As soon as Rita left, Debbie threw herself at Alex and hugged him tightly, sobbing.
When Melissa and the other girls had been beating her, Debbie had felt completely alone. Now that she was in Alex's arms, she felt warm and safe.
"Why do they say such awful things about my mother?" she asked. "I know how hard my mom's life is. She works hard every day. And whenever I was sick, she would get up really early and go out to get medicine for me. She never complains. I don't care if they make fun of me or hit me, but why do they have to insult my mother?" When she remembered the look on Melissa's face when she had insulted Debbie's mother, Debbie couldn't control her emotions. Her voice broke, and she stomped on the ground, her whole body shaking.
"It's okay, Debbie," Alex said. Seeing her like this, he grew even more worried. He hated the people who had hurt her so badly. He gently patted her back to calm her down as quickly as possible.
"Don't worry," he assured her. "If anyone hurts you, I'll make sure they pay for it. I will always be by your side to protect you. How are you feeling now? Any better?" As he comforted her, she finally calmed down.
"Who beat you up?" Alex asked, gently wiping away her tears. "Tell me, and I'll deal with it." His eyes held a trace of viciousness.
"It was three of my bandmates," Debbie answered, speaking softly. She was no longer as upset as before. "Just forget about it. If they try this again, then you can do something."
Debbie didn't want to cause trouble with Melissa and the other girls. After all, they were in a band together, and they would have to get along.
"But Debbie—" Alex wanted to give those girls a good beating.
"No. Listen to me," she said gently, looking at him. "I'll talk to them. And if they attack me again, then I'll let you beat them up for me."
He frowned. Although he didn't want to let this go, he had to listen to her.
"Will you come with me to the Azalea Guest House to see my mom?" she asked. More than anything, she just wanted to see her mother. Even just sitting quietly beside her would make Debbie feel better.
"Okay." Alex was deeply moved. He lightly touched her face and smiled. "Before you go and see your mom, maybe you should wash your face."
Debbie took a quick shower and then they left to visit her mother. Alex held her hand as they walked.
It was 9 pm, and the streets were brightly lit, with many people walking on both sides of the road, enjoying the cool air as they strolled under the trees.
As Alex and Debbie walked down the steps of the building, Alex's cell phone rang. It was Sam Woodsworth. Alex frowned slightly, thinking that he must have been invited to a party again.
"Mr. Ambrose," Sam's panicked voice came through the phone. "There seems to be a serious problem with Mrs. Stonehill. She's been taken to the New York City General Hospital. Do you want to come and see her?"
On hearing this, Alex was stunned. "Something happened to Carla?" he asked. "What's going on?" He put the phone on speaker so that Debbie could hear properly.
"What happened to my mother?" Debbie asked anxiously, her chest growing tight with worry.
"I sent someone to accompany Mrs. Stonehill on a tour of New York City," Sam told them. "Everything was fine until an hour ago when they were out eating. Mrs. Stonehill fainted after complaining about being in pain, and she was taken to the hospital emergency room. She's now in intensive care."
By the time Sam had finished speaking, Debbie's legs were about to collapse under her.
"Okay, tell the doctor to look after Carla," Alex said. "If anything happens to her, they won't work in that hospital again." He ended the call.
"Alex, take me to the hospital," Debbie said, panicking as she clutched at his arm. "Please, hurry. I need to go to the hospital." She was very anxious and scared, and couldn't think about anything else. She just needed to go to the hospital to see her mother.
She had an ominous foreboding that was growing more and more intense. Her entire body trembled.
"Don't be afraid," Alex whispered into her ear. "Trust me. Your mom will be fine." He kept his arm around her, and they walked to the side of the road.
It wasn't easy to get a taxi. Alex felt Debbie trembling in his arms, and he couldn't let her suffer any longer. Leaving her for a moment, he walked into the middle of the road and forced a black Audi to stop.
"Do you have a death wish?" the driver yelled.
Alex threw a wad of money at the driver's face through the open window before jumping back to the sidewalk.
On seeing the money, the owner of the car smiled, his eyes gleaming. There were at least one thousand dollars there.
