Six Feet Under

by Paula O'Hara

  "Are you joking right now? Is it not normal to be concerned for a friend who you say has been shot and won't be getting real medical attention?"

  His hold tightened slightly on my arm before he let it go and looked away, looking frustrated with me. He had absolutely no right, though.

  "Where is Oliver?" I repeated, standing my ground.

  Hunter looked way too good right now for me to be actually angry at him in the least. And how dare he think I would get together with him just a few hours ago if I liked anybody else.

  "Let's go," he muttered, beginning to walk towards the popular looking club.

  I had to jog a bit to catch up with him, but from there on just walked behind him. God, his back...

  I watched curiously as Hunter walked up to the front door where he greeted the bouncers in a very friendly way.

  I was too scared to look the two buff and mean looking men in the eyes as I followed my boyfriend inside.

  I hadn't yet fully processed the fact that Hunter was now my boyfriend.

  The main area of the club was very big and was almost filled to the brim. There were a lot of middle-aged biker guys, as well as gorgeous and skinny women dressed in almost nothing.

  The club and bar had a dim lighting and seemed very intimate in a sort of way.

  I felt extremely out of place right now.

  I hadn't even realised that Hunter had stopped at the dark and shiny wooden bar counter, so I walked right into his hard body.

  "Ouh," I murmured quietly, rubbing my nose a bit as I stepped back.

  His hands were on the counter, leaning against it a bit while he looked down at me, "you okay?"

  "I'm fine," I told him dismissively.

  "Oliver's here?" I then asked, scanning the room over again.

  Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves - especially a big biker guy in the corner who I swear was getting a hand job from one of the gorgeous women - so I doubt they knew that a young guy had been injured.

  God, I wasn't even sure if Oliver was alive at the moment and that scared me a lot.

  "What can I get you, Hunt?" I heard a man's voice and turned to see the bartender giving him a wide smile.

  "A Snakebite, thanks."

  My lips parted and I stared at Hunter. He was seriously asking for a drink right now when Oliver was in God knows what kind of a state?

  Before I could let him know of my disapproval and frustration of not knowing what was going on, I felt a hand grab onto my arm tightly.

  I winced a little and turned to face a tattoo-covered man, most likely in his late twenties.

  I tried to pull my arm away from him, but since he seemed to be drunk, he didn't let go.

  "What the hell is your problem?" I hissed at him, making the man give me a lazy smile.

  "I've lost my teddy bear," he spoke, lips tugging up into a drunken grin, "can I sleep with you instead?"

  I glared at him as he inched closer.

  "Let her go, Zach," I heard Hunter speak over the music.

  The man then looked at Hunter and chuckled, "you don't wanna share?"

  I scowled at this and was finally able to remove my arm from his hold.

  I immediately stepped closer to Hunter who was holding a pint of a drink that was split into two parts; darker on top and lighter on the bottom.

  "No," he replied simply, giving this Zach man a small chuckle.

  I felt his free hand place itself on my lower back, calming me down noticeably.

  "Does that pickup line usually work for you?" I asked, voice displaying the disgust I felt right now towards everything.

  Zach gave me a chuckle with a shake of his head, "hasn't so far. I'm not giving up on it yet, though."

  "Sure," I mumbled, giving him a small and tight-lipped smile.

  I gently nudged Hunter, wanting to go see Oliver now, yet before he could even look down at me, one of those gorgeous and sexy women walked up to him with a seductive smile.

  I raised my brows and held back a scoff as she seemed to whisper something into his ear with her hand on his chest? Excuse me, bitch?

  I was too worried about Oli right now to even bother lecturing him about being a damn hypocrite: worried that I was into someone else while he himself had a woman flirting with him right in front of me without a care in the world.

  A smirk formed onto his lips when she pulled away before he gave her a shake of his head.

  "Zach needs to get laid, Lils. Try him," Hunter told her almost playfully, making it clear he was friends - and had obviously had something a little more - with this woman called 'Lils'.

  I completely ignored whatever she said to him next before making her way to Zach who was waiting with open arms.

  "Hunter, where the fuck is Oliver?" I asked, my patience running extremely thin.

  "I seriously didn't come here to get hit on by your friends or better yet, to watch women flirt with you. I need to see Oliver right fucking now."

  He blinked down at me a few times, thinking about something.

  "Hunter!" I hissed, wanting to cry because I had no idea what was going on with my friend. I was tired and also didn't feel comfortable here.

  With his drink, he turned around and began walking to one corner of the club where another bouncer stood at the end of stairs leading upstairs.

  I followed him and thankfully didn't get grabbed by any of the scary looking biker men anymore.

