Campbell

       THE ONLY THING COMPARABLE¹ to the aftermath of a grand mal seizure² is waking up on the pavement with ahangover from the mother of all frat parties and immediately being run over by a truck. On second thought,maybe a grand mal is worse. I am covered in my own filth³, hooked⁴ up to medicine and falling apart at theseams, when Julia walks toward me. “It’s a seizure dog,” I say.

“No kidding.” Julia holds out her hand for Judge to sniff⁵. She points to the couch⁶ beside me. “Can I sitdown?”

“It’s not catching⁷, if that’s what you mean.”

“It wasn’t.” Julia comes close enough that I can feel the heat from her shoulder, inches away from mine.

“Why didn’t you tell me, Campbell?”

“Christ, Julia, I didn’t even tell my parents.” I try to look over her shoulder into the hallway. “Where’sAnna?”

“How long has this been going on?”

I try to get up, and manage to lift myself a half inch before my strength gives out. “I have to get back inthere.”

“Campbell.”

I sigh. “A while.”

“A while, as in a week?”

Shaking my head, I say, “A while, as in two days before we graduated from Wheeler.” I look up at her. “Theday I took you home, all I wanted was to be with you. When my parents told me I had to go to that stupiddinner at the country club, I followed them in my own car, so I could make a quick escape—I was planningon driving back to your house, that night. But on the way to dinner, I got into a car accident. I came throughwith a few bruises⁸, and that night, I had the first seizure. Thirty CT scans⁹ later, the doctors still couldn’t reallytell me why, but they made it pretty clear I’d have to live with it forever.” I take a deep breath. “Which iswhat made me realize that no one else should have to.”

“What?”

“What do you want me to say, Julia? I wasn’t good enough for you. You deserved better than some freak whomight fall down frothing at the mouth any old minute.”

Julia goes perfectly¹⁰ still. “You might have let me make up my own mind.”

“What difference would it have made? Like you really would have gotten great satisfaction guarding me likeJudge does when it happens; wiping up after me, living at the end of my life.” I shake my head. “You were soincredibly independent. A free spirit. I didn’t want to be the one who took that away from you.”

“Well, if I’d had the choice, maybe I wouldn’t have spent the past fifteen years thinking there was somethingthe matter with me.”

“You?” I start to laugh. “Look at you. You’re a knockout. You’re smarter than I am. You’re on a career trackand you’re family-centered and you probably even can balance your checkbook.”

“And I’m lonely, Campbell,” Julia adds. “Why do you think I had to learn to act so independent? I also getmad too quickly, and I hog¹¹ the covers, and my second toe is longer than my big one. My hair has its own zipcode. Plus, I get certifiably crazy when I’ve got PMS. You don’t love someone because they’re perfect,” shesays. “You love them in spite¹² of the fact that they’re not.”

I don’t know how to respond to that; it’s like being told after thirty-five years that the sky, which I’ve seen asa brilliant blue, is in fact rather green.

“And another thing—this time, you don’t get to leave me. I’m going to leave you.”

If possible, that only makes me feel worse. I try to pretend it doesn’t hurt, but I don’t have the energy. “Sogo.”

Julia settles next to me. “I will,” she says. “In another fifty or sixty years.”

1 comparable   

adj.相似的，同类的，可比的，比得上的

参考例句：

• A fire is comparable with the sun,both give light and heat.火可以和太阳相比，两者都可以发光发热。
• No horse has a speed comparable to that of his.没有一匹马的速度能比得上他的马。

2 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。

3 filth   

n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥

参考例句：

• I don't know how you can read such filth.我不明白你怎么会去读这种淫秽下流的东西。
• The dialogue was all filth and innuendo.这段对话全是下流的言辞和影射。

4 hooked   

adj.钩状的，弯曲的

参考例句：

• I first got hooked on scuba diving when I was twelve. 12 岁时我开始迷上了带水肺潜水。
• He hooked his arm round her neck and pulled her head down. 他一只胳膊钩在她的脖子上，把她的头拉低。

5 sniff   

vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视

参考例句：

• The police used dogs to sniff out the criminals in their hiding - place.警察使用警犬查出了罪犯的藏身地点。
• When Munchie meets a dog on the beach, they sniff each other for a while.当麦奇在海滩上碰到另一条狗的时候，他们会彼此嗅一会儿。

6 couch   

n.睡椅，长沙发椅；vt.表达，隐含

参考例句：

• Lie down on the couch if you're feeling ill.如果你感觉不舒服就躺到沙发上去。
• The rabbIt'sprang from its grassy couch.兔子从草丛中跳出。

7 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

8 bruises   

n.瘀伤，伤痕，擦伤( bruise的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was covered with bruises after falling off his bicycle. 他从自行车上摔了下来，摔得浑身伤痕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The pear had bruises of dark spots. 这个梨子有碰伤的黑斑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 scans   

n.浏览( scan的名词复数 )；审视；（雷达）（屏面上的）光点v.扫描( scan的第三人称单数 )；细看；细查；（雷达）对…进行扫描

参考例句：

• This apparatus scans patients' brains for tumours. 这台仪器扫描检查病人的脑瘤。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Brain scans have confirmed that the disease is in remission. 脑部扫描已经证实疾病得到了控制。 来自辞典例句

10 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

11 hog   

n.猪；馋嘴贪吃的人；vt.把…占为己有，独占

参考例句：

• He is greedy like a hog.他像猪一样贪婪。
• Drivers who hog the road leave no room for other cars.那些占着路面的驾驶员一点余地都不留给其他车辆。

12 spite   

n.（用于短语）虽然，不顾，尽管

参考例句：

• He has modern ideas in spite of his great age.尽管他年事很高，但思想观念却很入时。
• In spite of his anger,his remarks were restrained.他尽管生气，说的话还是有节制的。