64

After coming up for air he turned to Wu to say, "I've been kind of a pig. I'm sorry Dr Wu. If I had eaten something earlier this morning, I definitely wouldn't be this hungry. I must have been so hazy from the alcohol that I hogged everything food."

Wu shook her head as she took a piece of fried fish and slicked it carefully so it's skin in segments would show. The gesture was a flashy display of her cutting skill. "You need to relax more. This is just a symptom of relief that your sister has retained her ability to be independent. The alcohol without a proper diet for today did you more good than harm."

Nolan leaned back into the chair and closed his eyes. His heart and stomach full. "I probably haven't been able to relax since I saw on CNN that the accident happened when she was racing."

The semester had gone on forever while Ellie had been on her racing season. His sister had the distinction of always being in the top ten and had been rising when her car had mysteriously flipped. He had consumed her races immediately when he got back to his dorm or in between grading papers to see if she had gotten close. Maybe it had just been the adrenaline to see his sister finally break it big after ten years of hard work just to get herself on the same track as men. It wasn't something he normally did to keep such close tabs. But when, her accident did happen, Nolan had strangely felt indifferent initially as he had wondering if she was pushing herself to far. To see the straw that broke the camel's back was no surprise to him. He had been worrying up a storm about money and medicine, but did he have shock? No. And then he had felt his sister slip away . . .

He shook the thought from his mind as he focused on the present. He was in a better place on the other side now. Wu looked at him curiously. Nolan tried to say something. "I know I'm being silly that all because of me you're in trouble. Now that the car has gone back to the Wongs, you'll have to take a cab back home. Do you live near your hospital?"

"Near the hospital? Oh no, I have a smaller studio where I teach near here actually. There is an apartment I keep above it because the rent and area around here is quite nice. I come here a lot, as you can imagine." She traced the ring of water which had been left behind when Nolan had downed his glass. "If you don't mind me being forward, what relationship does your sister have with Henry Wong? He's been in tabloids for years. His wedding should have been in every newspaper that he got married to a professional racer. You sister doesn't really seem to be pregnant or imperfect in any way if I was her wife, I would be very loud that I had such a perfect match. It's a very strange thing to see this man I've seen around society for years being tongue tied. There are many women of ambition who would have loved to sink their claws into him. Ellie I doubt is or was one of them."