78. My hero

Despite the discomfort I was feeling from my swollen lip and the bruised arm, I did not fail to notice how white the hotel room was; the king size bed and the luxurious white sheets made it clear that it was no ordinary room. The rest of the furniture looked just as expensive and the room was radiating with freshness. If it were an ordinary day, I would've been overjoyed to wake up in such an elegant and expensive looking room, however, because of the pain I was in and the battle with my headache, everything just felt terrifying, all I could think of was what the hell happened to me?!

The last vivid thing I could recall was gulping the wine, the rest after that was fuzzy then nothing, just darkness. I ran my hands through my hair in terror, the fact that I had bruises it meant someone forcefully put their hands on me, and they were violent about it. I ran my eyes around the room hoping to see a sign of the person who was with me and the worst part was, I couldn't even find my phone or purse. I felt terrible, I felt scared, and I began fearing the worst, I got nauseated at the idea that something despicable may have taken place and I found my self running to the bathroom to purge.

Not being able to remember anything was not the only problem I was faced with - without my purse or phone, there was no way of calling someone for help or even getting home, I had no money on me. By the look of things, I was stuck in that room, I felt sorry for myself, I began regretting ever stepping foot into that club, I regretted not leaving with Ntando, heck, I hated myself for the whole clubbing idea, because if I had stuck to what I knew, I wouldn't have been throwing up in an expensive hotel with smudged make up not knowing how to get home. 

After a couple of minutes of feeling sorry for myself and having collected my thoughts, I was determined to find out what happened to me, I made it my mission and the best people to ask would be Ntando's friends. So I stood up from the floor to wash my face but I caught a glimpse of my messed up face, my mascara was smudged showing that I was crying and my lipstick was all smeared, I even had a hickey, I began sobbing desperately, 'how could I not remember?' and that's when it dawned on me, I was spiked. I instantly felt fear I never felt since Angela's kidnapping, the idea of someone having forced themselves on me gave me shivers. I was trembling in front of the mirror harshly scrabbing the hickey off my neck. I then hurriedly cleaned my face, I needed to get out of that room, it didn't matter that I had no money or if my dress was torn up, all I knew was that I had to get out, I needed to go to the police, I needed to have a rape kit done, I was going to make this bustard pay for humiliating me. Whoever it was, they were going to pay. All that terror I felt became rage and anger, I shot out of the bathroom straight to the room to put on the heels, but was stopped in my tracks by a red shopping bag on the white bed, and there was a note laid next to it. I quickly scoured through the bag to find a first aid kit, grey tracksuit and white snickers accompanied by a bag of toiletries. On top of the humiliation, I felt a wave of anger and ridicule washing over me, after what I went through, this person thought such things would make me feel better and he didn't even stay to let me see his face. I was beside myself, I was fuming, I never so felt so disrespected, cheap and slutty in my life. At that moment, I couldn't feel or hear anything except for my heavily beating heart, I needed to know who the fucker was, so I read the note:

"Toiletries and clothes to change, I hope I still remember your size. Your phone is fully charged, check the drawer, your purse is in there as well. I'm glad you are okay Thandie. Don't worry, nothing happened yesterday, if you think you look bad, wait until you see the other guy, Bloomville University Hospital, Room 24.

P.S. Take good care of yourself and remember, clubs are not churches, be safe. I don't want save you again."

My heart instantly dropped, and just then, my nostrils picked up a familiar scent, Walter was just in the room. The ink on the hotel note pad also showed that it was just written a few moments ago, he probably heard me sob. I instantly felt the urge to run to the door, but there was no one, not even his shadow. I felt a tear roll down my cheek and shortly followed a sharp pain in my heart, the man did not even wait until I came out. I closed the door my heart now sinking in sadness, overshadowing all the rage and anger I felt earlier, I knew I missed him, but his scent in that room made me realize how much I underestimated my longing for him. 

Knowing that Walter was the one who took me to the hotel and nothing happened helped put my mind at ease, but I could still feel a bit of fear and the idea that something bad could have happened still lingered. Truth is, I was careless, I was stupid, if it weren't for Walter, I could have been talking a different story, worse, I could have been in some ditch somewhere. I suddenly had one more reason to want to talk to him, questions about what happened and the unexplained hickey. So without wasting time, I took a shower, wore the clothes he brought and used the first aid kit to mend my bruises and my scar. I couldn't wait to speak to the receptionist, since Walter booked the room, I figured it was under his name and they might have his details, at least his contact number.

I felt a bit excited because my long search was coming to an end, - or so I thought and boy was I wrong!