Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Chapter eight


 Hours later Richie woke up to the amount of bright light that was shining in to the room. The weather hadn’t been bad but with the rays shining through the blinds, it looked very promising to be a nice day. Hopefully the weather would be as nice this afternoon when they’d get to Oslo.

He turned his gaze from the blinds back to Sarah, still perfectly asleep next to him. His arms were still around her, under her, up to her shoulder while his other hand still rested on her bottom.

In comparison to earlier this morning, Sarah looked perfectly peaceful and he wanted to let her stay there rather than wake her up but it was getting close to noon, they had to leave, the plane would leave at 1.30 pm.

When he turned back to Sarah, he saw her face contort in pain. He thought he should wake her up but she relaxed again.

Richie continued watching her sleep, she needed to rest, it was something he had liked since the first time they shared a bed. He watched her a few minutes until he watched her face turn to a painful expression followed by a moan.

“Sarah?” He softly stroked over the small of her back to wake her up.

Sarah woke up in an instant, Richie came in to her view and she almost forgot the pain that was disturbing her. “Morning.” She smiled at him.
Richie smiled back at her, “morning,” he kissed her shortly, “how are you feeling, you looked like you were in pain”
“Not as bad as yesterday but I’m going to like painkillers.” She joked.
Richie sat up next to her, starting the same routine as earlier. “I’ll be keeping that box then.” He said as he popped two pills out of their package.
“I was only kidding sweetie.” Sarah reassured him.

He turned around again and leaned in to kiss her, saying, “I know,” before he kissed her lips, “you called me sweetie.” A big smile on his face.
“I did?” She asked surprised, not realizing she had.
“You did, no taking it back.” He teased.

A smile appeared on Sarah’s face. “I don’t think I want to.”
“Good.”

Richie gave her another kiss before getting off the bed and stretching to stand. “We have to leave in,” he glanced at the clock, “half an hour. The plane takes off in an hour. Think we’re going to Norway.”
“You don’t know where we are going?” Sarah asked surprised.
“As long as the pilot knows.” Richie joked.

Sarah sat up in the bed, pulled the sheets away and picked up the cold pack, then moved to get up too.

“What are you doing?’

She looked up at Richie, who was still convinced she shouldn’t be doing anything.

“Getting dressed.” Sarah pointed out.

Carefully she stood up and walked a few steps to her bag to pick out her clothes for the day.

Richie did the same, quickly dressing without minding Sarah in the room, she wasn’t paying attention to him anyway.

Sarah got her clothes and toiletries and walked to the bathroom, excusing herself to get dressed in private.

Richie started packing while he waited for Sarah while she got dressed. His dirty clothes went in to the laundry bag and his personal possessions went into his travel bag.

By the time he was ready, Sarah came out of the bathroom.

Richie looked up at her, liking what he saw even though it was only a pair of blue jeans and a red t-shirt. Her shirt was tight enough to show off her figure.

For Sarah it had been one of those t-shirts she packed but wasn’t sure she’d wear it, exactly because it was a bit tighter and accentuated her figure.

“So where does dirty laundry go?” She asked.
Richie held up his laundry bag. “Laundry bag, leave it outside the door and it’ll magically return clean the next day.” He explained cheerful.
Sarah chuckled. “Magically?”
Richie nodded, “how else?” He asked seriously.



Half an hour later they were at the airport, which according to Sarah, was much nicer with Richie. They hadn’t gone through the busy main hall or terminals.

When they arrived, they changed their big SUV cars for an airport bus and were driven to the plane on the tarmac.

Sarah had been amazed they had their own plane but remembered the concert she had watched the night before, the crowd was huge, the band was successful.

As usual with Richie around her, she felt more comfortable and less nervous, he had definitely become her rock.

Richie picked out their seat on the plane, taking the seat by the window before Sarah could but she didn’t mind and preferred an aisle seat.

The plane had two seats by two for two rows in the front, in the middle there were two tables with two seats pointing to the front of the plane and two to the back. Sideways there was a couch with three seats. Further to the back there was a bathroom and a room with a bed.

For Sarah it was unbelievable, it was luxurious but not too fancy.

Jon joined them, taking his seat across of Richie. “How’s the foot Sarah? Matt said you went to the hospital.”
“We did. It’s sprained, need to keep it elevated and iced.” Sarah explained.
“Shouldn’t you put it up then? Kick Sambora out of his seat and put it up.” He suggested as a joke.
“We could kick you out of your seat so Sarah can put her foot up there.” Richie told him.
“Why would you do that, there’s a perfectly good, empty seat next to me.” Jon padded the seat next to him.

Sarah did as Jon suggested and put her foot on the seat in front of her like Richie suggested, she rather kept him next to her.

Some of the pain was already relieved just by elevating it.



When the plane was up in the air, another lady appeared in the cabin, walking right up to them.

“You must be Sarah, Richie told me lots about you.”
“He has?” Sarah wondered, looking over at Richie who smiled a guilty smile.
“Yeah, he spent the whole flight from New York to Zagreb talking about you and that’s a fifteen hour flight, not to forget.” She smiled over at Richie, knowing she was teasing him. “Anyway, I’m Jane, I’m the flight attendant.” When she noticed Sarah’s foot, she added. “Do you want some ice for that?”
“Yes please.” Sarah happily accepted the offer.
“Alright, I’ll bring lunch in a minute too.” Jane looked up to Jon and Richie who both nodded.



By 5 pm they finally made it to their hotel in Oslo. It took Richie quite a few minutes to tell his friends he wanted a quiet night in, even longer to convince them Sarah needed rest, which she according to him needed.

After discussing it with the rest of the band, he joined Sarah in their room again. “Got us a perfect night planned, order some room service and watch some movies. Maybe make out a bit and see where that goes.” He shrugged as he suggested it but only meant it as a joke.
“Richie.” Sarah complained.
“I’m kidding. Anyway, I need a shower after a flight.” He said.
“Me too.” Sarah said too fast but the plane had given her a, not exactly dirty feeling, but less clean.
“Hmmm wanna join me?” He teased.
Sarah looked at him, considering the idea. “No.” She decided, showering seemed too soon, she was more comfortable with this morning.
“Alright, but I really hope you don’t shower on your own then.”
“Why not?” Sarah asked confused.
“Do you think you can manage? You already slipped once and it’s nicely wrapped now.” Richie explained.

Sarah looked down at her foot, he was right, she didn’t want to take the bandage off because she’d never get it exactly right again.

“You’re right, I could never wrap it up like that again. I can just wash by the sink.” She decided.

Richie still preferred helping her out but maybe a relaxing evening on the couch could turn back to what they were doing earlier. So he agreed and went to shower first.

Sarah took her bag and started looking for clean clothes. She didn’t want to get fully dressed, in fact she wanted to get out of jeans and t-shirt and especially her bra, her back was still hurting. Still feeling silly about forgetting pj’s, she’d just have to ask Richie for clothes later.

Instead she sat down on the couch and turned on the TV.

“Anything good?” Richie walked back in, dressed in jeans, barefoot and wearing a dress shirt with the buttons left open.
“It’s all in Swedish. Haven’t you learned all these languages by now?” She teased.
“Hey, I play guitar, I’m not a master mind in languages.” Richie answered her.
“Right, so we have to rent a movie.”

Richie picked up the room service menu which was lying next to the telephone on the night stand and joined Sarah on the couch.

“What do you want for dinner.” He held the folded piece of paper open so she could read it too.

After a minute he sighed, “Where’s the normal food? I want pizza.” He stated.
Sarah took the menu from his hands and turned it around.
“Oh.” He said a little surprised. “That’s better.”

This side of the menu had fast food, pizzas and burgers. They both made their pick and as Richie phoned room service Sarah went into the bathroom. She immediately tried out the towel and bathrobe’s softness. So soft, her towels at home never felt like that. She could definitely get used to that.

In the bathroom she found everything she needed, including a stool. She left washing her hair for last and called Richie when she finished and put on the soft bathrobe.

Richie appeared at the door in an instant, wondering if something was wrong.

“Do you mind to helping me wash my hair?” Sarah explained her problem.
“Don’t mind if I do.” He stepped up to where Sarah was sitting on the stool by the sink and turned on the water. He liked Sarah’s hair, the color, the softness, he liked it.

It wasn’t the first time he helped washing someone’s hair in the sink like that and in a few minutes Sarah was already drying her hair.

