Ross (played by Michael Parr) has been struggling to cope following the trauma he suffered at the hands of drug dealer Simon McManus (Liam Ainsworth) on Emmerdale earlier this month.
Always at his side, Pete (Anthony Quinlan) has fielded constant abuse from his deeply upset little brother on the ITV soap, and even said that he “loved him no matter what” when Ross said he wished their mother Emma (Gillian Kearney) had killed him instead of Finn Barton (Joe Gill).
Tonight though, Pete finally lost control after discovering that Ross had escaped from hospital and was drinking himself into a stupor.
Pete went through a harrowing day trying to get Ross to see sense and look after himself, while his brother was determined to seek revenge on his attacker.
While the latter refused to give up his man-hunt, Pete finally confided in Debbie (Charley Webb) in the Woolpack over a drink.
Clearly upset, Pete shared: “He’s not listening to anything I say. All he’s thinking about is finding who did it.”
Still trying to conceal her part in the attack, Debbie seemed intent on throwing Pete off the scent.
Reaching the end of his tether, Pete demanded: “Yeah, well who did it?
“Look I swear, if I find out…”
Overcome with frustration at the situation, Pete lost control and smashed his glass on the floor, causing a scene in Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins) and Chas Dingle’s (Lucy Pargeter) pub.
Seemingly terrified at the rage Pete had towards the person who hurt his brother, Debbie’s eyes flickered and she tried to remain calm.
“Debs?” Charity called out with concern, but Debbie stopped the situation from escalating.
“Look, it’s fine mum it’s just an accident,” she hastily reassured.
But the look on Pete’s face was enough to ensure that if he does find out what Debbie did in enlisting Simon, he might not be able to stop himself from turning nasty against the mother-of-two.
Earlier in the episode, Ross begged Pete to leave him alone to exact his revenge.
“Have you seen this, have you seen my face Pete? Look, go on look,” he said bitterly. “I was in the village for five minutes and all people could do was look. Do you have any idea what that feels like? Do you? No you don’t.
“So stay out of my business.”
The horrific incident, which could see Debbie Dingle exposed for her role in it, was initially meant for the village’s villain Joe Tate (Ned Porteous).
The complicated scenario saw Debbie break down when the reality dawned that her request for Simon to “wipe the smile” off Joe’s face led to crossed wires and a deeply sick acid attack against her former lover.
