I had just finished supper when the first call came in. It was delightful to hear the voice of Dr. White. He was devoted to his career and his patients. He had worked for almost ten years before he specialized in HIV / AIDS. He was indeed an expert. I was surprised that he remembered me. I apologized for keeping him late. He actually interrupted me.

"Jax, it is so nice to hear from you. So, I am gathering that you are having concerns regarding William, right. Is it possible? Damn right it is. Whether it is thirty years or just one day, it is always possible. Let me guess, you want three new lab draws at three different labs. Consider it done, old friend. It was devastating to see that young man walk in here and tell me the news. I really feel for the entire family. It is like he was blessed when he confided in you. You are his ray of sunshine in this darkness. It was the early 80's when we met if I remember correctly."

"I remember, Dr. White. It is as clear today as it was all those years ago. It was heartbreaking, and I lost a good friend. I am thankful and will always be that you were there, and you cared. Thanks for taking care of this for me. If it is possible can you pick the same three labs? I am expecting a call from a Dr. Blanchet and I will explain to him the reason for our chat and that you are taking care of things."

"Sounds good to me. Dr. Blanchet is a dear old guy, I am surprised that he hasn't retired. I guess when his wife died, he had nothing left but his work. It has to be about fifteen years ago. They both lost their only son about ten years before that."

"The poor man, I didn't see him at the hospital like I did you, so I didn't know. What a shame. I will talk to William in the morning, just so you know."

"Alright. So, other than this exciting challenge, how have you been? I thought you had retired."

"Oh, I did retire, then I got a call from Roni, she left the hospital around the same time. She has been teaching at a private school. Anyway, she fell and broke some bones and called me to help her out. I had already been to the school about covering some of the clinical experiences, so they were pleased to have me on board. It has been interesting, but I do think I will be glad when she is back."

"Okay then, I will let you go, but please do keep in touch. Yes, I know you are older but still, friends are special, and you certainly have taught me a lot. Deal?"
"Deal. Bye now."

I filled the sink and washed the dishes. I had just finished when the second call came through.
A gruff sounding voice identified the caller as Dr. Blanchet.

"Thank you for calling me, Dr. Blanchet. As William said, I am Mrs. Armstrong, a retired RN and one of his instructors. He has confided his medical situation to me and I have spoken with Dr. White. If you will indulge me I would like to explain my background and the reason for my call."
I paused, waiting.

"Well, get on with it girl. I am not going to live for forever and you are taking up my time."
I smiled and continued, "Thank you, sir. As I said I am a retired RN, I used to be an administrator of the ICU after many years of nursing there. I was also employed part-time in the beginning at a doctor's office for allergy testing, an interesting and enjoyable position. We worked as couples, two RN's, one would draw the blood for labs and the other would do the allergy testing. We switched out every week. One particular day, we had a young man come in for testing. Janice drew his lab work and in the process of passing the tube to me for racking, it exploded. The tube was between our palms and our latex gloves were torn by the broken glass."

"We followed protocol and immediately washed away the splattered blood. As we turned to apologize to the patient, we noticed his extreme paleness and thought he was about to faint. Suddenly he tearfully said that he had recently been tested and was positive for AIDS and he couldn't apologize enough."

"We finished our task, redrawing the lab work and doing his allergy testing. Then we both went to the physician and explained what had happened. We both advised him that neither of us had found any cuts. He advised us that we still needed to be tested because of the exposure. AIDS was still new enough that it was a concern."

"Oh my, I certainly understand what you are saying. I felt so bad about William and Randy. That's why I called Dr. White."

"I understand. Anyway, we went off for our testing and had our follow up appointment for one month and six months. That was the protocol then. We got our results back a week and a half later. We were both positive. We were dumbfounded. We had no cuts, no scratches, no nicks. We had both told our families what had happened on the day of the event. Now we had to tell them about our results. We continued to work."

I paused, because even the memory brought tears to my eyes and voice.

"Are you alright, my dear? Is there anything I can do?"

I am fine, thank you. All I need is for you to listen. We went back for our scheduled visits and again both times we were positive. Both of us were suffering from the anguish of the disease as well as the stress it placed on both of our families. We were afraid of contaminating our spouses, our children."

"We were close to the one-year mark, when I got a call from Janice. She joked as she told me she had just got a call from her primary lab that she had been five years free of breast cancer. She had her labs done the week before. She laughed almost manically, as she said she was cancer free but doomed to die from AIDS. I calmed her down over the phone and told her I was coming over. I called her husband and advised him of her call."

"When I got there, she didn't answer the door nor her phone. I called her husband back and he told me where to find the spare key and that he was on his way. I found the key and a few minutes later I found her. She had shot herself in the head."

"Good God, woman."

"I called 911 and they arrived before her husband. I kept him back as they investigated the scene. He was devastated and worried that the children would be home from school soon. I called his mother and arranged for her to pick them up, then called her parents to advise them of her death. The news eventually covered the entire story. About two weeks later her husband called me and asked me to call her cancer lab."

"When I called, and I told them who was calling they asked me if I could come over, that they would rather talk to me in person. I agreed and went over. They asked me if what they had heard on the news was correct-that we were both positive HIV, which I confirmed. They then asked permission to draw labs and again I agreed. A week later, I had the results and neither one of us had been positive."

"I was furious. I knew that Dr. White was considered the doctor in the know about AIDS; so I called him and actually got an appointment for the next morning. I saw him and learned that some of the older labs did not have either correctly calibrated equipment to do the test or the techs to do so. I was tested at three separate labs and came up negative. My friend had taken her life and 95 other patients had been tested as positive. Not only our lives but that of our families were affected. Of course, there was a law suit."

"I would seriously hope so, that was a criminal act as far as I am concerned."

"My concern, is that some of the labs that do the free collections are still using some of those machines. Now I know the newer techs are aware of how to calibrate because we teach them how to do it; but what if."

"What if it was an older tech, who didn't know. I can see why you are concerned. Is Dr. White ordering new lab draws? Sorry for interrupting."

"Yes, he is calling the three labs that I used, and we will have William and Randy go over for the blood work. He is also aware of the young man that possibly infected Randy and will have him retested."

"Well young lady, I am glad you were quick on your toes. It sure doesn't hurt to do the testing again and I will keep those boys in my prayers. And being as old as I am, I do have some clout in this city and I will be talking to the mayor about providing new equipment for those labs. It's not safe if the results are wrong. Some of these people can't afford regular labs. My God. We will pray."

"Thank you, sir for understanding."

"No, it is I who thanks you. I will be in touch. Oh, and the name is Harold, not Dr. Blanchet nor Sir, just Harold, okay?"

"Yes, Sir or I mean Harold and I am Jax. Talk to you soon."

I really hated sharing a past memory with a complete stranger, but sometimes that just what has to be done.