“A very healthy kidney, Mr Gates. There is no reason Tatiana can’t lead a normal life with just one kidney. Tatiana’s liver is expected to regenerate, as it is exceedingly healthy. And she can live without her gallbladder. I am sorry for the loss of the baby, but I must return to the operating room.” The doctor rose to her feet and reached out and touched Big Al’s shoulder.
“Mr Gates, when Tatiana went into surgery, her chances of living were less than ten per cent. The blood loss was indescribable. But thanks to your friends who came and donated, they gave her a thirty per cent chance. She’s now sitting at fifty; her body is in shock, but Tatianna is a very strong woman and is fighting to survive.” Doc Marilyn smiled and then left us alone. Nobody spoke.
Chance
Chance peered across to Clio and saw her wilting. Thalia was next to her, looking just as pale, and Chance noticed Bear keeping a sharp eye on Thalia. Ah fuck, the realisation of why Thalia looked as white as Clio and Chance beckoned Bear to one side.
“Thalia’s pregnant,” Chance stated, and Bear glanced at him in shock.
“How did you know?”
“Because she’s as pale as Clio, and Clio’s pregnant again,” Chace replied quietly. They turned their heads to gaze at the broken figure of the guy who’d been a father to them both.
“We can’t announce their pregnancies,” Bear murmured.
“On top of Tati’s injuries and losing their baby, no, now is not a great time. Fuck, we’re meant to be celebrating, and every time something good happens, shit hits the fan,” Chance bitched.
Bear nodded his head; he understood why Chance thought like that. He saw Chance’s thoughts flash back to the last couple of years. Chance found Clio, and Clio got snatched. Bear met Thalia, and she ended up kidnapped and tortured to save their brother. Chey and Celt’s crap, which had lasted years, and a shitload of pain which could have been avoided. Chey’s accident. She was walking again, but it had taken a year for Chey to recover and a lot of stubbornness and willpower.
Now Tati. She was the heart and soul of the old ladies and the only female apart from Phoe, who the brothers truly worshipped the feet of. She’d been there through thick and thin; they’d supported her and Big Al when they finally understood there’d be no kids for them. Bear couldn’t imagine the MC without the one old lady who’d weathered the storm. Tati turned her dashed hopes and dreams into a fountain of love that even Tiny and Chatter had responded to in the end. Chance’s pain flashed clearly across his face as Bear watched him wrestle it back under control.
Chance losing his shit now wouldn’t help anyone. He was president. It was a role and title he took seriously. His brothers were devastated that Tati was hurt, and Chance knew Phoe could not soothe them all. As much as Chance wanted to rail against fate, he couldn’t. Not until he was in the privacy of his bedroom, safe from prying eyes. Chance reached out and grasped Bear’s shoulder.
“We’ll wait to announce our news. The girls will understand,” he muttered. Chance caught Clio’s eyes as she smiled sadly at him.
“Yeah. Thal won’t mind. Tati means the world to her,” Bear replied. “Big Al and Tati are more important than us crowing our announcement.”
“Yeah,” Chance rumbled, his gaze on Big Al. Chance recognised that each minute that ticked by meant Tati was hanging in fighting. And Chance willed his strength and every fuckin’ prayer he knew towards Tati, his sister in all but blood.
Big Al.
If Tati only realised how much she was loved. She’d have admired seeing the allies working together to donate. From what he’d seen, every member of them had turned up, some as a group and others separately, but they’dcome. That shit meant everything to him. The fact the presidents and VPs stayed meant even more, showing Big Al that their MCs were with him, even if not present in body. Big Al took a deep breath and checked the clock.
Fifteen hours now since Clio interrupted church, Big Al would never forget the look on Clio’s face. Whatever Lio had told the girl had frightened her to death, and she’d struggled to be gentle in telling him. Big Al owed her. He was grateful Magic and Axel had stayed with him. Not that Big Al didn’t love Chance and his MC, but he knew should Tati not make it, Chance would be one of the first to crumble. Chance loved Tati as much as his own blood.
Axel, Magic and Big Al went back years. All the way to the founding of Rage MC and Hellfire MC. Magic had grown up in the life, and while he preferred to be a nomad, he’d helped the MCs start. Led them by the nose and taught them everything he knew. Magic’s father had been a president and a god damn asshole. Old style and a one percenter, Magic’s dad was beyond a motherfucking cunt. It’s the sole reason Magic was a nomad, a lone biker, but everyone loved the man.
Big Al and Axel had shot the shit many times as the clubs flourished, and they found like-minded men. Family, honour and riding are the foundation of both MCs. Big Al sighed and raised his eyes to heaven. He’d thought he’d be alone. He hadn’t met Tati until late. Hellfire had been established in 1971; Big Al had been fifteen then. The others had been much older than him, but he had tagged along behind them, and Enigma had allowed him. Big Al earned the title of Founder while most were still in school.
He’d sweated blood and tears as often as the other four because he had something to prove to those who came once Hellfire started taking applications. He’d fought and beaten every single man who prospected for them, earning his place as Chaplin. Enigma had thought it fuckin’ amusing that a kid was the club’s Chaplin. But as Bullet pointed out, Big Al listened and offered sage advice, even for one so young. Once he hit twenty-one, the bullshit mainly stopped because he had been seen as a man by incoming prospects.
But by then, Big Al had whooped all newcomer’s asses and made sure they knew what his rank of Founder and Chaplin meant. With his brothers at his back, they’d begun to grow Hellfire. Chance and the rest didn’t know, but the club’s name had been picked out of a hat. And it was Big Al’s choice that had won. Enigma and the others had wanted to call it different names, so they’d shoved the options into a hat. He and Tati had watched for years as the club changed from filth and crap to honour and family again. Tati had never wavered by his side. She’d stood firm, and while they grieved many deaths that could have been avoided, they were solid.
They’d seen too much death through the decades. And Tati had been his rock. She was his everything, and Big Al couldn’t see living without her. If his Tati didn’t make it through this shit, he’d bury her with all the love and honour he could give and then take himself off and eat a bullet. Because without Tati, there was no life, nothing to keep him going.
If only she knew how much he loved her.
A faint smile crossed his lips as he thought back to when he first saw her.
Chapter Two.
Summer 1987
Big Al.
Big Al sighed. Yet another cookout, pussy everywhere, tits in abundance, and he was bored stupid. He watched as Patsy sank into Zeus’s lap and sucked him off in front of everyone. Fuckin’ asshole didn’t even have the decency to take her somewhere private or at least pay attention to her as he kept chatting with his brothers. Big Al shook his head in disgust and turned away. He automatically searched for Chance and Bear and found them, keeping their distance from club whores and talking to a couple of prospects they’d brought in. Tiny, a joke because the man was bloody massive, and Banshee, named because he’d seen a fuckin’ spider and screamed like a bitch, were talking quietly.
Big Al craned his neck, looking for the three new brothers they had just patched in. Zeus thought they were in his pocket; Big Al knew better.