The next morning Chris knocked on Ethan’s door then
opened it. Ethan had kicked the covers off during the night and was laying
there butt naked. “Damn it, Ethan, cover
your sorry ass up!” He exclaimed.
Startled awake Ethan quickly covered himself and
sat up, looking around for Ryan but there was no sign of him.
“What are you looking for?”
Ethan thought quickly. “My telecommunicator."He lied. "I was
supposed to go running with Jordan this morning but I overslept.” Truth.
“That’s why I came up to get you. He’s downstairs
waiting on your lazy ass.”
Whew. Dodged
that bullet. He thought, using one of his favorite archaic expressions. He
waited for Chris to leave so he could get up and get dressed, but it appeared
Chris had no intention of leaving. Okay.
There’s more than one way to get him out of here. He threw back the covers
and stood up.
“Dude. Come on. The last thing I want to see is
your dick.”
“Well, then don’t look at it.” Ethan said with a
laugh as Chris beat a hasty retreat. Getting dressed for a run he looked around
for his telecommunicator. Finding it on the floor he looked and saw there was a
message from Ryan.
I’m sorry I
ran out on you this morning. I had to get back to my time before anyone found
out I was gone. I’m kinda breaking a few rules, but seeing you is definitely
worth it. I’ll come back when I can. To use an archaic expression, I will count
the moments until I see you again.
~ Ryan
He deleted the message so that if anyone happened
to pick up his telecommunicator and see the message they’d bug him about who
Ryan was and he wouldn’t know how to answer. How do you explain that a man from
the future came back to see you and you fell in love with him? Where’s a time machine when you need it.
He thought to himself.
The two men took a leisurely run along the river to
their favorite spot to rest before the return run. “Okay, Ethan. You’ve been
very quiet this morning. What’s going through that head of yours?”
Ethan shot him a pensive look. Do I tell him about Ryan? He’s likely to think I’m crazy. He
sighed. “I’ve been having some very strange dreams lately. They center around
this really hot guy named Ryan. He keeps appearing, usually in the shop. We
always end up in my room having sex.”
“And this bothers you?”
“No. One dream really does bother me. In the dream
I was sleeping on my side I felt something prick my shoulder, then Ryan
whispered in my ear that he would always take care of me.”
“Sounds like a great guy.”
“Yeah. Anyway, the next day when I went to take my
HIV meds, I got really shaky. The next thing I remember is waking up in the
ICU. Every time they gave me my meds I went into convulsions. I overheard the
doctors say that if they didn’t stop the convulsions I’d either end up with
serious brain damage or dead.”
“Wow. Scary.”
“I know, right? Here’s the scary part. It wasn’t
the dream. It was real.”
“Where was I when this happened?”
“You were out west visiting your grandmother. So,
Chris told me that the doctors talked with him about discontinuing my meds.
They had a theory that something in my blood had changed and that the HIV meds
were causing the convulsions. They said whether or not they stopped the meds
wouldn’t matter. If they stopped the meds, my HIV could develop into full-blown
AIDS and I’d end up dying eventually.
“I can’t believe after all these centuries they
still haven’t found a cure. If they continued with the meds and the convulsions
continued, I could end up dead. Either way, it could be a lose-lose situation.
So they stopped the meds and the convulsions stopped as well.”
“Why is that scary?” Jordan was caught up in the
story but couldn’t figure out what was so scary.
“Apparently, giving HIV meds to a healthy person
can cause convulsions.”
“Okay, but what does that have to do with you?”
“Think about it. Giving HIV meds to a perfectly
healthy person can cause convulsions.”
Jordan was quiet as he thought about what Ethan had
just told him. “Wait a minute. Are you telling me…”
“Yep. Nobody knows how, but I’m no longer HIV
positive. I’m perfectly healthy.”
Jordan just stared at him for a minute. “Ethan,
that’s kind of cruel. You know how much our friendship means to me.” He snapped
at Ethan.
“Jordan, I’m serious. I’m perfectly healthy. Ask
Chris.”
“I believe you and I’m sorry for what I said
earlier about being cruel. You’d never do that. I just wonder how that could
have happened.”
“Well, they did find something weird in my blood.
They think that whatever it is can lead to a cure for HIV, AIDS and STDs.”
“You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Yep.”
Jordan threw himself on the unsuspecting Ethan,
causing them both to fall into the water. Surfacing and shaking their heads,
Jordan said, “that’s incredible. I’m so happy for you buddy.”
“I’m happy for me too.”
“I have something to tell you, and you’re probably
going to think I’ve completely lost my mind. You can’t say anything to anyone
about what I’m going to tell you.”
“Okay.”
“Let’s get back to my house and get into some dry
clothes first. I suspect you’re going to need a drink when I tell you.”
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