Page 33 of Wild

Erin turns and finds Nell walking toward her, hands tucked in her jeans pockets and glasses hanging against her chest.

"No, I just—" She looks down both ends of the hallway, not sure what to say.

"You okay?" Nell asks.

Erin opens her mouth to answer and feels her phone vibrating against her leg again. She knows it's Brooke, who won't stop until she gets a response—and not because she's worried, but because when her sister wants something, it has to happen right now; on top of being selfish, she's stubborn about it. Erin feels the pressure closing in, and for a moment it's her own chest that feels like it might cave. She doesn't want to talk to her sister right now, because out of everyone on this planet, Brooke is the last voice she wants to hear. What she needs is to shake off the awful feeling that's stuck to her after what happened with Mia, and listening to her sister isn't going to help with that.

She brings a hand to her head, dazed, and closes her fist around a handful of her hair, squeezing while she breathes in sharply and then lets the air go, slow.

"Erin," Nell murmurs.

The doctor blinks and looks up, pulling her hand away from her hair when she realizes she'd forgotten for a moment that the woman was still there.

"Sorry, I zoned out."

Nell watches her with that serious expression that's so characteristic of her, and Erin feels a small shiver, because she has the sense that the woman is genuinely worried about her—and the feeling is so unfamiliar she doesn't know what to do with it.

"Mia's going to sleep like a rock, I'm sure of it," Nell says. "Why don't we head down to the bar? I think we could both use a beer. Or a whiskey."

Before she knows it, Nell has taken her by the arm and is pulling her along without waiting for an answer. Erin doesn't resist, and rides the elevator down to the main floor, following Nell to the bar.

"What do you want to drink?" Nell asks.

"Water."

Erin feels a laugh tug at the corner of her mouth when she sees Nell's expression.

"I don't usually drink—alcohol doesn't really agree with me, and I need to stay sharp for Mia."

"Fair enough, water it is," Nell concludes, and orders a glass of water for Erin and a sparkling water with a slice of lemon for herself.

"You did really well with her."

"Yeah, well, it came down to a matter of seconds. I don't think I'll always make it in time," Erin says.

"But today you did, so we won that round against those weird dizzy spells of hers."

Nell raises her glass in a toast and Erin clinks hers against it, then takes a long drink of cold water that clears her head a little.

"Tell me something about yourself," Nell says.

"About me?"

Nell raises her eyebrows.

"Yeah. I know they practically yanked you out of a hospital." Erin smiles and nods. "What's your life like there? The ER must be intense—you must see all kinds of things."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Are you seeing anyone?"

Erin's phone vibrates again, and this time she pulls it out of her pocket, Brooke's name blinking on the screen. She turns it off and sets it face down on the bar while Nell watches her steadily.

"Not my business, but who's Brooke?"

Erin appreciates the woman's bluntness—the kind of nerve that comes with age, when you've stopped worrying about what's proper and just say what you mean.

"My sister. She probably wants money, or to tell me she's met some guy who fixes cars out of an unlicensed shop."