"Don't just stay there," Alex yelled. "Pull over here!"
The driver realized that the young man who had just thrown money at him was calling him, and he hurriedly drove over.
Alex opened the back door of the car and got inside with Debbie. He told the driver to take them to the General Hospital as quickly as possible.
He sat with his arms around Debbie as he comforted her. "Don't worry," he murmured. "Your mom will be fine. Trust me."
The car stopped abruptly.
"Move it!" Alex shouted angrily at the driver. He just wanted to get Debbie to her mother quickly.
"Young man, it's not that I don't want to move, it's that I can't," the driver said, his tone bitter. "The road is blocked."
Alex looked and saw more than ten young people in front of the car. He had no idea what they were doing.
He opened the car window, stuck his head out, and shouted at them, "Hey! Get out of the way!"
The crowd were all gathered around a rich young man called Henry, who had been confessing his love to a girl, and now he was being humiliated by Alex shouting at him.
"Get lost!" Henry shouted. "If you interrupt me again, I'll kill you!"
"Go another way," someone yelled. "We won't let you interfere."
"Go away!" came another shout. "Don't hold up Henry's declaration of love."
A tall young man walked aggressively toward Alex, hurling curse words. "Hey! Why haven't you turned back yet? Are you looking for a beating?"
The driver was frightened and was about to turn around.
"Don't move!" Alex shouted at him.
"There's another route," the driver said, fearfully. "We can get close and then you can walk the rest of the way from there. That guy has almost reached us, and if we don't leave now, we'll get beaten up."
"I told you not to move," Alex said, as he opened the car door. The tall young man approached and raised his fist, ready to strike.
Alex didn't wait for the man's fist to make contact. He grabbed the young man's hair and dragged his head down hard. At the same time, he pulled up his right knee and hit the man in the face, knocking him unconscious. He punched the man again and dropped him on the ground.
The young man had been defeated because he had underestimated Alex's strength.
The driver had planned to abandon Alex and run away, but then Alex had beaten the young man within seconds. The driver was completely dumbfounded.
Even louder curses began to come from the crowd, and the driver saw the ten young men rushing toward Alex.
Henry told the others to teach Alex a lesson while he stayed behind to talk to the girl.
The driver panicked, believing that he was going to be beaten up.
His first thought was to escape. Just as he was about to turn the car around, Alex cursed and angrily walked to the driver's side. He yanked open the car door and shouted, "Get out!"
"Hey, what are you doing?" the driver asked, shocked.
Alex pulled him from the car and got into the driver's seat. "Get in!" he yelled, slamming the door closed.
The owner of the car looked at the ten young men who were running toward them, and then he scampered around to the passenger side and got in.
Through the rearview mirror, Alex glanced at Debbie, who looked sad. Then he looked at the young men rushing toward him. Fine then, he thought. Since you're so determined to block my way, don't blame me for being rude.
Alex stepped on the accelerator and the car shot forward.
"Hey, what are you doing?" the car owner asked worriedly. "If you crash into someone, you could kill them!"
"Shut up!" Alex roared.
When the young men saw the car speeding toward them, they were shocked.
"Don't be afraid," one of the men yelled. "He wouldn't dare to hit us. Come and stand in front of him."
None of the men believed that Alex would dare to crash into them. After all, there were ten of them.
They continued moving toward Alex.
But the car's speed kept increasing without any signs of slowing down.
The tires screeched loudly as the car charged toward them like a ferocious beast made of steel.
Only then did the men realize that Alex wasn't joking, and they quickly ran away.
Alex knocked over a few of the young men, sending them falling to the ground, screaming in pain.
Henry was still pestering the girl he wanted when Alex's car came toward him.
The girl standing beside Henry was completely stunned. When she saw the car, she covered her ears, closed her eyes, and screamed. Frightened, Henry fled, but he couldn't avoid being hit by the car. He rolled a few times and landed next to the sidewalk.
Only when she heard the car roar away did the girl dare to open her eyes.
Watching its taillights disappear, she thought about what had happened. When Alex had walked over earlier, she had seen his face and hadn't been able to look away. She mumbled in confusion, "That man was so handsome…"