Gail rolled her eyes at him and looked annoyed.

”Are you going to tell me why or what?” She insisted

He sighed.

”I heard him call your girlfriend a dyke.” He watched Gail stiffen at his words. ”She is your girlfriend, right? I mean, I may just be another dead fag, but I saw the way you two looked at each other.”

”Um yeah, well, we have tried not to put labels on anything…” She blushed in spite of herself, and stammered

”This not labeling thing, is that your idea or hers?” He was judging her now, his cool green eyes looked unimpressed. Why did she care, again?

”Why?” She scowled at him.

”You love her, don’t you.” The pointed reply came.

”I’m really bad at this.” She sighed.

He coughed and scowled  back at her.

”What.” She demanded.

”I may not be proud of the things I’ve done, but I have never been ashamed of who I am! Take it from me life is too short. I can tell that you take pride in wearing that uniform, why not take pride in the rest of your life too? If you love her, don’t be such a coward.” He said

”I’m not a coward.” She protested weakly.

”Oh honey, if you can’t stand up for yourself, stand up for her, stand up for your love.” He was angry now, gripping the rails of his bed trying to sit up. ”I was a coward once. So, if you want to charge me with assault with a deadly weapon, well I won’t deny that.” He lay back in the bed and shook his head weakly

”But you didn’t…” Gail began to protest again.

”Look at me.” He flung a hand at her, wheezed, and coughed, ”I could never wish this on anyone, but I am still guilty.”

”What are you talking about?” She was confused.

”Listen, I know you want to know why I did what I did, right?” He offered

Gail simply nodded.

”I was just enjoying my little patch of sunshine when you all burst into our sanctuary, all Betty Badge obey me and shit. And here comes Officer Pretty Boy, and he sees your Girlfriend, and he spits in her direction and calls her a fucking dyke. I don’t know if she even heard him, but I certainly did. And being the fabulous gay man I once was, I take this kind of homophobia personally. So, when he comes over to me, I think, making him feel like he might be infected with ”The Gay Plague”, even for a moment would teach him a little lesson about humanity.” He started to laugh but ended up coughing and out of breath. He leaned back into his pillows; eyes closed waiting for the spasms to subside.