读者文摘:失去我一生挚爱的那天(2)

I asked God, Why? Why? Why? One day I would receive an answer.

我问上帝，为什么？为什么？为什么？有一天我会收到一个答案。

Somerville Hospital sits on a hill, with its emergency room at the very top.

萨默维尔医院坐落在一座小山上，急救室在最上面。

Dressed in purple sneakers, jeans, and her favorite hoodie from a Spartan¹ Race we ran together,

她穿着紫色运动鞋，牛仔裤，还有我们一起参加斯巴达比赛时她最喜欢的连帽衫，

Laura began walking up the hill that morning in the midst of her attack.

那天早上劳拉开始上山，当时她的哮喘正在发作。

It's about a 375-foot walk up Tower Street. Surveillance cameras first caught sight of her at 4:21 a.m.

沿着塔街大约走375英尺就到了。她第一次出现在监控中是在凌晨4点21分。

When Laura arrived at the hospital, she found a semicircular driveway and two entrances about 100 feet apart.

劳拉到达医院时，发现了一条半圆形的车道和两个相隔约100英尺的入口。

Between them were four waiting benches, each with a flat stone top.

在它们之间有四个等待的长凳，每个都有一个平石顶。

Signs pointing to the emergency room had led Laura up the hill, but inexplicably²,

劳拉随着指向急救室的标志走到了山上，但令人费解的是，

neither entrance was adorned³ with an illuminated⁴ emergency room sign.

两个入口都没有指向急诊室的亮牌。

With no clear indication of where to go, Laura had to choose one door or the other.

不知道往哪走，劳拉不得不在两条路中选一条。

On the surveillance video, she pauses, then chooses the entrance on the right.

在监控录像中，她停顿了一下，然后选择了右边的入口。

As she approached it, she could see an emergency room waiting area through plate glass windows.

当她走近时，她透过平板玻璃窗看到了急诊室的等候区。

She stepped in front of the automatic door, but it did not open.

她走到自动门前，但门没有打开。

Surprised, she put both hands on the door and peered inside. But there was no one in sight.

她感到很惊讶，双手放在门上往里面看。但是一个人也没有。

Panic can accelerate an asthma⁵ attack by causing airway⁶ muscles to tighten⁷, constricting⁸ airflow even further.

恐慌会导致呼吸道肌肉收紧，进一步收缩气流，从而加速哮喘的发作。

Finding the door locked, Laura almost certainly panicked.

发现门是锁着的，劳拉肯定是感到惊慌失措。

Maybe that is why she didn't comprehend the instructions posted on the door, explaining that it was for ambulance access only.

也许正因为如此，她才没有理解贴在门上的说明，上面说这是救护车专用的。

To enter the emergency room, patients needed to use the main entrance—the door to the left.

要进入急诊室，病人需要使用主入口——左边的门。

The door she had not chosen. Or perhaps she did notice those instructions.

那扇她没有选择的门。或者也许她没有注意到那些说明。

In the video, Laura turns and begins walking toward the main entrance. She didn't make it there.

在视频中，劳拉转身开始走向主入口。她没有走到那里。

She walked past the first two waiting benches. But when Laura reached the third bench, just 29 feet from the main entrance, she sat down.

她走过前两个等候的长椅。但当劳拉走到第三张长凳时，她坐了下来，那里离正门只有29英尺。

The attack had become so intense, she could not walk those extra 29 feet. But she could still think clearly: She called 911.

哮喘变得很严重，她走不了那剩余的29英尺。但是她大脑还是清醒的：她打了911.

Her voice on the phone with the dispatcher is filled with fear. "I'm at Somerville Hospital" were Laura's first words.

她在电话里对调度员说话的声音充满了恐惧。“我在萨默维尔医院”是劳拉说的第一句话。

"I'm having an asthma attack. I'm dying." "Whereabouts are you at the hospital?" asks the 911 operator.

“我哮喘发作了。我快死了。”“你在医院的什么地方？”911接线员问。

"Emergency room," Laura responds. "I can't get in." In just 41 seconds, she managed to relate seemingly everything the operator needed to know.

劳拉回答，“急诊室，我进不去。”在短短41秒的时间里，她设法把接线员需要知道的一切都讲了出来。

Laura said she was having an asthma attack, one so severe that she felt she was going to die;

劳拉说她哮喘发作了，非常严重，她感觉自己要死了。

she said she was at Somerville Hospital, outside the emergency room, and couldn't get in.

她说她在萨默维尔医院，在急诊室外面，不能进去。

1 spartan   

adj.简朴的，刻苦的；n.斯巴达；斯巴达式的人

参考例句：

• Their spartan lifestyle prohibits a fridge or a phone.他们不使用冰箱和电话，过着简朴的生活。
• The rooms were spartan and undecorated.房间没有装饰，极为简陋。

2 inexplicably   

adv.无法说明地，难以理解地，令人难以理解的是

参考例句：

• Inexplicably, Mary said she loved John. 真是不可思议，玛丽说她爱约翰。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inexplicably, she never turned up. 令人不解的是，她从未露面。 来自辞典例句

3 adorned   

[计]被修饰的

参考例句：

• The walls were adorned with paintings. 墙上装饰了绘画。
• And his coat was adorned with a flamboyant bunch of flowers. 他的外套上面装饰着一束艳丽刺目的鲜花。

4 illuminated   

adj.被照明的；受启迪的

参考例句：

• Floodlights illuminated the stadium. 泛光灯照亮了体育场。
• the illuminated city at night 夜幕中万家灯火的城市

5 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

6 airway   

n.空中航线，通风口

参考例句：

• Lay them on their side and ensure the airway is unobstructed.让他们侧躺着，并确保呼吸道畅通。
• There is a purple airway in London Airport.伦敦机场里有一条皇家专用飞机跑道。

7 tighten   

v.(使)变紧；(使)绷紧

参考例句：

• Turn the screw to the right to tighten it.向右转动螺钉把它拧紧。
• Some countries tighten monetary policy to avoid inflation.一些国家实行紧缩银根的货币政策，以避免通货膨胀。

8 constricting   

压缩，压紧，使收缩( constrict的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Objective To discuss the clinical characteristics and treatment of congenital constricting band syndrome(CCBS) and amputations. 目的探讨先天性束带症与先天性截肢的临床特点及治疗方法。