross has been a broken man since his horrific acid attack. Instead of swaggering around the village and chatting up anything in a skirt, he’s been hiding away at home.
It’s all very worrying for Pete, and when he sees his brother slumped on the sofa, he challenges him to leave the house and be the confident Ross he’s always known. Ross agrees, and makes it to the cafe, but he insists the only thing that will give him any sort of comfort is to track down the person who ruined his life.
Pete’s given a ray of hope when he later hears that Ross is visiting the psychiatrist, while Ross himself feels more positive after he has a meeting with the doctor about a possible skin graft. But it’s not long before his mood takes a nosedive, and he hits the bottle to numb his pain.
Ross isn’t the only one currently in turmoil – so, too, is Debbie. She may not have thrown the acid in her ex-lover’s face, but she ordered drug dealer Simon to ‘mess up’ Joe Tate and never considered for a second that he might get the wrong man.
Crippled with guilt, she agrees to help Pete try to persuade Ross to have the surgery. But when the pair offer him advice, Ross lashes out and sends them both packing.
‘Debbie doesn’t want Ross in the way he wants her, so her coming round is a kick in the teeth,’ says actor Michael Parr. ‘Pete is standing by him, but there’s nothing anyone can say that makes Ross feel any better.’
It’s not long before word gets back to Cain about Ross’ outburst and, furious at how his daughter has been treated, he marches round to Ross’ place and kicks the door down. Will he want revenge?