THREE - Daniel Ricciardo

Chapter 65 - You

AMY

"Stephen Fox?" A doctor emerged into the doorway of the room as we congregated in the family room opposite where my nan was being held.

My dad stood up and shook the other man's hand, acknowledging his words as he spoke.

"I hate to tell you this but your mom suffered both a heart attack and a stroke." He delivered the bad news as I closed my eyes and looked down towards my lap. "She's completely unresponsive and we don't expect her to make it through the next 24 hours."

I opened my eyes again and looked out towards my dad who appeared as if he was just hit by a truck. Daniel's arm slung around my shoulders as he was stood up behind me, linking his fingers with mine as he held my hand over his chest.

"I'm really sorry. We will be monitoring her but we don't believe that her situation will improve."

My mom nodded as she steadied her husband.

"Thank you for everything you're doing for her." My mom spoke on behalf of us as the news seemingly seemed to strike both myself and my dad terribly.

My mom was always the strongest one in the family, no matter how physically tough my dad was. That's what you get from being a nurse for numerous years; you become desensitised by this sort of information.

The doctor led us down the corridor and into my nans private room at the end of the hallway, opening the door and revealing an elderly lady with wires coming out of every point imaginable as she lay back, her mouth slightly open and her chest rising him shallow breaths.

My dad turned around and rubbed his chin with his hand, turning away from the sight that he had just seen.

"I need a moment." He stated as he walked off, my mom following him as he looked like he was about to throw up; the colour draining from his skin and his complexion becoming clammy.

Although I didn't want to go in myself, my legs responded before my brain. Soon enough, I was stood next to the bed where she lay as Daniel walked closely behind me, remaining as silent as possible.

I placed my hand onto hers. Her hand was cold and icy, which was never like her. She was always warm, no matter what the temperature was.

"Hi nanny." I said in a whisper as my bottom lip quivered slightly, reminding me to take a breath before stepping closer. "I hope that you can hear me. I hope that you know I'm here." I spoke again as I inspected her lifeless body.

I looked over in Daniel's direction as he didn't know what to do in this situation, navigating it as he went.

"This is Daniel. He's my boyfriend." I stated as I informed my grandparent that I wasn't alone.

I didn't overthink calling Daniel my boyfriend. I mean, what else was I meant to call him?

"Hey, Mavis." Daniel smiled as he came up behind me, placing his hand across mine which still sat on top of my nan's.

As the day went on, my dad finally plucked up the courage to enter to room, ensuring we all left so he could have a moment alone with his mom during her final hours.

Rich and Penelope were also on their way from France, making sure they got here on time. Rich was just about as gutted as dad was, blubbering down the phone as I informed them of their flight times which Daniel had kindly arranged in a hurry.

I sat down on the chair in the hallway outside of the hospital room, holding my back as it started to ache, slowly sliding down to rest my legs. It was no joke as to just how exhausted I felt. At just over thirteen weeks pregnant, I was starting to experience other symptoms other than tiredness and dizziness. These past few hours in the hospital had reduced me to sickness, often going to the toilet to secretly throw up.