If you could save someone's life, would you? Anyone's? Ali's older brother has a swastika tattooed on his knuckles, a prison ID number for nearly beating an immigrant to death, and spent his teenage years ruthlessly persecuting Ali for being gay. Blood may be thicker than water, but Ali has spent most of his life desperate to prove he is nothing like Tony. A committed vegetarian, charity-supporter, and blood donor, Ali would do anything for anyone. Ali may share parentage with Tony, but he’s determined not to share anything else if he can help it. So when Tony contracts leukaemia, and Ali is the only match for the urgently-needed bone marrow transplant, Ali is caught between two equally awful choices: to refuse and condemn a man to death, or to donate. And in donating, save the life of the man who nearly murdered Ali's Iraqi boyfriend?

Thicker Than Bone

“You’re supposed to argue with me,” Ali whined.


“Nah,” Yazid drawled, and laughed when Ali groaned. “Hold your horses! Seriously, we’re nearly there, we’ve almost stopped moving now. And you need to get ready.”


“I need a hug,” Yazid said firmly, and Ali made a soft noise. “I’m serious. Visiting Khalid’s exhausting, he and Maryam have just had a new baby and she’s screaming at all bloody hours, and Khalid’s still trying the if I just push the Qur’an close enough to him, maybe he’ll catch Islam againtrick.”


“He tries to convert you?” Ali asked, very quietly.


“Not really,” Yazid said, heaving himself out of his seat. He waved an elderly lady to go in front of him and waited for her to get down from the train. “He’s not exactly thrilled by me and you’ll never catch him at any of that straight allies stuff, but he’s not totally freaked out either. We’ve both seen more fucked up shit in care.”


Chapter 26