"Since the exposure," she said softly, recognizing that he was very pointedly not looking at her right now. She could understand why. There was a great deal of shame associated with STDs, specifically HIV, even if it wasn't nearly what it used to be as far as the stigma of it. And then he told her that it had been a woman, and she was caught a bit off guard by that, too. The likelihood of a man getting HIV from vaginal sex with a woman was pretty low unless there were other risk factors, such as open wounds in the genital area, but ultimately, it could happen. Low risk didn't mean no risk, and Karla was well aware of that. It was one of those things that you just had to know as a doctor. She didn't say anything right away, but the mom part of her wanted to rip him a new asshole for going out and fucking a prostitute, male, female, or other. The risks were too great, and even if not HIV, there was still the possibility of herpes or some other nasty infection. No matter what, this could go badly for him. If the test had shown up with the early markers, though, it was clear that he had come in contact, which pissed her off. Nevada had legal prostitution, and the hookers in question were supposed to have clean bills of health and very strict infection control, but clearly this hadn't been in a clean bill of health establishment.

Karla listened to him quietly, his words catching her completely off guard. Witness Protection was one of those things that you heard about, but you only really ever imagine having exist in movies or on TV. It didn't seem real to her, but there was nothing in Zed's demeanor that indicated he was lying or even joking around. He was entirely serious, and his body language was very clearly awkward and pained. "Witness protection? So like... You were a witness to organized crime? Or was it something different? I'll confess I know very little about that program outside of what they show you on movies and documentaries, but I know that it means that you're in pretty serious danger if you're at the point of erasing your previous self to become someone totally new. Do you want to tell me why? I mean... Are you allowed to? If you can't, I'll understand."