I settled quickly into my seat, aware that both Mike and Angela were staring at me. 我飞快地坐到座位上，注意到迈克和安吉拉都在盯着我看。

Mike looked resentful; Angela looked surprised, and slightly awed. 迈克看上去一脸忿恨，安吉拉则惊诧不已，还有些许敬畏。

Mr. Banner came in the room then, calling the class to order. He was juggling a few small cardboard boxes in his arms. 然后，班纳老师走进教室，让全班都安静下来听他说话。

He put them down on Mike's table, telling him to start passing them around the class. 他的手里艰难地抱着几个摇摇欲坠的小硬板纸盒。他把东西都放到迈克的桌子上，让他把纸盒子传给全班同学。

"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. “好啦，同学们，我要求你们每个人，从每个盒子里各拿一片。”他一边说着，一边从自己的实验室大褂的口袋里扯出一对塑胶手套，戴在手上。

The sharp sound as the gloves snapped into place against his wrists seemed ominous to me. 他用力拽着手套，把它们拉上手腕时所发出尖锐的嘎巴声对我来说是个不祥的预兆。

"The first should be an indicator card," he went on, grabbing a white card with four squares marked on it and displaying it. “第一样，是一张指示剂卡片。”他继续说着，拿起一张四角上都有标识的白色卡片，向我们展示。

"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." “第二样，是四齿涂敷器——”他举起的东西看起来更像是一个几乎没有锯齿的光滑的剃毛刀片。“——然后，第三样是一把无菌微型刺血针。”

He held up a small piece of blue plastic and split it open. 他举起一个小小的蓝色塑料包装，把它撕开。

The barb was invisible from this distance, but my stomach flipped. 在这个距离我不可能看见针上的倒钩，但我的胃还是翻腾起来。

"I'll be coming around with a dropper of water to prepare your cards, so please don't start until I get to you." “我会在教室里走动，用滴管往你的卡片上滴一滴水，这样卡片才算准备好，所以在我走到你那里以前先别开始。”

He began at Mike's table again, carefully putting one drop of water in each of the four squares. 他还是先从迈克那桌开始，小心地往每张卡片的四个角各滴了一滴水。

"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. “然后，我要你们小心地用刺血针扎一下手指头……”他抓起迈克的手，把针扎进了迈克的中指指头。

Oh no. Clammy moisture broke out across my forehead. 哦不。我的前额上开始渗出粘湿的冷汗。