When I first opened my eyes, the first thing I noticed is how bright the place was. There was no foul smell in the room. It smelled like it has been cleaned well. It wasn't dark and suffocating, instead it felt airy, almost like I was finally back home. The bright light made me close my eyes and try to open them again.

This time, Alec's face was the first thing I saw. He has dark circles under his eyes. He looked ungroomed and just completely not himself. I took notice of the tight grip he has on my hand and wondered how long it took them to find me this time.

The weird thing I noticed is that my body wasn't aching. I felt okay, overall. And so, I started patting myself, trying to get a feel of my skin and my wounds that I have acquired from the beatings. Trying to find the bruises that they left on me, for some reason, there was none. Not a single bruise or wound.

"What..?" I asked, lost for words.

Questions started flooding my mind. Was I unconscious for months that I no longer have the bruises or wounds? Was it years? How long was I asleep? Am I safe now?

All of these things running through my head, made my heart race. To which the vital signs monitor started picking up, and started beeping faster and louder. Immediately, Alec caught my attention.

"Shh.. Calm down." He told me, his eyes tearing up. His hand shaking as he cupped the side of my face, almost like he was handling something fragile. "It's okay. Your safe. See?" He made a motion for me to look around the room. Emil is standing by the door, looking relieved but tired. Dustyn is there too, standing behind Alec, looking at me with a worried smile. A doctor and two nurses stood to the left of the bed, waiting to check on me.

"B-but I was in a basement. A-and Noah was there. He was there too." I said shakily. Holding my head between my hands almost frustratingly as the events of the abuse they did ran through my mind.

"Miss Ramirez." The doctor finally spoke, getting my attention away from my frustration.

"Mara." I said abruptly.

He smiles. "Mara." He supplements before continuing. "I just have a few questions for you. Is that okay?"

I nodded my head and he quickly proceeded on asking me questions like the amount of pain I feel or if anything hurt. Then he asked me to follow the light on a pen to which I did. Then he asked me questions that are a little bizarre, I would say. He asked me for my whole name, how old I am, and the date.

The last question made me stop. I didn't know what date it was. I didn't even know how long I was in that dark room or in the custody of the kidnappers. I didn't know, and my confusion started affecting my heartbeat again which made the doctor calm me down.

"Can you tell me what was the last thing you remember?" He asked.

I frowned at him. "I told you, the last thing I remember is that I was in a basement. They were there." I said a bit louder than I intended too.

Still, the doctor's smile never faltered as he nodded his head in understanding. "Listen, Mara. You were never kidnapped."

My breathing hitched. "What?" I asked in a whispering, not believing the words that came out of his mouth.

He started explaining that I'm was probably too scared when someone hit me on the back of my head that my mind had conjured up the image of me being back in the basement, like my worst fear. He said that right now, I'm just confused between my dream and my reality but assured us that this is normal. He said that things will soon make since, the cloudiness of my confusion will disappear in time.

After that, he told me to get rest and just take it easy for the next few days. Still, he assured us that I didn't have a concussion or an internal bleeding since my head didn't hit the ground hard.

He asked me if I had any questions for him but I just shook my head, still unable to wrap my head around it. Still believing that what I experienced in my "dream" is real and not just images that resulted from my fear.

"I need to use the bathroom." I said in a whisper. There's a huge chance that there is a mirror inside the bathroom. I can check to see for myself if what the doctor said was true.

Alec nodded and helped me get off the bed. Made sure that the IV drip on my hand was not getting pulled on. Once I'm inside the bathroom, I closed the door on Alec and carefully scanned the small room.

I instantly spotted the mirror on top of the sink. I carefully made my way over there. Took a deep breathe before raising my face to see if there were any trace of the kidnapping that I know - I felt - happened.

Shock took over me as my face came up clean. No busted lips, no bruising, no nothing. Right this moment, nothing made sense to me.

The doctor said he will allow me to go home if I pass the next set of medical exams he had set up. He wanted to make sure that they didn't miss anything on the scan related to my head injury.

Alec has relented to my pleas and has gone home yesterday to rest, eat and probably have a bath. He wasn't happy about leaving me but Dustyn assured him that he won't be leaving me alone any time soon, let alone let me out of his sight.

And he didn't.

Even Emil would come inside the room throughout the night, just to see if I was still there. He would even come in along with the nurse and just stand at the corner of the room until the nurse left.

I don't think I've ever seen any of them this on edge before but I doubt it will change anytime soon.

Alec came by as soon as the sun was up in the sky. It was obvious that he didn't waste any time on getting here and still managed to get me a set of clothes to change into. He brought breakfast with him too.

"Good morning Alec." I greeted him with a smile as he sets the food down on the table at the other side of the room.

He turns his head to me with a smile. He looks much better now, well-rested. "How was your night?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "It was okay." I watched him for a while, as he opened the tupperwares of food on the table. "Have you heard from Dad?" I asked.

His movements stopped, like he didn't expect me to ask about Dad. "He's not answering my calls." He said simply.

I frowned. "Is he that preoccupied with Amelia that he won't even visit me?"

It's outrageous to think that he's that kind of dad now. Someone who puts a woman over his children. Someone who won't even try to check up on his children when they're in a hospital bed, unconscious for days.

At the same time, he could be staying away from me so he won't rile up Alec even more than he already had. Things between them has not been good in such a long time that I know Alec would snap if he does something stupid again.

Not that I would know what would count stupid to Alec. It could be everything and anything.

Alec sighed and turned to me with a smile. "Maybe he'll be here tomorrow."

I don't know if he'll come tomorrow but right now, Alec sure looks hopeful. So I smiled and nodded my head.

Alec woke up Dustyn who was still sleeping on the couch. The three of us enjoyed our breakfast together which mas cooked and prepared by Mrs. Adour.

The scheduled tests wasn't until lunch time.

I braided my hair to one side before leaving the bathroom to see Alec and Emil packing up some of the things they have brought over during my stay here to make it more comfortable. Dustyn is by the door, watching the two men do all the work.

"Hey." He said as he watched me. He held out his hand for me and I accepted it. "You look better."

I smiled. "I feel better." I replied.

"I heard you asked Alec to see Dr. Rose."

I nodded my head. "Yeah. I'm not as confused and shocked as I was when I came to realize none of it happened."

Dustyn hugged me to his side. "It's more of an emotional battle, I guess."

"Probably."

"Okay, let's go." Alec said as he picked up the paper bag filled with some of our things for personal hygiene. We were walking down the hallway when Emil's phone rang which made us all stop to look at him.

"Yes?" He answered the phone. He listened for a few minutes before an unexplainable expression took over his face. "I'll tell them."

"What is it?" Alec asked as soon as Emil ended the call. Emil hesitated and could not even look at us in the eye. "Well?"

"That was the police department. They weren't able to contact you, sir, so they called my phone." He said, stopping to take a breathe before continuing. "They found Mr. Ramirez in his hotel room unconscious."