Just when Max Branning thought things couldn’t possibly get any worse for him, his former mother-in-law, Cora Cross, is about to deliver him yet another blow.
This time it’s a literal one as she slaps him around the face after learning her pregnant granddaughter, Abi Branning, will never wake up from her coma.
Read more: EastEnders reveals Abi Branning’s fate after horror fall on Christmas Day
The dramatic scenes will play out on tonight’s episode which sees Max attempt to come to terms with the fact his youngest daughter is only being kept alive by machinery.
Cora, who we last saw two weeks ago when she promised Max he would never see his son Oscar again, makes it clear that she holds Max fully responsible for Abi’s condition.
As Max’s actions came to light and he was rejected by Stacey Fowler following their one night stand, the former Lothario of Albert Square hit rock bottom.
Abs – along with her big sister Lauren – took a tumble from the roof of the Queen Vic on Christmas Day as they tried to talk a suicidal Max down.
Lauren slipped in the heavy rain, dragging Abi down with her as her sister grabbed out to catch her.
Lauren was seen awake and alert in last night’s double bill of episodes, but don’t rule out her being killed off either. We all know how soaps love a shock death.
Also last night, Max was told that scans showed that Abi was brain dead, despite him being convinced she was going to wake up at the beginning of the ep.
Abi is currently seven months pregnant with Steven Beale’s baby – an ultrasound on Boxing Day’s episode showed the baby still had a heartbeat and appeared to have survived the horror fall.
Read more: EastEnders fans in meltdown as Kathy threatens to chop off Willmott-Brown’s manhood
EastEnders fans know that Max and Cora have never been each other’s biggest fans, but will the tragedy bring them closer together?
Judging from these pictures, we very much doubt it.