Just in time because there was a knock at the door.

When Sarah got back to the room Richie was arranging their dinner on the coffee table. She hadn’t asked him for clothes when he was in the bathroom with her, so she decided to keep the bathrobe for now. It was as soft as the one at the hotel in Munich.

They picked a movie and started their dinner.

By the start of the second movie empty plates stood on the coffee table and Sarah had cuddled up to Richie’s side, his arm wrapped around her like it always was. Sarah liked it when he did that, it was simple but it meant a lot to her.

Richie tried his best to look at the TV screen, he had already noticed her bathrobe had gotten looser when she moved closer to him and he could see inside her robe now. The sight had him almost instantly hard. To keep looking at it wasn’t going to help, so he moved in his seat so Sarah had to move too.

He found his side of the couch could recline, he put up his feet and opened his legs for Sarah to sit in front of him.

Once settled again, he wrapped his arms around Sarah’s waist.

Before long she could feel his fingers sneak inside her robe, at first they just rested at her waist but hands soon followed their path and opened her robe, finding more skin to touch.

When his hands moved up to her breasts and moved away her robe so it was resting over her shoulders and her chest was bare, a sharp intake of breath from Sarah made it clear how surprised she was by his actions.

Richie reached in to kiss her neck to distract and relax her. As he had hoped it relaxed her and Sarah leaned back against him, leaning her head against his shoulder.

From there she could reach his lips to kiss him back.

As they kissed, Richie’s hands cupped Sarah’s breasts, groaning at the feel of them.

Sarah could feel his reaction against her back, she still couldn’t believe she turned him on. She didn’t think anyone could be turned on by her again, something she had left behind at college.



After a couple more minutes, Richie turned off the movie and sat up, he needed to relieve the pressure inside his pants. Sarah pulled up her bathrobe, pulling it tightly closed, then she got up to move out of Richie’s way.

Richie got up and took Sarah’s hand, guiding her to the bed.
“What are you doing?” Sarah asked him, uncertain about why he got up and decided to switch to the bed.
Richie turned around and pulled her close. “Moving to the bed.”
“Why?” The couch seemed fine and the movie wasn’t even over yet.
“Because I need to stop touching you before I spontaneously explode.”
Sarah’s eyes went wide with surprise due to his choice of words.
“Oh come here.” He pulled her into a hug. “I… can’t believe how cute you just looked when you did that.”

He had to stop starting sentences with “I” before the words would slip out without his control. He didn’t even know if she felt the same way about him. He knew she trusted him, at least, enough, she’d get there, he was confident of that. He wanted to be sure before telling her about his feelings, there had been enough disappointments lately and he didn’t want to ruin what they had now, so he found Sarah clothes to sleep in and as long as he got a shower a day, he’d survive.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Chapter seven



Waiting didn’t take very long this time, only a minute until the same nurse from earlier called for Sarah.

Back to the first room they went, back to the same bed.

As soon as Sarah leaned back on the bed, another man walked in to the room, introducing himself as the doctor that had just reviewed her x-rays. He noticeably sounded British. He shook both Richie’s and Sarah’s hand before starting his explanation.

“No fractures, nothing's broken, which means you sprained it.” He walked over to the foot of the bed and took a look at Sarah’s ankle. “By the looks of it, it’s badly sprained. It’ll take a few months to heal but the pain, swelling and bruising should go sooner.” He looked up at Sarah to make sure she heard what he said. “Even though it hurts, you have to try and walk on it but plenty of rest with some ice too.”

Sarah nodded but didn’t look forward to walking on it but at least now she knew she wouldn’t damage it even more.

The doctor wrote on his notepad and tore off a piece of paper. “Here’s a prescription to painkillers, every four hours should do.” He handed the prescription to Richie.

He shook hands again and left the room.

“That’s good news.” The nurse said cheerful as he took a bandage and pulled a stool closer. “I’ll bandage your ankle and you’ll be good to go.” He sat down on the stool, ready to get started. “Can you lift your foot?”

Sarah carefully lifted her foot up in the air and the man started applying the bandage around her ankle.

When he finished, Sarah could already feel the use of the bandage.

“We usually don’t give pills but I assume you are tourists and don’t know where to get them?” He asked.

Both Sarah and Richie nodded, an easy enough lie to go with.

The nurse took the prescription and left the room.

“He’s nice.”
Surprised, Richie looked up at Sarah. “He should be, he’s a nurse.”
“I know, but he’s nice and friendly.” Sarah said.

A few minutes later the nurse returned, Sarah had already moved to the wheelchair, not wanting to try to walk just yet. The nurse handed a box of pills to Richie, on it he had written how much she should take and when.

“That’s it. Now be careful when you try to walk and remember to put your foot up and ice will help.” He reminded them.
“Thanks.” They both said and Richie wheeled Sarah back to the waiting room.

“This time?” Matt asked, they had been gone longer than before.
“All good, just badly sprained.” Richie said. “We can go.”

Back at the hotel, Richie helped Sarah out of the car, he was ready to pick her up.
“No, I have to walk.” Sarah protested.
“You sure?” He asked concerned.
“Yeah, just stay close.” She said as she carefully tried to put weight on her foot. It hurt but it wasn’t too bad.

She tried the first step and winced, carefully she tried the second step.

Slowly and carefully she made her way into the hotel. Looking at the elevator at the other end of the lobby, it looked miles away.

“That’s enough walking; you can try again in our room.” Richie could see the short five minute walk had already taken a lot out of her.

He picked her up and followed Matt to the elevator.

When they reached their floor they said goodbye to Matt and continued their own way to their room, where Richie put Sarah down again.

“Can you walk to bed?” He asked as he opened the door.
“Yeah, it’s not so bad. It hurts but not as bad as earlier.” Sarah explained.
“Because you know it’s not broken.” Richie said and followed her in to the room.
Sarah knew he was right.

Just as slow and carefully she made her way to the bed and sat down on the edge. She let Richie help put her foot back up.

From the mini-fridge he retrieved another blue ice pack and placed it on Sarah’s bandaged ankle. He got her a cup of water from the bathroom and gave her two pills from the box. On the bed next to Sarah he noticed two new pillows, glad he didn’t have to call room service anymore. He got on the bed on his side to help her out of her shorts just as carefully as they had put them on earlier.

“I need to shower; I still stink from the show.” Richie smiled apologetic.
“You don’t stink.”
“I’ll be back in a bit, go to sleep, okay?” He didn’t wait for Sarah to reply and went into the bathroom.

Sarah reached for the covers and tried to pull them up over her foot and the rest of her body but she wasn’t going to sleep just yet.

Richie returned to the room dressed in the shorts he had slept in the night before. “Thought you went to sleep?” He turned off the bathroom light and turned on the light on the night stand before turning off the light above their bed.
“No, waiting for you.”

Back on the bed, he lied on his side next to her, wrapping an arm around her, he pulled her close. “Ready for bed?” He nuzzled her neck as he asked his question.
“Definitely.” Today had been long enough and she desperately wanted sleep now.

Richie reached over to turn the light off, pulled up the sheet and wrapped his arm around her again.
“I’ve been waiting for this since this afternoon.” Sarah sighed appreciatively.
“For what?”

Sarah turned her head and reached to kiss him, Richie thought that was his answer and kissed her back. His arm pulled her closer as Sarah’s hand went to his shoulder.

When they finally broke apart again, Sarah answered his question. “To be in your arms.”



Hours later Sarah woke up to the pain in her ankle, the painkillers had worked but must have lost their effect during the night. She turned around to search for the pills on her night stand but only found a plastic cup.

She could hear Richie snore next to her, his arm still wrapped around her.

“Richie?” She whispered, careful to wake him up but he didn’t react. “Richie?” She asked again, a little louder this time.

He still didn’t react; he was sleeping like a rock.

She had to wake him up, the pain was getting worse. She didn’t mean to hurt him but nudged her elbow into his ribs.

“Auch.” He woke up in an instant.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.” She apologized immediately.
“It’s okay,” he rubbed the ribs that were hurting, “are you okay?”
“I think the painkillers stopped working, what time is it?” She needed to be sure before she could take more pills.

Richie turned to look over his shoulder. “Past 5, you’re probably right.” He sat up to reach the box of pills, handed them to Sarah and went to refill her cup of water.

“Thanks.” She said when he returned and took the pills.

