[ 46 ] 2014

-

"I only came out here to let his family know that there is a very high chance he will not make it past tonight."

-

Arthur and James had tied up Calum's uncle and it was a long while before he recovered from the blow of having the wall cave in on him. He had been restrained in his chair by telephone cables that belonged to the phone in his office. The middle aged man came to his senses slowly, and he was then startled by feeling the restraints and seeing familiar faces which were not exactly friendly towards him.

Slamming his fists down on the desk, Calum demanded, "I want you to return what's mine."

His uncle refused with a cynical laugh. "None of this is yours. You came from my father's bastard family. He only married Anne-Sophie for her money."

Calum responded. "Isn't it the other way around? He was sneaking around with Claire and had you, and aunt Clarissa. You're the only bastard around here, and that money belongs to me. I want it back."

"We can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way." Arthur offered menacingly, cracking his knuckles in preparation.

With hate filled eyes, Cole spat at his younger brother, words full of venom. "You have no say in this, Arthur. We may be brothers, but you're the biggest bastard of all. you didn't have a family."

"I was better off without this family." Arthur retaliated with his own set of words. "You're all so petty and money hungry. Your father left his belongings to Calum and his family. Accept it and move on already."

"I will never accept it." He refused and the chair he was sitting on began to shake. The cables around his wrists shook as well and loosened within seconds, falling to the floor at his feet, making everyone stare in surprise. "You need more than simple human things to hold someone like us back, Arthur. I thought you would have learned that by now."

In the next moment, Arthur and James both drew their guns, their Diamond Rose and aimed them at him. Neither of them would have felt any remorse over shooting him, they just needed a reason to do it. The two of them watched him, ready, when he slowly opened one of the top drawers in his desk and pulled something out.

It was a black handgun, a regular one.

"Drop the gun." Arthur barked an order at his older brother.

But Cole picked it up in a very nonchalant manner and examined it as though there was no one else in the room but him. Calum and Harley stood motionless in between Arthur and James, since neither of them had guns of their own in order to outnumber Cole, and they could have easily been a target of his.

"This was the same gun that killed off those people at the Irwin house in the sixties. I'm sure you all know the story by now." He informed, with a hint of a smile on his face. "I wasn't there of course. I wasn't even born yet when it happened. But my father loved to tell the story about that night. How they all suffered--especially the oldest son." At the mention of Ashton, Harley tensed up and felt a pang in her chest. Calum reached over for her hand and gave it a small squeeze.

Ashton had been through so much and there was Cole, mocking his family's murder like it had been for his own entertainment.

"I'm gonna shoot you if you don't put that fucking gun away." Arthur shot him yet another warning.

In a flash, Cole's demeanor turned from cynical to murderous and everything appeared to happen in slow motion from that moment on.

Cole raised his gun and aimed it at Calum. If he could get him out of the way, the fortune would then pass to him and his family, since there was no one left from Richard and his immediate family. All that was left would be his half siblings Cole and Clarissa--maybe even Arthur would be entitled to a share, since he was Claire's son after all. His finger pulled the trigger and Harley's blue eyes widened in terror. She brought her hands up and shoved him out of the way with all her strength, making him fall to the wooden floor of the room.

Harley felt it like a pinch hitting her abdomen, then there was the warmth of the blood soaking her shirt and she felt back onto the floor slowly, her mouth agape and eyes welling up with tears. She heard more shots, but it was all distant to her, as her world started to go black before her eyes.

Calum crawled to her side, taking her blood soaked body into his arms. With his other hand, he got his cellphone out and called an ambulance.

He had been so caught up with Harley that he hadn't noticed the other body on the ground. But James was tending to Arthur who had gotten shot after dropping his gun and attempting to rush to his daughter's aid. Now there were three bodies on the ground. The third belonged to Cole Hood, who had been shot by James with his Diamond Rose gun to prevent him from going after Calum too.

"Harley..." Calum cried, his voice sounding like it was coming from the end of a tunnel. "Harley, love, don't die on me. Please."

Her hand which had been on her abdomen and was now tainted with crimson red blood lifted slowly and shakily until it was at level with his face. She touched his skin, her body becoming colder and numb with each passing second.

"Calum..." She croaked with a weakened voice. "If I die...promise me that you will help Ashton. Promise you will help him move on."

Her boyfriend nodded frantically, "I promise, babe. But just stay."

"Shit, shit, shit." They heard James mutter to himself in worry from a few feet off as he leaned over Arthur's unconscious body. "He's not breathing. How long is the ambulance gonna take to fucking get here?"

"They should be on their way." Calum assured through his tears.

Arthur and Harley were the only family he had left and he didn't want to lose them.

-

"Family members of Harley Quinn and Arthur Vega." The doctor walked out into the waiting room where a number of people were waiting to hear news about the two of them. Harleen, Aron, Calum, and Billy rushed towards him. The other stood up from their seats and waited nearby to avoid crowding the doctor.

"Arthur is my uncle, and Harley is my girlfriend." Calum stated.

"We're Harley's parents." Aaron informed the doctor, gesturing to himself and Harleen Quinn.

The doctor took a look at his clipboard where he had medical charts and evaluations for both patients. It had been several hours since they had arrived at the hospital and they hadn't gotten any news about them. Needless to say, everyone was very worried about them.

The police had arrived at the house shortly following the paramedics and James stayed behind to explain what had happened since there was a dead man and two injured. Calum rode in the ambulance with Harley and his uncles. When James finally made it to the hospital a few hours later, he explained to Calum that he had to mind control them into thinking that Cole had died from a regular gun wound, since Diamond Rose wounds were different and did not draw out blood. But everything else regarding the incident had been under control.

