1、 Unit 4 Dealing with AIDS Dealing with AIDS strengthens the bond of friendship, encourages emotional and mature growth. Before the sixteenth of October 1995, I was the most carefree person in the world. I had no worries and was just living life up. I never thought that anything could happen to me or
2、 my friends. We were invincible. That is, until the word AIDS came into my life. For 10 years David and I were the best of friends. Then we got to high school and things started to change. We were in different classes, so we didnt hang out as much. It bothered me but I thought that we were both just
3、 growing up, and there were more friends where he came from. Then I began to notice that he wasnt in school a lot, and was sick more than usual. So I called him and he hung up on me. I didnt know what to do, so once again I blew it off. Then one day I saw David in the mall and I confronted him as to
4、 why we were not friends anymore. He pulled me aside and broke down in tears and said that he was dying. I didnt believe him. Sure, I had heard about AIDS, but that it was a homosexual disease and it didnt affect young people, so I said that it was a sick joke and left. When I got home things starte
5、d to make sense. I ran to my room and cried. David was only 17; he couldnt die. Then I felt so bad that we had grown so far apart. I called David, asking him to come over so we could talk. When he came over I saw a seriousness in him that I had never seen before. He looked so old, too old for his ag
6、e. I asked how it happened. David had had unprotected sex once and now had to pay with his life. I was so angry. I have never felt so powerless in my whole life. When things had gone wrong before this, I could always rely on my parents to make things better. There was nothing that they could do this
7、 time. I had to handle it all on my own. David and I became very close again, and it seemed that I was the only one there for him. David made the decision to tell people about his disease. There was no use in hiding it; sooner or later people would find out. People looked at him as if he had a plagu
8、e, and our friends from school wanted nothing to do with him. Soon after that they wanted nothing to do with me. All of a sudden I felt that I had the disease. I didnt know what to do. My whole life was changing so fast that I couldnt keep up. Once again I was growing up and realized that our friend
9、ship meant everything to me. Also, I couldnt turn my back on him when he needed me the most. So I stuck it out and lost most of my friends. The ones that still talked with me didnt come too close in fear that they would catch the disease. The thing was, I didnt even have AIDS, so why did my friends
10、treat me like this? I was being treated this way because teenagers are not used to dealing with situations like this, and dont know how to react. So how could I blame them since I would have done the same thing? As time went on, David became very ill. There was nothing that I could do but watch him
11、die. David found out that he had full blown AIDS. This to me meant death was sure to come and all too quickly. I wasnt ready to let him die, not yet anyway. There was so many things that I wanted to do and say, but couldnt find the words. I went to doctor after doctor with him, and saw him go throug
12、h so much. Everyone said that I must keep a positive attitude for his sake, because attitude means everything. So, in times of stress I was the one that had to keep things together. I pushed all my emotions aside and was strong for him. My mom had had a trip planned for the whole family for some tim
13、e now, and still wanted to go. She thought that the trip would do me good; she said that I was not the one that was dying. I couldnt believe that she said that to me, but to make her happy I went. We were gone for abut 2 weeks, and when I came back the first thing I did was go to see David. That was
14、 when I saw AIDS for the first time. I didnt even recognize him. David had lost weight, had purple lesions all over his body, and was very pale. He couldnt even get up when he saw me. He was bedridden. I still had to be the strong one and keep everything in. I had brought him stuff from the ocean, h
