A Scribe Dies in Brooklyn (The Rabbi Ben Series Book 2) by Marvin J. Wolf

Author:Marvin J. Wolf [Wolf, Marvin J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Antenna Books
Published: 2017-02-14T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 41

Miryam filled a glass of water at the sink and put it in front of Ben. From her purse, she took a plastic bag of pills. Ben ripped open the bag, swallowed the nine pills and washed them down with water.

“Thank you,” he said. “How did you know?”

“When you woke me up this morning on the couch, you told me that you had to take them twice a day or you’ll die.”

“I don’t remember that.”

“You also called me Rachel. Who is Rachel?”

“Rachel was my wife.”

“The one who died?”

“Yes. Oh, Miryam, you’ve been so patient with me. Please, sit down, and I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”

Miryam slipped into a chair opposite Ben. She began to sob. “You’re going to die! I knew it was too good to be true.”

Ben took her hands and held them.

“Everyone dies. But if I take my pills regularly, if I eat right and get enough rest, enough exercise, I’ll probably live a long, long time.”

“What’s wrong with you?”

Ben sketched the events in the Jerusalem bombing, how he had been cut by flying glass, how there was blood everywhere, that somehow his wounds had become infected with the human immunodeficiency virus, H.I.V.

Miryam was in shock. “You have AIDS?” she whispered.

Ben shook his head. “No. I have the H.I.V. virus. These drugs almost completely suppress its ability to invade human cells and reproduce. Almost completely. There’s no measurable amount of virus in my blood. So I’m healthy. If I catch cold, my body handles it. If I cut myself or catch some bug, some disease-causing microbe enters my body, my defenses are robust. I recover quickly.

“But the virus is still in my body, dormant, hiding in my bone marrow. As long as I stick to my drug regimen, I’m safe. If I miss even a day, I run the risk of the virus awakening. If that happens, it can and probably will mutate. Then drugs that were once effective against it don’t work well. Or don’t work at all. That will cripple my immune system, opening me to all sorts of infections and diseases, which is what we call AIDS.”

Miryam blinked away tears. “Wow. Wow. And even with all that going on, you’re not afraid of anything. I saw you on the floor, covered with blood, but I didn’t know what had happened. That police detective told me that his partner had been stabbed and you stuck your fingers in his neck and closed his torn artery.”

“An ambulance would have taken too long. It was the only thing I could imagine that might save him.”

“Doctor Ben. Father Ben. Rabbi Ben. You are the most amazing man.”

Ben reached across the table and stroked her cheek. “You are amazing. To put up with all this mishegas, craziness, to be such a good friend to someone you hardly know.”

“Tío Shemuel trained me well.”

Miryam got up and opened a kitchen cabinet, removed a pair of plates and put them on the table. “Chopsticks or fork?”

“Chopsticks.”

They ate in silence

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