[ - ]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer Chapter or Story Microsoft Word Chapter or Story
- Text Size +
Three weeks later


Roslyn emerged from the hallway in Kaci and AJ’s newly acquired California home, their first as a married couple which called home too, with a vacant expression on her face. She had received a phone call several minutes ago, which she had excused herself into a quieter area of the house to take, and was now put in the position of sharing the news she had just been given with several pairs of wondering ears.

Her life, for the most part, in the past two weeks had settled into a rather normal and welcome routine; she had her doctor’s appointments, her daily regime of prescription drugs, support groups, a part-time job at the coffee shop a few blocks away and her new puppy, a chocolate lab that Nick had given her and helped her name Cocoa, and she had been trying desperately to move on with her changed existence, move on from what she had left behind, move on from Rob, but again, it, he, was coming back into her life.

“What’s wrong, Ros?” AJ inquired, watching her carefully as she walked through the living room and plopped down heavily onto the overstuffed leather couch. “Who was on the phone?”

“Hey y’all, where you at?” a voice hollered from the front entry way. Hearing the voice, Cocoa bounded off the couch she had been laying on and scampered into the foyer in search of her “dad”.

“In here,” Kaci yelled back, not taking her eyes away from her cousin. Seconds later Nick walked into the living room, the puppy hot on his heels, completely unaware that he was about to be privy to some shocking news. He searched the faces of the people in the room, noticing that something wasn’t right and let out a heavy sigh.

“I guess I got here just in time,” he said quietly, taking a seat on the couch next to Roslyn. He leaned over and kissed her softly on the cheek, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer.

“The DA from Memphis just called me,” she started, playing with the hem of her shirt. “They are putting the trial on hold….indefinitely.” She looked up from her shirt into Nick’s questioning eyes, waiting for him to say something.

“What? Why?” Kaci stammered, beating Nick to the punch.

“Rob, is, ah, too sick, to, ah…” she trailed off, knowing her voice was about to crack. She didn’t want to say the words out loud. Thinking it was hard enough, but actually saying it out loud, well, that would just sting her even more. To verbalize it would not only pound the seriousness of her own condition further into her mind, but it would haunt the minds of everyone else as well.

“What Ros? What did they say?” Kaci prodded her to go on, her heart racing from fear and anticipation. She felt like she knew was her cousin was going to tell her, but she needed to hear it anyway.

Roslyn took a few deep breaths, fresh tears stinging her eyes as she fought to hold them back. She didn’t, under any circumstances, want anyone in the room to think she was crying over Rob, that absolutely wasn’t the case; the tears in her eyes were brought on by her own feelings of the uncertainty she was certain to face in the coming years, or in Rob’s case, months.

“The HIV, it, well, ah…” She just couldn’t seem to spit it out.

“He’s got AIDS now doesn’t he?” AJ asked, taking the pressure off of her to say it. She nodded her head, covering her face with her hands as the tears, unable to be contained any longer, spewed from her eyes.

“It happened so fast,” she sobbed, not realizing what was coming out of her mouth. How was she supposed to deal with this?

“That doesn’t mean it will happen that fast for you too,” Kaci explained softly, wiping the tears that had positioned themselves in the corners of her eyes away. “Rob wasn’t taking care of himself like he should have. You are on medication, you’re living a healthy lifestyle; you’re not going anywhere, not for a long time.” She knew her words had absolutely no basis of truth, but she needed to say them, for Roslyn’s piece of mind, and for her own. The reality was that she was so scared that it could happen to Roslyn that fast and that was something she wasn’t prepared to handle.

“She’s right Ros,” Nick said, continuing where Kaci left off. “People can live for years and years with HIV and never develop AIDS, look at Magic Johnson!”

Roslyn nodded her head, using the sleeve of her shirt to dry her face as she did so. She knew what they were saying was possible, from everything she had read and everything she had learned about her disease she knew it could happen, but what if it didn’t work out for her like that? What if she didn’t have years and years to live? She couldn’t bear to think about it anymore and decided to change the subject.

“So anyway, the DA wasn’t sure when or if ever the trial would resume. Rob will just stay in the prison hospital until he gets a little better or until…” Again, she couldn’t finish her sentence. She didn’t need to though; everyone knew what she was going to say.

“At least he can’t hurt you anymore,” Kaci told her, trying to comfort her a little.

“Yeah, well, he’s done more than enough already,” Roslyn responded, wrapping her arms around her body, suddenly feeling cold.

They see me rollin’/They hatin’/Patrolling they tryin’ to catch me ridin’ dirty/Tryin’ to catch me ridin’ dirty/Tryin’ to catch me ridin’ dirty/Tryin’ to catch me ridin’ dirty/Tryin’ to catch me ridin’ dirty

“Shit, sorry,” Nick mumbled as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. Roslyn couldn’t help giggling a little as she bobbed her head to the ringer on his cell phone.

“Lo?” he barked into the phone, barely flipping it open in time to catch the call. He was silent for a moment, obviously listening to what the caller was saying, and instantly the color drained from his face and he licked his lips repeatedly.

“Nick?” Roslyn asked, worried that something was wrong.

“Just a second,” he said into the phone and then lowered it from his ear and covered the mouthpiece before talking. “It’s the clinic; they have my test results.”

The room was silent as the moment of truth was upon them. Nick put the phone back up to his ear and listened, nodding and saying a few “ok’s” and “mmhmm’s” into the phone every couple seconds or so. It seemed like an eternity went by, everyone anxiously waiting for the call to end and find out the results.

“Okay, yes, thank you for calling,” he said before flipping his phone shut. He sat there for a moment, everyone staring at him, his mind running in two different directions. The first direction was celebration, the second was contempt. He let the second direction fuel his body, anger suddenly overtaking him.

“It’s not fair!” he screamed, standing quickly and throwing the coffee table over as he rose. The glass top shattered, the sound echoing off the walls of the large room. “GOD DAMMIT!”

“Nick! Calm down!” AJ shouted, rushing towards him in hopes of containing any more outbursts. He threw his arms around his taller, larger friend, pulling him down onto the couch in the sitting position.

“It’s not fair,” he said again, this time all the fight was gone from his voice. He crumpled forward, resting his face in his hands as the sobs poured out of him.

“It’s going to be okay,” AJ told him, holding onto his tightly. “You’re not alone; it will be okay.”

“It was positive,” Kaci whispered, not sure if she meant it as a question or a statement. How could this be happening? Not only was she going to lose her best friend, but AJ was going to lose his as well. Nick was right--it’s not fair.

How long could Nick sit there without telling them? How long could he let them think his outburst was for the wrong reason? How long could he wait to tell Roslyn that he would go on living while she was sentenced to a slow, agonizing death?

“No, it wasn’t.” He lifted his head from his hands, knowing it had been long enough, and found three pairs of eyes bearing down on him, pleading for more explanation. “It was negative.” He could hear the sighs of relief escape AJ and Kaci’s mouth, but his turned his focus on the woman sitting next to him; she was silent.

“Roslyn, I’m…”

“Nick, don’t. That’s good news. Will you excuse me?” She stood up quickly, walking towards the stairs and climbing them, disappearing out of sight before anyone could mutter an objection.

Once inside her room, she allowed herself to cry, allowed the emotions building up within her to empty, allowed the realization that his life was blessed with another chance while hers was damned to settle in. Now she had a decision to make…did she send him away, out of her life, so he can find someone else to grow old with, or did she let him in, let their time together be what it may, let herself love him for the rest of her life?