Halo

LII

Beep...beep...beep...great, I'm in a hospital again. I opened my eyes to confirm my suspicion and I was correct. 

"Anyone there?" I called and Toto walked in the room with a very stressed look on his face. "What happened?" 

"You had another seizure, and George managed to catch you before you fell. You had an internal brain bleed from the impact of the falling elevator, so you had to have surgery. I had you transferred to Zurich where you had your original surgery since they were familiar with the case." He explained. 

"How long have I been out?" 

"Your surgery was two days ago, but you were awake but not really there. The doctors are going to keep you for a while," He explained, but there was something more. 

I sighed, "Out with it Toto..." 

"Stella...you went into cardiac arrest in Leclerc's arms and by the time you got out, and Mick got you...you were gone." He whispered. "It took them about fifteen minutes to get you back." 

"Why was Charles holding me?" 

"George freaked out and Charles just stepped up to help. Mick's traumatized, to say the least, after holding your dead body in his arms for a few minutes before the medical team got there." 

I was silent as I processed the information. The seizures apparently were just going to be a fact of life whenever something traumatizing happens like this once in a blue moon. Right now I needed to talk with Mick. 

"Can I see Mick?" I questioned. 

Toto nodded and left the room, and soon Mick walked in slowly, almost afraid. He sat wordlessly on the bed, his eyes never leaving mine before lying next to me, head resting in the crook of my neck. 

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," I whispered. 

"It's okay...I just hope you feel better." 

I stocked his hair gently till his breathing got heavier, and soon was asleep. Toto came in and sat on the cushy chair in the corner of the room. Susie came in also and took her spot on the couch. While Toto and Mick were fast asleep she and I talked. 

"You two are so young with already a lifetime of experience," She sighed. "All things aside, I saw you in the paddock with Mick, and while he was all smiles, I could see distress in your eyes." 

Tears sprung to my eyes quickly, and without warning. "I'm scared for him, Susie...I can't imagine––I mean after Lewis..." 

"You can't think like that Stella, you know that. You love him and he loves you, live in the now, not the future. George Russell, you're the closest thing he has to Lewis, so at some point, he's going to be looking up to you for guidance. You will feel the need to protect him because he reminds you of Lewis, but you can't. That's your future star driver, because in a few years Toto will be gone, and you're going to be it." She stated. 

"Ok, I can do that," I whispered. 

"One last thing," She chuckled, "The Mercedes family...you might want to look out your window," 

At that same time, a doctor came into the room with a large smile, "There's my star patient!" She exclaimed. "Your surgery went well, and recovering is going perfectly. Do you have any questions?" 

I thought for a moment before chuckling, "How long will my stay be this time?" 

"Probably two weeks." 

"Can I sign a paper to opt-out of that?" 

The doctor sighed, "Yes, but it would be against my judgment, you seem like a very fragile person to get a seizure from that accident." 

By this time Mick and Toto were up listening along with Susie. After the doctor said that, they all took in a deep breath. She made a mistake, that she'll wish she hadn't. 

Without any hesitation, I swung my legs over the bed to everyone's surprise. After swaying a bit, I was upright and walking to the doctor, rolling my IV bags with me. 

"Get. Me. The. Damn. Paper. "I snapped, "And clearance to land a helicopter on your roof." 

"Mr. Schumacher, please tell your wife that this isn't safe for her!" The doctor snapped back. 

Mick jumped out of bed and stormed up beside me, "Papers and helicopter now." 

"I'm getting our Chief," She exclaimed before storming out. 

I stood gripping the metal pole tightly, trying to control my anger. Everyone knows I don't like being told no. If I'd listened to every person who had told me no, I would be working some boring office job and live a simple life. 

Soon, the Chief of Neurosurgery came back, the original one who dared to do the risky operation with me. 

"What seems to be the problem, Mrs. Schumacher?" He asked. 

"Your doctor will not give me discharge waivers and clearance to land my helicopter on your roof," I said calmly as Dr. Meyer turned to his associate. 

"Dr. Shwartz, please get the papers and clearance for the Schumacher's helicopter, and perhaps an apology to Mr. and Mrs. Schumacher for this despicable treatment. As some of our biggest donors, I would think the Schumachers would deserve first-class treatment." He ordered. 

"Of course," Dr. Shwartz whispered before running out of the room. 

Dr. Meyer turned back to me, "Can I ask why you want to leave early?" 

I pointed to Toto and Mick, "I've got to help run an F1 team."

Mick and Toto smacked their heads in defeat, while I began packing whatever things were here. When the papers arrived I signed them and called our pilot to come to pick the four of us up. I still had bandaged around my head, but I wanted to do a photo op. 

Mick and Toto, would also come to realize why I'm about to do this photo op in black sweat pants, and a Mercedes t-shirt, with bandages around my forehead, spotted with blood. 

Walking was hard, and standing and smiling were going to be even harder, but right now as we walked out the hospital doors, I realized it would be just another sacrifice I would be making. Reporters rushed out with microphones and cameras, as cheers from the Mercedes team erupted. 

"Thank you!" I exclaimed with a bright smile. "Thanks to the wonderful team here, I have made a swift recovering and look forward to returning to work. Any more questions can be sent by email, and I'll be happy to give you a call. Thank you again for all the well wishes!" 

I walked away from the reporters, and back into the hospital. It was time to go home and deal with any of the fall out from the incident. Lawsuits, my legal department has no doubt already started that needs to be dealt with along with talking with Charles and George about what happened. 

Once we were in the helicopter and well away from the hospital, Toto finally spoke up. 

"Why did you do that photo op?" 

"Stability Toto, stability, " I replied. "Investors, fans, team members, and everyone in between gets all antsy when an event like this happens. Every time something happens regarding my company, I'll the first once doing all the major news networks, even if things aren't ok, you bend the truth a bit, make it fit." 

I leaned on Mick trying to get rest. We made it to our home rather, quickly and once I was settled in, I had our pilot take Toto and Susie home. 

The rest of the day we replied to media requests and friends/family. As we were writing back to Cosmos, our doorbell rang. I hobbled over to open it, much to the objection of Mick. 

"Mom?" I exclaimed.