13. Can someone please explain to me what happened?

"Albert, thank you for helping me earlier." Selina blushed while expressing her gratitude towards the angelic man.

"I am a doctor; it is my job to make sure my patient recovers and stays comfortable in my domain." Albert smiled cheerfully.

The sight of his smile instantly warmed Selina's heart. She attempted to snap out of it; her feelings were everywhere. One minute, she thought she wanted to be left alone in the room because the anxiety was killing her. The next minute, she was flustered because she had so many unanswered questions. She was getting more anxious and frustrated when no one seemed to explain her condition clearly.

"Dr. Albert, can you please tell me how my condition is? Also, could you tell me how I ended up here?" Selina asked immediately, insisting on getting to the bottom of this.

"I thought the nurse explained that you nearly lost your life."

"Yes, the nurse did inform me that I was very close to death. But how?"

"You don't remember?" As he approached Selina, Albert leaned in to check if she was running a temperature by placing his palm on her forehead. Albert was, however, aware that she might have been experiencing blackouts due to her previous level of intoxication.

"No, I don't remember." Suddenly, Selina clutched her waist tightly. She grimaced as the pang in her stomach increased and her face contorted as the headache flared up again.

"What happened, my dear?" In a flash, Albert quickly laid her back on the pillow to rest on, and he removed her robe to expose her stomach, avoiding her core. He lifted her leg to alleviate the pain.

Selina held her robe in place to conceal her hairy privates, as her initial thought was that she had not showered herself since New Year's Eve. Albert kept applying the ointment to ease her agony as he watched the bruise become more noticeable. "Is it still hurting?" he inquired as he gently caressed her forehead once again.

Selina's green eyes met Albert's sky blue eyes and quickly the headaches and the pain in her stomach vanished, as if retreated away by the doctor's command. She felt instant relief. Despite the brief duration of agony, it caused her to perspire profusely. The room was fully conditioned, yet she felt extremely hot, like she was burning.

Then, Albert sat down in the seat previously belonging to Winona and dragged it closer to her. Then he held her hands and said, "The thing is, my dear, you are detained at the hospital until further notice."

"What is the...?"

"Now before you overreact, just have patience and hear me," replied Albert calmly.

"Who are you? Are you even a doctor?" Selina started to doubt Albert's identity as a doctor.

"Of course I am. Now, you were found, unconscious, in the the club called Midnight Sun. Does the name of the club ring any bells?"

"Midnight Sun?" Selina could not remember if Ally mentioned the name of the club. She thought she missed it since she was so high on alcohol.

"Yes. And have you heard of it?" Albert double-checked and observed her body language.

"No."

"Do you often drink at a club, at any club?"

"No. Now surely, if someone finds me unconscious in the club, it doesn't warrant my arrest or being confined in the hospital. If anything, I was the victim. And by whose orders am I to be confined here in the first place?"

"The precinct issued the order to have you remain here and recuperate. You are right. So, once we have confirmed that you are not our suspect, we will release you," Albert concluded her query with a smile on his face.

"You sound more like a cop than a doctor," Selina said suspiciously.

"Now, my dear, do you remember how you ended up at the club?" Albert asked.

"I vaguely remembered Ally insisting I should not drink my life away alone in my room. I should hang out and celebrate New Year's with her. She told me to get change, and I took a bottle of wine with me and left. She mentioned it was a New Year's celebration party at the club."

"And the rest?"

"I don't remember how I got into the club. I was intoxicated before I left the dormitory."

"So what is your relationship with Ally?"

"To put it simply, she is my BFF. I had no friends except for her." Selina started to feel sad when she said Ally was her only friend, but she knew she wasn't a good influence on her.

"So, your name is Selina?"

"Selina Lucia Anderson."

"Nice middle name."

"Thank you?"

"But I believe that obnoxious lady earlier called you Hazel?" Albert asked with his eyebrow arched.

"I am not Hazel," Selina answered confidently.

"I did a background check on you. Your real name is indeed Hazel Enid Axelson. You are an Axelson?" Albert revealed that his face was a little too close to Selina for her comfort.

"Alright fine! I was Hazel, but I am Selina now. I changed my name legally; what does this have to do with me being detained?"

"Hazel-"

"Selina" insisted on being called correctly, as she had abandoned her name Hazel and her family name Axelson for a long time. She did not want to go back.

"Selina, then, you were brought into the hospital through the ER heavily intoxicated and you had drugs in your system."

"Then it cannot be true; I did not take drugs; I only consumed alcohol. Was that why I was detained, because you suspected that I owned drugs?"

"Sure," Albert answered perfunctorily. "However, you were intoxicated even before you entered the club, right?"

Selina sighed, slightly humiliated by her irresponsible action. "Yes. I was."

"Do you drink very often?"

"Occasionally."

"That is probably what a typical alcoholic would say," Albert responded in exasperation.

"I can control myself. I know when I shouldn't consume." Selina tried to justify and save what little dignity she had left. In her case, none!

"Selina, your alcohol levels were through the roof, and there were drugs present in your blood when you arrived at the ER. The level of blood alcohol concentration in your bloodstream was above 0.5%, which was fatal. In addition to the drugs that you mix with the alcohol, your demise was guaranteed and your death was imminent." Albert elaborated while he was losing his patience at the sight of this gorgeous girl, so talented, laying right before him, wasting away and neglecting her potential by drowning herself in alcohol.

"Alright! You were right. I am an alcoholic." Selina sensed Albert's snappy tone as he explained her dire situation at the ER. She reluctantly confessed it.

It was the first time Selina admitted her shortcomings out loud. Ever since she ran away from the Axelson, her nightmares came along and haunted her until she had to drown herself to sleep. She couldn't control her emotions and broke down in front of Albert. Albert calmly stroked her hair, trying to comfort her.

"So basically, it was my recklessness that caused me to be here?"

"Yes. Do you often drink yourself to sleep?"

"Yes."

"That is fatal." Albert wanted to probe further but he didn't want to pry into her family details just yet. He sensed that she wasn't ready to open up.

"I know. I especially know now that I nearly died once."

"Now, I need to ask you about Ally Ludwick."

"Ally, is she here? Did she bring me to the hospital?"

"No, she isn't here. She was the one that was preventing her from coming to the hospital."

"But why? I was unconscious; it was life-threatening." Then Selina's eyes widened in revelation. "She drugged me?"

"We did collect the shards of the wine bottle. Besides your fingerprints, we found hers as well."

"But why would she do that? She never brought me any harm before."

"That is what my friend and I are trying to investigate. My companion is coming in very soon, and he has a few more questions to ask you. I will leave you here at the moment and join you when he arrives."

*Selina's stomach's growl*

"After your meal," Albert ended and he smiled slightly after he listened to her stomach growl.

"Sure." Selina nodded bashfully.

"Let me call the nurse for you and she will bring your lunch." Albert poked Selina's cheek and walked to the door.

"Thank you," Selina said hastily.

Albert took one last look at the girl and smiled again before leaving the room. As the door closed, his mobile phone vibrated, revealing 'Raymond Shaw' on his screen. Albert's face was somber; he knew this would not be good news. He proceeded to pick up the call, and Raymond said, "I need you at the ER, now!"

Albert's eyes widened as he heard Raymond's tone of desperation. Something must have gone wrong during his investigation. He wondered what happened at the Midnight Club.