I woke up and I was in the hospital. Well it felt very different to be in the other side of things. I looked around the room. I saw Alessandro sleeping on the couch next to me. I was taking in my surroundings. I was safe.

The Alessandro woke up. "Aubrey!" He ran time my side. "How are you feeling?" He asked worried.

"I'm ok" I said.

"No you're not. You're covered in bruises and you have a fracture on your left arm" he said.

I didn't even look at my arms. Indeed I had a cast on. "How long was I out." I asked him.

"About a day and a half" he said. I saw the bags under his eyes. He definitely hasn't slept either.

"Let me get the doctor. I'm sure you want to talk to him" he said walking out. The doctor came in immediately.

"Hello Dr.Emerson. I'm Dr. Rissoli. Just to quickly brief you. You have no internal bleeding. You have a hairline fracture on your radius and you have some bruised ribs. Your vitals are stable. You can go home tomorrow morning" he said.

"Ok thank you." I said and the doctor walked out. I fell asleep soon after. Alessandro didn't talk to me much, nor did I say much.

I woke up the next day and was ready to go home. They took me to the car in a wheel chair and when we got home Alessandro carried me to his room. "Why am I in your room?" I asked. As he laid me down on his bed.

"You're staying with me from now on." He said. Before I could protest Matteo walked in.

"Aubrey!" He said running to my side and hugging me. "Sorry i didn't visit you at the hospital. I was away on business" he said looking at Alessandro. Then he turned back to me "how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. I missed you Matteo" I said.

"Do you remember anything that happened?" He asked. I was going to answer but Alessandro cut me off.

"Matteo I would like to speak to Aubrey alone please" he said.

Matteo nodded and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "See you later doc" he said walking out.

"Aubrey..." Alessandro said sitting next to me on the bed. "Can you tell me what happened? What happened at the party?" He asked.

I sighed. "When you were called up for your speech, I decided I was no longer comfortable and I wanted to come back home. I walked outside without telling anyone and then someone hit me over the head. I woke up and I was blind folded. The whole time I was there I was blinded. Even tho I didn't have the blind fold on at times, it was always dark. One of the men told me, when he first met me, that he was going to mess me up. I asked him if he was going to kill me. He said he didn't know. It all depended on the orders he was given. They would force feed me when I didn't want to eat. Gave me multiple beatings. I never could track time" I was looking ahead into the room not really staring at anything. My eyes filled with water. Alessandro was watching my every move. He wouldn't take his eyes off me. However I couldn't look at him while I told him this. "How long was I there for?" I said in a raspy voice.

"Five days" he said. Five days I thought. That's it? It felt like an eternity.

A tear ran down my cheek. Alessandro cleaned it with his thumb. I was still looking ahead. "What happened to the people? How was I found what happened?"

"They went me a video, we were able to make out one of the angles and we tracked down the warehouse they were keeping you in." He said.

"What happened to the men? Did the police catch them?" I asked finally looking at him. He looked away.

"Don't worry about them. They are taken care of." He said.

"You mean they are in jail right?" I asked.

"Yes they're in a cell and they are never going to see the light of day again" Alessandro said.

"How Can you be sure? Is the justice system here that good?" I asked. I really had no idea.

"Yes. Now stop worrying. No one will ever hurt you again" Alessandro said.

He cuddled up next to me. "Come here" he demanded. I laid my head on top of his chest. "I missed you. I thought I lost you. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to you." He said kissing the top on my head.

"I was scared. So scared I thought I would never see you again. I thought about you and Sandy and Matteo. I don't really have much people in my life. But I thought about you three. I just didn't want you guys to suffer because of me."

"Aubrey how could you say that? We all love and care for you. Me in particular. We couldn't live without you in this world." I started crying. Alessandro didn't say anything. He just held me as I cried. Then I fell asleep in his arms.

I woke up the next day and took a long hot shower. I made sure to not wet my cast. I noticed all the bruises on my body. I looked like a human punching back. Alessandro must have run to the office. I got out of the shower into the room.

Alessandro was on the bed. "Oh! I thought you went to the office?" I said.

"No, how could you think I would leave you alone?" He said.

"Well I didn't see you when I woke up. I just assumed." I said as I walked to the bed and sat down.

"I had a business call I had to make." He said as he sat down next to me.

I don't know why I still felt nervous around him. There was something my about Alessandro. I looked at him. The was something about him.

A sudden need came before me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and sat on top of him and kissed him. He kissed me back and then pulled away. "We cant Audrey. I don't want to hurt you." He said pointing out a bruise on my arm.

"You can't hurt me." I showed him a bruise on my arm. "Kiss them. Kiss them and make them feel better" I said.

I didn't have to say anymore. Alessandro made me forget about the darkness I just lived thru.