"For how long was she stuck in the lift?" the lady doctor asked, focusing on her examination.
"About an hour," Tan replied, concern evident in his voice. "What happened to her? When will she wake up?"
"She will wake up in an hour. Just make sure she doesn't overwork herself and, if possible, give her a week off." the doctor said, her tone serious and warning.
Tan hesitated, knowing Jennifer's stubborn nature. "I'm not sure if she'll agree to take a week off. She's very dedicated to her work."
As the doctor continued her examination, Tan couldn't help but wonder how Jennifer could be claustrophobic. She had always been a strong and independent woman, and he couldn't fathom what could have brought her to this state.
"You said she was stuck in the lift for an hour. Did she mention anything unusual happening before she passed out?" the doctor inquired, breaking Tan out of his thoughts.
Tan shook his head, wracking his brain for any clues, "Yeah she said she's claustrophobic. And about the lift? It was repaired a week ago. I never thought this would happen."
The doctor nodded, absorbing the information, "Well, I'll have to run some tests to determine the exact cause. In the meantime, keep an eye on her and make sure she gets some rest. I'll take her to my psychiatrist friend. He would try to get the real reason find her being claustrophobic. Everything has a reason. Who can know this better than you?"
As the doctor prepared to leave, Tan couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. The mysterious circumstances surrounding Jennifer's collapse left him feeling unsettled, and he knew he had to get to the bottom of it.
Later that evening, as Tan sat by Jennifer's bedside, watching over her as she slept, his mind raced with questions and suspicions. He couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to this incident than met the eye.
He was right now in a hospital room, where Jennifer was shifted to, from Tan's room in the company building.
As he glanced out the window, he noticed a shadowy figure lurking outside the hospital grounds. A chill ran down his spine as he realized that someone was watching them.
Determined to unravel the mystery, Tan quietly slipped out of Jennifer's room and made his way towards the shadowy figure. As he approached, he could make out the silhouette of a man wearing a dark hooded coat.
"Who are you?" Tan questioned, his heart pounding in his chest.
The man turned to face him, revealing a sinister grin, "I'm just a messenger, here to deliver a warning. Stay out of this, or you'll regret it."
Before Tan could react, the man disappeared into the night, leaving Tan in a state of shock and confusion. Who was this mysterious figure, and what did they want with Jennifer?
He never thought that a simple looking girl, Jennifer, who looked totally untouched by any evil, would have a secret that could be dangerous for people around her.
"Water." Tan's chain of thoughts broke, when he heard a small voice of Jennifer asking for water, he immediately handed her a glass of water after making her sit.
"How are you feeling now?" he asked as he saw her drink water. She handed him the glass and said, "Better."
"Umm...., If you don't mind, can I ask something a bit personal?" Tan asked, hesitating.
Jennifer looked up at him and slowly nodded, saying, "Yes, you can. But, I hope, it won't be too personal."
Tan looked at her and spoke up, "It's just about your current situation, and about the things that happened after you fell unconscious."
She looked at him confused and said, "How would I know about the things that happened after I went unconscious?"
Tan just looked at her with a blank face, as if questioning his decision to ask her a logical question. Seeing him look at herself like that, she asked, shifting a bit in her place, "Did I ask something wrong?"
Tan looked at her, running his fingers through his hair, and said,"No, no, you can never ask for something wrong."
Jennifer sadly pouted and looked at him with puppy eyes. Tan looked at her and turned his face away, avoiding her eyes. Soon composing himself, he again spoke up, "Actually, when you were unconscious, a man in full black attire came and warned me that if I wanted to stay alive, I must stay away from you. So, I just want to ask, do you have some sort of enmity with someone, that they could even kill you? Look, I don't want to interfere in your personal life, but I can surely help you if you are having some problem."
"Can you please tell me more about what exactly he was wearing or any specific sign you saw on his body or his clothes?" Jennifer asked in a shaking voice, sounding so scared, as if she heard something that she never wanted to hear.
Tan looked at her sweating form, confused, and started describing how that mystery man actually looked, "Umm... I can't tell you much. I was just so shocked to see him enter, that I wasn't able to notice much, but I saw something written in Russian".
As soon as the word Russian left Tan's lips, Jennifer felt her heart beats increase, and the salty warm liquid left her eyes in the form of drops.
"He came back." Jennifer spoke these three words and started sobbing loudly.
"Who? Who came back, Jennifer?" Tan asked worriedly, looking at Jennifer's sobbing weak form. His heart clenched seeing the always happy and cheerful Jennifer crying uncontrollably.
"I forgot about it, but dreams never let me forget those days..."
