Red

Family

As soon as I got back home, I went straight to the hospital and to my grandad's room. He'd had a heart attack and needed to have surgery. I'd spent all Thursday afternoon and evening at the hospital with some of my family. He was going in for surgery Friday afternoon so we were praying he was going to be okay.

I was currently sitting curled up in a ball in a chair in the waiting room, falling in and out of sleep. We all took it in turns to head home to eat and shower, but I had refused to leave. I was half asleep when I heard the nurse say something to my mum, bringing someone with her. I could have sworn I'd heard that funny  accent before but I could have been dreaming, I always seemed to dream about work. But then, "Arabella, sweetie" my mum's voice made me stir a little, "Arabella, you've got a friend here..." she said, gently shaking me awake. I frowned and looked up, seeing a familiar figure, dressed in stone wash jeans, vans, and a fire engine red rain coat. I rubbed my eyes and sat up, "Kimi?"

"Bella" he said softly, bending down to me. "what are you doing here?" I was dazed and confused. "What day is it?" I asked, "Very early Friday"
"But, free practice?" I was really confused. "Stefan is driving my car, remember?" he chuckled a little. I rubbed my eyes and thought for a moment. Yeah, he was testing Kimi's car today. "but why are you here?" I asked him again. He shuffled a little awkwardly on his feet, looking down at them then back to me. "I wanted to be here with you" he told me. "Your mum said you haven't eaten or slept...or clearly showered..." he teased. I scowled at him and he chuckled again. "Come, I will take you home, you need to eat something" he said, tugging on my hand. His touch made my heart race, just like it did two nights ago when he kissed me. I shook my head, now wasn't the time to be thinking of that. "Please, come" he said softly, his icy eyes pleading with me. "I promise nothing will happen while we are gone" he said, and somehow, I believed him. I took a deep breath and got up. My knees felt weak and I stumbled, but Kimi caught me, holding me around my waist like it was the most natural thing for him to do. "Take your time" mum said softly, seeing Kimi holding me. I smiled a little at her and let him walk me to the lift.

.................

It only took about ten minutes to get to my house, and all the way there, Kimi kept a tight hold of me, letting me rest my head on his shoulder as the emotions of the last 24 hours hit me. When the car arrived at my door, we got out and I led him up the driveway to the front door. I unlocked it and let us inside. I hadn't been to the place for about 3 weeks, yet it felt like it was just hours. I dropped my bag onto the floor and showed Kimi into the front room. "I'll go grab a shower" I said to him. He nodded and flicked on the tv.

I can't have been up there longer than 20 minutes. I showered and towel dried my hair, sticking it up into a ponytail whilst it was still damp, and I had changed my clothes, into a pair of my favourite fitted skinny jeans and a plain white t-shirt. I came down the stairs to be met by the aroma of spicy chicken and wedges. I smiled seeing Kimi trying to find the crockery. "top right cupboard" I said, joining him in the kitchen. He flashed his white teeth at me in a smile and then pulled out two plates. I poured us some ice cold water and took it into the dining room. when I rejoined him in the kitchen he was plating up the food.

...............

As we ate, he was filling me in on what was happening at the track, how traumatic the driver conference had been and not to mention all the interviews I had him do. I giggled, I'd not told him about those, with the intention of springing them on him just before we had to attend, but seeing as though they threw someone else in to cover for me, he decided not to be awkward. I said he should be like that for me, but he didn't seem to agree.

"aren't you going to get in trouble for being here with me?" I asked after we'd finished the food. He shrugged, "uh, so what, you need someone more than they need me today, I was of no use for them" he told me. I smiled, "thank you Kimi" I blushed, feeling incredibly shy all of a sudden. "I have to call Sophia and Seb later to tell them how you are" he said, I laughed a little at that. "they wanted to come too, but they're not as important as me so..." he shrugged again. I rolled my eyes and laughed again. "we better be heading back to the hospital" I said, picking up our plates. "I called your mum, she said that your granddad is fine and you should get some rest before you head back" he told me, looking up to my eyes as I stood from the table. I pondered for a moment and knew I really did need to sleep. I nodded, "okay, but I'll sleep on the couch." I said, causing Kimi to nod. "do you have a blanket? Blanket's are good for napping" he said, making me want to giggle, "yes, on the end of my bed" I said to him. I took the plates into the kitchen and then froze. SHIT. I really shouldn't have let him go into my room. too late now! I walked into the living room, gathered all the cushions up at one end of the couch and layed my head down. My only option was to pretend to be asleep so I didn't have to answer to Kimi why I had a signed McLaren poster of him opposite my bed!

As soon as I heard him coming down the stairs I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep. I felt him lay the blanket gently over me, but then he did something I didn't expect. He lifted up the blanket and slipped onto the couch beside me. he wrapped his arm around me, resting his palm on my back and snuggled down next to me. I heard him sigh, "I didn't realise I was your favourite" he said softly, thinking I was asleep. "you are mine too" my heart began to flutter...

............

I woke up several hours later, seeing it was already 3.30pm. I lifted my head to find Kimi snoring loudly beside me, still with his arm wrapped around me. Why even now was I the one waking him?! I nudged him hard in the side, "Kimi!" I yelled in his ear. "I was already awake" he groaned at me. I smiled. "we gotta head back! My granddad went into surgery at 2!" I urged him. "Shit!" he gasped, looking at his watch. We both jumped up and scrambled about for what we needed and thankfully we were soon in the car and off to the hospital once again.

When we arrived my mum was still there, my dad had gone to his house to change and eat too. When she saw us she smiled, "you look so much better love" I smiled at her, "how's granddad?" I asked, feeling Kimi loitering behind me somewhere. "He's still in surgery, he should be out in about an hour" she told me. I nodded, the nerves still not subsiding. "he seems a nice chap" mum said, nodding over to Kimi, making me giggle. "Yeah, he's not so bad" I said, hearing him chuckle from behind me. I turned to him and we walked over to the corner of the visitor's room. "you gotta leave soon right?" I asked him, knowing he had a meeting with Maurizio tonight. "yes, maybe before now" he said, but I knew he didn't care. I nodded and looked down, knowing I wasn't hiding my disappointment. "well, good luck in qualy tomorrow" I said, looking up to his face. He nodded at me, "will you call me when he comes out of the operation?" he asked me, making me smile, "of course" I nodded. he smiled at me and nodded, "I'll walk you to the lift" I said, and we turned and headed out of the room.

"thank you for coming all the way here Kimi, you really didn't have to." I said as he pressed the button for the lift. "I know, but I don't like seeing you sad" he replied, turning back to me. I blushed and looked down to the floor. That's when I felt his hand gently take my chin and lift my head up towards his. "I am always here for you. but you must go, be there for your granddad, I will be waiting for you when you're ready to come back." He said softly. I could feel my butterflies darting around my stomach, I knew it wasn't good. But I nodded at him in response, him holding my gaze as we both heard the lift doors open. I held my breath trying to hold back more tears, "and you have the mess to sort out with the media" he said and quickly ran away from me into the lift, my mind snapped out of its fuzzy daze "Kimi!!!" I hissed at him, but he just stood in the lift grinning at me. He threw me a wink as the doors began to close and I couldn't help but laugh at him. He really had made me feel heaps better.