EastEnders has confirmed that a shocking fire will take place next week, amid Lauren Branning’s
continuing addiction story.
Since the club crush earlier this year, Lauren has found it hard to manage her pain and she struggled
when she ran out of her prescription painkillers. She took drastic action and stole a bottle of Amy’s liquid morphine.
Lauren realised that Cindy had something to do with Kojo’s accident and threatened to tell the police, but Cindy found the morphine and used this secret as leverage.
To keep her quiet, Cindy sourced a supply of illegal pills to give to Lauren until she can wean herself off the medication.
Lauren continued to blame her erratic behaviour on her pregnancy, but when she felt her baby kick for the first time, she took this as a sign to get clean and flushed the pills down the sink.
In scenes that will air next week, Lauren experiences worsening withdrawal symptoms. Peter remains oblivious, but he rushes her to hospital when she fears she has hurt the baby.
The scan reveals that everything is okay, but when Lauren then has a private chat with the sonographer, she is told that coming off the pills cold turkey could be dangerous for her pregnancy.
Lauren asks Cindy for more pills as a result, but when Louie finds her baby scan, Cindy is horrified to realise she has been using drugs while pregnant. In a huge showdown, she gives Lauren an ultimatum – tell Peter the truth, or she will.
With Cindy putting pressure on Lauren, Peter expresses his concerns to Ian, who suggests that he should cheer up Lauren by proposing to her.
Meanwhile, George tells Lauren that Kojo is still reluctant to talk about his accident. She decides to try and get Kojo to open up, in the hope that he will reveal that Cindy is to blame and giving her more leverage.
It isn’t yet known whether or not Lauren is successful with Kojo, but later Cindy reluctantly gives Lauren some more pills.
Home alone with Louie, Lauren takes her new stash of pills but ends up slipping unconscious – unaware that a candle has fallen over and set fire to the flat.
Will Lauren and Louie be okay?
