‘YOU haven’t been up, have you,’ a nurse said after pulling back the curtain.

‘Was just testing the legs,’ Jax said.

‘Can’t sleep, hey?’ the nurse asked.

‘Yeah. That’s right.’

The nurse walked over to the machine behind Jax and began pressing buttons.

‘Well, this should help,’ she said.

‘No,’ Jax said. ‘What did you give me?’

‘WHA—’ Jax couldn’t even finish the word. His eyes were open but his head was still in a morphine maze. ‘Is . . . you? I’m . . . Oh fuck!’

Though still not with it, he knew enough to be scared. Even in his semi-conscious state, he knew he was looking at death – a severely scarred redhead with dangerously deep blue eyes.

‘Fuck . . .’ Jax mumbled and slurred as he lashed out. ‘Kill you. I’ll kill you, you bastard, I will.’

Bluey put his gigantic arm on Jax’s forehead, gently pushed his head back against the hospital bed pillow then pinned him there by his shoulders.

‘Oi,’ he said. ‘Pipe down. Settle, mate. I’m not here to hurt ya. Oi. You good? You awake?’

Suddenly Jax was back from his morphine-induced dream and looking into sad eyes. He shook his head, surely still dreaming. But after blinking a few times, Bluey was still there, looking him over, though not with rage.

‘Can you hear me?’ Bluey asked gruffly, holding Jax down hard. ‘You with me or what?’

Jax signalled in the affirmative with his eyes, unable to find the strength to nod his head.

‘Mate, this is really hard for me to say,’ Bluey said, sounding a little groggy himself. ‘Because I’ve known ’em all for a long time, and a couple of them were my mates . . . But . . . you did the right thing . . . Marsh was a cunt. There hasn’t been a night since I met him that I didn’t go to sleep telling myself I would stand up to him the next day. But I never did. I couldn’t find my balls and he turned me into . . . Seriously? What sort of man would . . .? Fuck, I have a boy older than you.’

Now fully alert, Jax went cold as he saw Bluey’s eyes darken.

‘Seriously, when you gave it to Grub,’ Bluey said after a sniffle, bringing himself back from the brink. ‘Gave him what he deserved. Well, I thought of my boy.’

Bluey struggled to find his next word.

‘What I am trying to say is we are sweet. I’m not going to dog on ya. I’m gonna tell the cops nuthin’. And I’ll tell the club it was Grub that done the bomb. You don’t have to worry about your girl. She’s safe. She will be safe. The club will fold now anyway. If it hasn’t already.’

Bluey extended his arm. Jax hesitated before looking back at his eyes. He took Bluey’s hand and shook it.

‘She’ll be sweet?’ Jax asked. ‘Do I have your word?’