Rogue Ranger

Chapter 11 Night gone Wrong

The blood was pounding in her head as it had rushed from her heart. She wanted to get away from the center of attention but how could she do it without breaking the byplay Ji Hoon set up?

As usual, Ji Hoon sensed her thoughts and drew her to the corner of the room.

"Are you alright?" he asked her with concern. She looked at him, shocked that he was so unaffected, so calm.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine. I just need some food..." she said in a high voice as she started devouring whatever her hands came upon. A bunch of women joined her, chattering in awe at what happened. Laura ignored most of them and avoided Ji Hoon. She needed a moment – no, an hour to recover from that. She ate quickly and bolted from the buffet table outside.

"Laura, wait!" Ji Hoon said following her. But the women seeing they wouldn't get anything out of Laura, hounded him instead with frivolous questions.

"Is it true you're her new boyfriend? How long have you been dating?" Ji Hoon clicked his tongue in annoyance. He couldn't lose sight of her...

Laura blindly walked out of the hall panting. She fanned her cheeks wishing she retained a semblance of control. She felt like she lost her mind and the food didn't even help.

"That was quite a show your boyfriend put on there." Luke's voice came to her ears. She blindly looked up at him.

"Go away Luke, I'm not in the mood." She said looking for the exit. Luke pouted.

"I'm trying to make things right. Can't you even give me a chance?" he said. Laura noticed this time that he was holding two glasses of amber liquid.

"You could at least accept this as my apology." He said.

"I don't drink alcohol." Laura said, walking away from him.

"It's ginger ale." Luke said, swirling the glasses. "I'm not that insensitive you know." Laura hesitated. She didn't want the drink but she also didn't want to appear rude.

"Fine." She said and took the glass from him. she drained it in one go.

"Happy? I accepted your apology. Now I have to go." She said walking away. Luke watched her with a devious smile.

"Oh, I couldn't be happier." He said draining his own glass.

Ji Hoon meanwhile, was watching this little exchange from the hall. He felt uneasy from the moment he saw Luke stop her and tried to extricate himself hurriedly from the gossiping women. When he saw Laura next, she was drinking from a glass Luke gave her.

"Laura, no!" he hissed urgently, running towards her. He caught up with her at the front door.

"Laura, what did you drink? The doctor said you weren't supposed to touch alcohol for a while." He said, trying to hide the panic in his eyes.

"It was just ginger ale. Lighten up." Luke said from behind. Ji Hoon turned to him with clenched fists, his face dark as thunder.

"Stay away from her!" he snarled. Laura looked at him in surprise. She was about to say something when she suddenly swayed and everything became blurry.

"Oh, I feel funny..." she said, clutching her head. He turned to her just as she passed out in his arms.

"Laura!" he yelled. He checked her pulse and found it was too slow. He immediately pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

"Get the doctor to Fort Estienne now!" he said. "It's an emergency!" he turned to Laura cradling her in his arms.

"Laura, wake up! Please, you have to be okay!" he pleaded, trying to revive her. He turned to Luke with a bloodcurdling look.