Disclaimer: No, I still don't own it.
Chapter Two
"Hello, Mr. Cohen," the man greeted, "I'm Dr. Steve."
"Hi," he replied meekly, his voice shaky.
"Do you have any reason to believe that you're HIV positive?" he asked, picking up a clipboard.
Mark nodded slowly. "There's always that chance. We're pretty careful, but-"
"Have you slept with anyone who was HIV positive recently?"
Mark rolled his eyes. "Yes."
"Him?" Dr. Steve pointed at Roger. They both nodded. "Um, Mr. Davis, I presume?" Another nod. "Did you also contract HIV from homosexual relations?"
"No," he replied. "Heroin."
"I see," he jotted something down on the paper. "Well, I'll just get everything ready. Mr. Davis, are you done with the paperwork?"
"Yeah, hold on," he said. "Mark, how tall are you?"
"Um, like five foot eight I think."
"Okay," he scribbled it down and handed the clipboard to the doctor.
"Great," he accepted it. "You can go sit in the waiting room and Mark will be out as soon as the test is over."
"Can't he stay with me?" Mark asked from the table. "The nurse said he could."
"I'm sorry, but our policy distinctly states that only blood relatives and spouses are allowed in here while the test is administered," Dr. Steve replied. He turned to Roger, "You'll have to go."
Roger gave the doctor a dirty look and went over to Mark. He took one of his shaking hands and leaned his forehead against Mark's. "You'll be fine," he kissed him softly and gave Mark's hand a squeeze. He walked out, flashing another dirty look at Dr. Steve and went to sit in the waiting room.
Mark sat quietly, looking at the ground. "Why couldn't he stay?"
"I'm sorry, it's in our policy," the doctor replied.
This time, the needle taking the blood away hurt more than usual. The questions seemed more prying. Mark just wanted to get out, to get back to Roger, to get this over with.
"That's all," Dr. Steve smiled.
Mark nodded and hopped off the table, scurrying out of the room. "Rog?" he asked, entering the waiting room.
Roger smiled when he saw the filmmaker enter. Hugging him, he whispered, "How was it?"
"It was worse," he replied, "because you weren't there."
"I've never been with you back there before," Roger took his hand and led him out of the building.
"Yeah, I know," he replied. "But the one time I needed you with me, they give us the asshole doctor who follows every inhumane rule there is."
"It's okay, I'm here now."
"Yeah, and I guess that's what matters," Mark said, snuggling against Roger as they walked to the train.
"It's going to be a long two weeks," Mark mumbled into Roger's chest as they lay in bed that night.
"It always is," Roger replied.
"But this time…"
"Just shut up about this time," Roger snapped. "You're making me worry more than I usually do."
"I'm sorry," he said. "But you've been through this; you know what it's like to wait."
"But I knew what my results were going to come back as," Roger said. "You don't. So I guess it is a little scarier for you."
"Scary all the same," Mark reasoned. "But I was there for you, so you'll be there for me, right?"
"Always," he pressed a kiss to Mark's forehead.
"That's all I need to know," Mark said closing his eyes and heading off to Dream Land in Roger's arms.
The two weeks came and went. Mark and Roger were having their daily wrestling match – which usually just turned into a make out session – over the remote when the phone rang. Roger, who was on top of Mark, pinning the smaller boy down and dangling the remote over his head, stopped and told him to listen.
"Speeeeeeeeeak."
"Hello, this is the Free Clinic of New York City calling back with test results for Mr. Mark-"
Roger hopped off the couch and grabbed the phone. "Hello?"
"Hi, is this Mark Cohen?"
"No, he's busy," Roger lied. Well, it was not really a lie. Mark had grabbed the remote and put on his favorite show, which Roger never let him watch. "You can just tell me though."
"Okay," it was the same nurse that had let Roger back in the room before Mark's test. "His results are in. When would you like to schedule an appointment to come down? It's rather urgent."
Urgent. That word took him by surprise. "Soon," Roger tried to fight back his tears. He talked with the nurse for a few more minutes, giving short yes or no answers.
"What they say?" Mark asked when Roger hung up.
"We have to go back down tomorrow to pick them up," he said, sitting down.
"They didn't tell you what the results were?"
Roger shook his head. "They just said it was urgent."
Urgent. The same thing the doctors told Mark when they called with Roger's results all those years ago. The same word that proved Roger's fate would now dictate his.
