Disclaimer: I don't own Emmerdale or anything to do with Emmerdale, it all belongs to ITV.
So this is the last chapter in the story, I do think Debbie and Ross are meant to be together which is why she was the one who triggered his memory coming back. You'll have to stay tuned for the next story to see how things work out for everyone, but it should be good!
I'm going to write that story in a different format to this one because if I'm honest, I'm not pleased with how this story turned out but the next ones the one that counts :)
Enjoy and stay tuned!
Remember Me...
Epilogue
Ross felt like he was being bombarded on all sides, memory after memory came pouring into his head like water from a broken dam. Until finally the puzzle pieces of his life finally took shape and he knew, he knew who he was at last.
He was a criminal. He did dodgy jobs and stole. He was a mechanic, he knew how to fix cars. And he was in love, in love with a girl called Debbie Dingle.
A girl who was also engaged, no married, to his own brother. He had cheated with his brothers girl.
He remembered it all now. Debbie had chosen him, they had planned to run away together. Then she had found out that he was the father of the baby she had cared for the last few months, baby Moses, her own half brother.
She had rejected him, leaving him heart broken. He had sworn he would ruin the wedding and reveal their secret, he would not lose the girl again. He had already lost Donna, he would not lose Debbie. Especially not to his own brother.
He had a memory stick with recordings of one of their encounters on, he had swapped it with the wedding music so that would play instead when she walked down the aisle. Had his plan worked?
He hadn't been present at the wedding, Debbie's father Cain had made sure of that. Cain had presented him with a fake passport and money and got him a job in Spain, but Ross wouldn't leave his girl, not for no one.
It was then that Cain had knocked him unconscious and bundled him into the back of the van. He had awoken bound and trapped, unable to get out. When he had finally broken free of the tape which trapped him he had pounded on the door until it swung free. Ross remembered clinging to the door for dear life after he had nearly fell forward into the quarry below, which was filled with water.
Ross could feel anger swelling in the pit of his stomach at these memories. About how they had tried to keep him from his girl. A cliff was no match for him, he was Ross Barton after all.
He had jumped from the van and into the water that awaited below, he would rather die then lose his girl to his brother. He had come to a while later, the impact of his body hitting the water knocking him unconscious.
He could recall how badly his body ached as he hauled himself from the water and run. He ran even though his legs hurt and his chest ached. He pounded the pavement with his sodden feet, desperate to get back to Debbie.
But when the village had finally come into view, their was a huge plume of black smoke cascading out of one of the buildings. Ross felt his hammering heart skip a beat, he knew Debbie was in trouble. He just knew.
The sight that greeted him when he finally turned the corner into the village was of Pete and Cain bundling Debbie's lifeless body into the back of Pete's car. Both of them covered in soot, crying and screaming.
Was she dead?
Ross felt like part of him died inside. He had to be with his girl.
When he had arrived at the hospital shortly behind Pete, he had called after his brother. Begging him to tell him if she was okay.
He had turned to look at him with more venom that Ross ever thought was possible for the normally placid farmer. He had been roughly thrown from the hospital by the angry farmer. He knew.
Ross had tried to do the right thing, honestly he had for a change. He had stood by the doors looking out over the hospital car park, buy he couldn't move. If she died what did he have left? He was a grown man with nothing to show for his life, he couldn't live without her. He was a better person when he was with her. She changed him.
Refusing to be pushed aside he had returned to her room. Looking through the window he could see her. She looked pale and still. Blood covered her face and her hair was tousled and dirty, but still in the style she had worn for her wedding. She was hooked up to so many machines, one breathing for her. He would have thought she was dead if it hadn't been for the heart monitor indicating her heart was steadily beating. She was fighting.
Pete had turned when Ross had entered the room. Pete had been so angry and desperate for Ross to leave him with him new wife, telling him he was nothing to he now. But he had been adamant he would stay with her, he loved her and he couldn't help that. He didn't care if it hurt Pete, she had chosen Pete anyway, he just had to be their for the girl he still loved.
A brawl had ensued and it killed Ross to fight over Debbie's bedside, but Pete wasn't having him anywhere near. Pete went for him again and again, while he only batted away the hits. Pete was no match for him really.
The security guards had bundled them outside. Pete straining to attack him and Ross straining to get back to Debbie's room. She could be dying and all Pete wanted to do was batter him.
They had took their fight behind the hospital to a small grassy area, out of view of everyone. Ross had gone for Pete with full force then. How dare he cause a scene at the bedside of the girl they both loved.
Pete through a punch squarely at his face which he deflected easily, laughing. He had just jumped from a cliff. He was mother fucking Ross Barton. Pete was no match for him.
"Is that it? Is that all you've got!" Ross gloated, laughing as Pete struggled to re gain his footing.
Pete had grabbed Ross around the waste and thrown him to floor. The last thing Ross remember was his head hitting something hard and the whole world going black.
