Blazing, yellow lights. No..., are they white?

I was squinting as I struggled to open my eyes. A faint, high-pitched buzz crept to my awareness.

I groaned as I sat up in, what I realized was, a bed.

What happened? And where am I? Did I ...not die? Or did I?

I took a glimpse of my blurry surroundings. The room had white walls with only a closed, white door at the front and what looked like a closet, with a small, white side table next to it.

I was still having difficulty keeping my eyes open. My head was throbbing from all the whiteness around me. I winced as I pressed my forehead subconsciously, trying vainly to get my bearings together.

"You're up." a balmy voice noted.

It took me longer than I would have liked to realize that the voice was coming from the only door in the room now standing wide open. My eyes darted to where a tall man lingered with a tray in his hand. Surprise stole my voice, leaving whatever noise I might have made trapped in my throat. Ignoring the dull pain, I shook my head, hoping to clear my foggy vision and thoughts. It is a man..., but where am I? What's going on?... Have I been captured?

He was probably in his early twenties, close to my age. A loose black t-shirt hung from his broad shoulders and did little to hide his toned body. The t-shirt was tucked in lazily on his left side into a pair of black sweatpants. Black hair was sitting haphazardly on his head. His pale skin was smooth — almost otherworldly. On top of that, he fashioned a pair of circular, low-bridge glasses that framed his round, dark eyes. An indiscernible smile played on his thin lips. A smile that did not quite reach his eyes. Even in utter confusion and, honestly, distress, I could not help but stare at him. Something was odd.

A chill ran up my spine. Who...?

As he walked into the room, I was dragged back to Mother Earth.

I croaked, "Stop! Don't! Wait! Who...wh--"

I started coughing uncontrollably before I could continue to spew more random words.

My throat was parched and raw, and the adrenaline from the shock of everything wasn’t helping. Each cough racked my body, leaving me gasping for air as I tried to suppress the fit. Between wheezes, I glanced at the man again. The strange smile was gone. He hadn’t moved an inch since I’d told him to stop—he didn’t even pretend to offer help. Instead, he tilted his head, as if his way of assisting was simply waiting for me to acknowledge the glass of water perched on the tray he held.

I didn’t want it, but the wheezing was relentless, and my lungs felt like they were on the verge of collapse. To avoid the growing discomfort, I reluctantly gestured for the water.

“Careful—it might be poisoned,” he said, his dry tone undercut by a flicker of amusement that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

I stifled the urge to glare and focused on the water instead. The thirst clawing at me outweighed any concerns about its safety. I took the glass without a word and gulped it down as quickly as I could while not coughing it all out. The lukewarm liquid immediately soothed my throat.

As I finally took a shaky inhale, the questions stormed back into my mind. Now that I could breathe, the full weight of my situation hit me. The fear coiled in my chest, growing tighter with every passing second. I was alone with a stranger—in what I suspected was his bed—and I had no idea how or why I was here.

But, that wasn’t my first concern.

"It might sound stupid but am I..." I did not want to ask him such a futile question but, I had to check for my sanity's sake. I hid a wince. "Am I dead?"

"You were about to be." He coolly replied while putting the tray away on the, yet, again white, side table. "You were almost going to fall off the bridge when I caught you."

I quietly pinched myself in the silly effort of confirming his words and funnily enough, let out a breath of relief. Okay, let's believe his words for now. Not like I have much of a choice. So, seems like I might not be dead after all. And that's not bad... I guess.

Suspicion churned in my mind. Still, shoving it aside, I forced myself to ask, steadying my fragile voice, “How long have I been out…? And where am I really and why bring me here?”

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"Well, it's almost evening and you've been out since the night before yesterday, so around 40 hours maybe. " He pulled some blankets out of the closet while nonchalantly answering. " And, you said to not take you to the hospital or to report to the police. We tried to convince you, but you were quite injured and were losing consciousness. I didn't want us to be blamed later that we forced you into anything or having you die on us, so I took a video of you asking for our help and we brought you here - my family's vacation house… I know I'm pretty smart and attractive. No need to look at me like that."

I was staring indeed but not for the reason he thought — I could not care any less about that. I started fidgeting with my hands. As I did not say anything in response, he took a brief look at me and steadily placed the blankets on the bed, "You... don't remember anything?"

