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

“Is that Alasdair Barraclough? It’s Dr. Monroe from Leeds General Infirmary.”


Ali paused. His heart paused. Everything just—paused. Outside, he heard the squeak of the gate and a little girl squeal in delight.


“Yes,” he whispered. “Um. Yes, this is Ali. Speaking.”


Mrs Pemberton’s great-grandchildren were visiting; he could hear Yazid enthusiastically asking four-year-old Kerry about her plans for Grammy. And then he heard nothing at all but the cultured voice on the phone when it said, “Mr Barraclough, you gave a sample the other week to test if you were a bone marrow match to your brother, Anthony?”


“Mr Barraclough, you should be a match.”


Ali sat down heavily on the bottom step. “I…what?” he whispered.


“You will need to come down for a further couple of tests, but everything looks as though you should be able to donate to Anthony.”


Chapter 27