Voices of multiple people breaks through the haze of my sleep. I stir awake, confused why there are people in my house. I do not recall inviting anyone over. Did I? I pry my eyes open to narrow slits, looking at a very unfamiliar ceiling. This is not my house!

Where am I? Who are these people?

The last thing I remember is planning to meet at Rohit's dance practice. Why can't I recollect anything after that? How did I land up here? Why is my head feeling so heavy? Did I have a concussion? Did I faint?

I have so many questions but no answers. I blink my eyes getting them to focus, lifting my head to look around.

"She's awake!" Purvi yells in delight.

There is a collective murmur as I hear feet shuffling towards me. Purvi! She's a friend. I cannot be in danger. Then why do I feel restless?

Familiar faces hover over my face. Purvi, Rohit, Junaid, Asif! The GM? Why is here? Am I still dreaming? The bed under me feels real, my hands clutching my head feels real. This cannot be a dream.

"How are you feeling?" Asif inquires mildly.

"Um. OK, I guess?" I prop myself up to a sitting position. Purvi immediately scoots to help me sit.

"What is going on? Where am I?" I look around at the faces, all who are looking worried.

"Just relax. You are in a hospital. You are fine now," Asif says kindly.

"Hospital? Why am I in a hospital? What happened to me? Why can't I remember anything?" My voice keeps rising with every question.

Purvi hugs me while Rohit and Junaid look uncomfortably at Asif, waiting for his reply. Asif takes a deep breath before speaking, "As far as we know, while you were walking, Deepak injected you with roofies and then tried to.. tried to.. you know..." he gestures helplessly, unable to get the rest of the words out.

"Oh god!!" I gasp, my hand flying to cover my mouth, as I realize what he is trying to tell me. I cover my face in my hands. No wonder I am feeling restless. I look up at all the people around with a sinking feeling.

"I cannot remember what happened. Did he.. did.. he.. succeed?" I stutter, choking in anguish.

"Oh no," Purvi replies as she hugs me tighter. "You were so, so brave. You fought him off. Not only that, you rightly clobbered him," she says gleefully.

"I did?"

"The bastard was crying like the wimp he is, when we found you. It will be at least a month before he will be able to eat solid food," Junaid growls, grinding his teeth.

"If I see him, I will break his jaw again!" snaps Rohit.

Asif raises his hand pacifyingly, "The important thing is that nothing untoward happened and you are safe. It was incredibly smart of you to send your location."

I cannot remember.

"Yes, when you messaged, not knowing what else to do, Rohit called Mr. Asif. He alerted the cops," Purvi says.

"Actually, it was Vicky's idea, he was the one who insisted on calling the cops as he was sure it was Deepak. And he was right!" Asif replies.

"Vi..Vicky?" I stutter, my heart beating faster, "Is he here?"

"He was here around midnight, when you were still unconscious. He took one look at you and left in a great hurry. He looked so furious, none of us dared to speak to him," Junaid responds. My face falls.

"How long was I out?" I ask the group in general, looking around.

Rohit looks at his watch, "It is four in the morning now, so around nine hours, I guess."

"If you are feeling better, you can go home. The doctors have finished their tests and checks and have already signed your discharge," Asif tells me.

After taking me home, Purvi was adamant on staying with me for the rest of the day. Since it was the weekend, there was no office and frankly, I was grateful for the company. It helped keep my mind off the incident and also gave us the chance to discuss my plan for our little startup, which got Purvi very excited. We agreed it was a solid plan and time to put it in action.

When she left in the evening, I was sure I was fine. I still had no recollection of last evening, except for a few minor bruises and scratches that served as a reminder. But by bedtime, the demons of fear reared their ugly head. I knew I was safe at home, yet the slightest noise from outside rattled me.

I toss and turn in bed, unable to sleep. Every time I close my eyes, I feel a heavy weight on me, and I jump awake. I give up trying to sleep after a while. Might as well watch something on Netflix to distract me.

I turn my phone on. There's a message from Jeet, sent an hour ago.

'Hi. How are you?? Are you OK??'

My fingers hover over the keypad. It is eleven twenty, would it be appropriate to message him this late? I am still sour at his rejection and agitated with his cover up. Whatever! I will just reply to this message as I don't want to be rude.

