บท 24: Something good

"Live with you?" Abi echoed, her eyes slightly widened in shock.

"You heard me," he replied, as a wry smile played on his face again. "Afraid now?"

"R-really? So we'll be like... newlyweds?" she blurted out that last word and instantly, Alexander was again rendered speechless.

What he said undeniably caused Abi's heart to skip a beat, but she thought that the more time they spent together, the higher the likelihood of her falling in love with him, right? Thus, she contemplated that perhaps this circumstance wasn't entirely negative, particularly considering the limited time she had.

As Abi was putting her phone in her bag, her attention was drawn to another bag beneath it.

"Ahh… Kelly!!" She let out a sudden exclamation as her memory rushed back to her friend.

"Don't worry about her. She's currently at the hospital," Alexander told her.

Panic immediately gripped her heart at what Alex said. What? Why was Kelly at the hospital? What happened to her? How did he know she was at the hospital?

"Stop panicking. She's with my friend. I'll drive you there now so sit back and put your seatbelt on." He spoke calmly as he started the engine and smoothly wound his way to the hospital.

Abi fell quiet but her mind was running a marathon. What could have happened to Kelly that she ended up at the hospital? How badly was she hurt? Did someone do something to her? I hope it's nothing too serious…

And with those thoughts, her mind brought her back to the bar with that disgusting man and she prayed with all her might that the same thing hadn't happened to her friend. No! Kelly is stronger than that. She wouldn't fall for such tricks. There had to be another reason.

The moment Alex parked up by the hospital entrance, Abi opened the door and scrambled out of the car.

"Are you not coming?" she asked when he didn't move.

"No."

"Oh. Okay. Well, thank you for the ride. I'll see you soon, Mr. Qinn." She waved her hand before hurriedly going inside the big building. She didn't think twice about leaving him this time because he already gave her his words and he even gave her his home address. Besides, Kelly was the most important right now!

Soon, Abi found herself in the hustle and bustle of the hospital emergency department. There were so many people running around that she didn't know where to start. She looked at the long line at the reception desk, intending to ask for information about Kelly but that would take too long.

So she looked around to see if she could see any sign of her friend. In the next moment, she saw a familiar face! Not wasting another second, she beelined her way to him and was about to ask him where her friend was when she heard her name being called out.

"Abi!"

Abi turned to the direction of the voice and she saw her friend on the bed, with one foot wrapped up in bandages.

"Kelly!!" she cried.

Completely forgetting about Mr. Black Leather Jacket, she ran to her friend and gave her a careful hug.

"What happened?!" Abi asked.

"I fell down a hole." Kelly looked a bit embarrassed but she laughed it off.

Abi's face turned blank. "Huh? Fell… down a hole?"

"Yeah, I know. Silly, right?"

Abi looked at her friend doubtfully. "How much did you have to drink?! And what were you doing outside?"

"Wha…? Ahem. I didn't have anything to drink cos I didn't make it to the bar! I just, uh, went outside for a bit to, uh, get some fresh air! Then I fell down a hole and luckily, Leather Jacket over there was around and helped me out. But enough about me! What about you? Are you okay? Nothing happened at the bar while I was gone, right?"

"Something did happen but Alexander Qinn came and saved me." Abi said succinctly. Seeing Kelly's expression, she sighed and then started to recount what had happened.

Kelly's expression darkened as she listened to Abi's story. She couldn't believe that this happened to her friend. She was so angry at that man for putting Abi through that! Argh!!! If that man isn't already beaten to a pulp, she would race to him and do it herself - broken ankle and all! What a piece of shit, asshole!

But, she wasn't just angry at that guy. She also scolded herself for forgetting to tell her friend those basic rules before they went inside the bar, for letting those men distract her and for leaving her alone to fend for herself. She felt so horrible at failing her friend and not being able to protect her that she wanted to beat herself!

"It's okay, Kelly. I wasn't hurt. Mr. Qinn saved me. I'm fine."

Kelly felt even worse to see her friend comforting her when it should be the other way around, so Kelly manned up and pushed her self-deprecating thoughts aside and focused on Abi.

"I'm sorry, Abi. I shouldn't have left you. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yep. I swear." Abi smiled at her reassuringly.

Kelly nodded, finally relieved at the sight she saw in Abi's eyes. It seemed like there was at least something good that came out of this - Abi had found her hero, her dark knight.

...

Kai walked out of the hospital while Abi and Kelly were engrossed in conversation, making his way directly toward the black car parked not far away.

Kai slid into the passenger seat and immediately pestered Alex.

"So? Did you become the hero tonight, huh?" he grinned, but Alex's expression remained grave, more serious than ever, causing Kai's grin to quickly fade.

"Kai, go deal with those lurkers... I don't want a bloodbath tonight," he ordered, and Kai promptly followed Alex's line of sight. As soon as he saw what Alex was referring to, a dangerous glint entered Kai's eyes.