Richie wasn’t done yet, he took the warm ice pack from Sarah’s ankle and placed it back in the fridge and took another one out to put back on her ankle. Thanks to room service the fridge now contained five packs.

Back in bed Richie took his position next to Sarah again. “Back to sleep?” He asked, wrapping his arm around her again, it was too early to be up already.

Sarah hadn’t moved at all while she slept, she needed to turn around to go back to sleep, she needed the change of position. She tried to move under Richie’s arm while trying to ignore the pain it was causing everywhere.

“What are you doing?”
“I can’t sleep, I need to move.” She said a little bit annoyed because she couldn’t.

Richie pulled his arm away and gave her some space.

Sarah could finally turn on to her side, making sure her ankle was far away so it wouldn’t accidentally get kicked during the night, she could finally see his face in the dark.

“Is that better?” Richie asked.
“If you could put the cold pack back, yes.”
Richie lifted up the covers and reached down to do as she asked. “How’s that?”
“Perfect.” Sarah smiled up at him.
“You are, beautiful, perfectly beautiful.” He pointed out.

Richie lied back down next to her and reached in to kiss her. His arm moved over her again but this time his hand rested on her buttocks.

Sarah reached over his shoulder, pulling him closer as she kissed him back. She could feel his hand moving up higher, under her shirt, her breathing quickened as he did.

Richie noticed and slowed down his kisses, marveling at the softness of her skin. Sarah wasn’t stopping him so he was going to find out how far she would let him go.

Even though his kisses had slowed, Sarah’s breathing was still fast but not as fast as her heart was beating. Should she stop him or let him do what she knew he wanted to do? Should she just let him do it?

His hands went higher and he could feel her skin turn velvety soft as he found the skin of her breast with his fingertips.

Sarah pulled away from his kiss as she could feel his fingers reach her breast. With a look at Richie’s eyes, she pulled him back and kissed him again.

For a second he was worried she was going to stop him already. With every inch of her skin he touched, he felt his dick grow harder, he didn’t want to stop. His fingers crept higher and he cupper her breast, slightly surprised when he felt her nipple get hard against his palm.

Sarah moaned, surprised she made the sound but what he was doing felt nice and good.

Richie groaned his appreciation of both her liking it too and how perfect she was. So perfect, he knew she’d fit in his hands perfectly. He gently squeezed, feeling all the perfectness, then rubbed his thumb over her distended nipple.

Sarah could feel he was smiling as he was still kissing her. She made him happy by letting him touch her and she actually liked it. It felt good when he did it, not unpleasant. He was caring, not forceful and rough.

“Richie.” She said quietly. She shouldn’t have thought of the bad things that had happened but she couldn’t help herself.

Without an answer or a question, he pulled his hand from under her shirt and put it back on the back of her panties.

Their kiss broke apart and Sarah looked up at him, trying to read his face but it was too dark.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered barely loud enough to hear, disappointed in herself that she couldn’t just let him do it.
Richie was sure he heard what she said. “For what? Your pace, remember?” He reminded her.
“But I know you want more.”

Richie moved his hips so he wasn’t pressing into her anymore. “I’ll wait for you.” He kissed her again, this time more softly. His hand softly stroked her thigh but he wasn’t going to push for more.

When their kiss was over they laid close together. The room was still dusky. The sun had only just started to rise, it was getting closer to 6 am but definitely not time to get up yet.

“You’re beautiful.” He pushed her dark blond hair back over her shoulder.
“Richie.” She wanted to complain, it was still weird to be told she was beautiful. She hadn’t thought of herself being beautiful in decades.
“No, I mean it.” He said, trying to convince her with another short kiss. “I… I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Me too.” Sarah sighed.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Chapter six


Sarah loved the concert and wished she could be there in person to see and experience it. Then she could watch Richie play instead of Jon singing. The camera was mostly on Jon but she loved the jukebox part, it really seemed unexpected to the band and even for Jon when they picked a song, maybe it was.

After an hour the screen turned black and the music stopped, Sarah was disappointed, she liked watching Richie. Here on stage he looked so passionate, a passion she hadn’t seen when he played just for her, that had been a different kind of passion.

“Have you seen them play before?” Alyssa asked.
“No, this was the first time.” Sarah answered.
“Same for me, I think it’s probably even way better if you’re in the audience.” Alyssa continued.
“I think so.” Sarah agreed easily. Hopefully she could see the next concert from her space in the audience but she didn’t know when it was, she’d have to ask Richie later.

A knock at the door made them both look in the direction of the sound. Then Alyssa got up to answer the door.

For a second Sarah had thought it was Richie but that was too soon. Just like her second thought thought, it was room service with another cold pack.

Alyssa took the blue pack and turned back to Sarah. She lifted the pack that wasn’t as cold anymore and wrapped the new one in the towel before putting it back on Sarah’s ankle. Then she looked up at Sarah. “Good?”
“Yes, thanks.”
“It looks a little less swollen, I think.” She thought but she wasn’t sure about it.
“That’s good.” Sarah concluded. She doubted she could convince Richie though.

The bruising wouldn’t be gone by the time he would be back; neither would the swelling have gone all the way, not to forget the pain. As long as she kept the ice on, the pain was numbed but when she moved it, it still hurt a lot.

She almost wanted to go the hospital to know if it was broken or not. If she knew it wasn’t, she wouldn’t be as scared to move her ankle. If she was going anywhere, Richie was going with her and that way it would be okay.

“Do you need anything else? Food or a drink? The toilet?” Alyssa asked before she went to sit down again.
“No, nothing.” Sarah said simply again.”
“Okay, let’s watch a movie then.” Once back on the bed next to Sarah she moved the laptop to the night stand and picked up the remote to switch on the tv.

After a minute she asked Sarah if there were only German shows. Then they decided to rent a movie, like Richie and her had done before, at least they could watch that in English.

Alyssa talked almost the entire time during the movie, giving her opinion about each of the actors and their characters and even their acting skills.
Sarah didn’t mind much.

After room service had brought another cold pack, Sarah’s ankle started hurting again, the ice didn’t seem to help anymore. She felt like she needed to stretch her foot but was scared to incase it really was broken and she’d make it worse. She tried to relax and not concentrate on the pain but the movie.

The next knock on the door made Sarah hopeful that it just might be Richie. Him being there would already make her feel better.

Again Alyssa went to open the door, this time she stepped out in to the hallway, presumably to have a conversation with the person that had knocked.

It only took a minute before the door opened again but this time Richie walked in, much to her relief.

He saw the relief on her face when he walked closer to her. “How are you doing?” He asked still worried about her.
Sarah shook her head. “It hurts.”
“That bad?” She hadn’t said much about the pain before. Concerned, he sat down at the end of the bed to take a closer look at her foot. “Does it hurt more than before?” He asked as he carefully lifted the cold pack up.
“Yes.” Sarah said, feeling even more pain now the ice was gone.

Richie carefully reached for her foot, carefully swiping the pad of his thumb below the bruises, making Sarah hiss. “Sorry.” He quickly apologized and put the pack back, then stood up. “I’m gonna go talk to Matt before we go to the hospital. You okay for a minute?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” She answered, wondering who Matt was.

Richie dropped a quick kiss on her lips before leaving the room.

Who was Matt and why did he need to talk to him about going to a hospital first? The hospital, how busy would it be on a Sunday night, close to midnight? She just hoped they didn’t have to wait in a waiting room for ages. Richie being a rock star probably wouldn’t help matters at a hospital, they’d have to wait, just the same.

Sooner than she expected Richie was back but he wasn’t alone. Sarah assumed it must be Matt since he didn’t look familiar, she hadn’t seen him before.

“Matt’s the head of security so he needs to know where we are.” Richie explained before Sarah could even ask. “He’s also coming with us. Just to be sure, you know, fans or reporters.”

Sarah didn’t even care anymore. “Are we leaving now?”
“Ready when you are.”
“I’m ready.”

Richie moved to be able to pick her up, it seemed the best way to get her to the car since she couldn’t or didn’t dare to walk.

Sarah wrapped her arms around his neck and they followed Matt through the hotel down to where their cars were parked. During their walk, Sarah reached up and placed a kiss on his jaw. “Thanks.” She said.

Matt parked the car at the emergency entrance of the nearest hospital. “I’ll get a wheelchair first.” He looked over his shoulder at Sarah, then turned back to Richie and got out of the car.

