Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18 Dan had heard of people being "in shock" before. He thought it meant like being really stunned so you couldn't talk or even get your breath. This was different. He was breathing in tiny shallow gasps, trembling all over. His skin was cold and clammy; he felt cold inside, too. He had heard the ambulance attendant say it to Amy and Nellie. "He's in shock. We'll take care of him." How long had it been? Since Amy had left him in the water to run and call for help; since she'd come back; since he had heard the wail of sirens, and the beach had filled up with people— police and ambulance and rescue, people milling around everywhere, and none of them mattered to Dan. Only one person mattered. Lester. They'd had to drag Dan out of the water. He was okay, he kept telling everyone, he was fine, it

第18章丹以前听说过人们“休克”。 他认为这意味着你被吓呆了，不能说话，甚至不能呼吸。 这次不一样。他喘着粗气，浑身发抖。 他的皮肤又冷又湿；他心里也觉得冷。 他听到救护人员对艾米和内莉说了这句话。 “他很震惊。我们会照顾他的。” 多久没见了？因为艾米把他丢在水里，让他跑着呼救；自从她回来；因为他听到了警笛的哀号，海滩上挤满了人——警察、救护车和救援人员，到处都是人，他们对丹来说都不重要。 只有一个人重要。莱斯特。 他们不得不把丹从水里拖出来。 他很好，他一直跟大家说，他很好

was Lester who was in trouble, he had to find Lester. They had brought Lester up onto the beach, and Dan was still okay then; he had knelt next to Lester while the EMTs worked on him for what seemed like hours. A police officer wanted to interview him; he refused to budge from Lester's side, but he told the officer what had happened, beginning with Hugo and Anton chasing Lester out into the ocean, and how Lester had helped them escape from the quicksand. The police officer had been very gentle with him, not asking any hard questions, so Dan didn't have to explain why the two thugs had been chasing Lester in the first place. Finally, they had taken Lester away on a stretcher. And even then Dan might have been okay, but as one of the EMTs closed the ambulance's bay doors, she looked at the police officer standing nearby and shook her head, and Dan could see it in her eyes, could see beyond any doubt, that there was no hope for Lester. That was when he had gone into shock. Amy had been by his side, she had caught him as he fell

遇到麻烦的是莱斯特，他必须找到莱斯特。 他们把莱斯特带到了海滩上，那时丹还好好的；他跪在莱斯特旁边，急救人员给他治疗了几个小时。 一位警官想要采访他；他拒绝离开莱斯特的身边，但他告诉了军官所发生的事情，从雨果和安东追莱斯特到海里开始，以及莱斯特如何帮助他们逃离流沙。 警察对他很温和，没有问任何尖锐的问题，所以丹不需要解释为什么那两个暴徒一开始就在追莱斯特。 最后，他们用担架把雷斯脱抬走了。 即使在那时丹也可能没事，但当一个急救医生关上救护车的门时，她看着站在旁边的警察摇了摇头，丹可以从她的眼睛里看出，可以毫无疑问地看出，莱斯特已经没有希望了。 那是他休克的时候。 艾米一直在他身边，他摔倒时她扶住了他

to his knees, and then another EMT made him lie on a stretcher and put blankets on top of him, but still he couldn't get warm, and now that was all he could think about, how cold he was, shivering, shaking, his teeth chattering, cold to the very middle of his bones. So cold that he'd never ever ever be able to feel warm again. The hospital was keeping Dan overnight "for observation." A nurse came into the room from time to time, but she didn't need to do much observing. Amy was doing it for her. She hadn't left Dan's side for hours. When the EMTs had put him in the ambulance, they had tried to explain that minors weren't allowed to ride along, but Amy had spoken to them so firmly that Nellie looked at her in surprise. "I'm his only relative here, and she's our guardian," Amy had said, pointing at Nellie. "She's giving me permission to ride with him." And without waiting for a response, she had climbed into the ambulance.

然后另一个急救医生让他躺在担架上，在他身上盖上毯子，但他仍然不暖和，现在他满脑子想的都是，他有多冷，颤抖，颤抖，牙齿打颤，冷到骨头的中间。 冷到他再也感觉不到温暖了。 医院留丹过夜“观察”。 护士不时地走进房间，但她不需要做太多观察。 艾米这么做是为了她。她已经好几个小时没离开丹身边了。 当急救人员把他抬上救护车时，他们试图向他解释未成年人是不允许坐车的，但艾米对他们说得那么坚决，内莉惊讶地看着她。 “我是他在这里唯一的亲戚，她是我们的监护人，”艾米指着内莉说。 “她允许我和他一起骑。” 不等应答，她就爬上了救护车。

Dan hadn't said a word since going into shock. He had looked at her just once, with so much bewilderment and grief in his expression that her eyes had instantly filled with tears. Finally, he had fallen asleep, and Nellie had made her sit in an armchair in the corner of the room with stern instructions to get some rest. Then Nellie had left to go talk to Miss Alice. Poor Miss Alice… Amy could hardly bear to think of her. She was so old… would she survive the shock of hearing the news? Amy woke an hour or so later. Before her eyes were even fully open, she was stumbling to Dan's bedside again. Nellie was right beside her. As if sensing their presence, Dan stirred. Amy waited until he sat up a little, then poured him a drink. Nellie reported that Miss Alice's niece was driving down from Montego Bay to be with her, and that Miss Alice appeared to be bearing the news with considerable strength. "She's pretty tough," Nellie said, admiration in her voice.

