Under Her Wing

Chapter 36

Slight TW for anxiety, ED & SH. I don't want to offend anyone.

Danielle  POV

"Amalia's therapist has emailed me," I told Stefania as I plonked myself down on the sofa.

"Everything okay?" She asked, lifting my legs and sitting down, resting them back down over her lap.

"She wanted to give me some advice and suggestions without Amalia knowing," I sighed.

"Like what bellina?" She said, beginning to massage my calves.

"She said it's important to acknowledge her feelings and anxieties and don't dismiss or ignore them. We should still let her know we're there to support and care for her but encourage her to use coping strategies herself before jumping in to help. She said if we're always immediately soothing her anxiety then she won't learn to cope alone," I explained.

"That actually makes sense," Stefania nodded in understanding.

"It's not nice seeing her struggle when I know I can help though," I frowned.

"You'll still be able to help, just prompt and encourage her to use her own coping strategies," she suggested.

"I'm going to go and walk Jeff, do you want to come?" Stef said as she moved my legs aside.

"You go, I'm gonna go see if Amalia wants to sit outside. She's been in her room all day," I smiled sadly.

"Alright bellina," she said, leaning down to kiss me before sorting Jeff out....

Amalia POV

*You need to come home*

*Rob and I are sick*

*You need to come look after us*

*Think how bad you'll feel if something happens and you did nothing to help!*

The past week had been a nightmare. My phone hadn't stopped flashing with message after message from my mom.

After the first one that Stefania was there for, she made me show Danielle when she arrived home. Danielle told me to block their numbers and try to ignore it.

She'd asked on multiple occasions this past week whether I'd received any more. Each time she asked, I replied that I'd heard nothing.

The combination of guilt from lying to Danielle and potentially leaving my mom sick was eating me alive. I didn't know what to do.
I spent the majority of my time doing everything I could to convince Danielle and Stefania that I was alright. I'd been submitting shitty work to Greg but that was the least of my worries.

Danielle thought I'd been sleeping and eating much better, she kept telling me over and over again how proud she was. I felt awful. I was exhausted.

The only positive was that Danielle had more time to work on the multiple projects she'd been pushing aside because of me. I knew I'd been taking up a lot of her time.

I'd not actually heard from my mom in the last two days. That's what's been making me panic.

What if something actually has happened?

What if she actually is sick?

I needed to find out. I had a permanent knot in my stomach preventing me from being able to relax or even keep food down.

"Mali sunshine? Everything alright?" I looked up from my blank phone and saw Danielle pop her head around the door.

"All good," I smiled.