Chapter 2

            Andy took a deep breath and picked up the phone. He had received his results a week ago and he knew he had to tell Ephram. Ephram had been away at Julliard for three weeks. Andy did not know how he was going to explain the situation to Ephram. Ephram knew they had had sex. This was not anything new to him. But when Ephram had learned about Linda's infection, he wanted to know if his father had been tested. The contraction of the disease was the first thing that had come to his mind. Andy had reassured Ephram that they had been careful. Ephram had trusted him, and now he had to tell him the horrible news.

            As he began to dial the number, his hands shook nervously. He listened patiently as the phone rang. With every ring, he took a deep breath. What if Ephram was not in? He did not know if he could build up the nerve to repeat this routine.

            "Hello," Ephram's familiar voice spoke out on the other line.

            "Hey Ephram! How are you?"

            "Good…um...did you need something? I'm kind of in the middle of something. A friend and I are practicing a piece Professor Stanley gave us to work on."

            "Um, yeah…um…yeah…I just wanted...to…"

            "Dad, Is everything alright? Is Delia ok?" A tone of concern came over Ephram's voice.

            "O, yes, yes of course. She's great. Um, actually, I wanted to talk to you about something serious concerning myself." He took a deep breath. "Ephram, you know that Linda and I were sexually active. And you know that Linda is infected with the HIV virus. Well, I went to be tested last week and…"

            Stop! I don't want to hear anymore."

            "But, Ephram you have to understand. I have the disease, but these days people live many years without getting full-blown AIDS. I could live the rest of my life completely fine if I take the appropriate meds. I have a friend…"

            Dad, shut up! I don't want to hear your medical crap. You're my dad. Delia and I have already lost our mom. Why did you do this?"

            "Ephram, I didn't ask for this to happen?"

            "You slept with her. You knew she had the disease and you slept with her anyway."

            "We took all possible precautions."

            "Yeah, but you still slept with her. You didn't think about the lives of your children. You just thought about yourself."

            "Ephram…" The dial tone rang in Dr. Brown's ear.