丹休克后一句话也没说。 他只看了她一眼，他的表情中充满了困惑和悲伤，她的眼睛立刻充满了泪水。 最后，他睡着了，乃利让她坐在房间角落的一把扶手椅上，严厉地嘱咐她休息一下。 然后内莉离开去和爱丽丝小姐谈话了。 可怜的爱丽丝小姐……艾米几乎不忍心想起她。 她这么老了，听到这个消息她还能挺过来吗？ 大约一个小时后，艾米醒了。 她的眼睛还没完全睁开，就又踉踉跄跄地走到丹的床边。 内莉就在她身边。 仿佛感觉到他们的存在，丹动了动。 艾米等他坐直了一点，然后给他倒了一杯饮料。 内莉报告说，爱丽丝小姐的侄女正从蒙特哥湾开车过来陪她，爱丽丝小姐听了这个消息，显得相当镇定。 “她挺坚强的，"内莉说，声音里充满了钦佩。

With a start, Amy remembered something. "Where's the box?" she asked. It was ages since she had last thought about it. "We split up on the beach," she explained to Dan. "Nellie had the box." "Don't worry, it's safe," Nellie said, waving her hand as if brushing off the question. Amy frowned. "Where?" "I said it's safe," Nellie replied. "But why won't you say where?" "Can't you trust me for once—" "Stop it! Just stop it!" Dan's voice was anguished. Stunned, both girls stared at him. Amy saw that he was clutching the bedsheet in both hands, so tightly that his knuckles were white. "I don't care about the stupid box anymore," he said, his voice cracking with strain. "Lester's dead. He died because of that box. If it were here, I'd smash it into a million pieces." Tears began streaming down his cheeks. "I'd give up the box, and every clue, and the million dollars, too," he whispered, "if it would bring Lester back."

突然，艾米想起了什么。 “盒子在哪儿？”她问。 她已经很久没有想过这件事了。 “我们在海滩上分手了，”她向丹解释道。 “奈莉拿着盒子。”“别担心，这很安全，”内莉说着，挥了挥手，好像不理会这个问题。 艾米皱起了眉头。“在哪里?”“我说过它很安全，”内莉回答。 “可你为什么不说在哪儿？”“你就不能相信我一次吗——”“别说了！快住手！”丹的声音很痛苦。 两个女孩都目瞪口呆地盯着他。 艾米看到他双手紧抓着床单，紧得指关节都发白了。 “我不再关心那个愚蠢的盒子了，”他说，他的声音因紧张而嘶哑。 “莱斯特死了。他因为那个盒子而死。 如果它在这里，我会把它摔成碎片。” 泪水顺着他的脸颊流下来。 “只要能把雷斯脱带回来，我愿意放弃这个盒子，连同所有的线索，还有那一百万美元，”他低声说。

Amy had never seen him so miserable. She got up from her chair and sat on the bed next to him. Gently, she pried one of his hands loose from the sheet and took it in hers. For what felt like a long time, the room was quiet except for the sound of Dan's sniffles. Amy waited until his tears stopped. With her free hand, she gave him a tissue from a box on the nightstand. She restrained her impulse to wipe his nose for him; she was pretty sure he wouldn't like that. Dan wiped his eyes first. Then he blew his nose. It sounded exactly like a goose honking. A tiny giggle escaped from Nellie; she immediately looked contrite and pretended to clear her throat. Dan blew his nose again. This time, it sounded like a goose honking while being tortured. Nellie burst out laughing, and Amy would have been appalled except that she found herself laughing, too. For a brief moment, Dan looked indignant, and then he was laughing hardest of all. It was one of those things that none of them

艾米从没见过他这么痛苦。 她从椅子上站起来，坐在他旁边的床上。 她轻轻地把他的一只手从被单上拉开，握在自己的手里。 感觉有很长一段时间，除了丹的抽噎声，房间里静悄悄的。 艾米一直等到他的眼泪止住。 她从床头柜上的盒子里拿出一张纸巾递给他。 她克制住了想给他擦鼻子的冲动；她很确定他不会喜欢的。 丹先擦了擦眼睛。然后他擤了擤鼻子。 听起来就像鹅叫。 内莉发出一阵咯咯的笑声；她立刻露出后悔的样子，假装清了清嗓子。 丹又擤了擤鼻子。这一次，它听起来像一只鹅在被折磨时的叫声。 内莉突然大笑起来，要不是艾米发现自己也笑了，她一定会吓一跳的。 有那么一会儿，丹看起来很愤怒，然后他笑得最厉害了。 这是其中一件他们没有