Mr. Brightside || João Félix

N I N E

I awoke the next morning not by my alarm, but by a sleepy Portuguese shaking me awake.

"What time is it ?" I groan.

"5:40," he smiles at me, "now wake up."

"Oh Fuck you," I moan, "I don't have to be there til 7ish."

"Well you're already awake," he says.

"Half awake," I correct him rolling over on my side and getting comfortable once again. He rolls me over again so I'm facing him and softly holds my left arm with his right hand as to block me from turning again. I smile at him and hold his hand in place with my right hand and roll over once again. He falls on top of me while his left hand is trapped in between my stomach and the mattress.

"You're such a child," he groans, "let me go."

"No," I say, "you put yourself in this situation."

"Come on, my arm is gonna fall asleep there and I won't be able to drive you," he says. I huff and release his arm.

"I seriously don't have to be up til like 6:15, you're an ass for waking me this early," I say annoyed as he walks around the bed, pulls the covers and lays next to me.

"I was only trying to help you get an early start to your day," he says.

"It's appreciated," I tell him, "but my day is long as is," I yawn. "What plans do you have today ?"

"I don't know, I was kinda hoping I could hang with you," he says.

"Fine, you can't come to my practice though," I tell him.

"Why not ?" He asks.

"You've waited this long, you can wait a little longer," I tell him and he agrees.

We lay in bed for about 15 more minutes just talking and wasting a bit of time before we had to get up. João had been up 15 minutes earlier than me and had gotten dressed before he decided to wake me. Since I got dressed last night, I just walked into the bathroom to wash my face, brush my teeth and make myself a bit presentable.

"Can we get coffee ?" I ask as we head to the car, "I need a pick me up."

"Me too," he says as he pulls in to the drive thru.

"I want a house coffee," I say, "and a cheese danish, make it two so I can take Abel something."

He waves me off and orders our drinks and pastries. I quickly text my dad letting him know I was heading to see Abel.

When we arrived, I greeted Abel. Abel has been my personal doctor for years, he was recommended to me by my former doctor who retired. Abel was a great recommendation because not only is he my doctor for normal physicals and whatnot, but he's also a physical therapist and has been helping me in not just this recovery, but past recoveries as well.

"Good morning," I say, "I brought you something," I say handing him the drink and the cheese danish.

"Thank you," he smiles.

"This is João by the way," I say introducing the boys and they shake hands

"Shall we get started ?" He asks turning his attention back to me.

"Ready when you are," I say taking my jacket off.

We begin by doing some basic check ups and stretches for warm ups.

"How do you feel about getting on the treadmill ?" He asks.

"We both know I have to, let's just get this show on the road," I say standing up.