Emmerdale revealed Ethan Anderson's fate on Friday night, after he was rushed to hospital following a violent attack.
The solicitor was beaten up in a racist assault by his former client, Jordan, after he dropped his case.
Ethan was defending Jordan in the case against him, after he was arrested for assaulting Billy Fletcher in an unprovoked attack.
Jordan denied Billy's claims it was racially motivated, before his racist views soon emerged as he once again tormented Billy this week.
Ethan decided he could no longer carry on with the case, despite fearing it might threaten his legal career - and Jordan turned nasty.
Billy managed to track Ethan and Jordan down, just as the thug was beating Ethan up on the floor.
The character claimed he would make a deal with Jordan and retract his statement if he stopped hurting Ethan, and let them both go.
But Billy was just stalling the thug until the police got there, and he was taken away as Ethan was rushed to hospital, unconscious.
On Friday, Marcus Dean was at the hospital and said that boyfriend Ethan was still in a bad way as he spoke to his dad Charles on the phone.
Later in the episode, Ethan was awake while he was in pain and scared Jordan, or his gang, might track him down and hurt him.
It was revealed he had swelling, bruising and two broken ribs, while he almost suffered a ruptured kidney.
But he was going to be okay, and with that news Billy decided to visit him.
Just as he entered, Ethan was terrified about Jordan trying to kill him, while Marcus tried to keep him calm.
It's then that Billy got a phone call from police officer Harriet Finch, who informed him Jordan was on remand and wasn't getting out any time soon.
Billy told Ethan he had nothing to worry about as he had been locked up, and the next time he saw him would be in court.
Ethan soon told Billy: "You saved my life, you put yourself at risk for me," as he replied: "You put your career on the line for me, let's just call it even."
But viewers were still convinced Marcus was hiding something after the scenes, and might even be linked to Jordan and the gang - previously claiming his reaction to seeing him was as if he already knew him.
Taking to Twitter on Friday, one fan said: "Sorry Marcus, but am not buying this devoted boyfriend act. Something isn't right this guy."
Another agreed: "Murky Marcus hiding something," as a third fan responded: "Definitely, part of jordans gang perhaps?"
Got any theories or thoughts on the storyline? Let us know in the comments section below
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays.