  Once again, Hunter greeted the bouncer guy before he began walking up the stairs with me following closely behind.

  My heart was beating fast, really not knowing what to expect.

  It felt like ages until the music from the bar and club area began to fade away and we arrived at a big area that resembled a kind of loft and lounge area with many doors with locks on them.

  There was a large and open kitchen, and everything.

  I stood beside Hunter, taking in the whole area.

  Just then, my eyes landed on a few big men squatting down next to Oliver's body on the living room carpet, laying down on his side.

  "Oli," I breathed, immediately rushing up to him and ignoring as the men looked at me with confusion.

  "Your girl?" one of them asked Oli, who was having trouble keeping his eyes open.

  "Mine," Hunter cleared his throat from a few feet behind me, making the men stand up and take a few steps towards him.

  I ignored them as they talked and concentrated on Oliver.

  "Oli, are you okay?" I asked, feeling horrible as I saw his blood covered shirt and realised that he'd been shot in his left lung.

  Oh, God. He needed to go to the hospital right fucking now.

  "I'm so sorry, obviously you're not," I brushed a piece of his hair out of his face, making a lazy smile form on his lips.

  He looked frighteningly pale.

  "You're a sight for sore eyes, babe," he told me.

  I really felt like crying. I didn't want to lose him.

  I stood up and faced the men who seemed to be casually talking while Hunter had almost finished his drink.

  "Are you just gonna let him lay there until he bleeds out or his lung collapses?" I asked them, anger very evident in my voice as all of them turned to look at me.

  Hunter's brows were furrowed and he had a disapproving expression on his face which I honestly couldn't have cared less right now.

  "Doc's on his way, princess," one of the big men - who all looked about 30 or forty - spoke gruffly.

  "Nothing we can do until he gets here. 'Sides, his lung won't collapse if he's on his side and the wound is blocked."

  I shook my head, knowing he needed proper medical help and clean facilities.

  "I'm calling 911, this isn't a joke."

  I turned around to walk back towards Oliver while pulling my phone out of my back pocket.

  Just as I had begun dialling 911, I felt my wrist being grabbed.

  I was tugged back and forced to turn around until I was chest-to-chest with Hunter.

  "You're not cal
ling 911, I made that clear to you."

  I was breathing faster than before, beginning to get angry at him for his lack of concern for Oliver.

  "Hunter, you can go back down and drink all you want with those women, but Oliver needs to go to the hospital," I told him, annoyed.

  His grip on my wrist tightened a bit, almost making me wince.

  "Stop that," I told him through clenched teeth, "don't touch me".

  Hunter's eyes searched my face as a door behind us opened.

  "Hey Hunter," I heard a very familiar voice and glanced back to see Principal Green.

  "Oh, hey Willow," he gave me a smile, looking completely different in a black leather jacket instead of his signature suit.

  "Hey," I muttered, turning back to Hunter.

  "Let me go," I hissed, completely aware that all the men in the room were observing the situation closely, "you have no right to—"

  Without letting me go or saying anything, he began pulling me towards one of the doors.

  "Hunter," I hoped he'd stop and think rationally about what's best for Oliver right now, but no.

  He unlocked one of the doors and almost pushed me inside.

  Immediately I turned around with a deathly glare to see him locking the door behind us. He wasn't holding the empty pint anymore.

  "Willow," he spoke, turning to me slowly, "you can hate me all you want, but you can't just disrespect me in front of my friends."

  "Excuse me?" I asked, completely shocked, "how dare you make this about your damn ego and status? I don't want Oliver to die, do you understand that?"

  Hunter let out an unamused laugh, showing me a side of him I hadn't seen before.

  I took a step back, beginning to grow afraid of what he would do now that he had locked us in this room.

  I hadn't registered much, but since he had had a key to this bedroom, I figured this was his room at the clubhouse.

  "I brought you here because you wanted me to. I didn't bring you here to call fucking 911 and get us all into deep shit. I already told you about the consequences, Wills."

  "What about the consequences of just letting Oliver bleed out there? Or let a sketchy doctor operate on him here without proper hospital facilities?" I frowned, crossing my arms over my chest, "if he dies, you'll be in more trouble."

  "He won't fucking die," he let out a breath, calming down, "doc might not be that legit but he's saved a lot of our men who've had way worse injuries than Oliver. I'm sorry for being rude, Willow, but you really can't talk to me like that in front of them."

  I raised my brows at him with my arms still crossed over my chest.

  "Hunter, if you really want to be together with me you have to get it through your fucking thick skull that I won't act any more respectively towards you in front of these men than in any other situation."

  He sighed, looking away. Slowly, I took a few steps towards him again.

