There has never been a Monday I anticipated like the one following my horror weekend, and it finally arrived. I took Ntando up on his offer and requested to have a meeting with my heroes, my Avengers. Walter aside, there was still a lot I needed to know, I had questions, and the fact that I had been having nightmares since watching that video was not really helping my case. I told Sandra about what happened and she suggested I see a therapist, unfortunately, she had gone back to work so sometimes it was hard to get ahold of her. Ntando's gym was as big as he said it was, he took me on a tour of the entire building, it had a dietician's office, a kid's playroom, and a swimming pool on the top floor, and all the machines were equipped with AI personal trainers who could be seen on the mini screens of each equipment. I was completely blown away.
I had not told Ntando that the Walter we were meeting was my Walter and I am surprised he never made the connection, we sat in his office and chatted away, waiting for the first guy to arrive. Ntando promised them a month's worth of free protein shake powder. Personally I didn't think it was a big deal, but apparently, it was, especially for the SUV heroes, it turned out they were huge fitness junkies.
We heard a soft knock sending an instant pulse of shock to my heart. My palms became sweaty, I wondered if it was Walter, just thinking about seeing him again, made me nervous, it was like meeting a long-lost relative not knowing how they would react, if they would reject you or accept you.
"Come in", Ntando said softly and I heard the door creak open, my heart instantly began beating uncontrollably, 'Was it him', I wondered, but I was soon met with my disappointment, it was only the SUV guys, yes, they came together, all three of them, at the same time.
Although I was disappointed, still the possibility of seeing Walter made the excitement linger for a while longer. The three men took seats opposite us and instant pity covered their faces upon seeing me, "We are sorry about what happened to you..", one of them said,
"Wish we could have been there a bit earlier.", another one added.
I instantly felt like that day I watched the video, I felt shattered inside, I felt anger, rage, and shame, but I managed to fake a faint smile, "It's okay. So, can you guys tell me anything else about that night? I know you only came late, but have you heard anything else, maybe about the drugs, the other two culprits who were taken by a police van? The man you found fighting?". Turns out the other two men escaped police custody and no one had seen them, only one was left, the one at the University Hospital, and I had plans to see him after meeting with my heroes.
The three men looked at each other in confusion, "That's impossible, it can't be....can it? I knew it!", at the same time, Ntando and I exchanged glances,
"What's wrong?", Ntando asked directing his face toward them,
"We think those men are dead.", said one of the guys, "Two men were found dead at a dumpsite late evening yesterday, similar to other suspects who have been caught for the same crimes, involving this drug. My guess is, someone didn't want the drugs to be known-".
Before they could finish, I bolted out the door, if those guys were right, the last person who would tell me anything about that night was next to follow, I had to get to him before they did, whoever 'they' was. At that moment, seeing Walter didn't matter, I needed to know why those bastards targeted me, why they had to humiliate me like that. I needed to know the type of drug they used on me, I needed to understand what gave them the right to do what they did to me, it's my body, why did they violate me? The way I was driving, I am pretty sure I broke a few rules earning me a couple of tickets. I parked blindly at the handicapped spot, I felt like I was running out of time, like I was in a race, I didn't care if he died, but I needed my answers before he kicked the bucket. I felt like knowing would help me process everything better, would make it easier to sleep at night, would make me less afraid of the world, I would be able to prevent it from happening again. In fact, I was sure I would be able to stop it, I just needed to know why they did it and why me.
I shot straight to the security guard at the hospital entrance to ask where room 24 was, the moment he finished directing me, I was well on my way. By the time I reached the room, I was panting heavily from the running.
I opened the door violently to be halted in my tracks by a familiar face sitting next to the bed, as if guarding the room, it took a long second to register the scene in front of me, "W-w-w-Walter..."
"Took you long enough...", he simply said.