PETRICHOR

.02.

I woke up very tired, opening my eyes slowly. The birds were chirping outside and the sun had crept on the bed. I fixed myself up, I didn't feel much pain like yesterday.

I looked around, I wasn't in my house nor a hospital. I was in a studio apartment; a really clean and expensive looking one may I add.  I started to get up out of bed when I saw a man's attention drifting to me.

I frowned and pulled the covers  protecting myself. "Why am I here ???" I panicked screaming.

" You should rest ." He said while coming over with a cup of water in hand. "Here." I hesitated, I wasn't sure if I should take it from him. He gestured for me to take the cup smiling. I ended up taking the cup of water he offered me and drank it all. I was very thirsty, my mouth felt as dry as a desert. 

" For how long ... was I out ?" I asked still skeptical of my surroundings. I hoped I didn't pass out for a long time. This stranger helped more than needed.  While asking I noticed that I wasn't wearing my clothes but new ones. I was a bit startled needless to say. I gasped ready to scream at any given moment.

" Around a day, I took you to a hospital and had your wounds cleaned, then took you home ." He sat on the couch in front of me leaving a lot of distance between us.  He continued, " And by the way, I had a nurse change your clothes, I'm not that type of guy."  He added with a small one-sided smile. 

Relief washed over me for a few seconds before I realized he said wounds, " Wounds? " I was confused, I thought it was only the one on my side.
" There was a small scratch and bruise on your knees, and a knife cut on your shoulders and your left side, nothing big. The cuts were external and didn't do much damage ." The man explained while pointing to his shoulders and side.

I nodded as he kept an eye on me, he had a lot of questions to ask, but he was in a mental war with himself whether to ask or not.

I stood up from my bed, I had to leave, I couldn't stay here any longer.  I had already troubled the young man enough. " I'm incredibly sorry that I gave you so much trouble,  Thank you so much for -" Abruptly  I was cut off.

The man cut me off  " I wasn't troubled,  trust me. I promised I'll help and I will. How about some breakfast first? You didn't have much to eat, I'm guessing you must be famished. "  It was true, I was really hungry but I just felt guilty towards him. I couldn't even pay this man back.

" Go clean up first, I'll prepare something to eat okay? " He had a hopefully expressed as he gestured towards the bathroom. I nodded politely and went to the bathroom.

Needless to say, I was a mess. I stared at my reflection in the mirror, my hair was a mess my face was an ugly crusty looking thing.  I was surprised I didn't scare him off with me looking like this.
I was wearing a grey hoodie that I'm guessing was his. I could smell his scent from the hoodie, however, I was not complaining. I had the same pants from yesterday,  it was clean enough to be worn.

I washed my face and fixed my hair up in a bun real quick and stared at myself I was going to be okay. Everything will be okay.

I took a deep breath and checked my injuries,  I felt like choking I almost got killed yesterday.

A white patch covered my side and one near my collarbone - but smaller. I didn't suffer any big injuries and I was grateful that I'm still alive thank god. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.  Then went back outside.

He had prepared some avocado toast and sunny side up eggs, along with orange juice. The food smelled nice and warm, it was my favourite food.

I sat down as he pushed the plate towards me and the juice. " I hope this is fine ." He held his utensils waiting for my reply. I slowly took a bite and gave him a small yet weak smile. 

" It's great, thank you. " After thanking him my attention was back on the food, I tried not to have eye contact with him. Not that I was shy from him but he was pretty handsome. He had light brown hair and hazel eyes -which could be mistaken as green, his eyes were green and brown with gold splattered around. He looked like he was in his early 20s too, perhaps older than me.

I just couldn't look at him, I was so embarrassed he had to see me in such a situation. I felt for myself, I didn't know how long will this keep going I just hoped that the threats could end and that everything was back to normal.

My eyes started to get filled with tears as I bit my cheeks, choking on the cry I didn't want to get out. To add on top of it, he noticed,  he noticed how weak I was.  I felt horrible, he was just a stranger and he had to see me in my weakest points in life. 

He put his utensils down and instead of telling me what's wrong he said "Cry it out." His face was serious. " Let it all out." He said. That was enough for me to just explode. 

I cried and cried,  I was so scared, and I had no one to help and no one believed me.  He stood up and went to grab some tissues and gave them to me. As he bent down and placed his hand on my knees and patted them.  

" You can trust me, if you want me to help I need to know what happened." His voice was laced with confidence for some reason. I looked at him to see if he was being honest. I could tell he was not lying and that I could trust him.

I was still scared, after all, he was just a mere stranger to me. I didn't even know his name. However, my subconscious told me I can trust him.  He might be my only chance of fixing things.

I took a deep breath.  I had decided I was going to let him in, I was going to trust him. 

"Okay "