Emmerdale vet Rhona Goskirk hits rock bottom next week as her painkiller addiction begins to spiral out of control.
Rhona is thrown into turmoil when Dr Abbot refuses to give her any more pills, so with no other option, she resorts to the desperate measure of trying to steal drugs from the vets practice.
Unfortunately for Rhona, she is caught red-handed by her best friend and work colleague Vanessa Woodfield (Michelle Hardwick), who is deeply concerned over her behaviour. Can Vanessa find a way to help Rhona?
Here, Zoe Henry - who plays Rhona - reveals more details of her character's emotional week.
How does Rhona feel when her doctor refuses to give her more painkillers next week?
"Rhona is a bit shocked initially, as she wasn't expecting that reaction at all. However, she's also quite terrified and it spins her out of control, as she's wondering how she's going to get out of this mess. Although she wouldn't admit it, Rhona is already addicted to painkillers."
Does Rhona worry about how her condition might affect her son Leo?
"At this point, I don't think Rhona is thinking about anything but herself. She doesn't think there is a problem - she just thinks that she needs the pills to get her through the day. Rhona has become quite selfish in that sense."
What makes Rhona steal drugs from the vets?
"It's a moment of desperation and withdrawal. Rhona feels cornered and like she has no other option but to do this. She helps herself, just once, but she gets caught red-handed by Vanessa."
How does Rhona explain herself to Vanessa?
"Rhona is honest and she says that this has never happened before, which it hasn't. She also promises that it won't happen again, and she firmly believes that it won't. Rhona says in no uncertain terms that this was a one-off, explaining that she was in pain and she'd had a bad day."
Rhona and Vanessa could both get struck off for this - Rhona for her actions and Vanessa for covering them up! Does Rhona feel guilty over that?
"Rhona is very proud of the business that Paddy has built up over the years, so yes, I think there is enormous guilt - especially as it's putting Vanessa in such an awkward position. She feels unprofessional and ashamed."
Does Vanessa cover for Rhona when Paddy notices the missing Valium?
"At first, Rhona doesn't think that Vanessa is going to cover for her. Vanessa puts pressure on Rhona and threatens to tell Paddy, but in the end she comes up trumps for her friend and helps to cover for her. But I think that just makes Rhona feel more guilty!"
Does Paddy get suspicious over Rhona's behaviour?
"No, at the moment he's too hung up on hating Vanessa! Paddy actually accuses Vanessa of taking the tablets, so she covers for Rhona and says that she did. Rhona is quite ungrateful for that initially. Paddy can see that Rhona is quite snappy and grumpy so something might be wrong, but he'd never imagine that it'd be this."
How does Vanessa react when Rhona begs her for drugs later in the week?
"It's shocking for Vanessa, because she realises that her friend is in deeper than even she knows. As an old friend, I think Vanessa thinks that she has to help Rhona and do whatever she can for her."
How do the withdrawal symptoms actually affect Rhona?
"It's like a rollercoaster. When Rhona is on the drugs and she's taking something, she can pretty much focus and get away with looking like she's normal.
"However, when there is a withdrawal beginning, there's a loss of concentration, snappiness, sweating, dizziness and vomiting when it gets more extreme. There's even an inability to get up and move about. As they're flu-like symptoms, Rhona tries to pass it off as that."
Is Rhona anywhere near the stage where she'd get help?
"Well, Rhona genuinely doesn't realise how bad this is - and maybe that's what happens with an addict. There's a lot of denial that goes on. Rhona think she's in control, and when she has drugs, she is in control. It's when she doesn't have drugs that there are problems.
"Like with anyone that has an addiction, Rhona needs to reach the point where she asks for help. So far she's missed the opportunity to nip it in the bud, so now she's on a downward spiral."
Vanessa offers to help Rhona get off the drugs, but is she taking on too much?
"Yes. Vanessa says several times that she's out of her depth and doesn't know what she's doing. However, they've known each other for 15 years and Vanessa will do anything she could for someone she loves so much. That means that she's getting caught up in Rhona's problems, unfortunately for her."
What would make Rhona get a wake-up call over this?
"Something quite desperate would have to happen, as she's in complete denial. Anything happening to Leo would open her eyes a bit more, but at the moment she's only focused on her need for drugs."
Did you do any research for this storyline?
"Yes, we did. We met with a guy who was a painkiller addict and he was amazing, as he gave us a great insight into what his life was like for the 18 months that he was addicted. He explained how quickly it took hold of him, how he lost his job, marriage and his life, really. It just started off as a bad back, just like with Rhona. Within a couple of weeks he was addicted and within six months it had completely taken hold of him.
"I was really surprised by how quickly his situation escalated, and also how common this is in everyday life. Since we started this storyline and started talking about it, it feels like everyone knows somebody who has been addicted at some point or is addicted at the moment. It seems like quite a quiet epidemic, something that isn't really spoken about - I imagine because people are quite ashamed of it.
Love many, trust few, always paddle your own canoe