DAY 5 9:10 P.M.
Julia’s convertible1 had gone off the road about five miles from the house. It had plunged2 fifty feet down a steep ravine, cutting a track through the sage3 and juniper bushes. Then it must have rolled, because now it lay at an angle, wheels facing upward. I could see only the underside of the car. The sun was almost down, and the ravine was dark. The three rescue ambulances on the road had their red lights flashing, and the rescue crews were already rappelling down on ropes. As I watched, portable floodlights were set up, bathing the wreck4 in a harsh blue glow. I heard the crackle of radios all around.
I stood up on the road with a motorcycle police officer. I had already asked to go down there, and was told I couldn’t; I had to stay on the road. When I heard the radios, I said, “Is she hurt? Is my wife hurt?”
“We’ll know in a minute.” He was calm.
“What about the other guy?”
“Just a minute,” he said. He had a headset in his helmet, because he just started talking in a low voice. It sounded like a lot of code words. I heard “... update a four-oh-two for seven-three-nine here ...”
I stood at the edge, and looked down, trying to see. By now there were workers all around the car, and several hidden behind the upturned frame. A long time seemed to pass.
The cop said, “Your wife is unconscious but she’s ... She was wearing her seat belt, and stayed in the car. They think she’s all right. Vital signs are stable. They say no spinal5 injuries but ... she ... sounds like she broke her arm.”
“But she’s all right?”
“They think so.” Another pause while he listened. I heard him say, “I have the husband here, so let’s eight-seven.” When he turned back to me, he said, “Yes. She’s coming around. She’ll have to be checked for internal bleeding at the hospital. And she’s got a broken arm. But they say she’s all right. They’re getting her on a stretcher now.”
“Thank God,” I said.
The policeman nodded. “This is a bad piece of road.”
“This has happened before?”
He nodded. “Every few months. Not usually so lucky.”
I flipped6 open my cell phone and called Ellen, told her to explain to the kids there was nothing to worry about, that Mom was going to be okay. “Especially Nicole,” I said. “I’ll take care of it,” Ellen promised me.
I flipped the phone shut and turned back to the cop. “What about the other guy?” I said.
“She’s alone in the car.”
“No,” I said. “There was another guy with her.”
He spoke7 on his headset, then turned back to me. “They say no. There’s no sign of anyone else.”
“Maybe he was thrown,” I said.
“They’re asking your wife now ...” He listened a moment. “She says she was alone.”
“You’re kidding,” I said.
He looked at me, shrugged8. “That’s what she says.” In the flashing red lights of the ambulances, I couldn’t read his expression. But his tone implied: another guy who doesn’t know his own wife. I turned away, looked over the edge of the road.
One of the rescue vehicles had extended a steel arm with a winch that hung over the ravine. A cable was being lowered. I saw the workers, struggling for footing against the steep slope, as they attached a stretcher to the winch. I couldn’t see Julia clearly on the stretcher, she was strapped9 down, covered in a silver space blanket. She started to rise, passing through the cone10 of blue light, then into darkness.
The cop said, “They’re asking about drugs and medicines. Is your wife taking any drugs or medicines?”
“Not that I know of.”
“How about alcohol? Was she drinking?”
“Wine at dinner. One or two glasses.”
The cop turned away and spoke again, quietly in the darkness. After a pause, I heard him say, “That’s affirmative.”
The stretcher twisted slowly as it rose into the air. One of the workers, halfway11 up the slope, reached out to steady it. The stretcher continued upward.
I still couldn’t see Julia clearly, until it reached the level of the road and the rescue workers swung it around, and unclipped it from the line. She was swollen12; her left cheekbone was purple and the forehead above her left eye was purple as well. She must have hit her head pretty hard. She was breathing shallowly. I moved alongside the stretcher. She saw me and said, “Jack13 ...” and tried to smile.
“Just take it easy,” I said.
She gave a little cough. “Jack. It was an accident.”
The medics were maneuvering14 around the motorcycle. I had to watch where I was going. “Of course it was.”
“It’s not what you think, Jack.”
I said, “What is, Julia?” She seemed to be delirious15. Her voice seemed to drift in and out. “I know what you’re thinking.” Her hand gripped my arm. “Promise me you won’t get involved in this, Jack.”
I didn’t say anything, I just walked with her.
She squeezed me harder. “Promise me you’ll stay out of it.”
“I promise,” I said.
She relaxed then, dropping my arm. “This doesn’t involve our family. The kids will be fine. You’ll be fine. Just stay out, okay?”
“Okay,” I said, just wanting to mollify her.
“Jack?”
“Yes, honey, I’m here.”
By now we were approaching the nearest ambulance. The doors swung open. One of the rescue team said, “You related to her?”
“I’m her husband.”
“You want to come?”
“Yes.”
“Hop in.”
