Melissa, the pretty student workshop assistant met him with a chuckle. “Bedhead,” she explained.He shrugged and got coffee and juice and a small b...wl of oatmeal, sweetening it with honey. Nodding at the few fellow workshoppers there, he sat beside Melissa. “Where’s your boyfriend?” he asked.“He’s not...” she started defending herself, then shrugged. “Still sleeping last I left him.”“Ah,” he smirked.“I kept him up late,” she winked. “What happened after we left?”“Another bottle of wine,” he said. We tucked our patients into her carts, gave report, and hung around, finishing our trip sheets and waiting for the next run.We seldom had to wait long.As one shift followed another, I began to seek her out, flirting and chatting her up. She, delightfully, reciprocated. One night, I got detailed out to another firehouse. When I returned, my partner, Doug, made a point of noting that Elsa had asked where I had been, on the night I was working across town. Good omen.The bulk of EMS calls come in. It’s kind of my first rodeo for this kind of thing. Are there costs involved?”She looked around the waiting room which was standing room only. “There’s a nominal fee of $20 for the basic testing and then an additional charge for the HIV screening.”“I’m aware the HIV screening is about $70 for the rapid result option, but we can’t do it until the 12th of next month. Can I pay for the exams and the HIV tests now so that they just have to come in on that day and get it done?”“You’re paying? For. His legs gave way and he collapsed under the weight of the news. His son had died.His world was in pieces and he had no idea what to do. He had so many hopes and dreams for Jackson, his only son. A part of him died that day.As more news trickled out from the police his pain only became greater. It was when he learned that Jackson was killed by the police and they shot him six times. They had said Jackson had attacked them, but the story simply did not add up.The 25 year old had been a standout.