The results of his syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea tests were all, thankfully, negative, which made it easier for Dan to be optimistic that the HIV test would be the same. Yet it still nagged at him; things like his own lack of luck, and Murphy’s Law, made him fear that the one test that would come back positive would be the HIV. He now had ten more days to wait until he got his results.
By the following Saturday, Dan was surprised he still had not heard from Mark. He fully expected, all week long, to hear the sound of his key in the front-door lock and to see his contrite face before him. He played and replayed conversations in his head, with Mark returning, begging forgiveness, and how those talks would play out. In some versions, Dan even forgave him.
But that outcome occurred less
