Page 1 of Harley's Hex
Hex
Hex hated this time of year. Halloween was absolutely the worst, and this year, he planned on skipping the whole day. He had twenty-nine days to figure out how to do just that. Knowing Savage, it was going to have to be one good plan, too, because he wasn’t going to just let Hex miss out on the busiest night at the club.
Savage Hell was usually a busy place, but for some reason, on Halloween, all the members seemed to camp out at the club. It was a tradition that started years ago, and this year, Savage told all the guys that he expected them to show up, bring a date, and have a fucking good time. Of course, arguing with Savage wasn’t going to work out for him, but he had a few hang-ups with his club’s Prez’s demand. For one, Hex didn’t have a date. Hell, he didn’t date at all these days. Instead, he picked up women and fucked them, not meeting up with them a second time for fear that the women would become too attached. He'd figure out something because there was no way that he was going to spend Halloween partying with the Royal Bastards. He was going to sit at home in the dark so that none of the neighborhood kids would know that he was home but not handing out candy. The lastthing he needed was to have his house egged or toilet papered, as they had done a few years prior.
He tried to catch the little shits, but they were too fast for him. The next year, he sat in the dark, keeping a lookout for the little assholes, but they never showed up. It felt as though they were taunting him, but they probably had better things to do—like getting as much candy as possible before the night was over.
Hex decided to head down to Savage Hell before he had to report for duty at Redstone Arsenal. He loved that so many of the guys in the Royal Bastards were active and ex-military. His club’s Prez even worked at Redstone as a civilian. The guy was actually a fucking rocket scientist, and his husband, Bowie, was ex-military. They both met on the base, and Bowie liked to give him shit about not meeting anyone at Redstone after he had been there for over five years now. Hex didn’t bother telling his Vice Prez that he wasn’t really looking for anyone at the moment. If Bowie knew that, he’d tell Savage and those two would stick their noses in his business, and that was the last thing he needed. Why was it that people who were happy in a relationship always tried to set their friends up, hoping that they’d find the same happiness?
He parked his bike at the back of the lot, hoping to find Savage alone, but from the bikes parked back there, that probably wasn’t going to happen. Bowie stuck his head out of the back door and shouted for him to get his ass in the bar, and Hex wondered what the hell he was walking into. Hex ran to the back door as Bowie held it open for him.
“It’s about fucking time,” Bowie growled.
“What’s about fucking time?” Hex asked.
“You showing up here. I think that Savage needs to go to the hospital, but he’s being a stubborn ass. Would you mind watching the bar while I drag his ass into the ER?” Hex almostwanted to laugh at the mental picture of Bowie dragging his behemoth husband anywhere.
“What’s wrong with Savage?” he asked.
“He’s having chest pains, and he insists that it’s probably indigestion, but I just want to have someone with a medical degree check him out.”
“I don’t blame you,” Hex said. “I’m an Army doctor if you want me to take a quick look at him.” He was trained as a medic, and when he was out in the field, he fell in love with the work, so when he got back to the States, he decided to go to medical school. After he graduated, he owed the Army ten years of service, and they let him pick where he wanted to be. Since he had a couple of buddies in Huntsville, he picked Redstone.
“That would be great,” Bowie said, “he’s in his office.” Hex followed Bowie back to Savage’s office. He had only been back there a handful of times, and each time, he felt as though he was being called back to the principal’s office. Hex didn’t spend that much time in the principal’s office as a kid, either.
Bowie walked into the office, and Hex found Savage lying on the big leather sofa that took up a large portion of the room. “Hex is an army doctor, and you will let him check you out,” Bowie ordered.
“This is ridiculous,” Savage grumbled, “but I know that you won’t leave me alone until I agree to let someone look at me. So, have at it, Hex.” He knelt on the floor in front of Savage and took his pulse. It was racing while he was just sitting down, and if he had to guess, Bowie was onto something when he said that Savage needed to go to the emergency room.
“Are you having chest pains?” Hex asked.
“Yeah, but it’s probably just indigestion,” Savage insisted. Bowie was right—the guy was stubborn as hell.
“Do you have problems with acid reflux or indigestion usually?” Hex asked.
“No,” Savage mumbled.
“Have you eaten anything today?” Hex asked.
“Nope,” Savage said, as though he was proud of the fact that he had totally skipped breakfast.
“You told me that you had breakfast,” Bowie said. “Dallas is going to fucking kill you.” Hex knew that Dallas was their wife. Savage and Bowie were in a polyamorous relationship, and it really seemed to work for the three of them. From what he had heard from the other guys in the club, Savage had a shit ton of kids.
“Upset stomach at all?” Hex asked.
“Yep, and that’s why I haven’t had anything to eat,” Savage defended.
“Listen, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Bowie is right, you need to go to the ER to get checked out,” Hex said. “If I had my medical bag with me, I’d be able to do a more thorough job, but it’s in my pickup and I rode my bike here today.”
“And if I refuse to go?” Savage asked, defiantly raising his chin at Hex. It was almost comical to watch the big guy put his foot down.
“As a doctor, I’ll need to insist. I’d have to call an ambulance, and it would turn into a whole thing,” Hex said. “If you just let Bowie drive you there, I can follow behind to help get you into the emergency room faster. It’s for your own good, Savage. Think of your family—would you want your kids growing up without one of their parents?” Hex asked.
“Now, you’re just being an asshole,” Savage growled.
Hex shrugged, “Maybe, but you need to do this, and I’ll use whatever leverage I have to in order to get you there.” Bowie smiled at Hex and nodded his thanks. He was going to have to make a quick phone call once he got to the hospital to let his boss know that he was going to be late, but technically, this wasa medical emergency, so he really couldn’t fault him for making sure that Savage was in good hands before leaving him at the ER.
“Fine,” Savage grumbled, “but if I do this, we’re going to need to ask one of the guys to mind the bar tonight. Harley can’t do it all on her own. Hex wasn’t sure why, but he agreed to help out before he knew that the words were coming out of his mouth. Maybe it was because he was so new to the Royal Bastards, or maybe it was because he just liked helping people, but he agreed to help manage things at Savage Hell if Savage agreed to get checked out at the hospital.
