Dave Casler
PO Box 98
Ridgway, Colorado 81432
Young Adult Novels by Dave Casler...
I've been told by publisher after publisher that there's no market for Young Adult novels. I think they're wrong! So I'm putting my novels on-line for you. Forget the publisher! Read to your heart's content--it's free! And, I'd like to hear from you, too! Contact Page.
You're reading About Dan. Be sure to check out About Phillip here.
Dan is a normal kid who loves his soccer. Except everything goes wrong. Everything.
About Series Home
About the About Series
Index to All Chapters
Here are all the chapters, disguised as asterisks. Hover your mouse over an asterisk to see the title of the chapter. Click on the asterisk to go straight to that chapter.
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(About Dan Home) (Last) (Next)
Time for the Test
"Number 46!"
Gratefully, he picked up his crutches, heaved himself to his feet and moved to the tiny room behind the desk on the left; it was as brightly lit and as drab and unkempt as waiting room. A huge man in hospital garb with a shaved head was guarding a collection of what looked like plastic envelopes. His badge read "Eric," and underneath was the word " Nurse." It also had the DAAO logo. Dan looked to see if maybe the logo was among the tattoos. It wasn’t.
"Hi," said the giant. He extended his muscular hand. "My name is Eric."
His hand was a doll’s in Eric's giant paw. Dan was too frightened to speak.
"So what can we do for you this evening? The paper here says you want an anonymous HIV antibody test. Did we get that right?"
"Yes," squeaked Dan.
"No problem," boomed Eric. " Here, sit on the edge of this desk for a minute. Sorry, we need to get some more chairs in here. Have you done this before?"
Dan did as he was told, holding his crutches like they were life support, and squeaked again. "No." He tried to look nonchalant.
"Ok, let me tell you what we're doing. We're going to test for the presence of the HIV antibody. The test is utterly reliable. If it shows positive, we’ll do a Western Blot to double check. Tonight we're going to do the OraSure HIV-1 test. Here, stick this in your mouth and hold it under your tongue."
He held out something that looked like a toothbrush, except it was cotton on the end. Dan complied.
"Ok, now here's what's going to happen. I'm going to give you these instructions. Now, see, right here? I'm writing a number on it. Follow these instructions, ok?" Eric jabbed a finger at the number. "Give it a week, and then call this phone number." He jabbed again. "They’ll tell you if the test is positive or negative. Now," and he looked Dan in the eye, "if it's positive, I want you to promise to come back in for counseling. Don’t lose the number!"
Eric looked serious and Dan didn't want to cross him. He nodded weakly, feeling stupid with the white stick in his mouth.
Eric continued. "Some clinics insist on counseling before even giving the test. I wish we did, too, but I'm not in charge." He grinned, flashing huge, perfectly aligned teeth. "Ok, you're finished. Open your mouth."
Dan did so. Eric grabbed the toothbrush- thingee and thrust it into a special bag clearly designed for toothbrush thingees. He double sealed it along with a slip of paper that had Dan’s number.
He finally handed the instruction sheet with its precious number to Dan.
"No blood?" asked Dan.
"Nope," grinned Eric, "no blood. You just gave me everything I needed. Now, out with you." He pulled back the curtain. "You can go out the same way you came in."
"Thanks," muttered Dan as he left the claustrophobic room.