We pull up to the hospital in Washington and Josh parks the car. He takes the key out of the ignition but doesn't make a move to get out of the car and neither do I. I'm still staring out of the window, staring at the hospital building when I feel a hand caress my thigh, catching my attention.

"Jadah." Josh calls to me. I hum in response to him, telling him to finish what he was saying. "You sure you wanna do this?" He asks.

"Yeah, I don't care what my sister or anyone else has to say for that matter. This is my dad we're talking about. My best friend. I'm going to make sure he's okay." I say.

"Okay, just remember I'm here." He says with a small smile. I smile at him, reach over the console and pulling him into a kiss.

"Trust me. I know." I say, my forehead against his. "Let's do this?" I say giving him a nervous look.

"Let's do this." He nods his head.

"Hello, do you know what room David Price is in?" I ask the receptionist as Josh and I walk into the hospital. "May I know your relation to the patient?" The woman asks, typing away on her computer.

"I'm his daughter." My words come out rushed, not meaning to. Josh seems to notice because he places his hand on my back, and I feel small circles being drawn with his finger, trying to calm me.

"Ma'am, I'm really in a rush here and I want to see my dad and make sure he's okay so if you could please hurry that would-." My nervous rambling gets interrupted.

"Jadah." Josh says my name. My snaps over to him and he gives me a look. "She's doing her best, I know you're scared and anxious but we're going to see him, okay. Just let her do her job, baby." He says kissing the back of my head at the end of his sentence.

I take a deep breath and look back up at him. "You're right. I'm sorry." I nod my head, sighing.

"I apologize ma'am, I'm just really scared." I let out a small, nervous laugh. "Oh you're totally fine honey, I get worse than that everyday." She gives me a warm smile.

"He's up in room 1225 on the third floor, sweetie." She finally says. My eyes widen and I look back at Josh. "Thank you so much, ma'am." I say quickly, before grabbing his hand and taking off towards the elevators.

While in the elevators Josh squeezes my hand, catching my attention. I look up at him beside me.

"You're shaking J." He says. I look down at my body and see it slightly shaking. "Oh my god." I sigh. "Hey, it's okay." He reassures me.

The elevator dings and the doors slide open. I fast walk down the hallway, looking at all the room numbers on the wall.

That's when I spot a group of people next a room door. I stop in my tracks and pull Josh closer to me. "What?" He asks in confusion.

"That's them, that's my family." I mutter. "You got this, okay, you can do it." He smiles. I sigh deeply and begin walking again, slower this time.

As I get closer, I can tell they've spotted me. That's when I see my sister. She gets up from the bench she's on and approaches us. We meet in front of the hospital room door and I pull Josh behind me.

I feel him loosely place his hands on my hips, letting me know he's here, which i'm secretly thankful for. "Jadah." She greets with a monotone voice.

"Serena." I say in the same tone. She crosses her arms over her chest and her eyes shift to something behind me. Someone. "So this is the little white boy that's keeping you away from your family?" She laughs bitterly, giving him a once-over.

I roll my eyes. "Like I told you, I'm not doing this with you. I'm not here for you. I'm here for my dad." I say.

"He's here because he cares about me, therefore he cares about what I care about, which is the man in that room, so if you'll excuse me, I'm going to see my father." I point to Josh.

She rolls her eyes and walks off. I sigh and look back at Josh briefly. I walk up to the door and turn the knob. I take a deep breath before opening the door.

I walk in but feel a vacancy behind me. I turn and see Josh still in the doorway. "What are you doing?" I ask.

"This is a private moment, I don't want to ruin it." He says. "Josh come on." I wave him in.

"You sure?" He asks. I walk back over to him and stop in front of his tall frame. I stand on my tiptoes and place a soft kiss on his lips. "Yes, I want you here." I reassure him.

He smiles slightly before walking into the room with me. My breath hitches when I see the man on the hospital bed.

He has wires hooked up all over his body, needles in his arms and a breathing tube up his nose. "Oh dad." I breath out. I walk over to his bed and see that he isn't fully asleep.

"Is that my baby?" He chokes out. "Don't speak if it hurts dad, yeah it's me." I smile sadly.

