THREE - Daniel Ricciardo

Chapter 40 - Nine Days

AMY

Knowing Daniel was by my side and that my parents were only down the hallway was all the comfort I needed to get me through the evening. Sleep felt deep and drowsy, probably due to the fact that I had diazepam circulating around my blood stream. For the first night in a very long time, I felt settled. If only I could administer this to myself every day.

My legs, however, did not want to co-operate. They felt heavy as I laid on my back, eyes fluttering open due to the sunlight entering the room. I could only move them slightly or wiggle my toes. I placed my arm in the air to gain full view of my watch, considering to wake Daniel up as I really needed to use the toilet.

6:45am

Internally groaning, Daniel would not be pleased to be woken up this early, however he did have to attend MTC today so maybe it was best for him to have an early start.

I reached my hand over to the bronzed Australian who lay wrapped up in my bedsheets; the crisp white sheets hung loosely on his hips, preventing the exposure of his private areas. My fingers looped between each one of his curls as I lazily ran my hand through his hair.

"Angel?" Daniel looked up with tired eyes as he rose from the pillow which had his head firmly planted in. An imprint of the sheets etched across his cheek. "Are you okay?"

He leaned over and moved closer to me, placing the palm of his hand across my stomach.

"I really need to pee." I giggled as my fingers still laced through his hair. "My legs feel weak."

Daniel chuckled before sitting up and dangling his legs over the edge of the bed. He grunted deeply and ran his hands over his face, providing his face with a small slap so he would wake up quickly. He stood to attention and walked around to my side of the bed, reaching his toned arms out in my direction and taking hold of my hands as he guided me up.

As soon as my legs felt the ground, I wobbled and would've tripped, face first, if it hadn't been for Daniel's strong arm which now rested on my lower back.

"Take it easy." He whispered, still half asleep as he assisted me across my room and into the en-suite, each step taking far too long.

Feeling extreme frustration with this, I groaned with each step as I just wanted to get up and run. I was never one to sit around all day or want to have someone help me constantly. I hated the fact that I needed to depend on someone else to escort me to the bathroom, I missed my freedom already, but I had to remind myself that this was only temporary.

Daniel helped me sit down on the toilet and as I went, he splashed some cold water onto his face to wake himself up quicker. He picked up the grey towel which lay on the surface next to the sink and proceeded to dry his complexion.

"How are you feeling?" Daniel asked, breaking the silence. "The paramedics said you may feel sick?"

I shook my head to suggest 'no' as I cleaned myself up. Daniel smiled as he pulled me back up again, helping me pull my pyjama shorts and panties back up my legs as he reached over to press the button which flushed the toilet.

"I'm so sorry." I giggled as we started to slowly move out of the bathroom. "This is so embarrassing."

"Not at all." Daniel cackled as he used one arm to prop me up and the other to reach for his robe which was thrown over the back of the bedroom door. "You could've needed a shit. That would've been worse."

"There's still time for that, Ricciardo." I went along with his joke as his booming laugh filled the hallway.

As we moved across to the top of the stairs, I could hear movements in the kitchen, along with the radio as my dad's voice sang along to the words. I smiled as I remembered always waking up to his singing in the kitchen when I lived at home with them as a child. As a teenager, I found this ever so embarrassing, especially when Rachel stopped the night. But now all I needed was my parents. I needed to feel the comfort of my mom and dad, even at my big age of 27.