"Does your partner have symptoms now of an STD?"
"Don't know."
Could he seriously blame Mia for putting conditions on him if he wanted to have sex with her? Answering these questions like this, made him afraid of himself. If he were Mia he didn't think that he would want to sleep with him either. She wasn't the accident waiting to happen; he was far worse- more like a disaster waiting to happen.
"Do you currently have symptoms of an STD?"
"I'm not sure…"
"Do you think that you are at risk for HIV infection?"
Pause.
That question made Jayden tremble. For him HIV had been some foreign disease that got talked about in the media, in classrooms, anywhere and everywhere except around him. HIV was something that happened to other people; it was a disease that other people worried about- not him.
"Do you think that you are at risk for HIV infection?" She repeated again.
Pause.
To him HIV had always been somebody else's problem. For the first time in his life, he was considering that it could be a real factor in his.
"Of… Of… Yes…" finally he choked out. It was hard for him to admit it but yes he was at risk for HIV.
"Why?"
Her question surprised him. What did she mean by why; wasn't it obvious.
"I do a lot of fucking."
"Have you or your partners ever had a blood transfusion?"
"No… Don't know…"
"Do you or your partners use alcohol? IV drugs?"
"Yes to alcohol, no to IV drugs… Don't know about my sexual partners."
"Have you paid or exchanged sex for money, drugs, or shelter?"
* * * * * * * *
If Jayden had been traumatized before with his encounter with the hooker, than he was terrorized and suffering from post-traumatic syndrome by the time he was walking out of the doctor's office. After the questionnaire, the assistant then took out what looked like extended Q-tips and swabbed down every orifice on his body leaving no hole unchecked, examined or swabbed. She carefully placed each of those swabs into their own plastic bagging to prevent cross contamination and then she had him strip and lay down upon the examining table waiting for the doctor. Jayden had wanted to forget that examination, along with his last sexual encounter. However then the doctor entered and seemingly to Jayden he did a more detailed and extended but repeat performance of what his assistant had already done.