The ordeal is far from over for Ruby Fox-Miligan (Beth Cordingly) and Caleb Milligan (William Ash) in upcoming Emmerdale episodes, as the life of their son Nicky (Lewis Cope) is still very much in the balance.

Nicky suffered serious head injuries when the car he was in, which was driven by Ethan Anderson (Emile John), ploughed off the road.

Ethan saw that his friend was unconscious and badly hurt and dragged him from the passenger seat, before running away through the trees when he saw Moira Dingle (Natalie J. Robb)’s vehicle arriving.

Ethan was later turned in to the police after confessing what had happened to his dad, Charles (Kevin Mathurin). He asked Charles to give him an alibi, but instead Charles felt the right thing to do was call the police.

Ethan faces a possible prison sentence for various driving offences and his career as a lawyer is almost certainly over as a result.

Added to that, he has a very large target on his back as Caleb, Ruby and Cain (Jeff Hordley) have all vowed revenge against him for causing Nicky’s injuries and then apparently abandoning him and leaving him to die.

Ethan’s fate is of secondary interest to Ruby and Caleb, as they focus on Nicky. Since the accident they’ve hardly left his hospital bedside (apart from to snarl menacingly in Ethan’s direction and drink the odd coffee).

Ruby has insisted that they talk only about positive things in his room because one of the doctors said that Nicky might be able to hear them and she doesn’t want him to hear anything negative.

She was particularly keen on Caleb making sure his son knew he was proud of him, because just before the accident Caleb and Nicky had had a huge row about Caleb thinking Nicky had had everything handed to him on a plate.