They watched him walk the short distance to the entrance. Sarah was glad she wouldn’t have to walk that way and that Richie wouldn’t have to carry her. Carrying her must be hurting his back.

Richie looked over at Sarah behind him. “You alright?”
She was alone in the back seat with her foot up on the other end of the couch. “Yeah.”
“It’ll be alright. I’m right here, okay?”
She nodded.
Richie could see she was scared to do this but was glad she was doing it. “Which door should I open?”
“Probably that one, then I can just slide out.” Sarah meant the door where her foot was. She didn’t want to have to twist around in the backseat again like before. Things were painful enough as they were.

Richie did what she asked and went to open the door for her. Carefully Sarah slid out until Richie gave her a hand to help her up and out. Meanwhile Matt had returned and Sarah could sit down again. Matt started pushing her towards the entrance, while Richie walked next to her.
“It didn’t seem very busy.” Matt said. “For a big city hospital.”

Matt brought them to the waiting room, and then left them alone to do the paperwork, knowing insurance would be a little different here.

Sarah and Richie sat together not saying much. Her ankle started hurting again now that it wasn’t raised anymore. “Richie?”
“Yeah babe?”
“Can I put my ankle on your lap? It hurts when it’s down.” She explained.
“Sure you can, come here.” He turned her wheelchair sideways so she could reach better.
Sarah lifted her leg, carefully Richie took it by the knee again and laid her foot down on his lap. “That better?”
“Much.” Sarah could already feel the difference. She was glad she had Richie, he had been so sweet taking care of her. So gentle and caring, the way her ex-husband had never been. He had never told her she needed to go to a hospital even when she knew she had to.

Matt returned a good 15 minutes later. “All good. A nurse should be here any minute.”

He was right, just a minute later a male nurse walked in the room. “Sarah Matthews?”

With a slight panic Sarah looked up at Richie.
“I’ll wait here.” Matt said as Sarah moved her foot off of Richie’s lap again and Richie stood up to follow the nurse.
“I’m right here.” Richie bent over to whisper by her ear.

Once in a private room with a bed, the nurse padded the bed. “Jump on, well don’t jump.” He said. His English didn’t sound too bad but they could definitely hear the German in it.

Sarah stood up from the wheelchair with Richie’s help and he helped her up on the bed. The back of the bed was raised so Sarah could lean back against it.

The nurse washed his hands and turned around to meet them. “What happened?” He asked, looking at Sarah, expecting an answer from her.
“She fell of slipped in the shower.” Richie answered for her again.
The nurse nodded his understand, then turned his attention back to Sarah. “Did you hurt your head?”
“No.” Sarah answered herself this time.
“You are sure?”
“Yes.” She said certain of herself, after all, her head didn’t hurt and the edge of the bathtub had been far enough away from the wall that she couldn’t hit her head.
“Did you hurt… anything different? Arm or back?”
“No.” Sarah said again, forgetting the pain in her back, her ankle was most important to her.
“Yes you did.” Richie corrected her, then turned to the nurse. “She bruised her back and shoulders too.”
“Okay, we look at that first. Then your ankle too.” He moved over to stand beside Sarah who was still sitting up on the bed. “Close the door?” He asked Richie.
Richie closed the door and took his position next to Sarah again.

The nurse carefully lifted Sarah’s shirt to see the bruises. “You can still move your arms? It doesn’t hurt?
“No, it’s okay, I can move.” Sarah answered.

The nurse stepped away again, standing in front of Sarah as he nodded his understanding again. “Can you…” He seemed to be looking for words then gave up. “Do this?” He rolled his shoulders.
Sarah nodded and did the same.
“This?” He shrugged his shoulders.
Sarah mimicked what he did perfect and painless.
“Good.” Satisfied with it, then he walked back to the foot of the bed and inspected her ankle. “I have to touch a little.” He already sounded apologetic about what he was going to do, knowing it might hurt her.
Sarah nodded, ready for what would come and was glad when Richie took her hand.

He carefully turned her foot to get a better look at the bruises. “Does it hurt only here? Not the other side?” He asked.
“No, just there.” Sarah answered.

Just like Richie had done at the hotel he swiped his thumb below her bruises and again it made Sarah hiss as she felt the pain.
The nurse apologized again and moved up higher on her foot, away from the bruises to her toes. “It doesn’t hurt here?”
“Not really, a bit.”
“Okay, I’ll go to talk to the doctor and we get x-rays.” He explained. “You have to go back to the wait room.”

Richie helped her off the bed and back into the wheelchair, then pushed the chair back to the waiting room.

“And?” Matt asked hopeful when they got back. “That’s fast.”
“Nothing, we have to wait.” Richie said a little confused.
“That’s weird, you didn’t get a bed?”
“I guess they do it different here.” Richie shrugged and sat down again to put Sarah’s foot back on his lap.

20 minutes went by of nobody saying anything; they just watched more patients walk in and out and returning to wait some more, exactly like they had done.

Finally they heard, “Sarah Matthews?” again and followed a female nurse to where she left them by four empty chairs to wait again.
“Isn’t this fun?” Richie joked. “You never get to see these places of the city when you’re visiting as a tourist.”
“Maybe we should try to see the touristic things too then.”
“We could do that.” Richie agreed.

“Sarah?”
“Yes.” She looked up at yet another lady.
“I’ll be right back and then I’ll take you for your x-rays.” She said in perfect English and left.

Sarah looked up at Richie, slightly panicked.
“I can’t go with you because of the radio-activity. It’ll only take a minute.” He encouraged.

The lady returned and wheeled Sarah in to the room, closed the door and helped her to sit on the machine. “Stay very still.”
Sarah watched her walk behind a big screen with a computer.

A light buzzing sound came from the machine. When it stopped Sarah was asked to move in a different way. The buzzing came back but it only lasted a second. Again she was asked to move and again she heard the buzzing sounds.

“Okay, that’s it.”

Sarah was helped back in the wheelchair and was wheeled back out to Richie, much to her relief.

“See, you’re fine.” Richie said as soon as Sarah got out of the room.

They were once again sent back to the waiting room to do some more waiting.

“And?” Matt asked again when they got back.
“Just x-rays.” Richie said as he sat down again.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Chapter five


Richie turned around again and walked back in to the room, back to what he had to do. He picked up to phone on the night stand next to the side of the bed where Sarah was lying and called room service to ask for an ice pack.

When he turned back to Sarah, she looked a little worried.
“What’s up?” He asked, instead of waiting for her to say something first.
“Can you help me dress?” She asked a little embarrassed. “I don’t feel comfortable in just a bathrobe if your friends are coming over.”
Richie nodded, he could understand that. “Of course darling, what do you need?”
“I have some clothes in the bathroom.” She answered.

Richie remembered her holding clothes before she went to shower.

In the bathroom, next to the sink, he found a small pile of clothes. He picked it up and returned to Sarah.

“What do you want to put on first?” He asked as he put the clothes down next to her on the bed.
Sarah reached for her underwear, knowing that would make her much more comfortable already. She handed him her pair of panties, a little embarrassed.

Richie took the piece of cotton from her. It was exactly how he expected it would be, normal cotton panties. He looked around for a pair of pants; if she had to move to put on her panties then he preferred she only had to move once.

The outfit Sarah had picked out existed out of jeans and a plain t-shirt. He didn’t like the idea of jeans if they had to go to the hospital later, it would only be more difficult for x-rays.

“Do you have shorts?” He asked, looking back up from the pile to meet her eyes.
“Somewhere in my bag, they should be at the top.”

Richie easily found her shorts, not the short shorts he usually loved so much but knee-length, and still he knew Sarah would look amazing in them, as she always did.

Sarah lifted her good leg as Richie moved her panties over it, guiding it through the hole before lifting her other leg at her knee so he wouldn’t hurt her. They repeated the method for putting on her shorts. Both clothing pieces now rested around her knees.

Richie offered both his hands to help her sit up and turn on the bed to stand up.

Once standing, Sarah moved her hands to his shoulders to steady herself. Richie reached down for the waistband of her panties, again making sure to keep his eyes on her face as he pulled them in place under her bathrobe.

With the question in his eyes to ask if she was ready for her shorts, Sarah gave him a small nod. Again Richie reached down for the waistband, this time of her shorts and pulled them all the way up.