"Oh, I'm fine, just the seasonal heart attack." He tries to joke. "Dad, stop." I say sadly. "I'm so sorry I wasn't here, I should've been here." I say.

"It's not your fault honey, I told them to call you, but you never came." He says. "Dad, they didn't tell me for a week." I sigh.

"I know honey, they're still holding that stupid grudge." He says. "Dad, what happened?" I ask.

He sighs and looks away from me. "I may have skipped out on a few doses of my medication." He says lowly.

"Dad!" I exclaim. "I know, I know." He says. I rub my hands down my face. "I thought we had a deal. I go to LA and you keep up with your meds." I remind him.

"I know we did honey, I messed up." He admits. "Can't leave you alone for two seconds can I?" I tease.

"I guess you can't baby girl." He softly smiles. That's when he looks behind me and I knew he noticed Josh. "And who's this?" He asks.

"You got yourself a little boyfriend honey?" He asks. I groan in embarrassment and I hear Josh chuckle behind me. He comes up beside me and meets my dads sleepy eyes.

"Hi Mr. Price, I'm Joshua." He holds his hand out. "Josh is my..... friend." I hesitate, looking at Josh for help.

He looks away quickly, pretending to look around the room. I roll my eyes at him, and look back at my dad.

"Oh okay." He says, clearly not convinced.

"Well, I'm going to go to the food court because I haven't eaten all day, do you want anything Josh?" I ask.

"No, I'm good J." He smiles.

"Okay." I say smiling, before walking out.

JOSHS POV
As soon as Jadah leaves I turn around and make my way over to the window seat in the hospital room. "Hold on boy." I hear.

I look over and see Mr. Price looking at me. "Sir?" I ask. "Pull up a chair." He tells me.

I quickly pull a chair up beside his hospital bed. "Yes sir?" I ask him, urging him to continue talking.

"You said your name was Josh?" He asks. I nod my head. "Yes, Joshua sir, if that's what you would like to call me." I say.

"So you like my little girl Joshua?" He asks. I'm caught off guard and my eyes slightly widen. I can feel heat rush to my cheeks, a slight blush covering my face.

"Um- i-." I stutter. He gives me a look. "Don't lie to me young man." He warns. I look down sheepishly.

"Yes sir, I do like Jadah. A lot." I say. He nods his head in thought. "And you care for her?" He questions.

I instantly nod my head. "So much." I respond, a small smile covering my face.

"Then when do you plan on making a move son?" He asks, looking at me like i'm stupid.

"I had some stuff planned for when we get back to LA but we were so set on getting here, all my plans kinda of paused." I say truthfully.

"I see, well let me tell you something." He starts. "My little girl has been through a lot in her life, some because of me, other stuff too but she loves hard. I can tell in her eyes how much she cares for you. So don't screw it up for something that's not worth it because trust me, she's worth a whole lot more than male temptation. Remember that." He says.

She's worth more than male temptation.

"Yes sir, i will." I tell him. "Uh uh son, i've heard that one too many times." He shakes his head.

"Promise me, I don't want to see my daughter hurt anymore." He says.

I look at him and I can see how serious and genuine he is. I also see her. I see Jadah all in him. Not just her looks.

I see her heart, I see her loving nature, I see the adventurous glint she always has in her eye. I see her character. He's all in her.

That makes me want to keep my promise and not only prove to Mr. Price that I can be the one to treat her right, but show her what love really is.

"I promise." I finally say. He gives me a wide smile.

"Good, now tell me about these plans."

ᴛᴇᴅ ᴛᴀʟᴋ
yeahh told y'all i would get chapter 30 out today😌. i actually really like this chapter a lot so i how you guys did too. lmk what y'all think of Mr. Price.

but let's just discuss one thing bc we can't let this slip by without addressing it.

YSTSYSJDDKDKDODYSGEJDK EXCUSE ME JOSHUA KENNETH RICHARDS YEP FULL GOVERNMENT NAME.

HE HAD NO RIGHT TO POST THESE-

the jaw- THE HAIR- let me not.

anyways😃 have a nice day my loves💕