I got into the ambulance first, then they slid the stretcher in, one of the rescue team got in and slammed the doors shut. We started down the road, siren moaning. I was immediately moved aside by the two paramedics, working on her. One was recording16 notes on a handheld device and the other was starting a second IV in her other arm. They were worried about her blood pressure, which was dropping. That was a great cause for concern. During all this I couldn’t really see Julia, but I heard her murmuring. I tried to move forward, but the medics pushed me back. “Let us work, sir. Your wife’s got injuries. We have to work.”
For the rest of the way, I sat on a little jump seat and gripped a wall handle as the ambulance careened around curves. By now Julia was clearly delirious, babbling17 nonsense. I heard something about “the black clouds,” that were “not black anymore.” Then she shifted into a kind of lecture, talking about “adolescent rebellion.” She mentioned Amanda by name, and Eric, asking if they were all right. She seemed agitated18. The medics kept trying to reassure19 her. And finally she lapsed20 into repeating “I didn’t do anything wrong, I didn’t mean to do anything wrong” as the ambulance sped through the night.
Listening to her, I couldn’t help but worry.
The examination suggested Julia’s injuries might be more extensive than they first thought. There was a lot to rule out: possible pelvic fracture, possible hematoma, possible fracture of a cervical vertebra, left arm broken in two places and might need to be pinned. The doctors seemed most worried about her pelvis. They were handling her much more gingerly when they put her into intensive care.
But Julia was conscious, catching21 my eye and smiling at me from time to time, until she fell asleep. The doctors said there was nothing for me to do; they would wake her up every half hour during the night. They said that she would be in the hospital at least three days, probably a week.
They told me to get some rest. I left the hospital a little before midnight. I took a taxi back to the crash site, to pick up my car. It was a cold night. The police cars and rescue ambulances were gone. In their place was a big flatbed tow truck, which was winching Julia’s car up the hill. A skinny guy smoking a cigarette was running the winch. “Nothing to see,” he said to me. “Everybody’s gone to the hospital.”
I said it was my wife’s car.
“Can’t drive it,” he said. He asked me for my insurance card. I got it out of my wallet and handed it to him. He said, “I heard your wife’s okay.”
“So far.”
“You’re a lucky guy.” He jerked his thumb, pointing across the road. “Are they with you?” Across the street a small white van was parked. The sides were bare, with no markings or company logo. But low on the front door I saw a serial22 number, in black. And underneath23 it said SSVT unit.
I said, “No, they’re not with me.”
“Been here an hour,” he said. “Just sitting there.”
I couldn’t see anyone inside the van; the front windows were dark. I started across the street toward them. I heard the faint crackle of a radio. When I was about ten feet away the lights came on, the engine started, and the van roared past me, and drove down the highway. As it passed, I had a glimpse of the driver. He was wearing a shiny suit of some kind, like silvery plastic, and a tight hood24 of the same material. I thought I saw some funny, silver apparatus25 hanging around his neck. It looked like a gas mask, except it was silver. But I wasn’t sure.
As the car drove away, I noticed the rear bumper26 had two green stickers, each with a big X. That was the Xymos logo. But it was the license27 plate that really caught my eye. It was a Nevada plate.
That van had come from the fabrication plant, out in the desert.
I frowned. It was time for me to visit the fab plant, I thought. I pulled out my cell phone, and dialed Tim Bergman. I told him I had reconsidered his offer and I would take the consulting job, after all.
“That’s great,” Tim said. “Don will be very happy.”
“Great,” I said. “How soon can I start?”
DESERT
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1
convertible
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| adj.可改变的，可交换，同意义的；n.有活动摺篷的汽车 | |
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2
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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3
sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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4
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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5
spinal
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| adj.针的，尖刺的，尖刺状突起的；adj.脊骨的，脊髓的 | |
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6
flipped
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| 轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥 | |
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7
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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8
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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9
strapped
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| adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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cone
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| n.圆锥体，圆锥形东西，球果 | |
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11
halfway
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| adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途 | |
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12
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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13
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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14
maneuvering
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| v.移动，用策略( maneuver的现在分词 )；操纵 | |
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15
delirious
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| adj.不省人事的，神智昏迷的 | |
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16
recording
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| n.录音，记录 | |
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17
babbling
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| n.胡说，婴儿发出的咿哑声adj.胡说的v.喋喋不休( babble的现在分词 )；作潺潺声（如流水）；含糊不清地说话；泄漏秘密 | |
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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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19
reassure
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| v.使放心，使消除疑虑 | |
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20
lapsed
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| adj.流失的，堕落的v.退步( lapse的过去式和过去分词 )；陷入；倒退；丧失 | |
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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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serial
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| n.连本影片，连本电视节目；adj.连续的 | |
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23
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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24
hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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25
apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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26
bumper
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| n.(汽车上的)保险杠；adj.特大的，丰盛的 | |
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27
license
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| n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许 | |
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