Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) was keeping vigil over a sleeping Moira (Natalie J Robb) at the start of Monday (September 16)’s Emmerdale, and when she woke up he reminded her that, as she faced treatment for her brain tumour, he was with her every step of the way.

Things then took a frightening turn as Moira had a seizure in front of Cain, Matty (Ash Palmisciano) and Mackenzie (Lawrence Robb). So when the neurosurgeon arrived to talk through Moira’s treatment, Cain wanted to hear that they had a firm plan to cure her.

The news wasn’t what he wanted to hear. The surgeon said that Moira will need surgery at some point, but it would be safer to try to get the seizures under control with medication first and then do a scan in a few months.

They called it a ‘watch and wait’ approach. Cain called it a ‘ticking time bomb’ and thought that waiting would only make things worse. Then he reacted in a typical Cain way by shoving a tray off the table next to him and storming out of the room.

As Mackenzie followed him out, the surgeon reiterated to Moira that whatever happened would be her choice.

Outside, Mack was fuming with his brother-in-law and accused him of ‘throwing a selfish tantrum’ because he was ‘too weak’ to handle what was happening to Moira. He asked Caleb (William Ash), who’d just arrived, to take his brother home. He told Cain that he needs to ‘get a grip – and be better,’ for Moira’s sake. 

That kind of talk usually leads to Cain decking the person talking, but in this case Cain knew that Mackenzie was speaking the truth.

At home he told Caleb that he was sorry he reacted that way and it had been the same when his mother, Faith (Sally Dexter), was ill. ‘I just stood by, did nothing and let it happen. I can’t do that again,’ he told his brother. 

His determination to be stronger for Moira was soon put to the test as she walked through the door, along with Mackenzie. She’d been discharged from the hospital as the doctors thought she could live with the tumour for now. 

Cain wasn’t convinced, but Moira sent Mackenzie and Caleb out so she could talk to him alone. She pointed out that now they knew what they were dealing with, so hopefully situations like when she started the barn fire while hallucinating that Ruby (Beth Cordingly) was Emma Barton (Gillian Kearney) wouldn’t happen again.  

She insisted that she had to handle the illness her way from now on, and seemed on top of the situation. Then she said something that really disturbed Cain. 

‘I need you to keep things together for both of us, Adam,’ she told him. 

Moira was apparently mistaking Cain for her son, Adam Barton (Adam Thomas). After taking the blame for Moira killing Emma Barton, Adam finally left the Dales after Cain and Aaron (Danny Miller) helped him break out of a prison van and he fled overseas.

Adam Thomas has previously said that Emmerdale asked him back for the 50th anniversary a couple of years ago but he was too busy filming Waterloo Road – in which he plays Donte – to be able to do it. ‘I would always love to go back one day. Emmerdale will always be a huge part of my life,’ he said in 2022.

Whether Adam himself ever reappears in the Dales or not, the fact that Moira is again becoming confused between reality and her memories is very concerning – and worry was etched on Cain’s face.