Lure of the Monster

Diagnosis

I was in the kitchen rummaging for something to eat when the phone Jane had given me started buzzing. Chance was sitting at the counter on his computer. Jennifer lay on the couch asleep while Chris was fidgeting with the television. They'd both been kicked out of their houses and were now crashing with Chance and I.

I glanced at Chance before I picked up my phone, seeing Jane's name on the screen. I took a breath before I walked around the counter and squeezed Chance's shoulder. I walked down the hall to the bedroom, shutting the door as I sat on the edge of the bed, my finger hover over the green button. I finally pressed it and put the phone to my ear.

"I thought maybe you weren't going to answer," Jane said softly. I could tell that she had been crying.

"They weren't good, were they?" I asked as I lay back, putting my free arm above my head. Chance had given me some pills that were medium strength painkillers. We had a job to do that night and I couldn't fucked up.

"No," she said finally.

I sighed, staring at a water stain on the ceiling. "Lay it on me."

She took a deep, shaky breath before she spoke again. "Your CD4+ T cells, which are a glycoprotein in the immune cells were less than 200 and they made up less than 14 percent of your lymphocytes, which are a white blood cell."

"English, Jane," I told her.

She cleared her throat. Sniffled. Took a breath. "You have AIDS, Beckham."

I stared at the ceiling, feeling my chest tighten, but I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Maybe the test is wrong."

"It's not, Beckham. We ran two different samples and it came back with the same results each time. Come home and I can give you more details."

I shook my head even though she couldn't see it. I wasn't going to make her witness that. "No."

"You're in stage two right now, Beckham. This can go on for years if we get you the proper treatment. You can have a lot more time if you let me help you," she said. "We can get the people who may have also been exposed to it treatment."

Chance.

I closed my eyes.

Jennifer.

Chris.

People that I didn't even know.

"Fuck."

"Did you have flu symptoms recently?" she asked.

I thought about the nearly two weeks I had been barely able to function. Chance thought it was the flu and tried to get me to get some legit medicine, but I thought it was just a bad mixture of drugs.

"I did about a month ago," I muttered.

She let out a breath I hadn't realized she was holding. "Come home so I can help you."

I sat up as Chance walked in, holding bowl of chips. He sat down on the bed beside me, holding the bowl out to me. I looked down at it before I turned away, my stomach churning at the thought of eating anything.

"Okay," I whispered.

"What?"

"I'll come home," I said as I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"What's going on?" Chance whispered, but I waved him off.

"Tell me where to pick you up," Jane said. I could hear her keys jingling like she had known I would say yes.