Chapters Five through Seven Summary and Analysis

In the fall of 1986 Abraham receives a message from Essie Vines. He'd known her during his first term working in the hospitals of rural Tennessee and Virginia. Essie is still working at that rural Virginia hospital and says that she's worried about her brother, Gordon, who has the HIV factor. Abraham tells Essie to meet him at the Miracle Center. Abraham warns the staff of Gordon's condition so they will take adequate precautions, noting that these are supposed to be standard procedures by now but aren't always followed.

Gordon tells Abraham that he had two lovers who died of AIDS and that he was probably infected in 1980 or 81. Abraham believes that Gordon is in the early stages of AIDS dementia and elects to keep him in the hospital. Essie backs Abraham's decision, though Gordon asks...