than staying alive? What the fuck’s wrong with you, man?”
“I’m already far gone,” Buddha sighed. “They say three months without the meds and chemo, maybe six without a transplant if I keep doing it. That’s not worth it to me.”
Not worth it? An extra three months was worth everything, it was extra time to find a donor. They could multitask, they had to.
“I’m gonna call a vote,” Buddha added.
“You’re not calling a fucking vote,” Torch growled, knowing exactly what the man was getting at. He wanted out.
“Let me finish—”
“I don’t give a fuck what you’re about to say, brother, we don’t walk away from a fight. You started this shit with Cora and the coins. Unless you actually croak in the meantime, you’re gonna see it to the end with the rest of us. And the cancer too, you’re gonna fight like a goddamn Serpent. We’re your family, I’m not gonna give you my vote so you can go curl up and die with a clear conscience.”
Without saying another word, Torch shoved his glass across the desk, got up, and walked right back out the goddamn door. He was done with this fucking conversation, Buddha could go find somebody else to entertain his death fantasies.
Fuck that.
: : : :
| LIVIA |
Rounding a corner after leaving the bathroom, I saw a furious Torch stomping out of the clubhouse. Seconds later, I heard his Harley starting up and taking off.
Looking across the room into Buddha’s office, I noticed him leaning back in his chair and rubbing his temples, so I strutted in and planted my ass in the chair Torch had vacated. “What happened?” I asked.
Expecting to see anger in his eyes for unceremoniously intruding, I was taken aback when he looked up and all that came across was pain and confusion. Buddha was many things, but openly emotional wasn’t one of them. Neither was confused, the man walked and talked with purpose under any circumstance. Even a cancer diagnosis hadn’t seemed to throw him off his game.
But this? I felt like I was in the company of his shadow, and it wasn’t because he’d lost weight. He looked utterly deflated.
“I know he told you about the cancer,” he muttered, pushing a glass of whiskey across the desk. “Have a drink with me, toots.”
I complied and leaned back in my own chair, staring at him and waiting for some kind of explanation.
“He’s pissed ‘cause I’m stopping the chemo—”
“What? Why the fuck would you do that?” I demanded.
“It’s not working, Liv. There’s no point.”
“I don’t believe that.”
He sighed. “I didn’t wanna believe it either, but it’s a fact straight from the doctor. My blood counts aren’t improving, the only option now is a bone marrow transplant and he already checked the registry. I’m not gonna go through all this shit for a couple extra months, fuck that.”
That didn’t mean anything, I refused to let this goddamn illness get the last word over someone I loved. “Then we all get tested,” I said.
Buddha gave me a pained smile. “Those were your old man’s exact words. I swear you two are the same fucking person.”
That was true, especially when we were both right. Sensing an opportunity to crack some of the tension, I rubbed my chin and asked, “Did I forget to shave this morning?”
Buddha chuckled and shook his head. “You’re a beautiful person inside and out, sweetheart. The best thing that stubborn fuck ever did was getting you down the aisle. He’s gonna need a strong old lady next to him when I’m gone and I can’t think of a better woman for the job. You ground him.”
Instead of turning into a blubbering mess, which was exactly what my tear ducts wanted to do, I cleared my throat and redirected back to business. “Okay, none of that shit right now,” I huffed. “Here’s what’s about to happen… You’re gonna keep doing the chemo. Two weeks, that’s all I’m asking. If we can’t find you a donor by then, I’ll back off and you can do whatever you want.”
He gave me the infamous Buddha side-eye. “Sweetheart, the chances—”
“I don’t give a rat’s ass about statistics right now,” I cut in. “This club has over five hundred members alone, never mind prospects, old ladies, crawlers, and hang-arounds. They don’t even need to go to a clinic, I read up on this stuff when Torch first told me and the test is just a cheek swab. I’ll arrange for lab techs to go to clubhouses—”