'Hi. I am OK.. thank you.'

'Not sleeping yet?' His reply is almost immediate.

'Not getting any sleep'

'Is it because of what happened last evening?'

'Maybe! but I cannot remember anything. Just whenever I close my eyes, I have this sense of dread. It's a vague feeling.. I guess my brain still thinks I am in danger and is not allowing me to sleep.'

'Would you mind if I called you now?'

I keep staring at the message. Jeet wants to call me. I could really use the sound of his soothing voice right now. Do you want to risk it? inner voice speaks up. He is calling out of courtesy to check up on you. Can you keep it impersonal?

I don't care! I want to hear, no, need to hear his voice

'OK' I type.

The phone rings instantaneously. "Hello" I reply hesitatingly. "Hi," comes the deep, sexy voice from the other end, "How are you?"

"Still a little shaken, I guess!"

"If you are worried about that low-life Deepak," he spits out with disdain, "don't be. I have made sure he will not see the outside of a prison cell for the next few decades, at least! He won't hurt you or anyone else ever again!!"

"Did you know Deepak was stalking me?" I ask him the question that was on my mind since morning.

I hear him take a deep breath before he whispers a barely audible, "Yes."

"Why didn't you warn me or tell me anything?" my voice is laced with hurt and anger. "How could you keep this information from me? You had no right.." my voice cracks with overwhelming emotions and tears that are now streaming down my eyes.

Jeet does not utter anything as I continue to cry, bitter at his betrayal. He makes no effort to calm me or quieten me. He waits patiently, till I have exhausted my tears and left with heaving sobs.

"I trusted you," I say quietly, once the sobs have died down.

"I am so sorry. It is entirely my fault," he replies hoarsely, his voice steeped in guilt. "I thought if you knew, you would panic unnecessarily. I thought, I had it under control," I can hear him clenching his teeth. "Since we did not have enough evidence against him, I decided that instead of firing him and letting him loose, it would be better idea to transfer him to a remote place where he would not be able to harass women and we could keep an eye on him till we got enough proof to have him arrested. Detectives were tailing him, keeping track of his movements while others were investigating and collecting evidence. We had just managed to get some of his victims to file an official complaint and register a FIR." He sighs regretfully, "He somehow must have got a whiff of our plan. In the brief time we let our guard down, that monster slipped away and got to you."

I don't reply, just processing everything that Jeet is telling me. He was trying to protect me.

"You should have told me, perhaps I would have been more careful and aware," I tell him between sobbing hiccups.

"I know and I wish I could go back in time and change things," he states vehemently, before his voice softens. "But I promise you this. I will protect you and keep you safe," his voice cracks, before he clears it. I can almost feel Jeet's protective arms holding me close, shielding me from the pain. "Can you forgive me?"

How can I stay angry at him? He was after all, only trying to protect me.

I sigh in resignation, "It's not your fault. And I can protect myself."

"I saw him in the hospital. I wanted to beat the shit out of him, but I couldn't have done it better than you did," he chuckles and I laugh with him, diffusing the tension between us.

"What are you doing now?" He asks, after a really long, awkward silence.

"I was just about to start watching a movie on Netflix to get my mind off the subject."

"Which one?"

"Was thinking of something light, maybe something like Jaane Tu.."

"What's that?"

"You haven't heard of Jaane Tu?" I gasp in shock.

"I don't watch a lot of hindi movies," comes his apologetic reply. "Tell you what?" he states after a brief pause, "Join the meeting through the link I am sending you."

"Why?" I ask confused.

"I will stream the movie through the app, that way we can watch it together. You can tell me what is happening, if I miss something."

"OK, wait a minute." I open my laptop and log in. Once I get comfortable on my bed and Jeet starts screening the movie.

He has a lot of theories regarding the characters. I learn that he likes to analyse people and situations and that his mind is constantly working, even while seemingly relaxed, like watching a movie. I don't mind though. I have watched the movie so many times, that I know every dialog and scene by heart. Hearing his voice is calming me, more than the movie ever could.

I don't even realise when my eyes start to droop, Jeet's voice lulling me into sleep..

Soon it's all a blur.