72 Hours

"72 Hours" is the seventeenth episode of the fifth season of the American sitcom The Golden Girls. The episode initially aired on February 17, 1990. It features Betty White as Rose finding out she may have been given an HIV-positive blood transfusion. Plot While the girls are preparing for a wildlife fundraiser Rose receives a letter from the hospital informing her that she may have been given a transfusion of HIV-positive blood. She is told she needs to go to the hospital to be tested. When Rose arrives at the hospital for her test she gives the receptionist Dorothy's name after being encouraged to give a false name. While sitting in the waiting room Blanche tells Rose that she isn't alone in her testing experience because she has also been tested for HIV. after receiving her test Rose is told she needs to wait three days before finding out the results of her test. While Rose is waiting at home for her test results she is hysterical and Blanche offers to take her out to take her mind off of things. While Rose and Blanche are gone, Dorothy finds out that Sophia has been using public bathrooms to avoid using the same facilities as Rose. Sophia has also been marking cups Rose used with an "R". After being questioned, Sophia remarks that she knows she can't contract HIV but she's scared, so her actions aren't irrational.