Coronation Street fans were left heartbroken as Abi Franklin disappeared from the hospital after giving birth to a surprise premature baby on Monday night’s hour-long instalment of the soap.
Fans of the ITV soap were gobsmacked when Sunday night's special episode ended with Abi realising that she was having a baby, despite being wholly unaware she was pregnant.
The character has turned to drugs again in recent scenes, following her split from husband Kevin Webster, after learning of her recent affair, although not that it was with Imran Habeeb.
But viewers were left stunned as Abi realised the pain she was experiencing was her going into labour, after a surprise pregnancy.
Abi had no idea at all she was pregnant, with soap star Sally Carman explaining to The Mirror and other press that there were no signs to suggest she was.
While Abi had feared she was pregnant late last year following the fling, she soon believed she was wrong after getting her period following the scare.
With there being no physical signs, with no baby bump, it's only when she experienced the pains that the mother of three realised what was happening.
At the end of Monday's instalment, hospital staff searched for Abi, who had vanished after giving birth to her baby prematurely. As a shaken Abi took a swig from a bottle of vodka, fans took to Twitter to commiserate.
One wrote: "Poor Abi" as a second tweeted: "Oh Abi drinking won't help you" alongisde broken heart emojis and a third wrote: "Abi on the vodka, I need a vodka after watching that episode!"
A fellow fan wrote: "I feel sorry for Abi, she’s on self destruct…" as another posted: "Abi is so vulnerable. She needs to get some professional help," alongside crying emojis.
Another social media user wrote: "Can't believe Abi abandoned her baby boy he needs his mum right now."
A fellow fan tweeted: "Such an incredible yet emotional episode tonight with abi and the baby amazing acting from everybody involved."
Coronation Street actress Sally Carman has also reacted to the huge baby twist that aired on Sunday night, saying this is a “brilliant thing” for the character.
She said: “For all of life's knocks she's such a fighter and because she's got such a big heart, if there's a grain of hope or a crack of light she will dive for it.
“In this instance when she is on the side of the road after being in a car kidnapping, she's got two choices and it doesn't occur to her to lay down and think, 'this is it.'
"She instantly goes fight or flight and she needs to get to the hospital. It's, 'I can't just sit here, I need to get to the hospital'.
“It does take a while before she realises this is what is happening, she's having a baby, because she thinks it's back ache or that she's slept funny, but it's contractions. Because she's had three children she's gone, 'Oh I know this!'
“But I think there is an element of denial right until the last point, because she's thinking this can't be happening, this can't be happening, it’s a complete surprise.”
Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV.