I did not meet his eyes or reply, but I could tell he had already guessed that I remembered nothing. Nevertheless, in actuality, I was able to recall my memories, but only until a certain point on the bridge. Everything was unclear in my head from then on. I thought I fell from the bridge...

Even though I was not a doctor or anything, I knew that if I had truly fallen into the water in this icy weather and in the condition I was in, there was no way I would have survived. In any case, I had other things to be more afraid of than being unable to remember the events from the bridge. Have I been kidnapped? No... they couldn't have found me there at the bridge. Right?

"How do you know of the bridge?"

"It might come as a shock to you but it's not some confidential information, you know. " He paused. " This vacation house is in the same forest where the bridge is. About four and a half miles from here. I have known the bridge for probably longer than you have. "

I was trying to pay attention to him, but my brain was also running at its full speed, trying to piece together how I got here at the same time. Obviously, it was not working too well and instantly resulted in a more intense headache.

Why is he acting like a know-it-all?

I snapped at him before I could hold myself back, "Oh please, it might come as a shock to you too, but why should I believe anything you are saying? You could be lying. You are a complete stranger. Hell, you could be a kidnapper or some kind of criminal for all I know!"

I must have lost it. Screaming at a possible criminal was clearly the best move here. I must have broken my brain completely since this is the point in my life where I choose to snap. Now, if he is not a criminal, he will surely throw me out...Great.

"That's up to you. You can just walk out of here and go wherever you want, you know. No one will stop you. Although I am not sure if you will make it too far in this condition. And you've some unusual injuries so I can tell there's something else going on as well... - not that I care. It's just that you were going to die, unfortunately, in front of us, so we had to save you. Also, I have that video of yours, so really, in any way, there won't be a legal problem for us. And even if there is an issue, we are more than capable of hiring a really good lawyer." He suddenly seemed so cold and distant, that I was taken aback by his words. " So, suit yourself."

I blinked uncomfortably and looked away. What was I expecting after freaking out on someone whom I don't know, while he supposedly saved me?

He was right though. If I tried to escape with my present health, I would probably pass out before I could exit wherever I was and there was not a safe place for me to run to anyway. I remembered everything that happened until when I was about to fall off the bridge. So, it was not like I had amnesia or anything like that. I just had no memories after my hands slipped on the bridge and everything else that happened before that night was hazy too. But, I was hurt severely, especially my head. If not anything else, given my injuries, it wouldn't be too shocking if the feeling of being underwater was just a hallucination, right?... Wait... my injuries?

Only now did I notice the bandages. They wrapped my arms and forehead like quiet reminders of a rough night. There was also a tiny butterfly needle attached to my left wrist, which I concluded was for IV fluids since there was an IV pole standing next to the headboard behind me. I perceived that I could also smell the menthol from the pain-relieving patches all over my back. I did not spot any of these before because the whole situation, specifically the man, overwhelmed me too much. Regardless of the stiffness everywhere, I did not feel like I was dying as I was on the bridge. My left ear was no longer ringing either. He did help me somehow, I guess.

I didn’t trust him. He could be anyone—maybe even someone working with whoever might be after me. But panicking wouldn’t help. For now, I decided to play along, thank him, and stay on his good side while I figured out my next move.

"I am... sorry. I didn't mean to sound rude earlier. And..., thank you for taking care of my wounds and for saving me...I am... I am just really frustrated and scared as you can imagine. I only vaguely remember the feeling of falling. And you are saying you saved me from falling, but I can't seem to recall that at all. Not even... " — I nervously fiddled with the bandage on my right thumb — " not even my past really... Everything is fuzzy and broken..."

That was a lie. Lying was not my forte, not even petty lying. It did not feel great, but if he truly was not involved in kidnapping me and instead, saved me, I figured I might be able to stay safe here for a while if I hid my past.

He shrugged as if to say he did not care enough to feel offended by what I said earlier. Instead, he pointedly told me, "Nothing to thank me for. As I said, we saved you just because you happened to be there. As for your wounds, we have an in-house doctor of some sort — who helped with them. Also, your clothes are as they were in the closet; I put them in a plastic bag. They were dry, except for the blood from the wounds. Didn't think it would be a good idea to meddle with them before you woke up. So yeah, you definitely didn't fall into the water."

Wait, wait a sec... my clothes. Who changed my clothes? Him?!

My eyes shot to his face, catching the faintest glimmer of mischief in his gaze. Shit.