For a few seconds, I see him as clear as day.
Light brown hair that sweeps down and frames his face in straight strands, deep blue eyes set in golden skin, a shadow of facial hair clinging to a square jaw that jumps as he clenches his teeth. He has a small scar under his right eye in the shape of an arrow.
I didn’t notice that before but this close, face to face, it’s impossible to miss.
Those few slow seconds finally pass and terror grips me like a vise. I start to struggle. “Let me go! Let me go! I want to get out of here, let me go!”
My screams don’t appear to affect him and my demand to be released quickly becomes louder as this strange man ends up throwing me over his shoulder like I’m some kind of sack of grain. He wraps one arm around my thighs and holds me tight while nausea pulls through my gut and my head spins at suddenly being upside down.
“Put me down!” I scream, hammering my hands at his back. “Put me down, put me down and let me go! No! No, I don't want to be here! I don’t want to! Put me down, you bastard, put me down!”
It’s unclear that he’s carrying me back to that room until he throws me down onto the bed and my hair sweeps across my face, blinding me completely. That doesn’t stop me from fighting. I punch and kick and roll over, struggling and fighting against his hands on my waist, then my shoulders. Then a rough palm grips my forearm and jerks my arm above my head, where a painfully familiar cold ring of metal seals around my wrist.
“No! Fuck you! No! You can’t tie me up here. You can’t keep me here! Let me go! Let me fucking go!”
My good foot finally collides with something soft and the man grunts, his presence vanishing from over me. I toss my head back and forth until enough of my long hair has fallen from my face.
He stands a foot away from my bed, massaging his crotch with a wince. “That’s a good kick.”
“Come closer and I’ll show you how good it can be when I can see what I’m aiming at,” I snarl.
The man shakes his head and winces. “No, thanks.”
As I sit up, my hospital gown slides down my thighs and pools at my waist. I quickly cover myself up but just as my struggles renew, pain pulls deep through my skull and down the back of my neck.
It calms me instantly and I sink down into the pillows with a wince. “Ow.”
“You’re a danger to yourself,” the man says. “It won’t do you any good to fight it.”
“Why?” I groan as the edges of my vision light up like someone is standing just out of sight with a flashlight. “Does it ruin your fun? You want to drug me again?”
“I did that for your own safety,” he replies.
“Sure. Like this is for my own safety.” I rattle my bound wrist against the cuffs. “If you… if you want money, I have none. If you want anything else then… then…”
“Stop,” the man interrupts me quickly, still massaging his crotch. “I don’t want anything from you.”
“Then why am I here? Where even is here? Why have you tied me up? Who even are you?”
He straightens up and takes one step closer to the bed. “My name is Ruslan, and believe it or not, I’m trying to save your life.”
The only thing that stops me from fighting back is the pain in my ankle and in my head. This stranger, Ruslan, talks to me about how important it is for me to keep the I.V. in and to eat something, but the thought of doing anything just because he asked me to aggravates me, so I refuse. Until the nausea from being upside down is too much and Ruslan rushes to untie me in order to drag me into the small ensuite. We make it just in time, and I throw up nothing but bile until I’m raspily gasping for air.
This time when he carries me out of the bathroom, he doesn’t take me to the bed. He takes me out of the room and the hallway passes in a daze until cool air brushes against my bare arms and legs.
I blink, and we’re outside. A darkening sky stretches out above me as Ruslan places me down on a wooden bench situated on a small balcony that overlooks the entirety of New York City. Night is falling and the city is coming alive with lights and sounds.
Car horns, brake screeches, and the subtle, low hum of a million voices rises like music from the city below, and it’s familiar.
Pushing Ruslan away, I breathe in deep until the cool air has invaded the very depths of my lungs. My attention wanders while trying to calm the rolling nausea in my stomach and as I glance up, something catches my eye. The curved bricks above me, coupled with a familiar antenna, pull at something in my mind, and I stare up until a name forms in my mind.
My eyes meet Ruslan’s, who’s watching me with an impassive expression. “Are we… in the Empire State Building?”
Ruslan glances up briefly and nods. “Yes.”
“I… what?”
His eyes dart back down to mine. “What?”
