A/N: Finally, finally, I've started writing this. It came to me while I was watching some of the more recent Debbie stuff on youtube (POOR DEBS! WHY DO ALL THE BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO HER?!) and wishing Jasmine would come back. I hope this is decent… I've been really out of the writing groove lately.

Also, in this I'm writing as if Debbie found out about Cameron and Chas right before she went into labor (because Andy (?) was texting her the pictures then, I believe). I also have it so that Sarah is at home while Debbie's at the hospital. Basically, I'm taking a few creative liberties.

Please tell me what you think!

There was a sort of hollow despair that followed realization. It filled her chest, aching and pulsing, until she wasn't sure if the twisting in her heart of the contractions in her abdomen hurt more.

Most times Debbie wasn't surprised by the actions of her family; they were good-hearted people, yes, but they could never seem to learn from their mistakes. But this… she'd thought Cameron would finally be the one to give her a safe, stable relationship. Of course, she'd thought that with almost everyone, and here she was. She wasn't entirely sure how to feel about Chas's part in the whole mess. Debbie had come to her for help before, and this was how she'd been repaid.

No wonder Cameron still hadn't show up. He was probably with Chas, too busy to see the birth of his son – but not biologically. Was that why he'd cheated on her? Because she'd slept with Andy to save Sarah?

Good riddance, she thought. If he couldn't understand her actions in trying to save Sarah, then she wanted nothing to do with him anymore.

So why did it hurt?

"Just sign there, Miss Thomas, and then you're free to go."

You're free to go.

Four words. Four words that sounded nearly foreign to Jasmine's ears, after four years of hell. It was insanity to her, that after all she'd been through they let her with a few simple signatures. She was a murderer. Wasn't there some sort of protocol? Shouldn't officers be tracking her day and night?

She guessed it had something to do with the fact that there'd been 'extenuating circumstances'. Sometimes Jasmine wondered what might have happened if she'd just let Shane rape her. Would he have killed her afterwards? That question had plagued her during the sleepless nights in prison, when she could feel the ghost of his hands drifting all over her body, making bile rise in her throat until she was sick all over the floor.

There was no way to know for sure, her counselor told her (odd, she thought, to have a counselor in jail). Best case scenario, she should've run as soon as Debs had knocked out Shane. Even then, Debbie would've gotten time in prison, since Shane was a cop and would've gotten her in trouble.

Often Jasmine wished that she'd just let him. It would've been painful, it would've damaged her beyond belief… but it wouldn't have hurt half as much as knowing she'd killed someone. No matter what the other inmates did to her, no matter how they hurt and humiliated her ("Pretty little rich girl, too short to fight back and too weak-willed to argue.") knowing she was a killer burned so much more. It drove her to things she hadn't known she was capable of.

Jasmine shook the thought from her mind, hand shakily scrawling her name across the black dotted line. The man overseeing this whole affair looked thoroughly bored; he didn't seem to notice the stutter in her voice or the tremor in her hands.

"Thank you." he said mechanically, filing the papers away. The guard by the door stepped aside, opening the door to her. "You're free to go. Don't give us a reason to bring you back."

She shuddered. "Never." She'd be content to live an invisible life for the rest of her years, if they were even that long.

The taxi drive back to Emmerdale was impossibly quiet. All those people, everyone who'd known or read about the entire affair in the papers… what would they say? Had Debbie gotten out of prison by now? She'd only had a few months, but Jasmine didn't know how well she was doing. Was Sarah alright?

She had to stop thinking about it all, especially when her mind drifted to Ashleigh and Laurel. Somehow she thought that it'd be torture to face them again. They'd hate her, for what she'd turned into. They'd be ashamed and turn her away.

Everything was eerily quiet when she arrived. There were several faces she didn't recognize, and a few she did. They didn't seem to notice her, thank God, because Jasmine didn't feel like dealing with anyone at the moment.

She4 found herself wandering down streets aimlessly. She had no money, no place to stay… all she'd been given was the purse she'd been carrying when she went to prison. Odd, that they'd kept it for four years as though it'd be helpful when she got out. All it held was some lipstick, crumpled receipts, and a worn pictures of Debbie.

That was who she had to find. If anyone would understand, if anyone would let her into their home, it would be Debs. She'd said they would be forever. Surely she wouldn't turn Jasmine away?

After an hour or so she came to realize that she didn't actually know where Debbie was living, or if she was even in Emmerdale any longer. It seemed likely, considering that her job didn't pay enough to afford moving, and she'd wanted custody of Sarah. Chances were that Andy wouldn't allow Debbie to take Sarah away from him, so Debbie would have to stay.

Jasmine finally mustered up the courage to ask a bystander for directions to Debbie Dingle's house, and headed there before the person could poke and prod. She hadn't recognized them, but they'd been curious as to who the strange girl asking for Debbie was. Newcomers. Apparently they hadn't read the papers four years ago, thankfully.

The house was quiet when she got there, but after several persistent knocks a little blonde head appeared in the doorway.

"Excuse me," she asked, doing her best not to scare the little girl, "where's Debbie?"

"Mum?" she girl asked. So that was Sarah… she'd grown considerably since Jasmine had last seen her. "The hospital."

"The hospital?" Jasmine's heart sped up. What had happened?!

Sarah nodded. "Yeah, daddy says she went there to go get the baby."

"Um… alright. Thanks."

Jasmine hurried off, horribly confused. Had Debbie gotten together with Andy? Or had she gotten a new boyfriend? She tried to bury the twinge of jealously. Debbie could be with whoever she wanted, after all. She deserved happiness.

Debbie wasn't entirely sure what she hated more; the fact that even thinking about Cameron was making her angrier by the second, or that almost all of her family had crowded into the room to watch her baby be born. It was making her even more anxious than she'd been.

This baby had to be okay, otherwise she'd lose Sarah. There was just too much pressure on her, with everyone staring and waiting and hoping.

Not to mention the fact that as soon as she'd screamed at her dad to keep Cameron out, and then explained why, chaos had broke loose. Her dad had gone out, completely enraged, her mum following to see if she could calm him down. Lisa was with her at the moment, Sam standing nearby and nervously shifting back and forth on his feet. All the others were outside, talking loudly enough that she could hear all f them talking about how they felt awful that this had happened to her.

Just more gossip for them, Poor Debbie Dingle, always choosing the worst men. Always losing them to prettier girls.

She hated it, she hated lying in bed being in pain, and she just wanted a friendly face. Unfortunately, she couldn't think of one, other than her daughter, and she didn't want Sarah to see her.

Then a nurse was protesting outside, while a feminine voice insisted on coming into the room. What now? Debbie chose to ignore it, biting back another groan as contractions kept hitting.

It was like she'd been doused with ice-cold water when she looked up. There Jasmine stood, wrapped tightly in a jacket and looking so much older and paler than Debbie remembered her. Her face was sunken and hollow, eyes glassy. She was so different from the bright-eyed, beautiful girl that Debbie had known.

Still, none of that mattered. All she knew was that there was one person in the room that she didn't hate, and she needed comfort so desperately that she didn't care how Jas looked. "J-Jasmine…"

"Yeah." Jasmine mumbled, taking a few shy steps forward as though she wasn't sure if it was her place to be there. "Is it okay if…?"

Debbie nodded mutely, holding out a hand. Her entire body was wracked with pain, but it didn't seem so bad if only Jasmine would stay.

At first Jasmine hesitated, but suddenly she was scrambling to Debbie's side and clinging to her arm, whispering words of comfort. "It's okay, Debs, it's gonna be okay."

And it was.