“Want me to fasten them too?” He asked.
“Please.” Sarah smiled a little helplessly at him, she preferred holding on to him, still not trusting her ankle to stand on, still not wanting to try it either.

Richie reached for the button, guiding it through the loop before pulling up the zipper.

With another question in his eyes and another nod, he helped Sarah sit down on the bed again. Richie picked up the bra that had also been on the pile but moved to sit behind her.

Sarah liked what he was doing, it showed respect. He understood and didn’t make a problem out of it, she liked that.

She carefully moved her bathrobe off her shoulders.

Richie held the garment in front of her so she could put her arms through and he could fasten it for her, knowing her arms and back might still hurt.

When she bared her back to him, he could see his thoughts had been right. On her back was one big bruise, spanning from side to side from where she had hit the edge of the bathtub. The top of her arms and shoulders were covered in black and blue too from the same hit.

He decided not to mention it to Sarah, as not to worry her.

Sarah put on her bra, adjusting in until it felt right. “Can you close it? The last ones.” She told him how she wanted it.

Richie did as she asked and closed it the tightest. With a look at it, he knew it couldn’t feel good; the whole strap covered the bruise exactly.

Sarah could feel what he was thinking. “Can you do one looser?”
Richie opened it and moved it to the middle clasp.
“Looser?” She asked again, knowing it would be the last one.

When Richie changed it again, she could still feel the pain. A little annoyed, she sighed, “Just forget it.”
Richie helped her take it off again. “Just your t-shirt then?” He asked instead.
“Actually, can I wear one of yours? It would be looser and less noticeable I’m not wearing a bra.” She asked him.
“Whatever you want dear.” Richie moved off the bed and took a clean shirt from his bag.

Sarah raised her arms as much as she could and with Richie’s help she finally got dressed, feeling much better.

She was relieved they finished in time when a knock sounded at the door, expecting his friends; she pulled her bathrobe back over her shoulders, just because it felt so nice.

Richie opened the door, finding what he expected; he took the blue cold pack. “Can you make sure we get a new one every hour?” He asked, closing the door after he got a, “Yes sir.” and thanked the man.

By the bed he found his home made bag of ice cubes had turned into water. He helped Sarah to lie down again and carefully put her foot back on the pillows, applying the cold pack that he had wrapped in a small towel. “Good?” He looked back up at her with his question.
“Thanks,” she smiled at him down at the foot of the bed, “you’re so sweet.”
“Anything for you sweetheart.” He climbed back on the bed next to her and kissed her softly.

They only had a few minutes alone, after 10 minutes; there was another knock at the door.

Richie gave Sarah a quick kiss before getting off the bed to open the door.

Jon walked through the door, carrying a bottle of Diet Coca Cola. “For inviting everyone to dinner.” He handed the bottle to Richie. “Couldn’t bring wine.” He pointed out the obvious.
“Thanks Captain.” Richie wasn’t sure to say Obvious or Kidd.

Jon sat down on the couch and Richie took his space beside Sarah again. “Who else is coming?” Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea for Sarah to meet everyone right now.
“Just Dave and Teek.” Jon answered simply.
Richie nodded and checked the time; they still had two hours before they had to leave for the stadium.

David arrived a few minutes later and Tico arrived a second after him.

Richie called down to room service as everyone told him their pick for dinner.

When their food arrived, Jon moved from his spot on the couch and joined David and Tico at the table while Richie said perfectly comfortable by Sarah.

During dinner David turned his attention to Sarah, they all had already discussed what had happened. “Did you try to get out of meeting us?” He asked seriously, Richie glanced at him with a warning look, they didn’t know Sarah history but David went on. “I mean, were not scary,” he paused, “well Tico is but that’s just because he’s getting old.” He shrugged and actually made Sarah chuckle.
“At least I got wisdom with the years while you just keep on getting stupider.” Tico pointed out for David, which made Sarah laugh along with Richie and Jon.

Richie thought about David’s question. Sarah wasn’t looking forward to the concert first but would she really do that? Would she hurt herself to get out of meeting everyone and out of the concert?

“Now you won’t be seeing the sexiest keyboard player play live.” David drew Richie away from his thought.
“Hey, aren’t we live streaming this?” Richie remembered.
“Yeah.” Jon was the first to answer him.

Hopeful, Sarah looked up at Richie, maybe she could still listen to him play after all.

“Can’t Tony do some fancy schmancy to my laptop so Sarah can watch the whole thing?” He explained his idea with a hopeful look on his face, similar to the one Sarah had.
“No, he’s already at the stadium.”
“We can stream longer.” David suggested.
“Yeah,” Richie agreed, “everyone will like that.”

Jon thought it over before taking out his phone and typing a text.

Sarah smiled up at Richie, happy she’d still get to hear him play.
“What you smilin’ ‘bout?” He asked when he noticed her.
“I’ll get to hear you play again. I liked hearing you play, you know.”

A smile turned on his face too before kissing her. It made him proud that she liked his music even though she didn’t listen to much music.

Then he remembered the next problem, who was staying with Sarah? He turned his question to Jon again. “Did you find somebody we can miss to stay with Sarah?”
“I even got you options.” Jon smiled proudly of his solution to the problem. “There’s Steve from security or Alyssa from catering.” Jon laid out the possibilities that he had found.

Richie nodded, and then turned to Sarah. “Steve or Alyssa?” He asked, already knowing who she’d pick.
“You know I can stay by myself.” Sarah said a little defensive.
Richie shook his head. “No, you can’t. What if you get hungry or thirsty? Or you start hurting real bad? And you don’t know if you banged your head, you could still have a concussion.”
“I didn’t hit my head.” She interrupted but Richie just went on.
“What if you need the toilet and need someone to help you walk? Or when room service brings you those cold packs?”
“Alright, alright.” She interrupted him again, making the other guys chuckle. “Alyssa can stay with me then.” She said.
Richie kissed her, then whispered so only she could hear. “I care about you, I don’t want anything else to happen to you.”
“I know.” Sarah said softly, she could only see sincerity in his eyes.

“I’ll get someone to go get her and then we should get going” Jon got up from his chair.



Half an hour later, Richie was ready to go. Sarah approved his outfit, saying he looked really good in it and now they were waiting for Alyssa.

Finally there was yet another knock at their door, it seemed like all they had today were knocks at the door. Richie opened it in an instant, already standing by the door, waiting.
“Hi, I’m Alyssa.” The girl said cheerful.

Richie didn’t know her, maybe he had seen her around but he didn’t know her personally, he opened the door wider to let her in.

When he closed the door and turned around he found Alyssa already standing next to Sarah, chatting. He felt like he was leaving her with a babysitter. The girl surely looked young enough to be a babysitter, probably just out of college.

“I have to go.” He announced. “I’ll be back right after the concert so we can go to the hospital.” He was standing right next to Sarah again, Alyssa had moved away to give them some space.
“We don’t need to go to the hospital, it’s only sprained.” Sarah insisted.
“I’d like proof.” Richie answered her a little bit of sternness in his voice.
Sarah sighed; she just hoped it wasn’t broken. She didn’t want to face that thought because she wouldn’t know what to do if it was.
“For me?” He pleaded softly, hoping she’d do it for him.
Sarah nodded softly.
Richie smiled, then reached over to kiss her. “I’ll see you in a few hours.” He said before leaving.



Alyssa got on the bed next to Sarah, where Richie had been all evening and moved the laptop between them, the stream was already on. “So you’re Sarah, right?” She asked.
“Yeah and you must be Alyssa from catering.”
“You got that right.” She smiled brightly.

So brightly it almost made Sarah uncomfortable. Alyssa continued to talk while people were interviewed in the crowd on the laptop screen. It made Sarah a little nervous because she didn’t know what to say, she just hoped she’d be quiet during the concert itself.

Luckily Alyssa did go quiet when it was announced that the band was arriving. Sarah tried to sit up so she could see Richie better but moved her ankle wrong as she did. A painful “Auch” escaped her.
“Are you okay?” Alyssa asked immediately, straightening up beside Sarah.
“I was just trying to see better.” Sarah explained.
“Can you see now?”
“Yeah it’s okay.” Sarah could feel the cold pack slipping from her ankle because of her moving. She tried to reach it but couldn’t quite stretch that far.
“Sit back, I’m here to take care of you, remember.” Alyssa moved on the bed, picking up the cold pack. She carefully put it back on Sarah’s ankle, covering the bruises. “Like that?” She asked for reassurance.
“Yeah, it’s good.” Sarah confirmed.
“Concert time.” Alyssa moved back up the bed and turned the volume up on the laptop.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Chapter four


Instead of sitting down, he stood back up, hurrying his way to the bathroom. Pushing the door open, glad it was unlocked, he shouted, “What the hell did you do?” Looking over at where he expected her to stand under the shower head but not seeing her, he looked down at the other end of the bathtub.