Flashback :-
Nine-year-old Jennifer was playing with her one and only best friend, Mia.
"Mia, let's go home. It's getting late," Jennifer said, to which Mia nodded and said, "Yes, let's go, or else momma won't give me chocolates."
Jennifer's eyes shone on the mention of chocolates. She says, "Will you share your chocolates with me tomorrow? I promise, if momma gives me candy today, I'll also share with you."
"OK, I'll definitely share with you tomorrow. Now, let's go home," Mia says, smiling.
They both hold hands and start going towards the gate of the park, when, suddenly, two bulky men come and pick up Jennifer. Mia, startled, starts crying. "Leave her, bad uncle, leave her."
She picks up a stone and throws it at one of the men, but before she could react any further, the men made Jennifer sit in the car and drove away.
Crying, Mia went running to her house and knocked. The door was opened by her father, whose expression changed into a worried one, when he saw his little princess crying. He asked, "What happened, baby?" He picked her up and said, "Why are you crying?"
Mia hiccups before saying, "Th-they kid-kidnapp-pped, Jenny." And starts crying loudly.
Listening to her cries, her mother comes out and says, "Why is she crying?"
"She is saying, someone kidnapped our Jenn." Mr. Jones said with a horrified look on his face.
"What?" Mrs. Jones Exclaims.
"Let's go and inform Wilsons," said Mrs. Jones hurriedly.
All of them go to Jennifer's house across the road, locking their house's door. Mrs. Jones knocked on the door. After a few minutes, Mrs. Wilson opens the door.
"I thought Jenny was with you. Where is she? Have you guys seen her?" Hailey (Mrs. Wilson) says looking at them.
Both Mister and Mrs. Jones looked at each other, before Mr. Jones says, "Mia is saying someone kidnapped Jenny."
Till Robert (Mr. Wilson) had come out, listening to the news. He spoke up in disbelief, "What the hell are you saying, Jones? Someone kidnapped Jenny?"
"That's what Mia is saying." Mr. Jones said.
"Can you tell me what really happened, baby?" Mrs. Wilson asked.
Mia explains the whole incident, sobbing.
"You know, aunty. I even threw a stone at him, but he didn't leave Jenny," Mia said and started crying loudly.
"We should report this to the police, as soon as possible."
On the other hand :-
Little Jennifer, who had been unconscious till now, woke up and looked around herself, noticing that she was in a dark room, where everything was black. She stood up weakly and walked in one direction. She tried walking in the other directions too, touching the walls, trying to find a door, but couldn't find a door. There was only one source of light that was too high for her. She soon realized she was in a very small room without a door. Suddenly, she heard a loud sound of an iron door opening. She looked up, seeing a lift coming down. The door of the lift opened, a man came out and stood in front of her tiny form. He looked like a giant in front of her.
"Uncle, can you please tell me where I am?" She asked, innocently.
The man spoke, "You are in my territory."
"Can you please take me home?" Jennifer asks.
"No, I didn't bring you here to leave you."
"Please, take me home."
"You will have to stay here, till I want."
Listening to this, Jennifer starts crying and hits him, which makes him angry. He holds her hands in a tight grip and says, gritting his teeth, "Listen you brat, don't ever try to hit me again, or you won't stay alive. Keep her here for 7 days straight and don't give her anything to eat, just give her water." He orders one of his men.
"NO! PLEASE TAKE ME HOME. PLEASE, I PROMISE, I WON'T HIT YOU AGAIN, PLEASE." Jennifer pleads, crying loudly.
On the other hand, both families were trying hard to find their princess, but were unable to. Mia wasn't eating anything, saying that she would eat when she will see Jennifer eating. Mrs. Wilson also stopped eating properly, saying how she can eat, when she doesn't know if her daughter is eating or not.
....
After about 15 days, the police finally found little Jennifer in a truck that was reported to be a human trafficking truck. Jennifer's mother broke down into tears after finding out what kind of trap her daughter was trapped in.
Jennifer was totally traumatized after this whole incident. After all, she was just a nine-year-old kid. In all these days, she has been tortured to death. They treated her like a toy. It took her about a year to come out of this trauma. The only question in the mind of the police was, why did they only kidnap Jennifer when Mia was present there too?
After being inquired about, they got to know that the kidnapping team was searching for one particular girl, but as Jennifer resembled a lot to her, they kidnapped her. But, the detective team was still not satisfied with their answer, so till this date, those goons were in their custody.
Flashback ends :-
After hearing the whole incident, Tan also came to the same conclusion as the detectives, that the real reason behind Jennifer's abduction was something else, and he was determined to find the real reason.
Stay tuned to know what happens next.
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