"Miss Harley Quinn lost some blood, but the bullet missed all vital organs, which means that she will be fine." He explained, giving them the bit of good news first.

Harleen and Aaron heaved a sigh of relief. Harleen spilled some tears from her bright blue eyes, but they were happy tears because she was thankful that Harley was alive.

"What about my uncle?" Calum wondered.

"Mr. Arthur Vega's heart stopped for several minutes." He explained and Harleen burst out into tears. Aaron pulled her into his embrace, rubbing her back in a soothing motion and begging her to calm down for the sake of their baby. The doctor continued, "Fortunately, we were able to bring him back, but he remains in critical condition. The bullet managed to perforate one of his lungs and we will need to operate as soon as possible. The operating room is being prepared as we speak. I only came out here to let his family know that there is a very high chance he will not make it past tonight."

Harleen's sobs seemed to get louder at the doctor's words. Calum once again broke out in tears, and the other hunters in the waiting room who were there to hear the news held their heads down and lamented the loss of their boss.

Before turning to leave, the doctor informed them, "Mr. Vega will be needing a lot of blood donations. If any of you would like to be a donor, we need all the help we can get. There is a lab on the first floor."

Without any hesitation, Calum saw Dempsey, Paúl, and James rise from their chairs. All three in their dark clothes and leather jackets. They silently slipped out of the waiting area and went down towards the lab. Arthur was like a father to them, he had taken care of them when they had no one. The least they could do was to donate some of their blood for him to have.

"I'm going to donate blood." Calum informed Harley's family.

Harleen pulled away from her husband's chest, her tears had left a visible stain on his shirt. "Aaron, we need to help him. We need to donate blood." She wiped the tears from her eyes as a hope surged within her.

A nurse at the counter who had overheard her shook her head quickly. "Excuse me, ma'am. You can't donate blood. Pregnant women are not allowed to."

The tears returned to her eyes and Aron placed his hands on her shoulders. "Love, please calm down. I'll donate my blood for him."

"I'll go too." Billy offered.

By his side, Cindy piped up with concern, "Me too, Mrs. Quinn. But you need to relax."

-

Harley blinked back against the bright lights above her and she could hear a slight beeping monitoring her. Her eyes took a few minutes to adjust and she came to the realization that she was in a hospital. She tried to sit up, but the needles connected to her skin pulled at it and made her wince in pain. Another sharp pain shot up through her body and a hand instinctively went to her abdomen where she felt heavy bandaging underneath her hospital gown. 

"That's right..." She muttered, remembering what had happened to her. "I was shot at."

She took a look to her left.

Calum was sleeping on a couch in the room, and from what she could see out the window it was night time. There was only pitch black and the outlines of the buildings in the city. 

She looked to her right next. Ashton was standing, leaning up against the wall and keeping an eye on her. There a sad smile that lined his lips when he saw her awake. She didn't know if it was because she had been hospitalized for getting shot, or if he was still upset that she had chosen Calum in the end. Either which way, his pain was hers and she found herself frowning.

"I'm so relieved you're awake now." He told her, letting her know that his being upset was over her injury. 

"How long have I been out for?" She wondered.

He sighed. "Four days."

As the memory came back to her mind from that day, she remembered hearing James saying something about Arthur. That he wasn't breathing. Her heart dropped, but she hoped it was only her imagination. 

"Where's Arthur?" She still asked.

"He was shot too." Ashton explained to her in a very cautious tone, his hazel eyes taking on a look of pity. Harley felt the tears sting her eyes as she feared the unthinkable. "When they arrived at the hospital, they said he was already dead, but the doctors were able to re-start his heart. He underwent surgery and the doctors said he wouldn't survive the night. But he made it, and now he's in a coma. Aaron is a good man." Ashton informed her.

She raised an eyebrow at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Arthur needed blood donations." He explained. Ashton had been around to hear everything, and he had been taking care of Harley since then. "Everyone stepped forward to help him, even your mum. But she wasn't allowed to donate due to her pregnancy. The only one compatible was Aaron. He helped a man he dislikes, for your mother."

Sometimes Harley thought Aaron was too good of a person for Harleen, just like Ashton was too good of a person for her. Harleen wasn't a bad person. But even though Harleen did love and care for Aaron, it was clear that her heart still belonged to Arthur after so long. Deep down Harley knew that Aaron probably knew that, but he just loved Harleen so much that he was willing to overlook all of it for them to be together and stay together.

"And there's one last thing." Ashton began, on this bit of news he chewed on his bottom lip as he decided it was best to tell her or not. He didn't want to be the bearer of bad news, but there were so many things that she needed to know and that she would find out about eventually. After a momentary pause, he finally continued, "The stress of seeing you and Arthur in critical condition filled Harleen with so much stress that she went into premature labor a few hours ago."

Harley brought her hands up to her face in frustration.

So many things were going wrong with her life.

-

its been far too long since i have updated this story and i feel really bad about that. i've just been so focused on my exo fics that i forgot about this fic altogether. its really hard when a person gains one interest and loses another. 5sos will always be in my heart and i appreciate those two and a half years in the fandom.

but i moved on. like i have told you guys, i will finish this book because i feel like i owe it to you guys. thank you for reading, and thank you for being there for me.

i hope we can all keep in contact and continue to be friends.

-clary xx