Chapter 5

Aaron continued taking his medication and receiving IV fluids, then spent the night in the hospital.

When he woke the next morning, he felt no better.

If anything, his body felt even more exhausted. He examined his face and body in the mirror and saw that the angry rash had not faded. More lesions had appeared instead.

Once the rash matured and the sores began to ulcerate, he would be better off dead!

Aaron felt utterly hopeless. He stared out the window from the tenth floor and felt a sudden urge to jump, ending everything once and for all.

The more he thought about it, the more desperate he became. As though controlled by an invisible force, he got out of bed and began walking toward the window.

Then his phone suddenly rang. The sound jolted him back to reality.

He saw that Diane was calling and answered.

Diane asked which hospital he was in and offered to come see him.

Aaron did not want her to worry, so he refused to let her visit.

He only told her that he had been admitted, the treatment seemed to be working, and he already felt a little better than the day before.

Once he was discharged, he would go see her.

After hanging up and washing up, Aaron saw the new nurse from the previous day enter the room with his breakfast.

“Thank you for warning me yesterday. I didn’t realize how important proper protection was. It was actually my first day on the job, and no one told me I needed to wear two pairs of gloves.”

“Quit. This work environment isn’t right for you. You don’t belong here!”

Aaron told the new nurse to take the breakfast away, then put on a mask and cap before going out to buy something to eat.

The nurse shrugged helplessly and muttered, “Fine. Some people just don’t appreciate kindness.”

After eating at the hospital cafeteria, Aaron had just reached the entrance to the inpatient ward when nausea suddenly overwhelmed him. He rushed to the bushes and vomited.

This was bad.

After only a few steps, his vision began to darken. His head throbbed violently, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

When he woke again, he found himself back in a hospital bed with an IV already running.

His phone and personal belongings were missing, so he pressed the call button.

A short while later, the new nurse hurried in. When she saw Aaron trying to sit up, she asked, “You’re awake. Do you need to use the bathroom?”

“Where’s my phone? Has anyone been looking for me?”

“It’s right here. It got knocked around when you fell, but it’s fine. I charged it for you.”

The nurse took the phone from her pocket and handed it to Aaron.

“There’s another problem. The phone number you gave us when you registered was incorrect, so we haven’t been able to reach your family.”

Aaron studied her. Her eyes were clear and sincere, nothing like the cold, indifferent gazes of the other nurses.

He could not detect any sign that she was lying.

His inbox held messages only from Edward and Diane. Vanessa hadn’t contacted him once.

He had forgotten that she already had another man.

Aaron checked the date and realized that five days had passed.

“I’m an orphan. I have no family. I’ve already put my wishes in writing—if I die, I want to be cremated. The cremation service can handle everything else.

“Please have my doctor come in. I want to review my test results and see how I’ve responded to treatment over the past few days.”

An orphan?

The nurse looked thoughtful before leaving. A short while later, she returned with his attending physician.

After examining Aaron, the doctor said, “Your condition has improved considerably. I’ll prescribe some additional medication. Once you settle the bill, you can go home and continue treatment there.”

“Let me see the results.”

Aaron looked at the lab report. His CD4 count was extremely low, only 16.

His CD4-to-CD8 ratio was just 0.11, indicating that his immune system was severely compromised, almost nonexistent.

The results were almost unchanged from before he lost consciousness, which meant the treatment over the past few days had done little.

At best, it only slowed the progression of the disease.

Discharging him now meant sending him home to die.

Aaron finally understood what the doctor was really saying.

After the doctor left, the new nurse told Aaron, “Don’t rush to leave. I’ll speak to the doctor again. You’re in no condition to be discharged.”

When the IV was done, Aaron pressed the call button. He waited a long time, but no nurse came to remove the needle, so he eventually did it himself.

He tried to get out of bed but could barely lift his feet after lying there for five days.

The urinary catheter was still in place, so he could only wait for the doctor or a nurse to come.

After a long while, the head nurse, Susan Blake, arrived.

Once she learned what had happened, she asked, “Where’s your family?”

“I don’t have any. I’m an orphan.”

“Didn’t you hire a caregiver?”

“I was unconscious for days and never had the chance to arrange one. Could you find someone for me? I can pay. Who’s been taking care of me all this time?”

“Maya Brooks. She’s been looking after you. If she hadn’t changed your catheter bag and cleaned you regularly, you could have developed a serious infection.”

Maya Brooks?

Aaron remembered the name tag on the new nurse’s uniform and realized that he owed her a debt of gratitude.

For the five days he was unconscious, Aaron could not eat and survived on IV nutrition.

His body still produced urine, but he had been completely unaware of anything around him, leaving the catheter system to handle everything.

Without regular care, he could easily have developed a urinary tract infection.

With his immune system so weak, even a minor infection could have become life-threatening.

He also needed to be turned regularly and have his back wiped down to keep his body clean.

Otherwise, prolonged pressure and heat could have caused painful sores.

A wave of sadness washed over Aaron.

Susan examined him and noticed that his legs were still weak and that his body remained covered in rashes.

She looked puzzled. “You’re nowhere near well enough to leave. Why are you insisting on being discharged? Can’t you afford treatment, or have you simply given up?”

Aaron could certainly afford it. He had only been in the hospital for five days.

“I don’t want treatment anymore.”

“That kind of defeatist attitude is the worst thing you can have! You need to keep believing in yourself.”

“Nurse Blake, he’s not being discharged. He’ll stay here for continued treatment. Since he has no family, let me take care of him.”

Maya entered the room at that moment.

She told Aaron, “I spoke with Dr. Rebecca Grant. She agreed to let you remain here for treatment.”

“Maya, come outside for a moment.”

Susan sensed that something was off. She gave Maya a meaningful look and led her outside.

Susan brought Maya into an empty hospital room and said, “Maya, what exactly is your relationship with Aaron Jones? You seem a little too invested in him.”

“We’re practically strangers. I just think he’s a good person, and someone should look out for him.”

“A good person… You need to be careful. He contracted HIV through sexual contact. With that face, he could have been a heartthrob if he were acting in movies.

“His condition is incurable, and he doesn’t have much time left. Don’t get seriously involved with him.”

“Nurse Blake, I…I don’t mean anything like that.”

“You can’t fool me. I can see the way you look at him. I’m only warning you because I care. Whether you listen is up to you.”

Susan sighed inwardly.

Maya must have lost her mind.

She actually felt sorry for a man in the late stages of AIDS, as though her own life meant nothing!

Maya felt conflicted.

She did not have any obvious romantic feelings for Aaron.

On her first day at work, he had pointed out a mistake in her procedure.

Then she saw him draw his own blood without hesitation, and she found herself admiring his toughness.

As for Aaron being handsome enough to qualify as a heartthrob, that was out of the question. With rashes covering his face, neck, chest, and stomach, he could hardly call himself handsome now.

When Maya returned to the room, she saw Aaron exercising his legs, kicking them with increasing strength.

Aaron said, “Remove my catheter. I need to get up and walk around.”

“Oh, all right.”

Maya closed the door, then walked over to remove the catheter.

Within moments, her face turned bright red from her forehead down to her neck.