15、is favorite place. We talked about my trip and anything else we could think of. Then he fell asleep because he could no longer stay awake for long periods of time. On the second of May 1996, David was put in the hospital. This gave him the feeling that there was no more hope left, and that he was go
16、ing to die. I still had to maintain my positive outlook for him. He needed that in me. One day he looked at me and said, “Faye, I am dying; lets accept that and deal with it. I know what I did was wrong and now I have to deal with it. All I want you to do is to remember me, enjoy life and be careful
17、.“ For the first time in front of him, I cried. I knew that it wouldnt be long before he was gone forever. He shouldnt have to deal with this at such a young age. Towards the end of May he became so sick that the hospital staff had a bubble around him, so he wouldnt catch our bad germs. I hated to s
18、ee him like that, and every day it became worse. I had come to realize that any day now he would die. At night I would wonder if he would make it through. School was over now, so I spent every hour I could in the hospital. He was everything to me. I felt bad for the time that we had lost and how I w
19、asnt even going to fight for our friendship. The fifth of June, 1996 marked the end of my best friend Davids life. He went peacefully. That was a comfort all in its own. In a way I was glad that it was over, for he was no longer in pain. All the emotions that I had held in came rushing out as I real
20、ized that I would never see David again. His mother said that I had kept him alive and that she was grateful that I was her sons last friend. It hasnt been a year yet, but I have done so much since then that I am no longer that carefree teenager. I now educate people about AIDS, which to me is keepi
21、ng Davids memory alive. Even though David is gone, he is still with me and always will be in mind and spirit. 应对艾滋病 抵抗艾滋病可以加深友谊，增进情感交流和促进人们成熟。在 1995 年 l0 月 16日之前，我是这个世界上最无忧无虑的人，我没有什么担忧，只知道享受生活。我从来没想过任何事情会发生到我或朋友们身上。我们是所向无敌的。直到艾滋病这个词进入我的生活。 我和戴维做最好的朋友有十年了。但是上了高中之后，事情起了变化。因为我们在不同的班，所以不经常一起出去玩。这让我有点烦，但
22、我想我们在渐渐长大，而且他会遇见更多的朋友。然后，我开始注意到他经常不上学， 而且生病比以前多些。因此，我给他打电话但他给挂了。我不知道该怎么办，所以就又一次没管这事。然后有一天我在商场遇见他，就走过去当面问他为什么我们不再是好朋友了。他把我拽到一边，失控地哭着告诉我他快要死了。我不相信他。确实，我听说过艾滋病，但是它是一种同性恋疾病并且不会感染年轻人，所以我对他说这是一个恶心的玩笑后就离开了。 回到家后，事情开始变得明朗。我跑到我的房问，哭了。戴维只有 17 岁；他不能死。然后我对于我们变得如此遥远感到悲伤。我给戴维打了个电话，要他过来说说话。他到了之后，我发现他病得很严重， 而这一点我以前
23、从未注意到。他看起来很老，老过了他实际的年龄。我问他到底怎么回事。戴维曾经有一次未采取保护措施的性行为，而现在他要用一条命来为此付出代价。我很生气。在我整个生命中，我从未感到如此无能为力。在这之前，若事情出了差错，我总是可以依靠父母来弥补。这一次他们也无能为力。我不得不自己来应对这一切。 戴维和我再一次走得很近了，对他来说，好像我是他身边唯一的人。戴维决定告诉人们他的病情。隐藏是没有用的；迟早人们会发现事实。接着人们看待他就好像他有瘟疫一样，并且学校里我们的朋友都不想和他有任何关系。很 快，他们也不想和我有任何关系了。突然，我觉得好像我也得了这个病了。我不知道该做些什么。我的整个生活变化地如此
24、之快，让我无法跟上。我又一次感觉长大了并且意识到我们的友谊对我来说意味着一切。同时，在他最需要我的时刻，我不能拒绝他。所以我坚持到最后，而且失去了我的大多数朋友。仍然和我讲话的朋友们不敢靠得太近，因为他们害怕感染这种病。可是事实是，我根本没有得艾滋病，为什么我的朋友们这样对待我？我之所以被这样对待是因为十几岁的青少年还不习惯应对这种情况，而且不知道该怎么做出反应。因此，我不能责备他们，因为换作是我，也 会做同样的事。 随着时间的流逝。戴维的病越来越重。除了看着他死去，我什么也做不了。戴维发现他已经到了艾滋病晚期。对我采说，这意味着死亡肯定会来临并且一切都太快了。我还没准备好让他死去，无论如何还
25、没有。我有那么多的事想去做，那么多的话想说，但找不到合适的表达。我和他去看一个又一个的医生，看着他忍受了这么多。每一个人都说，为了他，我必须保持积极的态度，因为态度意味着一切。因此，在无数次压力中，我必须将所有的事归拢到一起。我把所有的情感放到一边，全力支持他。 妈妈在前一阵子就为整个家庭规划了一次旅行，她现在仍然想去；她觉得旅行对我有好处 I 她说我不是那个即将死去的人。我不敢相信她跟我那样说，但为了让她高兴。我还是去了。我们去了大概两个星期，我回来后第一件事就是去看戴维。那是我第一次见到艾滋病发作。我甚至认不出他来了。戴维瘦了很多金身布满紫红色的伤口并且脸色非常苍白。见到我时，他甚至不能从
26、床上起来了。我依然要保持坚强，保持平静。我从海边，他最喜爱的地方，给他带回了一些东西。我们谈论着我的旅行和任何能想到的事情。然后，他睡着了，因为他已经不能长时间醒着了。 1996 年 5 月的第二天戴维被送进了医院。这使他感到再也没有剩下的希望了，他快死了。但是我依然要对他维持我乐观的外表。他需要我那样做。有一天，他看着我说，“费耶，我要死了；让我们接受这个事实一起来应付吧。我知道我以前做的是错的，而且现在我必须应对它。我想叫你做的就是记得我，享受生活，并且小心一些。”听到这个，我第一次在他面前哭了。我知道过不了多久他就会永远离开了。他本不应该在如此年轻的年龄就应对这些事的。到了 5 月底，他
27、病得太重了，所以医院的医护人员就把他放到一个塑料罩子里，这样他就不会感染上我们身上有害的 病菌了。我讨厌看见他那个样子，一天天变得更糟糕。我意识到现在任何一天他都会死去。到了晚上我会想他能否熬得过去。学校现在放假了，所以每天有时间我就呆在医院里。他对我来说意味着一切。对于我们失去的时光我感到伤心，也懊恼我甚至没有去争取我们的友谊。 1996 年 6 月的第五天，我最好的朋友戴维的生命走到了尽头。他走的很平静。从某种意义上来说，我很高兴一切都结束了。因为他不再痛苦了。当我意识到再也见不到戴维了，压抑了很长时间的各种各样的情感一下子都涌了出来。他妈妈说是我让他能够一直活下去，并且她很感谢我，因为我是她 儿子最后的朋友。时间还不到一年，但从那时到现在我已做了许多事情，不再是那个无忧无虑的少年了。我现在教育人们了解艾滋病，对我来说这样可以使戴维继续活在记忆里。尽管戴维已经走了，他仍和我在一起并且永远会活在心中。
