Chapter
4
AJ
drove to the hospital the very next day to have the HIV test done. He told no one where he was going, not
wanting to alarm anyone for no reason.
He would wait until he got the results back.
Luckily,
the hospital wasn't very busy when AJ arrived, so he only had to wait about
twenty minutes.
"Alexander
McLean?" a nurse called. AJ stood
up and walked over to her. "Right
this way, Mr. McLean," the nurse said, leading him down a hallway into a
small examining room. She looked down at
her clipboard. "You're here for an
HIV test?" she asked.
AJ
nodded, his face reddening. The nurse
noticed and offered him a sympathetic smile.
"Don't worry, this is strictly confidential. No one will know about the test unless you
tell them," she said, but her words didn't help to comfort him. He didn't care who found out about him
getting tested. It was the results that
scared him.
"A
doctor will be in to run the test in a few minutes," the nurse said and
left the room. AJ sat on the examining
table and looked around the room, trying to take his mind off of the test. He looked down at his hands and realized they
were shaking visibly. He clasped them
together tightly and held them in his lap.
A
few minutes later, a doctor entered the room.
"Hello, Mr. McLean," she said, smiling at him. "I'm Dr. Thompson." AJ forced a smile. "Well, let's get this over with,"
Dr. Thompson said.
***
An
hour later, AJ was driving home. Dr.
Thompson had told him the results of the test wouldn't be in for a few
days. She said she would call him when
they came in.
AJ
had mixed feelings about this news. He
didn't like having to suffer through the suspense of waiting for so long to
find out if he had contracted the deadly virus or not. But, on the other hand, what he didn't know
wouldn't hurt him. At least he didn't
know that he had it for sure yet. There
was a chance that he didn't have it at all.
Maybe he was worrying for nothing.
He would find out the truth soon enough.
***
Four
days later, AJ's phone rang during breakfast.
He grabbed it quickly.
"Hello?" he answered nervously.
"Hello,
is this Alexander McLean?" asked a woman.
AJ knew it was Dr. Thompson. His
heart lodged in his throat and pounded heavily.
"Yes,
this is him," AJ replied.
"Mr.
McLean, this is Dr. Thompson. I would
like you to come down to the hospital as soon as possible so we can discuss the
results of the HIV test," Dr. Thompson said.
"Ok,"
AJ said, his voice trembling. "I
can be there in about ten minutes, ok?"
"That
will be fine. I'll be waiting for
you," Dr. Thomson replied.
"Ok,
I'll see you soon," AJ said.
"Good-bye,"
Dr. Thompson said. AJ hung up the phone
slowly. His whole body was shaking with
fear. He had a bad feeling about this. But, he climbed into his car anyway and drove
to the hospital.
Once
he was there, he checked in at the receptionist's desk and sat down in the
waiting room. He was only there for a
couple minutes when a nurse came out and called his name. She led him to Dr. Thompson's office this
time.
"Come
on in, Mr. McLean," Dr. Thompson said when he arrived at the doorway. AJ came in and took a seat in front of her
desk. The nurse left, closing the door
behind her. Dr. Thompson cleared her
throat. "The results of the test
have come in," she began.
"Unfortunately, you tested positive for the HIV virus." AJ gasped and tried to hold back the tears
that threatened to fill his eyes.
"I'm very sorry," Dr. Thompson said sympathetically. AJ said nothing. "We need to get you started on
medication right away," she started.
"HIV affects the immune system and makes the victims susceptible to
many diseases. AZT is our most effective
drug right now. It helps preserve the
immune system."
"So
do I have AIDS or HIV?" AJ asked.
"Is there a difference, or are they the same thing?"
"Right
now you have HIV, which is the virus that causes AIDS. You could go your whole life and never
actually get AIDS. But most likely, you
will eventually develop full blown AIDS at some point," Dr. Thompson
explained.
"Oh,"
AJ said sullenly.
"Do
you know how you contracted this virus, Mr. McLean?" Dr. Thompson asked.
"Yeah,
I got it from a girl I had sex with," AJ said, his face turning red.
"Do
you know which girl it was?" Dr. Thompson.
"Yes,"
AJ said.
"Good,"
Dr. Thompson said. "Can you tell me
how long ago you had intercourse with her?"
AJ
thought for a moment. "It was a few
months ago," he said.
Dr.
Thompson nodded. "That's
good," she said. "I'm glad you
came in to be tested. Sometimes in HIV
victims, the symptoms don't start until years after they are infected. By then, their immune systems are mostly
destroyed, and the drugs we give them don't help much. But you are lucky. Your immune system will be intact, and the
drugs can help slow the destruction of it from the HIV."
"There
isn't a cure for this yet, is there?" AJ asked hopefully. He knew that AIDS was fatal, but he wanted to
believe that a cure had been found recently that he just hadn't heard of yet.
"No,
not yet," Dr. Thompson said.
"But there is a lot of research being done. Hopefully, someday, there will be a
cure."
AJ
said a silent prayer, praying that there would be a cure before the disease
killed him.
***