When he took a step forward to see what she had done, she moved away from him. It reminded him of that night at the centre. A little confused he took a step back; he could read the shocked look of fear and pain on her face. Then he realized it was him that had scared her but he was more worried about her pain than her fear. She hadn’t screamed or cried.

“Sarah, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to… I’m just… Are you okay?” He asked, walking closer to her. “I’m not gonna hurt you. I just panicked. Are you okay?” He continued.

When he finally stood next to the tub Sarah seemed to notice him again.
“Yeah, I’m okay.”

Richie tried his best to keep his eyes on her face. He wasn’t going to take an accident as the chance to see her naked.

He knelt beside her, “Did you bang your head?” he reached out to the back of her head to feel if it hurt or if there were any bumps, luckily there wasn’t any blood to be seen.
“I don’t think so.”
“That’s good. Let’s see if you can stand up, you need to rinse out your hair.” He shook his hand, making water droplets fly away then took her hand to help her sit up.

The change of position, the movements made her dizzy, she could feel herself slipping away.
“Sarah.” He noticed her face going pale but the call of her name was enough to snap her out of it.

He watched her a second, making sure she was ok before he stood up to turn the shower head. The water was still turned on and they were both getting wet. Sarah needed to get out of the bath, he knew she couldn’t just sit there, she needed to get out so he could see how bad she was hurt.

To be able to help her up, he stepped into the tub, ignoring his back getting wet. He was relieved she didn’t have any visible cuts or bruises but she must be hurting somewhere. “What hurts?” He needed to know before he could help her up without hurting her more.

As if the question finally made her realize what had happened, Sarah started to feel the pain. Her back and neck hurt along with her arms and shoulders but most of all her left ankle hurt. Along with the pain she also realized she was naked in front of him. She wrapped her arms around her chest, hiding her breasts, wincing at the pain the movements created. Finally she answered his question. “My ankle.” Forgetting the rest, it hurt the most, so much she actually wondered if it was broken.

Richie reached out to her chin tilting her head so she was looking at him, her arms still wrapped around her. “I’m not looking, not ‘til you want me to.” He assured her.
Sarah simply nodded, not sure to believe him yet.

“Now let’s see if we can get you up.” He locked his arms under her shoulders and pulled her up to her feet.
When he let go, Sarah grabbed on to his shoulder, not sure if she could stand, not wanting to try it either.

Richie moved her around a little until she was half under the water. He tried his best to rinse out her hair as he tried to keep his eyes focused on hers.

When he thought her hair felt only like water, he turned off the shower. Making sure again if she was alright, he stepped out of the bath as Sarah grabbed a hold of the safety bar on the wall.

Richie grabbed the bathrobe, that Sarah had left lying close to the towels, and wrapped her in it. Only then he finally looked down to her legs and feet, checking for damages. Seeing her ankle already turning black and blue made him gasp.

Instead of letting her step out on her own, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and one behind her knees.
“Richie.” She said surprised when she was lifted off the ground.
“Your ankle is all bruised; you can’t walk on that, so come on.”

Obediently she wrapped her arms around his neck as he walked out of the bathroom.

Back in the main room, he carefully laid her down on the bed. Then walked around to his side of the bed and took the pillows to raise Sarah’s foot.

“Are you comfortable like that?” He asked, still concerned.
“I’m good.” She answered him, still uncertain about it. She was still hurting but at least everything was covered up now. Only minutes ago she was feeling the soft texture of the towel and the bathrobe, wondering how it would feel to be wrapped in that softness but this wasn’t the way she wanted to feel it.

“There’s an ice machine at the end of the hall, I’m gonna get some ice for that,” he pointed at her bruised and swollen ankle, “then I’ll see if room service has cold packs. You ok on your own for a minute, sweetie?” He asked.
“I’ll be fine.” She nodded, as long as she didn’t get up or moved, the pain wouldn’t get worse.
Richie finally felt the wetness of his shirt as he relaxed a little and pulled it over his head before leaving the room with the ice bucket.

He hurried down the hall unnoticed and filled the box with ice cubes before making his way back. It was obvious there was a show tonight, it was quiet and empty, most likely because people were getting ready, just like he was some 15 minutes ago.

Back in the room he placed the bucket next to Sarah’s ankle while he picked up his bag, put on a clean shirt and started picking around in it, muttering, “Gotta be in here somewhere.”

Sarah watched him, confused at what he was doing.

Finally he retrieved a ziplock bag.
Sarah gave him a little confused look.
“They’re very useful.” He opened the bag and started picking ice cubes out of the bucket and putting them in the bag. Once he thought it was full enough, he ziplocked it and placed it on Sarah’s ankle, covering the whole bruise.

“Do you think it’s broken?” He looked up at her from where he was sitting at the end of the bed.
“No,” Sarah answered, “it’s just sprained.
“I think it’s broken, just look at all those bruises.” Richie persisted even though he didn’t really know what a broken ankle looked like.

Before Sarah could tell him again that it was just sprained, there was a knock at the door. “Are you almost ready? We gotta go.” Came from the hallway.

Sarah looked up surprised in the direction of the door.
“Don’t worry, it’s just Jon.” Richie said as he went to open the door.

“What’s up?” He opened the door to let Jon in.
“Should be asking you. Everyone’s waiting for you two.” He looked into the room, over at Sarah. His voice sounded worried when he spoke again. “Oh what did you do?” Jon noticed her foot propped up on the pillows with a bag of ice cubes.

Along with Richie, Jon stepped closer to the bed.
“She fell in the shower.” Richie answered for Sarah.

With them both staring at her foot, Sarah felt a little like an animal at the zoo. Being there but not really being acknowledged.

“Think it’s broken?” Jon looked up at Richie with his question.
“Might be.” Richie answered.
“It’s not broken.” Sarah repeated more persistent.
“You don’t know that, you’re not a doctor.” Richie’s answer came sharper than he had meant it to be.
A little bit shocked, Sarah didn’t keep her answer back. “But you know I could have been!”
Surprised by her answer Richie looked up at her, seeing a little hurt and anger in her green eyes, he realized she was right. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to but we should really get it checked out.” Richie urged.
“But the concert.” Sarah pointed out.

Her comment got Jon and Richie’s attention, making them look at each other.
“I need you to play.” Jon pointed out.
“I know.” Richie knew he couldn’t just miss out on the show.

What were they going to do? Richie had to perform but Sarah needed to go to a hospital. She wasn’t going without Richie, they both knew that fact.

“It’s not so bad now. We can still go to the concert.” Sarah said, anything than a trip to the hospital. She much rather heard him play while she had her own spot to enjoy the concert than go to a hospital where a bunch of people would be a lot closer to her.
“We?” Richie asked surprised.
“Yeah, we can still go.” Sarah repeated.
Richie chuckled softly. “The only place you’re going is a hospital.”

Jon interrupted them both. “I’m gonna go tell the guys we’re not going out. Maybe we can get room service.” He said, looking away from Sarah’s foot back up at Richie.
“Good idea, we can eat here.” Richie suggested. That way everyone could still meet Sarah.
“’Kay. You should get some ice packs for Sarah.” Jon said, reminding Richie of what he had to do. “Like the ones we got for my leg last summer, remember?” Jon asked.
“Yeah, yeah, room service must have them.” Richie said annoyed that Jon would think he didn’t know about it as he opened the door to let Jon out.

“See you later Sarah.” He called back in to the room before pulling Richie closer. “You have to take her to a hospital.” He whispered.
“I know but she’s not going without me.” Richie explained, even though he hadn’t discussed it with Sarah, he was sure she wouldn’t go without him. If it wasn't just for him, she wouldn’t even have gone to the airport.
“Just let her go with someone from security.” Jon urged, thinking Richie was just being protective.
“No, I mean, she doesn’t want to go without me.” Richie tried to make it clear.
“Someone needs to stay with her while we’re gone.” Jon brought up the next problem.
“I know, I’ll find someone to do that.” Richie wanted to go back inside for Sarah.
Jon noticed. “I’ll see who we can miss. See you in a bit.”

