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

“Our anniversary aside, why the spoiling?” Ali asked. “Last year we had a home cooked meal and some wine and an early night.”


“Last year, I couldn’t stay awake for more than six hours at a time, and climbing the stairs was like climbing Kilimanjaro while steaming drunk,” Yazid pointed out.


“Touché,” Ali said as the waiter removed the menus. He stretched a hand across the table to catch Yazid’s. “So this is a…?”


Chapter 37