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As soon as the door closed behind them Trina wiped at her eyes with a handkerchief that had seemed present ever since Whizzer’s diagnosis.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m crying.” Trina said as she stared at the closed door separating herself from the rest of her family.
Charlotte sighed, but it didn’t dispel the tension in her chest.
“Trina, I need to tell you something. And you need to keep it between us. Can you do that?” She tried to stay firmly in her doctor mode, but recently she couldn’t do much without a feeling of despair seeping in at the edges.
Trina tore her eyes away from the door and met Charlotte’s gaze. “No, no, I can. I can. What is it? If this is about Whizzer’s bill, Mendel and I have been talking-”
“It’s not about his bill.” Trina’s face crumpled at this and Charlotte had never felt so cold. She wasn’t even crying and Whizzer had never been her partner’s mistress.
“Trina,” she took her hand to get her to look back at her. Trina’s other hand covered her mouth with her handkerchief, what had been a slight watering of the eyes before was now a steady stream of tears, though she made no sound. She had practice, after all.
“Whizzer’s not going to get better. We’ve seen a small group of men. A demographic. With the same symptoms. They don’t get better. Trina,” she paused, finding it hard to get the words out now. “Whizzer is dying. He’s going to die. And someone other than me needs to be prepared for when that happens, because they,” she thought of Cordelia’s confident smile every time Whizzer finished one of her soups, Jason visiting every day after school. “They’re not going to be ready. And I can’t be the only one taking care of them, I have fifty other men like him in my ward. No one wants to treat them except for me and a few others in the community. I’m sorry, but it’s down to the two of us.”
“Why haven’t you told Cordelia? Shouldn’t Marvin know? They’re practically- well, they’re friends. God, what can we do?”
“If they haven’t realized by now, nothing will convince them. We’ve seen this coming.”
Trina nodded. They all ignored it, whether it was for themselves or Jason she wasn’t sure, but it was clear that at least Marvin, Cordelia, and Jason would be heartbroken when he passed.
Trina pulled her hand away and wiped under her eyes.
“It’s so fucking awful. You know, someone on the news called it gay cancer, and Jason heard. He was so-” she sobbed. “I’m not sure how he’ll be able to cope.”
“We’ll all have to be there for him. And you, and Marvin. Cordelia and I aren’t going anywhere.”
They shared a quiet moment, staring at the plain brown door.
“And, there’s one more thing. From the trends we’ve seen, this is infectious. So far, we think there’s one way it spreads.”
Trina turned back to face her, again, eyes wide.
“You don’t think-”
“Marvin probably has it, too. He’s already shown signs, he knows. We won’t be telling Whizzer.” Charlotte said the last sentence more as an order, feeling a bit more comfortable in that role.
“Jesus.” Trina looked at the ceiling. “Poor Jason. He’s going to be devastated. I’ve always hated to say it, being Jason’s mom and Marvin’s ex-wife, but Whizzer really is the best with him. He’s always been able to understand him in a way I never have.”
Charlotte knew. Her and Cordelia had been witness to many of their antics, and she had seen how Whizzer had taken him in as his own. Whizzer was certainly one of the best men she had ever known. Marvin was one of her best friends.
“We should probably get back. Who knows what kind of hell they’ve raised without us.”
Trina laughed wetly. She grabbed Charlotte’s arm before she opened the door.
“Thank you. I’m sorry.”
Charlotte nodded and finished her motion, letting Trina go back in first. For a moment, Charlotte stared down the corridor and thought of what the years to come held. She closed the door.