  "I'm not some trophy who's there to make you look good. And I'm definitely not going to pretend I'm okay with you after everything you've just said."

  Now, he looked back at me, regret in his eyes. What I didn't know though, was if he was regretting the things he'd said or if he was regretting the fact that he had gotten me pissed off.

  "I know," Hunter told me quietly, looking down at the carpeted floor between us.

  He scratched the back of his neck before looking up at me again, "you do understand why you can't call 911, don't you?"

  "Keeping your asses safe is not a priority when Oliver's in danger," I told him, about to step past him so I could leave the room and check on Oliver again, "let me just—"

  "You're not leaving yet," he suddenly grabbed my hips and spun me around so my back and the back of my head hit the door with a bit of force.

  I winced, immediately bringing a hand up to rub the sore spot on my head.

  Before I could process anything else, Hunter had pressed his body against mine with his intoxicating lips now ghosting above mine. How was he— turned on right now?

  I knew I wouldn't be able to think clearly if he kissed me, which was a problem since Oliver was suffering just behind the door and I needed to make sure this 'Doc' person was here - and if he wasn't, I needed to call 911.

  "You're not leaving until you let everyone in this building know who's in charge here, babe," he spoke with a very gravelly voice, making me grab his upper arms in hopes of pushing him away.

  My eyes widened a bit as I realised what he was after.

  "No," I told him sternly, not wanting him to make me let out any kind of sounds so that the men outside would think he was punishing me for disrespecting him, or something.

  "You're not going to make them think you're punishing me, Hunter. I'm not on a lower level than you, asshole."

  I managed to push him off of me, which made him take a step back. "Willow, Jesus—"

  "No. Let me out, right now. I don't want to talk to you," I gave him a serious look, telling him not to try and push it.

  I would be furious if he did kiss me because both of us knew I wouldn't be able to stop and he'd let the men outside know he wasn't tolerating any kind of badmouthing from his 'girl'.

  I understood how in a misogynistic lifestyle and world like this men needed to be seen superior to women, which was clear by how all of them were dressed downstairs in the club and bar area, but I wouldn't be used like that. I was just as good and smart as any of the men here thought they were.

  "Why is it so wrong if I want to fuck my girlfriend?" he then asked, pushing me over the edge.

  "I won't be your girlfriend for any longer if you treat me like I'm lesser than you. I don't need any kind of discipline, Hunter, especially if it's rough sex to prove to your little friends that you have me under control. Which you don't, by the way, and never will," I ranted, flailing my arms around to prove the point once and for all, "now, if you don't let me out of this door so I can go help my friend, I will jump out of the window."

  The window across the room was big and looked to be easily opened, so I would surely be able to climb out from there. The only problem would be the fall and—

  "I'm sorry," he actually sounded genuine when he walked up to me again and unlocked the door with the key without touching me in the slightest.

  "Thank you," I muttered before slipping out of the room and back into the lounge area.

  The men had disappeared, leaving only Principal Green and Oliver in the living room -styled part of the loft.

  Mr Green looked over at me as I made my way towards the two.

  "Everything okay, Willow?" he asked, giving me a small smile, probably having had heard everything.

  "Just dandy, Mr Green," I replied, definite sarcasm laced in my tone before I stepped up to Oliver and squatted down beside him.

  "Why hasn't the Doctor arrived yet?" I frowned and looked up at the principal, or Prez as he was known here, "it's been over an hour since he got shot. He's about to pass out."

  Oliver definitely didn't look too good while I gently ran my hands through his hair.

  I heard Hunter slowly walk up to us, remaining completely silent because he knew he'd fucked up.

  Despite joking about it earlier, I really did want us to last longer than the shortest of Kim Kardashian's marriages.

  Mr Green seemed way too calm about this whole situation and so had everyone else under this roof beside me.

  All joking aside, it was terrifying to see people with such little compassion and sympathy for others, especially for a friend of theirs.

  "He's stuck in traffic," the principal spoke, leaning back on the couch.

  Was he actually serious? Traffic? At a little past 2 AM? I fucking think not.

  "Oli, can you hear me?" I asked him quietly but got no reply.

  He was still breathing, but it had to have been hard and extremely painful with a collapsing lung.

  I huffed and stood up before walking towards the stairs.

  "Willow, where are you going?" Hunter called after me as, w
ithout even glancing at him, I made my way down the stairs.

  I arrived back in the club and bar area, which seemed to be in full swing.

  Without Hunter by my side, I felt extremely out of place and scared of people like this around me.

  Maybe it was all the movies and news articles, but extremely drunk middle-aged men weren't my go-to crowd.