Charity Dingle rushed to find her husband after he’d been held captive by John Sugden for weeks

Emmerdale viewers were left on an “emotional rollercoaster” as Charity Dingle raced to find her husband Mackenzie Boyd.

As fans of the ITV soap will recall, Charity was convinced that Mack had broken up with her and left the village for good following a voice note from him that said just as much.

With Charity pregnant and worried the baby could be Ross’, she was unaware that Mack’s reality was very different.

After working out that John Sugden was the real killer of Nate Robinson, a nerve-wracking chase ensued that saw John shoot him through the chest with an arrow.

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Mack was then held hostage in an underground bunker just moments away from John’s childhood cottage.

After an unsuccessful attempt to escape, fans were concerned that Mack will die while being captive to the villain. He even left Mack with a syringe to inject himself to sleep with.

In the moments that followed, Aaron Dingle figured out that John had been drugging him and then proceeded to find Mack’s phone.

As he searched for his best friend, John intervened and confessed all of his harrowing crimes. However, his jealousy took over once Robert Sugden appeared. John phoned the police to frame Robert before then throwing himself and Aaron over the cliff edge.

Aaron was in an induced coma, and Robert was back in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. John – with less severe injuries – was soon up and about, planning what to do next to keep his secrets buried.

However, as Cain drove John back to the cottage, Aaron woke up and informed Chas that John had Mackenzie.

During Thursday’s (September 18) hour-long episode, the race was on to find Mack, and Charity went with the police desperate to be reunited with her husband.

After finding the bunker, Charity ignored protocol and ran straight in, only to be left shocked that no one was there. All that was left was an empty syringe and Charity’s name scrawled across the wood.

In a shocking twist, John was then seen carrying an extremely weak Mackenzie to medical staff, informing them that he had overdosed.

Refusing to give his name to the medics, he soon fled the scene once Mack was getting treated. It was then touch and go as Charity finally sat by his bedside, emotional that all this time he had needed help.

She said: “You knew something was off about him (John)… I wouldn’t listen would I? But I tell you now, if you wake up for me I promise I’ll listen to every word you say from now on.”

As Charity tried to fight back her tears, Mack said her name before slowly opening his eyes. She reassured him that he wasn’t dreaming, adding: “I’m here and you’re safe” before kissing the top of his head.

Viewers reacted to the emotional and heartwarming scenes, and on X (formerly known as Twitter), @tardisgirl93 wrote: “this episode was a emotional roller coaster… first Mack used the syringe then he wasn’t in the bunker when the police got there… john took him to hospital…it looked like he’s gonna die…then he woke up and Charity was there with him”

@hesjtance added: “Mack is so strong he is so strong. To survive all of that and be able to open his eyes and just look at Charity. he is so strong” as @krishanmaharaj penned: “Charity was amazing. Finally everyone is learning the truth, Mack was great but sad”.

Emmerdale airs on weekdays at 7:30pm on ITV1 and is available to stream on ITVX.