Poison Rose

CH - 18 - The Bus Story

The infirmary staff arrived with a stretcher. The staff carefully lifted Liora and carried her away.

Donovan and Logan stood silently, making sure she was safely taken care of before finally heading back themselves.

Logan placed a reassuring hand on Donovan's shoulder. "You did the right thing. We don't need to get involved in it more than this."

Donovan didn't respond, but he also couldn't forget Liora's fear-stricken face, the pain she felt and the way she sought refuge in him.

The nurse gave Liora dry clothes to change into, applied balm to her swollen ankle, and wrapped it to keep it warm.

Liora's teacher, concerned for her well-being, promptly called Officer Park to pick her up and take her to the hospital.

While waiting for Officer Park, Liora reached for her phone. She felt a wave of relief when she saw it was still functioning despite getting wet in the rain.

"Will you always support me no matter what I do?" She wrote to Caspian.

His reply came almost instantly. "Of course, I will Ora! Is something troubling you?"

His reply brought a small smile to her lips. "Thank you for always being there for me, Caspian!" Liora replied.

Before that conversation extended, Officer Park arrived at the school. Without hesitation, he lifted Liora into his arms and walked out of the school. Placing her gently in the car, Officer Park drove swiftly to the hospital. He was silent but the deep frown on his face and his tight jaw showed how hard he was suppressing his anger.

After examining her ankle, the doctors confirmed it was badly sprained, though there was nothing serious. They advised requiring rest for her left foot and wrote down some medicines.

On the way home, Liora asked Dane to pull over to the roadside. As soon as the car stopped, she turned to face him.

With one long breath, Liora blurted out. "I have some videos and pictures of bullying happening at school."

He parked the car and looked at Liora with a serious, almost fierce intensity. "Did someone do this to you?" he asked, his voice tight with restrained anger. He had his suspicions but wanted confirmation from her.

"Yes."

"Who?" His eyes flashed red with anger.

Liora handed him her phone, showing him the videos she had secretly taken. The first video showed the boys harassing Daran, and the second captured Silvia's cruel actions from today at the cafeteria.

"I don't want my name to come out in the open," Liora said urgently. "I still don't want to tell Mama about this. She already feels guilty about leaving me alone. This will break her heart, Officer Park. Can you... can you arrest those kids based on this video?"

Dane sighed, rubbing his face in frustration. After a momentary pause, he finally said, "If this is what you want, Liora. I won't tell your mother. But if things get worse, you must tell your mother everything. Agreed?"

"Okay," Liora whispered.

Officer Park wasted no time getting to work. He downloaded the videos from Liora's phone onto his own and immediately contacted one of his informants. "Upload the videos I sent you to social media and make them go viral," he instructed.

"These kids will be at the police station tomorrow. Once the videos go viral, it will be difficult for any government authority to ignore them. I can't promise they will get the punishment they truly deserve, but they will at least spend a couple of days at the station. That's a promise!"