Page 11 of Wild

"Good."

Hassan heads into the bay, and Erin stays in the hallway a moment longer while Noah watches her out of the corner of his eye. She moves the toe of her right boot back and forth, studying her shoes, waiting for the adrenaline from the evening to start bleeding off.

"Is it serious? Be straight with me."

Noah's voice reaches her as if through glass, but when Erin looks up he's right in front of her, wearing the same worried expression he had back at the venue.

"No," she says, pressing her lips together. "But it's not something that's going to be fixed with a glass of water either."

He looks at her, and for a moment she has the feeling she's looking at a lost fifteen-year-old, even though his face puts him closer to thirty than twenty.

"Assuming it's what I think it is, the short-term fix is pretty basic. Three meals a day at regular times—not whatever she can grab between sound checks. Constant hydration, eight hours of sleep, and taking some of the pressure off," Erin says.

"And what is it you think it is?"

"Let them run the tests first, but I promise you it's not serious."

"Okay." Noah nods, thinking it over, then lifts his puppy-dog eyes to give Erin a small smile. "Thank you, Doctor."

"Of course."

He's about to head toward the bay when he turns back around.

"You know, Doctor? That's the first time in a long time I've met someone who looks at Mia and doesn't see Mia Wilder—just my friend. It was something."

Erin looks at him, not quite sure how to respond to that, but Noah doesn't seem to need a response. He just wanted her to know. He walks away smiling.

"Ready to head out?" Barry asks, appearing with two coffees in hand.

Erin takes hers and looks for a moment toward the bay where Mia is. She thinks about whether it would be appropriate to go in and say goodbye, and if so, whether she actually should.

"Yeah, I'm exhausted," she says, and holds Barry's coffee while he wheels the gurney back out to the ambulance.

Barry drives her to her apartment before returning the vehicle, and during the five blocks they cross through the city, Erin doesn't open her mouth once. She just lived the kind of story anyone would be dying to tell, but the closest thing to a friend Erin has is Barry, so there's no one to call.

A knot of anxiety tightens in her chest, because loneliness can be very hard to sit with—but then she sees Mia's blue eyes when she woke up, that terror in her expression, her hands shaking as the panic took over, and the knot twists deeper in her chest, as if in some way she'd felt connected to the singer.

"Get some rest, Dooley. You look like you need it," Barry says as he pulls up in front of her building.

"Thanks, Barry. You too."

He winks at her, and Erin closes the ambulance door behind her as she steps out.

Chapter 5

Mia is sitting on the edge of the hospital bed, her blue gown half untied and her back exposed. She's barely slept; she's tried plenty of times, but she kept tossing and turning, and at best she'd drift into a half-asleep state that gave her no real rest, though at least it kept her from thinking. She's watching Noah, who's reclined in the visitor's chair, turned to one side, his face pressed against the back cushion and his eyes closed, but Mia knows he isn't asleep because his brow is slightly furrowed, like something's keeping him from relaxing. The singer sighs, because she knows that something is her — her assistant only has her, and she only has him.

She checks the time on her phone and sighs. It's almost eight in the morning and she's desperate for the doctor to come and discharge her so she can get out of there.

"I know you're awake," Mia murmurs, stretching her leg to nudge Noah's knee with her bare foot.

Her friend's chest swells as he inhales, then deflates on the exhale.

"I'm resting my eyes," Noah says.

He hasn't slept much either, because he could hear Mia constantly shifting and it kept him on edge in case she was feeling worse.

"I'm bored, Noah — can't you go find the doctor so we can get out of here already?"