Seeing Lisa still unconscious made Rangga feel more restless than ever. The woman''s face began to look pale as cold sweat ran down her forehead to her cor.


    The man was confused, he didn''t know what to do with Lisa''s cold body. He circled while thinking. What had the mobs in the lonely dark alleyway done to Lisa? Did they give Lisa drugs that make her weak like now?


    Rangga stared at Lisa''s face, which looked increasingly pale. Suddenly, Lisa''s body began to spasm, as if she was shivering with cold even though there was absolutely no air conditioning in the inn.


    "Lisa, Lisa! It''s me, Rangga! Wake up! What happened to you? Hey!" Rangga said in a panic while patting Lisa''s cheek gently. His brows knitted together because of fear and anxiety.


    Lisa ignored Rangga''s question, she opened her eyes slowly and nced at the handsome face of the man who embraced her instead. She started to gather her consciousness then said, "Oscar...? Where am I?"


    It seemed that Lisa''s vision was still blurry. Her memory was still foggy and she couldn''t recognize Rangga''s figure.


    "Lisa, I''m not Oscar, I''m Rangga! Wake up, I''ll send you to the hospital. Damn, I don''t know what else to do!" Rangga said in a hurry.


    "Nggh, I don''t want to... Don''t joke around, Oscar…" Lisa threw herself on the bed. The woman closed her eyelids again as her body was getting cold.


    "Lisa?! Shit, I''ll just send you to the hospital, okay? Come on, can you stand up?" Rangga asked, feeling increasingly panicked.


    With a sudden movement, Lisa got out of bed and took a deep breath and walked toward the exit as if she had just been in a trance. Rangga was so shocked to see Lisa brush off his hand.


    The woman was about to open the doorknob of the room but she fell unconscious again.


    "Lisa! Dammit! Let''s just go to the hospital," Rangga said as he carried Lisa up to his car again.


    The woman didn''t seempletely conscious yet. She could still hear but cannot lift her body. When Rangga carried her out of the room to the parking lot, she groaned in pain as she raved, "Nggh, I don''t want to go to the hospital... Get off me, Oscar…"


    "Hang on, we''re almost there," Rangga replied, still looking panicked.


    "Oscar, why are you so stubborn...? I''m fine…." Lisa replied weakly.


    Hearing her mention Oscar''s name repeatedly made Rangga a little annoyed. "Lis, I''ve said many times, it''s me Rangga not Oscar!"


    "Rangga? Who is Rangga? I don''t know him..." Lisa answered, half conscious and half drunk.


    "Gosh, whatever, you have to go to the hospital! What did they do to you? Did they drug you until your body turned like this? You''re absolutely not fine, Lisa!" Rangga eximed,ying down his childhood friend in the front seat.


    "Oh, I''m fine, Oscar, don''t take me to the hospital..." Lisa said again.


    "Those mobs injured you, and you''ve got so many bite marks on your body. You''re also bathing in cold sweat now, so don''t expect me not to not panic!" The slender man replied as he started the engine and drove to the nearest hospital.


    ***


    Warm rays descended from the horizon, softly caressing Lisa''s face as she was lying on the hospital bed. The heat slowly made Lisa''s eyes flutter before it finally moved and began to open. The woman looked around with a confused look and a still hazy gaze. Her memory was a little foggy when she stared at the window in the unfamiliar room with knitted brows. She tried to figure out where she was, but the main clue she got was the typical curtains green.


    She couldn''t remember what happened to her clearlyst night, but she remembered that before the mobs put their hands on her, she was poisoned by two snakes— Veronica and Karina.


    The door to her ward opened, showing a tall, thin man as he walked over to her who was now wide awake. Then she saw him breath a sigh of relief.


    "You finally woke up..." Rangga said, looking relieved.


    Lisa tried to sit back on the pillow of the bed. Her head was still dizzy fromst night. She stared at Rangga who was sitting beside her, her brows knitted together, wondering, "Rangga? What are you doing here? Why am I in the hospital?"


    "Here, drink this first. How do you feel? Do you feel sick anywhere?" Rangga asked, handing her a ss filled with warm water.


    Lisa nodded in return. "I''m not as weak and as dizzy as yesterday."


    "Lis, what happened to youst night? Why are you using illegal drugs?" Rangga asked in amazement.


    The doctor''s examination found traces of illegal drugs inside Lisa''s body. Fortunately, Rangga immediately brought her to the hospital. If not, Lisa could have diedst night.


    Rangga knew that Lisa was not the type to use drugs. She might''ve had a hangover many times, but she wouldn''t go as far as using drugs. That was why he asked Lisa personally to confirm his suspicions.


    While sipping warm water, Lisa took a deep breath, trying to calm her thoughts and feelings that were swaying due to the unpleasant incidentst night.


    "I don''t use drugs. This is all Veronica and Karina''s doing. Those two snakes poisoned my drinkst night!" Lisa replied bluntly. She still vividly remembered how Veronica and Karina tricked her into having dinner. Lisa felt so stupid for agreeing to it.


    "Geez, fortunately you''re still alive! I''m really worried, you know!" Rangga eximed, his face expressing extreme anxiety towards Lisa. "What are you doing in Bekasi anyway? Aren''t you working in Jakarta?" Rangga asked.


    "I work in Bekasi now. I was epted to work here, can''t I refuse?" Lisa answered inly. If it weren''t for Maria and the failure of her marriage to Oscar, Lisa might still be working in Jakarta.


    Then she looked at Rangga with a surprised look. Her eyebrows raised as she asked, "What are you doing in Bekasi yourself? I''m so lucky that you saved mest night!"


    "I''m on a business trip and just happened to be passing through the alley yesterday. Then I saw something strange, so I went out and checked. I didn''t expect you''d be attacked by mobs!" Rangga answered. The man seemed to be hiding something.


    "Hmm, so you saw me in the alleyst night by pure coincidence?"


    "Yes, it''s a coincidence."


    In his heart, Rangga was actually hiding the fact that he secretly monitored Lisa to protect his childhood friend from harm. He realized and was sure that there was no such thing as a coincidence. He hardly trusted ''coincidence'' as it came from the smallest probability.


    But in order to keep Lisa''s feelings so that the woman didn''t feel followed, Rangga was forced to lie to Lisa for the umpteenth time. If she knew that Rangga was protecting her secretly, Lisa could possibly dismiss him from her life for good.


    The hospital room suddenly turned cold and silent. The atmosphere between the two of them became awkward after thest conversation. It had been a long time since Lisa lost contact with Rangga from an unpleasant incident at the Colors Advertising office where she got ndered by her childhood friend''s ex-wife and betrayed by him with the lies he told her all along.


    Lisa did not intend to talk to Rangga since the incident in her former workce, but she could not deny that without that man''s help, she could''ve easily lost her lifest night. Therefore she was still grateful for Rangga''s unexpected help.


    Suddenly, Lisa cleared her throat and said, "Rangga, can I borrow your cell phone? I want to call my friend."