The Phoenix Club (written as CJ Bishop)

CH 7: "Out of Options"

A S Cole had suggested, Max showed up at the apartment around noon. The man came bearing lunch. He set the white bag on the end table by the sofa along with a bottle of soda.

"Thought you might be hungry." he said and grabbed one of the two kitchen chairs and dragged it over to the sofa, twisted it around and sat on it backwards, arms resting across the back.

"Thanks." Abel opened the bag to find a bacon cheese burger and fries. The tantalizing aroma of the food kicked in his appetite and he took out the cheese burger, unwrapped its foil casing and bit into it.

"So how are you doing?" Real concern was evident in the man's voice, as well as his eyes.

"I'm okay." Abel murmured. "I'll be better in a couple days or so."

Max nodded slowly. "And Savannah?" he asked quietly. "Gabe said you called Cole, had to take her to the hospital? Is it serious?"

The burger faltered when Abel started to raise it to his mouth again. He set it on the bag and picked up the soda, twisting off the cap slowly. "She's...really sick." he whispered and took a drink of the soda to wash down the tears suddenly trying to invade his throat.

"I wish I could put her on the club's insurance." he said. "But it only covers employees."

Abel nodded and twisted the bottle in his hands. "I know. It's okay, I'll figure something out."

Sighing, Max rubbed his lips together. "I know you don't want to leave a paper trail, Abel...but maybe you should consider getting her on medical."

Abel shook his head slowly. "I can't risk it. If they found me..." he raised his eyes. "I'm all Savannah has. She needs someone to take care of her." he shrugged and dropped his eyes back to the soda bottle. "Besides, I don't even have any of her papers. Birth certificate, social security card, nothing."

Max was the only one who knew everything; where Abel had come from, what he had done, why he was trying to stay below radar. He hadn't told anyone until that night three years ago when he'd sneaked Savannah into the back of the club to get her out of the bitter cold. When he'd gone looking for food, Cole had caught him and taken him to Max. He'd been offered a job as a stock boy but the offer only stood if he told Max the truth of his situation. Abel recalled being terrified of telling the man everything, but he'd had no choice. Max was offering the small apartment along with the job and he knew Savannah couldn't be out on the streets anymore, not in the dead of winter. Her health was already diminishing. So he'd told him all of it, praying he could trust the man.

Cole and the others only knew that he was a kid off the streets, and they didn't pry for further details. What made them all so close was their respect for one another's secrets – many of them dark secrets. It was as if their secrets in themselves created a kind camaraderie.

"What is wrong with her, Abel?" Max continued to require complete honesty from his boys, at all times. He didn't like surprises, and if any of the guys got in the habit of lying to him, they were sent out of the club.

For better or worse, the Phoenix was his home, and the other men there – the closest he'd ever come to having a family. Abel trusted them to have his back, especially Cole, and Gabe. He felt safe inside the walls of the club. And he would do nothing to jeopardize it all.

"She..." Tears filled his eyes and suddenly the thought of eating pinched his gut with nausea. "She's...HIV positive...maybe worse." the words slipped out on a broken whisper as the tears broke with them, sliding down his face.

Max hung his head, his face tightening. "Fuck." he bit sharply and closed his eyes. He shook his head, sighing. "Shit, Abel...I'm sorry. You two don't deserve this." Abel just stared at the bottle turning slowly in his fingertips, tears creeping slowly down his cheeks. "Do you know how she got it?"