When she returned to her room late that afternoon， on her chest was an expanse of billowing white bandage placed by a surgeon’s hands with a precision and delicacy she would have admired. I was reminded of the coverlet she had appliquéd for our children’s cradle when they were infants. The bandage looked gentle and protective—reassuring and not as harsh as I had expected.
Sitting beside her in a dimly lit room that smelled sharply of disinfectant， I realized that because my life was so intertwined with hers， I， too， was a patient. I felt depleted and wrecked as I stared blankly out the window at pink-gray clouds slowly traversing the afternoon sky.
It was almost 7p. m. before she stirred. I heard her moan， and moved to the edge of the bed. I lightly touched her lips with an ice chip from the pitcher on her bedside table， and brushed the gray-flecked hair across her sweaty brow.
“I love you， ”I said.
At these words， her eyes opened hesitantly. At first her gaze seemed confused and unfocused， but for an instant her eyes sharpened with recognition， and a gentle smile lifted the edges of her mouth.
“I love you too， ”she whispered， and then her eyelids shut. I was close to exhaustion and dislocated in time as I recalled the moment I first saw her. It was as if I was young again and the sun was resplendent in the morning sky. She is the one， I said once more in my mind’s voice. She is the one.
第一次見到她時，她正在校園的操場上漫步。我站在那裏，目光追隨著她的倩影，呆住了。她就是我的至愛，我對自己說。
那正是開學的第一天，我向同學問起她，他們說她已經有男朋友了，讓我忘了她。
幾個月後，聽說她跟男朋友分手了。但是，至少過了半年後，我才向她提出約會的請求。我打電話到寢室找她，緊張得吐字不清，甚至把她的前後名字都說反了。“周六晚上請你吃晚飯，好嗎？”提議完，我尷尬極了，害怕她會拒絕。“樂意之至。”她的聲音聽起來似乎很開心。