Chapter 36

Rick wanted me to stay in the hospital another night for observation but Isaid enough.
He laid on all the medical authority but nothing helps in the face ofindustrial-strength obstinacy¹. I called a taxi and checked myself out, carryinga goody bag of painkillers², anti-inflammatories, steroids, and a small-printlist of dire³ side effects.
Robin⁴ had been by earlier. Allison had called once but hadn’t shown up sincethe first time.
“I got to know her,” said Robin. “She’s lovely.”
“Female bonding?” I said.
“She’s nice, that’s all.”
“And you talked about the weather.”
“Egomaniac.” She stroked my hair. “I called you Wednesday because I decidedto move back. Still want that?”
“Yes.”
“Allison’s okay with it.”
“Didn’t know we needed her permission.”
“She adores you,” said Robin. “But I love you.”
I had no idea what that meant. Had regained⁵ enough coherence⁶ not to ask.
“I told her to feel free to come by to visit you but she wants to give ussome time together. She feels horrible about what happened, Alex.”
“Why?”
“Leading you to Hauser.”
“He had a knife to her throat, she didn’t have much choice. I’m sure Hauserasked around, found out we used to…hang out. Knowing me endangered her. I needto apologize.”
My eyes brimmed with tears. What was that all about?
Robin wiped them. “It’s no one’s fault, Alex, the guy’s obviouslyunbalanced.”
“Now he’ll be an unbalanced cripple. Wonder when the police are coming by tointerview me.”
“Milo’s taking care of all that. He saysgiven Hauser’s previous arrest, there shouldn’t be any problem.”
“In a perfect world,” I said.
Cool lips braised my forehead. “It’ll be all right, honey. You need to restand keep healing—”
“Allison really blames herself?”
“She feels she should’ve known better, given what you’d told her aboutHauser.”
“That’s utterly⁷ ridiculous.”
“I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to hear that from you. In those exact words.”
I laughed. The bandages around my ribs⁸ felt like sashes of ground glass.
“It hurts, honey?”
“Not a bit.”
“You poor lying baby.” She kissed my eyelids⁹, then my mouth. Too damndelicate, I needed something closer to pain, reached around and pressed herhead down. When she finally pulled away, she was breathless.
“More, woman!” I said. “Ugha ugha.”
She snaked her hand under the bedcovers, reached down. “One of the partsseems to be in working order.”
“Man of steel,” I said. “You’re really coming back?”
“If you want me to.”
“Of course I want you to.”
“Maybe after the pain goes away, you’ll change your—”
I placed a finger across her lips. “When are you doing it?”
“A few days.” Pause. “I’m thinking I’ll keep the studio. Like you said, forwork.”
“And when you want to get away from me,” I said.
“No, baby, I’ve had plenty of that.”

1 obstinacy   

n.顽固；（病痛等）难治

参考例句：

• It is a very accountable obstinacy.这是一种完全可以理解的固执态度。
• Cindy's anger usually made him stand firm to the point of obstinacy.辛迪一发怒，常常使他坚持自见，并达到执拗的地步。

2 painkillers   

n.止痛药( painkiller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The doctor gave him some painkillers to ease the pain. 医生给了他一些止疼片以减缓疼痛。 来自辞典例句
• The primary painkillers - opiates, like OxyContin - are widely feared, misunderstood and underused. 人们对主要的镇痛药——如鸦片剂奥施康定——存在广泛的恐惧、误解，因此没有充分利用。 来自时文部分

3 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

4 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

5 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

6 coherence   

n.紧凑；连贯；一致性

参考例句：

• There was no coherence between the first and the second half of the film.这部电影的前半部和后半部没有连贯性。
• Environmental education is intended to give these topics more coherence.环境教育的目的是使这些课题更加息息相关。

7 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

8 ribs   

n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹

参考例句：

• He suffered cracked ribs and bruising. 他断了肋骨还有挫伤。
• Make a small incision below the ribs. 在肋骨下方切开一个小口。

9 eyelids   

n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色

参考例句：

• She was so tired, her eyelids were beginning to droop. 她太疲倦了，眼睑开始往下垂。
• Her eyelids drooped as if she were on the verge of sleep. 她眼睑低垂好像快要睡着的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》