Daisy pumped her strong legs hard as she led the way up the hill on her mountain bike. Her Daddy was just about able to keep up -- he was approaching 50, but was as fit as most twenty-somethings.
She seemed to still be in a foul humour. She had been like this the last week -- to be expected as she had just broken up from her boyfriend of over a year.
Her nearly 19-year-old body strained on the steepest part of the climb. Daddy noted that his little girl now had a very shapely figure. Some may say that she was carrying a couple of pounds too much, but her curvy arse and breasts were classically sexy. And he was following that arse as it swayed with the effort in front of him, with the tight black lycra leaving nothing to the imagination.
It won't be long before she has another boyfriend thought her Daddy to himself, with a hint of regret escaping out of that deepest place in his mind where he had locked away feelings he knew he could never share.
As they reached the top, they stopped to drink from their bottles and eat a protein bar. They didn't look alike facially. Daisy with her blonde curls, grey-blue eyes, thin lips. Daddy with his dark Irish looks, hazel eyes, and very full lips.
A tingling feeling spread through Daisy's body as Daddy's muscular lips sucked on the spout of his water bottle. She had to look away as water dripped out of the corner of his mouth and down his stubbly chin.
Then she remembered she was pissed off at him. "Daddy, why are you insisting that I go away from home to study next year! Our local university is really totally fine with me. And it will save a bundle of cash".
"It's time that you went out on your own, flower. Meet new people. Experience new things. It's an important part of growing up and becoming independent". He said the words as convincingly as he could, knowing that it would be best for them both in the long run. But a part of him was dying inside at the thought of his girl not being with him.
Now Daisy was not just pissed. She also felt a deep sadness, as if her Daddy was rejecting her. She pushed her bottle angrily back into its cage, put her helmet on, and tore down the steep winding trail. She was too upset to worry about how fast she was going.
Daddy was shocked at the speed with which his flower was taking the turns on the tight trail. He tried to keep up as best he could but he could feel the back of his bike sliding on the bone dry corners. Then, to his horror, he saw Daisy become airborne as she took a turn too fast and was thrown from her bike.
To Daisy it seemed like an age that she spent flying through the air. She had enough time to think to herself that if her Daddy doesn't want her, then maybe it would be best for this now to be her end. But her arms shot out by reflex to cushion her fall. And they did -- preventing her from breaking her neck, but at a cost.
Daddy was relieved to see Daisy sit up as he reached her. She had no visible injuries, but she was in shock. And as she tried to push herself up off the ground, she crumpled in pain.
Daddy got to her quickly and kneeling at her side, with tears in his eyes, implored "Daisy, don't move! You landed with your arms outstretched. That can mean they are broken."
As she writhed in pain, he tried to calm her with a hand on her forehead while fishing his phone out of his backpack. To his horror, there was no signal.
"Daisy, we have no signal. I have to go back up the trail to get help."
"No Daddy, please don't leave me. Please."
"OK darling, I will carry you up the trail a bit until we get a signal".
The shooting pain in Daisy's arms became more tolerable to her as she found herself in her Daddy's strong arms. She leaned her head against his chest. The feel of him. The smell of him. His reassuring words. The rocking motion as he laboured under her weight. She couldn't fight it -- she closed her eyes and fell into an energy-saving deep sleep.
As Daisy lost consciousness in Daddy's arms, he hurried as fast as he could up the trail. Luckily, he didn't have to go far before he encountered more mountain bikers who cycled back up to where there was a signal and called in mountain rescue.
Daisy woke up with the glare of white lights in her eyes. She couldn't make out where she was and was starting to panic, when the familiar face of her Daddy floated into view above her and his warm Irish voice reassured her "It's alright my flower. You are in the A and E of the hospital. We are waiting to be seen. You were sleeping all the way here. Some sort of shock reaction."
Daisy felt an electric pain in her elbows as she tried to prop herself up to look around. Daddy settled her back down and reassured her that the doctor would be with them in a minute.
Sure enough, not long later the curtain was rolled back and a young, female Asian doctor strolled in, an older nurse in her wake.
Daisy asked Daddy to recount the details of her crash to the doctor. "Well, we need to x-ray both arms. In the meantime, I'll give you something for the pain".
An orderly came with a wheelchair and as he pushed Daisy along to the x-ray unit, she was reassured by her Daddy's hand that rested on her shoulder as he walked along, keeping the pace set by the orderly.
In the x-ray room, a nurse and radiographer were waiting. The nurse impatiently remarked "OK, we need to get that top off so we can x-ray both arms", before taking the sleeve of Daisy's cycling top and trying to pull her arm out of it. Daisy moaned in pain.
"What are you doing, can't you see she is in pain. Just cut the fecking top off." Daddy's voice was full of annoyance but also concern. Daisy was so happy her Daddy was there with her.
The nurse grabbed a scissors and roughly cut Daisy's top off, revealing a tight black sports bra. Daddy couldn't help but notice her plump breasts. But what truly intrigued him, puzzled him even, were the damp spots surrounding the area where her nipples were budding out. He said nothing and stood back as the nurse placed Daisy's right arm on the table, positioning it for the x-ray. And then draping a heavy leaded vest over her.
"OK, everyone out!" shouted the radiologist.
"No, please let Daddy stay! Please!"
As the tears flowed from Daisy, the radiologist relented. He took another leaded vest and placed it over Daddy's broad shoulders. Everyone else left, leaving Daddy hunched beside his seated girl, her head leaning on his shoulder. In the silence, they could feel their breathing rates syncing. Daisy relaxing. A calmness broken by the sharp noise of the buzzer that signalled that they were both being exposed to a fraction of a second of high-intensity radiation.