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“She should be,” the doctor said, pocketing his pen and burying his hands in his scrubs pockets. “It was pretty close, though. I suggest you keep a close eye on her.”
Collette nodded and made her way back to the waiting room. She slumped into a chair, alone in the small vestibule as she waited for Tara to be led out.
She tried to calm herself down, squeezing her hands together as she took deep breaths. She had seen more than enough overdoses in her time, but this had been different.
She had never thought that at her age, after years away from all of this, she’d be going through it again.
She stood up as she saw Tara being led by a nurse. She was still in her evening dress, but she looked nothing like the bubbly blonde that had met her earlier at the party.
Her eyes were blood shot, and her hair was tied back in a ponytail, her face white as a sheet as she attempted to smile.
Collette took her off the nurse, and the blonde immediately rested into her arms, shivering.
Collette took off her coat and wrapped it around the woman, balancing her as they walked out of the hospital and into the rain.
CHAPTER SIX
“I’m sorry about all this.”
Collette handed Tara a mug of freshly brewed coffee. “Don’t worry about it,” she said softly. “We all trip up some times.”
Tara was lying on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket, visibly shaking despite the warmth of the apartment.
Collette sat on the couch opposite her, her own coffee in her hands as she curled her legs underneath her.
She took a sip from her drink as she eyed the blonde clad in sweat pants and an over-sized sweatshirt one of Collette’s exes had left behind.
She liked casual Tara a lot more, less flamboyant, more attractive even.
“This isn’t the way I’d like people to see me,” Tara said, lowering her face closer to the coffee and letting the steam warm her face.
“It happens to the best of us,” Collette said.
Tara looked up at her and smiled weakly. “Had your share of overdoses?”
“No, actually, I never really got into it,” Collette replied. “College was full of them, though. It was almost a rite of passage.”
Tara nodded and sipped on her drink. “Jackie was a lot less understanding.”
“Is that why you guys aren’t talking anymore?”
“Who said we weren’t talking?”
Collette raised an eyebrow and cocked her head to a side.
Tara smiled wider. “One of the reasons,” she said, her voice almost a whisper.
“Jackie will come around, whatever the problem is,” Collette said.
Tara looked at her, her blue eyes glowing softly in the dim lights. “I’m not being headhunted,” she said. “I was fired.”
Collette put her mug down with a frown. “What?”
“News of my drug problem reached top management,” Tara admitted. “I didn’t stand a chance. They didn’t care about my work there, or how much effort I put into that company. They had me escorted out as soon as they heard.”
“Oh my God, Tara, I had no idea. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s ok,” Tara said. “I’m not exactly proud of it.”