Richie watched him open the door across the hall before turning back in to his own room.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Chapter three


The next morning Sarah woke up in Richie’s strong arms. His leg was possessively wrapping her legs. His arm was slung over her waist; she lifted her own arm and covered it over his, feeling him tighten his grip on her.

Behind her she could feel his chest rising and falling as he breathed against her back. Lower she felt something entirely different. The first time, a few weeks ago, it freaked her out but now that they were in a relationship she had gotten a little used to it. Every time they shared a bed, he had a morning erection or at least the start of it but he hadn’t suggested anything which made it clear to her that he’d wait until she was ready. Sarah just hoped he could be patient as long as it took her to be ready.
Comfortable with him around her, she scooted backwards, closer in to him.

“You up hun?”
Sarah could feel his warm breath in her neck as he whispered. She turned around in his arms to see his face. “Hi.”
“Good morning, how did you sleep?” He asked, wondering if she was jetlagged.
“Pretty good, do you know what time it is?” She asked back, wondering herself if she made up for being jetlagged.
Richie turned to look over his own shoulder. “9:15, you slept over 10 hours.”
Sarah tried to think of the last time she read the time before she fell asleep on the couch. “About 14 I think. No jetlag for me.” She smiled up at him.
“You’ll get to fully enjoy the concert tonight then.” He smiled back.
But Sarah’s smile faded with uncertainty about the massive crowd and everything about the concert.
“It’ll be fun. You won’t even be in the audience.” He assured her.
“Really?” She asked rather hopeful.
“You’ll have your own spot, no pushing and shoving for you.” Richie pulled her closer into a hug, proving he would protect her and make sure she was safe.

Sarah could feel his dick now firmly pressed against her, making her even more aware of it. “Do you ever…” She trailed off.
Confused, Richie asked, “What?” He needed her to talk to him, about everything. That’s why he hadn’t suggested for her to stay at the hotel the night before even though he knew that was what she had been thinking. She needed to realize she could say anything to him so he let her find her own words.
“Do you ever,” she started over, looking down at where their hips were still pressed together, “help yourself?” She wondered, avoiding eye contact with him. He couldn’t possibly be walking around with an erection for the last three weeks.
She was honest, so he had to be honest too. “Sometimes. Don’t you?” He asked back.
Sarah shook her head. “No.”
“Never?”
“No.” This time she felt less weird about it and met his eyes as she answered.

Richie hugged her, had her husband been so bad to her that she couldn’t even give herself the pleasure? Or wouldn’t she allow it? Would it only bring back memories for her?
Either way he felt bad for her, to not feel that amazing pleasure. He hoped she’d once again be ready for it but he had promised to wait for her and that was what he’d do. She was more to him than just sex.
While Richie thought, so did Sarah, did she have that kind of effect on him? Was holding her close enough to turn him on? Did she really do that to him? Did he do it to her?



Later that day Sarah and Richie had to get ready. They were having dinner with the rest of the band before they’d leave for the concert.

They had spent the whole day in their hotel room. In the morning they had been informed there were a lot of fans outside of the hotel and Richie didn’t want to put Sarah through that yet. According to him, the concert tonight would be stressful enough for her.

Their bed had kept them comfy until they decided to have breakfast. Both liked being close, holding each other while lying in bed. Sarah enjoyed the relaxing feeling she felt when Richie stroked her back. It seemed to calm her down and she liked that he could do that.
For the rest of the day they had watched movies, unlike the programs on tv, the movies weren’t dubbed in German.

Sarah liked the luxuries of the hotel, room service brought them whatever they wanted and there were so many movies to pick from, it was like she was at the video store, where she hadn’t been in years.
They had a relaxing afternoon together but now it was time to get ready. Which gave Sarah another kind of tingly feeling; nervousness. She preferred the one she had when she was around Richie but she had to meet his friends, better now and have it over with than putting it off. There was no way around it anyway.

“You go shower first.” Richie suggested, sitting up on the couch when the movie ended.
“When are we meeting them?” Sarah asked. At least she had already met Jon.
Richie reached over to the coffee table to pick up his phone to check for the time. “In about an hour, you have loads of time.” Although he didn’t know how much time Sarah needed to get ready for anything.

Sarah got up and went to get the clean clothes she had decided to wear to dinner and the concert. It wasn’t anything fancy, she didn’t own anything fancy.

With her clothes in her hands, she stopped by the couch where Richie was now flipping through the German channels.
He looked up at her, a little confused. “Everything alright?”
“I want a kiss.” She said plainly.
A little surprised, Richie stood up. “Do ya?”
“Yeah, just a kiss.”
He couldn’t deny her that and leaned in until he met her lips and kissed her.
Sarah leaned into him, kissing him back.

Sarah once again got her clothes together and went into the bathroom. Placing her clothes next to the sink, she picked up one of the towels that was lying there. Feeling how soft it was and so fluffy.

Wondering if the bathrobes were the same, she grabbed one of those too. It felt just as nice, she couldn’t wait to be wrapped in all that softness.

After putting the towel and the bathrobe down again, Sarah turned on the shower. The bathroom was almost as simple as it was at her house, a bathtub with the shower head on the wall and a shower curtain for privacy and splashing water.

Unlike she had heard about many hotels on television, everything looked perfectly clean.
She undressed and stepped into the bathtub.

In the other room Richie was still absentmindedly flipping through tv channels, not finding anything worth watching.

He got up and decided to get changed. He had showered the day before and would need a shower after the concert tonight anyway, he was still clean enough.

Getting his clothes together, he picked out what to wear to dinner and what to wear for the concert. It was easy to decide what to wear on stage; he only had a few concert outfits.

When he had decided on his clothes, he dressed into his clothes for dinner, keeping it casual with jeans and a black button down shirt.

Richie put away his bag and was just about to go sit down on the couch again when he heard a loud clattering followed by an even louder bang coming from the bathroom.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Chapter two


The next day Sarah was at a busy airport. She was feeling very nervous but it was going to be worth it. On top of that, she was exhausted. Yesterday, after her conversation with Richie she had turned to her mother for advice. It did make her feel like a little girl but at least her mother had had a good relationship with her father until he died and she had nobody else to talk to.
By the time Richie phoned back after the concert, Sarah had made up her mind. Even though Richie said she didn’t have to if she didn’t want to, she assured him it was her decision. Her family had agreed and Sarah really wanted to see him.

So now she was at the airport, her cab had left so there was no way back. Richie had booked her a flight so she didn’t have to worry about it. Sarah looked around to find the sign of the company she was flying with when someone bumped into her. She hated busy places like this, too busy. She wanted to get out of here but she wanted to see Richie more.

Finally she noticed the sign of the airline and pushed her cart with her bag on towards the end of the line. Luckily the line cleared quickly and she was waiting to be signaled over to a desk.

Nervous, she stepped up to the desk, she hadn’t flown in years.
“Passport and ticket please.” The man said when she stood in front of the desk.
Sarah grabbed her purse off the cart and retrieved her passport to hand it over.
“Your ticket?” He asked.
More nerves. “Eumh, I don’t have my ticket.” She said, not really knowing what she should to say.
“Do you need to buy a ticket?” The man asked a little annoyed.
Sarah shook her head. “No, you see, my friend is in Germany and bought it for me so I could go see him.” She explained without hesitation, amazing herself.
“And what is your friend’s name?” He opened Sarah’s passport again to read hers.
“Richie Sambora.” She answered quickly.
“I’ll check.” He started typing on his computer, taking his attention away from Sarah.
It made Sarah nervous again, what if it wasn’t in there? She couldn’t afford to buy her own ticket.


After a few minutes the man looked back up at her. “Found it.” He retrieved the ticket from the printer and put it on top of the desk. “You can place you bag here.” He gestured to the automatic band next to him with a smile.
Sarah picked up her big travel bag and placed it on the band.
After her bags were gone she was handed a tie for her carry ones.
“First time flying?” He must have noticed how nervous she was.
“No but it’s been ages.” She picked up her things, ready to go.
“Have a nice flight.”
“Thank you.”


She walked away to find her way to the gate, looking at her ticket for the information, she noticed it said business class, at least there wouldn’t be as many people there, she thought a little bit relieved. If only there were less people right here.


