Rudderless (Urban)

Chapter 18

 Tavia

I stood outside Paisley Health Center with my arms folded and contemplating whether I should go inside or just turn around and go help Olivia with her mom's wedding. Many people smiled at me as they passed by and went on with the rest of their day and some gave me a 'How could you walk out the house looking like that' look and I couldn't blame them. I looked a mess. I caught the reflection of my messy bun and old worn out sweatshirt on the side of someone's Nissan. The thought of last night's dinner disaster kept playing in my head and I blamed myself for pushing Caleb to come. "I've read a lot about your troubled past" , My dad had said before Caleb even introduced himself. I took a deep breath and walked inside, It was the first time I had been inside this place and it looked a lot nicer on the inside. A large desk was sat in the middle of the spacious lobby and a Hispanic woman sat behind it with large brown curls and a dull smile when she examined me from the bottom of my brown UGG boots to the top of the nest on my head.

"May I help you, Ma'am?" She asked.

"I'm here to see someone" She moved her chair to the computer and typed something in and looked up at me, "What's the patient's name?"

I froze. I should just tell her to forget it and turn around and just leave. The whole idea was starting to feel crazy anyway. The lady cleared her throat informing me to hurry up and I think she was starting to feel skeptical about me being there.

"It's... Jade Parrish." 

The elevator door opened and we began waking down the hall until we reached a room that was across from a mini relaxation area that had appeared to be on every floor. The lobby lady gave a soft knock on the door before turning the knob and walking in. I could feel my palms become sweaty. 

"Miss Parrish? You have a visitor." She said leading me into the center of the room. I could see Jade, her back was turned to us and staring out the large window. She turned her head around and looked at me and turned back without an expression on her face. 

"Alright. When you're done, just sign out at the lobby." The woman said as she walked out the door. There was absolute silence in the room and I stood in the same spot for five minutes before I walked over and sat in the arm chair. 

"You look awful" she muttered loud enough for me to hear.

"I had a long night" I said.

"Why the hell are you here? If you and Caleb are having some problems, don't forget I tried to kill him" She turned around and faced me with her legs crossed on top of the bed.

"I won't forget that. I actually came to talk to you about Caleb" I hesitated.

"You want to lie for him and he doesn't want you to because he loves you and all that" She rolled her eyes. 

"How the hell do you know that?" I said shockingly.

"I know you. I know what you're thinking. I was you before you were even you. I'm just not stupid like you though" She low key smiled. Somehow always being able to make someone else feel bad about themselves made her always feel better about herself.

"Jade, He didn't kill Cole. I was just mad at him and wasn't thinking." I replied.

"So, you want to lie for him? and risk getting him and yourself into more trouble. If he didn't do it then you shouldn't be worried about anything but, since you always want to fix everything go ahead" She stated while taking her hair out of the high ponytail and letting her long black hair hang.