“Tina..you will get through this…” said Bette as she held her…
“I don’t know if I will….What if I am pregnant, and infected? that means the

baby will probably be infected also…”
“Look, T…just go get tested….I mean, if you are either of those two..then u

just are..and you, I mean we will deal with it….together….”
“Together?” asked Tina..
“Yes, together…I wouldn’t let you do that on your own..even if we aren’t

together……and even though I don’t trust you anymore, I still love u…and I

will always be here for you…”
“When is the next appointment?” asked Bette..
“Tomorrow……….*****…” said Tina as she got up and ran to the bathroom to

vomit….”*****…” Bette heard Tina shout…
“What?”
“Please come here..” cried Tina loudly..
Bette ran into the bathroom….as Tina pointed into the toilet..
“Oh My god, T….we have to get you to the ER…come on…” said Bette as she

pulled Tina to the standing position and helped her out the door and into the

car…
Bette drove as fast as the speed limit would allow, sometimes creeping 10 or 15

miles over until they arrived at the ER entrance….she got out of the car, and

walked Tina inside…then went back out to park the car….This ended up taking 10

minutes due to the fact that there wasn’t a parking space within a block of the

hospital…Bette ran back to the ER…no Tina in sight… so, she immediately went

up to the nurse’s desk…
“Mam, I am looking for Tina Kennard…I just brought her here into the ER…”
“um, yes mam, she was already taken to the back…she started vomiting blood…”
“Can I go back with her?” asked Bette almost in tears and feeling completely

helpless…
“And You are?” asked the nurse..
“I am her wife, Bette Porter..”
“I’m sorry..but do you have your marriage liscense with you?”
“Excuse me….what the ***** do I need marriage liscense for to see my wife?”
“Well mam, only family members are allowed back with the patient…”
“I am her goddammed wife..doesn’t that mean anything to you….We ‘are’ family

members..” yelled Bette to the nurse…
“I am sorry mam…those are the rules…I have to go by the ‘rules’…..”
“Well, I’ll tell you what…you absolutely no breaking any rules *****…I don’t

give a ***** about the rules…or your homophobic ***** *****…I am going back there

with my wife and if you think you can stop me…you had better bring along alot of

your ***** friends….” said Bette as she walked to the door to the back…and

went in….she frantically searched for Tina…in every room until she laid eyes

upon her….
Tina was sitting up on the bed with her legs crossed and a puke pot in front of

her…crying…she looked up into Bette’s eyes..
“Well, I guess god is punishing me for what I did…” said Tina as she dry-heaved

into the pot again
Bette walked over to her and pulled the hair away from her face….”Don’t talk

crazy T…he’s not punishing you…jeez…”
“Has the doctor been in?” asked Bette…
“No…not yet…”
“Are you going to tell him about Eric?”
“No…”
“Tina, come on now…you really need to tell him so that they can do a pg test and

a blood test at the same time….that way you don’t have to go to the doctor later

today…”
“Bette…I said No…”
Just then, the doctor came in….
“Hi..I am Dr. V….what seems to the problem this morning?”
“Well…” said Tina…”I don’t know what’s wrong…I just felt sick and went into

the bathroom…that’s when I just started puking blood…” said Tina…
“Any stomach pain? asked Dr. V.
“A little but mostly…just extremely nauseated…”
“Ok..why don’t you lie back…and let me check your tummy”
Tina did what the doc asked…and laid back…he slowly lifted her shirt up to her

*****…putting his hands on her belly, he pressed down in a couple of

spots….until Tina jumped….
“Tenderness, there?” asked the doc..
“Yes…just a little…”
He pressed again…”*****…” said Tina…”Please don’t…” she cried…
Bette moved up beside Tina and held her hand..”It’s okay…” she whispered into

Tina’s ear….
“Miss Kennard, I think we should do a Pap Smear, just to make sure everything is

okay there…and some blood work…is there any chance you are pregnant?”
“No..” she answered quickly…
“Tina…tell him the truth..” said Bette aloud…
“Miss Kennard…if there is a chance that you are…we really should know about

it…”
Tina looked up at Bette with tears in her eyes…”Y..Yes..there is a chance…”

and she looked away….
“Ok…so, we will do the pap smear and check your blood for Pregnancy ….I will

be back in a few minutes…you should get undressed from the waist down….. here

is the gown…” The doc handed her the gown before he walked out….
Bette quickly said, ” I have to go to the restroom..” and she walked out…
she caught the doc halfway up the hall….
“Doc…doctor V…”
“Yes, mam?” he asked as he turned around
“Ummm…well, I think there is one more thing you should know about Tina….I know

that she wouldn’t tell you…but you have to know this…so that when you do the

blood test….well……”
“Well?” asked the doc..
“Well. she has been subjected to the HIV virus…um, the guy that she may possibly

be pregnant by, told her tonight…well, last night, that he just found out that

he has the HIV virus…”
“Oh…I see…well, Ms. Porter..thank you for the info…but we have to have Miss

Kennard’s permission in order to do that test…”
“*****..” said Bette as she looked at the floor…”Ok…I will talk to her…”
…Bette walked away and back to the corner of the room…there she

stood…preparing herself for what she needed to say to Tina to convince her to

talk to the doc….

tbc……