After what seemed like ages, business class travelers were finally called for boarding. Sarah took a deep breath, this was it.


She was one of the first on the plane. She found her seat, which was by the aisle. It was only the third time she was flying; she was a little relieved to not sit by a window.

After putting her purse in the overhead cabin she sat down in her seat, it felt so comfortable, it felt good and made her relax. The seat next to her was empty; making her wonder if someone was going to sit next to her. Unlike in economy class, the seats weren’t close together. If someone was going to sit next to her, it still wouldn’t be close. She tried not to worry about it and tried if the screen that would show movies worked. She found the buttons to control it but it didn’t react. Last time she was on a plane there weren’t any individual tv screens. She noticed that technology had also advanced on planes. Instead she found the booklet with safety instructions and started reading while she waited.


She looked up when someone stood next to the chair next to her. The man smiled at her in a friendly gesture and Sarah smiled back. It would be fine.


More people started passing by to their seats in economy.


After half an hour everyone was sitting down and the attendants started closing the overhead cabins. A slight tingling started in Sarah’s stomach; they were going to take off soon.


As soon as they were up in the air and Sarah sat very comfortably in her chair, she started feeling sleepy. She hadn’t slept the night before. She had been busy packing and worrying about what she was doing. A part of her wanted Richie to make the decision for her so she didn’t have to worry but she was also happy he didn’t push her and she could decide with no hard feelings attached to it. This was her decision; she wanted to be with him.


She picked out her blanket and pulled it over her and tried to let the sleepy feeling drift her off to sleep.
An hour later she was still awake, the plane was too noisy to sleep. Instead she tried the remote control to manage the tiny screen again. She got curious when she noticed the music button on the screen and clicked it to find genres. Then she continued to click for rock and was amazed at how much there was to choose from. Under B she found what she needed. The internal system only had one Bon Jovi album but it was the Ultimate Collection, she thought she’d learn enough from that and pressed play.


12 hours later, she felt even more exhausted as she got off the plane. With over 24 hours of no sleep she hoped she looked alright. Although she never thought she looked any more than just alright.


She took a bathroom break before following the signs to customs where she handed over her passport again. When it was handed back to her she moved to make her way to baggage claim. Finding a cart, she found a place at the automatic band.


As she waited she could see the exit, there were glass walls everywhere and she could see how many people were waiting for someone. Hopefully she could find Richie in that crowd. Oh the crowd, not again. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.


As much as she tried, she couldn’t spot Richie in the crowd on the other side of the wall. Finally she did notice her bag and picked it up to put on her cart.
Once the bag stood steady she took a deep, hopeful breath and pushed it towards the exit, ready to meet Richie.


The crowd looked even bigger when she stood in front of it. She stepped to the side of all the people, assuming Richie would stand in the back.
Already people were leaving but she hadn’t spotted Richie yet. Would he be late? He wouldn’t do that, would he?


“Sarah!” She looked up from where the sound came but saw nobody, her name was a well known name, maybe it was somebody else.


Instead she looked around for Richie again when she heard her name again. This time it sounded closer and she recognized the man that had shouted it. He was already walking towards her and hugged her tightly. She hugged him back, more relieved than she thought she would be.
“I missed you.” She said as he let go.
“I missed you too.” He said.
Sarah looked at him again, of course she hadn’t recognized him the first time. “Are you hiding?” She asked.
He was wearing a jacket even though it was almost summer, his hat was pulled down low and he had sunglasses on.
“Yeah, so come on before someone recognizes me.” He took Sarah’s cart and pushed it to the parking lot where a car was waiting for them.


As they approached the car the driver got out and took over the cart from Richie. Richie held the door open for Sarah to get in before rounding the car and getting in on the other side. He moved to sit right next to her and wrapped an arm around her. “I missed you.” He repeated, before turning her chin toward him to kiss her. It felt like ages ago, for both of them.
Sarah relaxed, to finally be in his arms again, tiredness washed over her again, making her yawn.
“We’ll be at the hotel soon.” Richie said gently. “You can nap.”
“What time is it anyway?” She had no clue what time it was in Los Angeles or right here in Munich.
Richie checked his watch. “Just past 4.” He answered her question.
4 pm, she still had to survive 6 more hours before going to bed at a reasonable hour.


At the hotel Richie showed her to his room, the driver behind them with her bag.


“Do you perform tonight?” Sarah asked when they were alone in the room.
“No, tomorrow night you get to see me on stage.” He said with a huge smile. It was important to him that Sarah would see him play.

He took her hand to pull her closer to him, he noticed her wrist wasn’t bandaged anymore and raised her hand. “All better?”
“Yeah.” Sarah said as he kissed her knuckles, it made her feel tingly.
He reached up to kiss her lips again. Soft at first but deepening it until his phone ringed.
“It’s Jon.” He said as he looked at his phone, then looked up at Sarah. “I need to see what he wants.”


He answered his phone and took a few steps away, taking a bit of privacy.


Sarah moved to her bag on the bed. Should she unpack? Wouldn’t they be leaving soon?


Richie turned around again, putting his phone back in his pocket. “Do you want to go out for dinner? Jon wants to take the whole band out.”
Sarah didn’t know what to think. Meet them all? Now? She just wanted to sleep.
Richie could see she was getting uncomfortable but didn’t say a thing.
“Now?” She asked, she had to be honest with him. “I… kind of… I’m really tired… I just want to sleep.” She hesitated to say it.
Richie realized she must be tired. “I’m sorry, I should have known. No problem but do you mind if I go?” He wasn’t sure if she wanted him to stay with her.
“No, it’s ok, you can go.” Sarah said, she didn’t want to hold him back.
“Sure?” He asked.
“Yeah, I just want to sleep.” Sarah repeated.
“You’ll meet everyone tomorrow.” Richie said.
Sarah nodded shortly, it would be fine.
“Okay, I’m going to shower. You can, well you can’t really unpack.” He didn’t know what to say so got his clothes from his bag to change in the bathroom. “I’ll be right back.” He disappeared into the bathroom to shower.


Sarah sighed, meeting the whole band, it made her nervous. It would be fine, she told herself again.
Finally she moved and opened her bag.


By the time Richie stepped back into the room she had unpacked and repacked her bag twice.
“I forgot pj’s.” She looked up at him, dropping the item she was holding in to the bag.
“I don’t mind you sleeping naked.” He said as he shoved his dirty clothes in another bag. When he looked back up he noticed she hadn’t taken his joke lightly. “I’m sorry, I was kidding.” He quickly apologized. “Maybe I have something you can wear.” He said as he zipped open his own bag. He retrieved a blue pair of loose boxer shorts. “You could wear these.” He said, showing her the tag when he saw she wasn’t convinced. “It’s new.” He pointed out. He always bought underwear before going on tour just in case he decided to wear it.
Sarah took it from him. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Do you want a t-shirt too?”
“Yes please.” Thinking his shirt would be bigger and be more comfy.
He handed her a t-shirt, then checked his watch. “I should be going. Are you sure you want to stay here?” He moved his bag off the bed so she could sleep.
“Yeah, I just want to sleep.” It wasn’t even 6 pm but who knew how many hours she had gone without sleep now.
“Okay, don’t wait up.” He kissed her before he left.


Sarah was alone in the room, she wasn’t sure what to do. She was tired but it was still early and she didn’t want to be jetlagged the next day.


The room had a big bed but it also had a table with two chairs and a couch in front of a television. She decided to sit down and watch some TV. She hadn’t expected everything to be dubbed over but finally found an English speaking channel with subtitles.
She moved down the couch and lied down.


Richie liked the view he saw when he walked into the room, Sarah was sleeping on the couch. One arm dangling to the floor, the remote just out of reach, her other arm was under her head. A leg pulled up, raising her ass a little. His dick sprung at attention at the lovely sight.


He closed the door behind him and walked over to her, gently waking her. “Hey, sleeping beauty.” He knelt in front of her, picking up the remote and turning the TV off.
When he looked back at her, she was just opening her eyes.
“Let’s get you to bed.” He said as Sarah sat up and rubbed her eyes.
Richie gave her a hand to get up and walked her over to the bed, pulling the blankets away for her to get in before tucking her in.


He took off his clothes, momentarily naked as he looked for shorts to sleep in.


When he wrapped his arms around her, she was already asleep.