The doctor had said something about Ross being found in the woods by dog walkers, yet the last thing he remembered he was fighting at the back of the hospital with his brother.
It was then that it dawn on Ross, his brother had beat him to a pulp. Ross had been near death and his brother had got rid of the evidence. Whether it was fear of killing him or fear of losing Debbie, his brother had left him in the woods to rot. The same brother who had acted like nothing happened for the past few months. The brother who had been there for him, a shoulder to cry on.
Ross felt such an intensity of anger that he had never felt before. Did his family know what Pete had done. Pete was such a golden boy he doubted they would bat an eye lid. Pete had always gotten away with everything. Got away with murder. But this time he actually had, Pete had tried to kill him and had gotten away with it.
The last words Finn said to him on the morning of the wedding echoed around his head.
"We would all be better off without you."
His family wouldn't want the old Ross back, they had hated him. The relationships he had formed with his family over the last month or so would fall apart. He bet they hoped that he had never got his memory back. That he remained placid and vacant for the rest of his life. So he would no longer be a burden and reliability.
And where had Debbie been the whole time? Not once had she visited him since he had been found, why? He thought she loved him...
Peering back out the window a sight met his eyes which broke his heart. It felt like his heart had been ripped from his chest. He had the same feeling when he had lost Donna and he had it now.
Looking down from the window he saw Debbie in Pete's arms, standing on her tiptoes to kiss his lips. There was such love in their faces as they gazed upon each other, it was like the old Ross had never existed.
Collapsing to the floor Ross put his face in his hands and sobbed. Pete had kept Debbie from him the whole time, knowing he could win her over. Knowing that he could squash any remaining feelings the girl still had for Ross by keeping them apart. Ensuring that even if he did remember the girl he had loved so much, there would be no chance for them. She would be Pete's and there would be no changing that.
Ross toyed over the idea of spilling what Pete had done to him. But what if they already knew? He couldn't imagine golden Pete keeping a secret that big from his family for so long, the guilt would over whelm him.
But even if he did, it would be his word against Pete's. Pete could easily deny it. Everyone would think that Ross had become confused after losing his memory, events not adding up how they should. They would all turn there back on him again, like they always did.
He couldn't face that again, and he couldn't face seeing the girl he loved with his brother. No he wouldn't stick around to watch.
His mind made up Ross reached from his old battered holdall he had once packed to run away with Donna with and got to work.
Pete had just come round to check on his brother. He had gotten side tracked with Debbie. She was back to her full strength now after the accident and as a newly married couple, they were making the most of it.
Pete couldn't hid the grin that spread over his face as he inserted the key into the lock on his brothers door. His family were all up at the pub and he had thought it would be nice to see if Ross fancied tagging along. He hadn't gotten out much these past few days and Pete thought the fresh air would do him some good.
Pete decided he would be a better brother to both of him younger brothers. He would start by coming clean to his family about what he had done to Ross and face his consequences. He knew that everything would be better once they had a clean slate and could all start again. His family would be his upmost importance from now on.
He wasn't sure how Debbie would react to the revelation. He could very well lose her. But he couldn't live his life with this guilt hanging over him. They had been through a lot, maybe she would understand. They had got through so much together. He didn't deserve her anyway, and if she let him go, he would understand. He would kick himself for the rest of his life. But he would understand.
Throwing open the door Pete stepped inside and called for his brother. The house remained quiet and silent. Pete sighed to himself.
"Come on mate, you can't hid in here forever. You've got to come out at some point!" Still there was no answer.
Pete couldn't decide whether to feel sympathy or annoyance towards his brother. He could at least answer him. Pete started up the stairs, readying himself to storm into Ross's bedroom if that was required.
Pete knocked on the closed wooden door, there was no answer. Pete was starting to lose his patience with his brother.
"Ross I know your upset, but please come out. It wont do you any good staying holed up your room all day." Pete had called through the wood, and again there was no answer. An uneasy feeling settled itself in his stomach.
"If your going to ignore me I'm coming in" and without waiting for an answer Pete swung the bedroom door open wide.
The room before him was empty. The junk usually strewn across the floor was there, the bed still unmade, but Ross was no where to be seen. Retreating from the room Pete searched the house high and low, his brother no where to be found. It wasn't till he made his way to the bathroom he found Ross's things were missing. His tooth brush, razor, shower gel and deodorant all gone. So was his shampoo and his hair gel was no where to be seen.
Ross would never go anywhere without his hair gel. So where ever he was, the fact he'd taken it with him was a bad sign.
Dashing back into the empty bedroom Pete rifled through the drawers and wardrobe. To his horror, most of his clothes were gone.
Ross always had been good at disappearing, and it looked like he'd done it again.
Ross was gone again.
The story is done! I think this was the best chapter yet! :) Stay tuned for the sequel! :)