As I half-ran to class, my head was spinning faster than the bottle cap.
So few questions had been answered in comparison to how many new questions had been raised. At least the rain had stopped.
I was lucky; Mr. Banner wasn't in the room yet when I arrived. I settled quickly into my seat, aware that both Mike and Angela were staring at me.
Mike looked resentful; Angela looked surprised, and slightly awed.
Mr. Banner came in the room then, calling the class to order. He was juggling a few small cardboard boxes in his arms. He put them down on Mike's table, telling him to start passing them around the class.
"Okay, guys, I want you all to take one piece from each box," he said as he produced a pair of rubber gloves from the pocket of his lab jacket and pulled them on. The sharp sound as the gloves snapped into place against is wrists seemed ominous to me. "The first should be an indicator card, "he went on, grabbing a white card with four squares marked on it and displaying it. "The second is a four-pronged applicator —" he held up something that looked like a nearly toothless hair pick "— and the third is a sterile micro-lancet." He held up a small piece of blue plastic and split it open. The barb was invisible from this distance, but my stomach flipped.
"I'll be coming around with a dropper of water to prepare your cards, so please don't start until I get to you." He began at Mike's table again, carefully putting one drop of water in each of the four squares. "Then I want you to carefully prick your finger with the lancet…" He grabbed Mike's hand and jabbed the spike into the tip of Mike's middle finger. Ohno. Clammy moisture broke out across my forehead.
"Put a small drop of blood on each of the prongs." He demonstrated, squeezing Mike's finger till the blood flowed. I swallowed convulsively, my stomach heaving.
"And then apply it to the card," he finished, holding up the dripping red card for us to see. I closed my eyes, trying to hear through the ringing in my ears.
Ominous 預兆的
Prongs 尖頭
Heave 噁心
在我一路狂奔到教室的路上，我的腦子瘋狂地轉動著，比那個瓶蓋還快。只有極少的幾個問題得到了解答，而相比之下，卻有更多的新問題冉冉升起。至少，雨已經停了。
我很幸運。當我到教室的時候班納老師還沒到。我飛快地坐到座位上，注意到邁克和安吉拉都在盯著我看。邁克看上去一臉忿恨，安吉拉則驚詫不已，還有些許敬畏。
然後，班納老師走進教室，讓全班都安靜下來聽他說話。他的手裡艱難地抱著幾個搖搖欲墜的小硬板紙盒。（juggle，我覺得班納老師的個性沒那麼浮誇）他把東西都放到邁克的桌子上，讓他把紙盒子傳給全班同學。
“好啦，同學們，我要求你們每個人，從每個盒子裡各拿一片。”他一邊說著，一邊從自己的實驗室大褂的口袋裡扯出一對塑膠手套，戴在手上。他用力拽著手套，把它們拉上手腕時所發出尖銳的嘎巴聲對我來說是個不祥的預兆。“第一樣，是一張指示劑卡片。”他繼續說著，拿起一張四角上都有標識的白色卡片，向我們展示。“第二樣，是四齒塗敷器——”他舉起的東西看起來更像是一個幾乎沒有鋸齒的光滑的剃毛刀片。“——然後，第三樣是一把無菌微型刺血針。”他舉起一個小小的藍色塑料包裝，把它撕開。在這個距離我不可能看見針上的倒鉤，但我的胃還是翻騰起來。
“我會在教室裡走動，用滴管往你的卡片上滴一滴水，這樣卡片才算準備好，所以在我走到你那裡以前先別開始。”他還是先從邁克那桌開始，小心地往每張卡片的四個角各滴了一滴水。“然後，我要你們小心地用刺血針扎一下手指頭……”他抓起邁克的手，把針扎進了邁克的中指指頭。哦不。我的前額上開始滲出粘溼的冷汗。
“在四齒塗敷器的四個齒上各沾一小滴血。”他還在示範著，擠壓著邁克的手指直到血流出來為止。我全身痙攣地吞嚥著，胃裡一陣沉重。
“然後把塗敷器抹到卡片上。”他完成了，把那張四角都染紅了的卡片舉起來給我們看。我閉上眼睛，試圖無視耳中的嗡嗡聲，繼續聽課。
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