Page 70 of The Wild Beneath

A burst of cool air arrives with Evan through the doorway.

Ruth is not with him.

Annie stands up, accidentally pulling out her last stitch.

“They want to keep her for another week,” Evan answers before she can ask. “Henry stayed with her.”

“What did they say?”

“Her hemoglobin was in the sixties. I guess that’s really low, the lowest it’s ever been.” Evan pulls up a stool, dragging sawdust across the floor with it. “They considered chemo. They talked about sending her to Vancouver.”

“That’s not the news we wanted,” Annie says.

“She was already trying to talk them out of it.”

“That sounds like her,” Walker says as he climbs down the ladder with his tools.

“She can’t wait to get back here,” Evan says.

“How will she get back?” Annie asks.

“I’ll go get them with the last of the booms. They’ll be ready in a day or two.”

“You must be exhausted.” Annie searches Evan’s face but can’t hook into him anymore. He was always clean-shaven but now has days of stubble on his face.

“They didn’t beat around the bush,” Evan says. “She can’t last like this, unless she’s going to stay somewhere with medical care.”

“What if she stayed there?” Walker asks.

“They said no one has a crystal ball.” Evan frowns. “They kept saying that. But maybe she could have years—­if she got chemo and kept on top of things.”

Annie’s insides tie themselves in a thousand knots.

“Being there is strange,” Evan says.

“How so?”

“The whole thing...” His eyes roam around the warehouse. “Remember what it was like getting food from a grocery store? Functional hydro, toilets that flush...”

Walker places his utility knife and hose clamps back into the toolbox at the base of the ladder, avoiding Annie’s eye contact.

“Are you saying we should leave here after all?” Annie asks. “What would your dad say about that?”

“You should talk about this together.” Walker closes the lid. “I’ll be back in a while.”

“Isaac would lose it if I left,” Evan says. “I’d have to make sure we were up and running first.”

“Well... he doesn’t deserve to have you stay.” Annie keeps her eyes on Walker’s back as he goes out the door. It swings shut behind him.

“What’s his deal?”

“We...” How can she explain? It’s the first time in her life she can’t tell Evan the truth. She can’t share with anyone that she might be in love with Walker; that she mightrequirehim in some way she can’t articulate. “He doesn’t want to go with the coast guard,” Annie deflects.

Evan nods slowly like he’s not sure how to address that. “I think we should consider it, Annie.”

“It’s too much to decide right now.” Her mouth feels cottony.

“Walker wants you to stay, too?”