The Punk Rock Project [c.h]

five

"hood! where ya been, bud?" ashton calls to me as he walks up with the rest of his crew.

"i-uh." i wipe my face with my hand, and all three of their eyes go wide.

"you got a tattoo? that's sick!" michael says to me.

"oh, uh, yeah. hadley and i went and god them a few days ago. sorry i haven't been here. we can hangout after school? go get pizza or something?" i suggest. they all agree and hadley walks up sliding her arms around my waist, giving me a small kiss. "hi, love." i whisper into her hair.

luke clears his throat, and hadley and i look at him. "we uh, have class. we'll see you after school, cal." they wave goodbye and make their way to their classes.

hadley is looking through my locker, although i'm not sure what for.

"what are you looking for, babe?" i say, and lean on the locker next to mine.

"your gum. you alway have gum?" she looks at me, and sticks our her bottom lip, fake pouting.

i pull the pack from my pocket and hand it to her. she smiles and pops two pieces into her mouth.

i close my locker door, and give her a smile as she walks away.

i rest my forehead on the cool metal of the locker door, and the second i let out a deep breath, a loud gunshot goes off, and i hear a loud scream.

my ears are ringing, and i'm running down the hall, because i know who screamed.

i find her laying on the floor, blood soaking her shirt, sobbing about not wanting to die.

i pull my shirt over my head and drop to my knees next to her, pushing the shirt over the wound.

"ca-alum i don't want t-to die. plea-ase." i lift her head onto my lap, and keep the pressure on the gunshot. i pull my phone from my pocket and diall 911.

"hi... um my uh my girlfriend just got shot... yes, i have my tshirt over the wound and i'm putting pressure on it... please hurry... thank you." i hangup, and forget that you are supposed to stay on the line until the paramedics actually arrive, but my mind is moving too quicly to care.

hadley lets out a ragged cough, and blood starts to dribble down her chin. i quickly wipe it off with my hand, knowing she wouldn't want anybody to see her like that. "i love you. i love you so much. please, don't leave me. don't let go." i whsiper to her, and feel my heart stop when her eyes start to flutter. "no. no, don't you dare let go hadley! keep your eyes open. please! hadley, please try to keep your eyes open." i don't know when i started crying but i am shaking and my voice is thick.

"i c-can't. please. let me g-" she coughs again and this time more blood comes out of her mouth.

"no! i can't let you go! don't tell me to let you go! just hold on a little bit longer. please. help is almost here. you just need to hold on." i'm sobbing, and surprised that nobody has comes out of the surrounding classroms to help us.

*****

"her vitals are dropping! we need to hook her up to fluids, she's lost a lot of blood!" one of the paramedics calls to the others as he helps them load her onto the gurney, fastening a neck brace around her neck. "Are you hurt? you have a lot of blood on yourself."

"no. it's her blood." i shake my head. "can i ride to the hospiutal with you?"

"what"s your relationship to her?" he asks, needed to get to the hospital.

"i've known her my whole life, she's my girlfriend." he nods his head towards the ambulance, and i follow him, sitting on the small bench next to hadley, holding onto her hand lightly.

*****

"calum hood?" a tall man in a nice dress shirt calls out, looking around the waiting room.

i stand up, and wipe my hands on my jeans. "that's, um, that's me."

"alright." he looks at his clipboard and give me one nod. "follow me, please."

the hallway is long, and full of nurses chattering and going in and out of rooms. he turns around a corner, and opens a door, motioning for me to follow him inside.

hadley is laying on a large white bed, machines all beeping around her. "her parents are out of town, and said you were the only other person she has a contact besides your parents. so, you are going to be the first told about what is happening with ms.waters."

i sit in the chair next to her bed, and hold onto her hand, a frown etching on my face when i find how cold they are.

"we've put her in a medically induced coma. the wound was worse than we'd originally thought, and when we started surgery, we found one gunshot wound, and three stab wounds." i look up at him, confused. "the stabs were several inches deep, and that's why she was bleeding so much. if it was just the gunshot, she would be awake, because it wasn't very serious."

"so, she would have been okay, if she'd only been shot?" i brush a loose piece of hair out of her face.

"yes, that is correct." he puts the clipboard under his arm, and pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "i have other patients to tend to, but if you need anything, feel free to call a nurse. they will gladly help you."

i mumble a goodbye, and turn back to hadley. why did this have to happen? why couldn't it have been me?

"please, just don't let go. you can't leave me. just..." my voice cracks, "please don't go away."

i kiss her knuckles, and stand up. i walk to the door, and look back at her once more before i leave.

*****
i get home, and sit on my floor, resting my back against my bedroom door.

"calum? can you hear me?" the voice is faint, but just loud enough for me to hear.

i slowly stand up, "hello? who is that?"

"calum!" it's a little bit louder, and the voice belongs to a girl.

"who is there?" i say forcefully.

"calum. please." her voice is evident and clear, i walk to the other side of my dark bedroom, following the voice. "calum!" she yells, and puts her hands on my shoulders.

i whip around, and stumble backwards. "h-how can i see you?"

"i don't know!"

"you shouldn't be here! what are you doing here?" i yell, my voice shaking.

"i don't know. you need to help me. you have to help me wake up!"

"hadley, you're in a coma." i shake my head sadly, feeling my heart stop, when her form falters, and she disappears.