THE ONLY THING COMPARABLE to the aftermath of a grand mal seizure is waking up on the pavement with ahangover from the mother of all frat parties and immediately being run over by a truck. On second thought,maybe a grand mal is worse. I am covered in my own filth, hooked up to medicine and falling apart at theseams, when Julia walks toward me. “It’s a seizure dog,” I say.

“No kidding.” Julia holds out her hand for Judge to sniff. She points to the couch beside me. “Can I sitdown?”

“It’s not catching, if that’s what you mean.”

“It wasn’t.” Julia comes close enough that I can feel the heat from her shoulder, inches away from mine.

“Why didn’t you tell me, Campbell?”

“Christ, Julia, I didn’t even tell my parents.” I try to look over her shoulder into the hallway. “Where’sAnna?”

“How long has this been going on?”

I try to get up, and manage to lift myself a half inch before my strength gives out. “I have to get back inthere.”

“Campbell.”

I sigh. “A while.”

“A while, as in a week?”

Shaking my head, I say, “A while, as in two days before we graduated from Wheeler.” I look up at her. “Theday I took you home, all I wanted was to be with you. When my parents told me I had to go to that stupiddinner at the country club, I followed them in my own car, so I could make a quick escape—I was planningon driving back to your house, that night. But on the way to dinner, I got into a car accident. I came throughwith a few bruises, and that night, I had the first seizure. Thirty CT scans later, the doctors still couldn’t reallytell me why, but they made it pretty clear I’d have to live with it forever.” I take a deep breath. “Which iswhat made me realize that no one else should have to.”

............