The One That Got Away (Sebastian Vettel)

38. At Her Side

"Mollie, no!!!!" Seb shouted, jumping up out of his seat.  Joel swung a hand out and held held him back.

"Stay calm Seb, let the medics do their jobs. Wait here. They won't let you on track."

Seb knew that but he couldn't just sit here waiting.  He shrugged Joel's hand off of his arm but stayed in his seat.

"No, no,no," he groaned. The television footage had cut away from Mollie. He didn't even know if she'd regained consciousness or not.

Cassie appeared behind him. "Seb, come with me."  He followed through the garage and into the paddock.   Cassie could see he was close to tears.  "I'm sure she'll be ok Seb.  Ash is trying to find out as much as he can. Tom Smollett is on the case. She'll be fine."

"Joel said she had a headache again. Cassie, what if it's her head injury? What if there's something really wrong? I've only just got her. I can't lose her. I need her."

"Seb I know it's hard but you've got to try and calm down. She's going to need you. You need to stay calm for her. Ash! Have you heard anything?"

Mollie's trainer ran over. "She's still out for the count. They're working on her. They don't know why she passed out. They're going to take her to hospital as soon as they have her stabilised. Her heart rate is a little erratic." 

"I'm heading there. I want to be there when she arrives."

"Seb, you can't drive the state you're in.  Ash, take him. I'll meet you there later. The media will want a statement."

Seb sprinted after Ash towards the car park. They jumped into a silver Honda. Ash quickly pulled out of the parking space and they made for the exit.  Seb saw the ambulance pulling out in front of them, sirens blaring.  

On arrival Ash stopped to let Seb out, telling him he'd meet him inside after he'd parked. Seb rushed in and straight to the reception desk. 

"That ambulance just brought my girlfriend in.  I need to see her.  I need to know how she is. She collapsed at the track. She's a driver. "

The lady on the desk recognised Seb instantly.

"Mr Vettel, I'll get someone to take you to a room to wait until we know something."

Seb paced up and down the waiting room until a nurse came to collect him five minutes later.   She led him to a side room. 

"Where's Mollie? I need to know she's ok."  The door opened again and another nurse led Ash in.

"She's still being assessed.  We will let you know soon when you can see her."

"Can you at least tell me if she is awake?"

" I'm afraid I don't know sir. I haven't seen her myself."

The nurses left and Seb began pacing.

"Seb, calm down. "

"Ash I can't. She is my world. If anything happens to her I don't know what I'll do."

Forty minutes later a doctor knocked on the door and entered. 

"Mr Vettel? Sebastian?"

"Yes? Is there news? Is Mollie ok?"

"She's asking for you. Come this way. I'm sorry, you'll have to wait here," he told Ash.

Seb followed him through a maze of corridors until they reached a small side room.  The doctor opened the door and let him in.

"I'll leave you alone."

He saw Mollie propped up on the bed.  She was awake, smiling weakly at him.  She didn't look well at all.  Her eyes were all red and puffy, and her face was as white as a ghost.  Seb rushed to her side.

"Oh Mollie my darling.  You scared the hell out of me.  How are you feeling ?"  He pressed his lips to her forehead in a lingering kiss. 

"Seb. I'm so happy you're here. I'm so scared Seb,"she cried.  

"It's ok baby. I'm here." He noticed she was attached to a drip and a heart monitor.  A sick bowl was balanced on her lap.  " Do you remember what happened?"

" I remember the last several laps I began to get a headache. It started getting worse. If the race hadn't ended when it did I would have probably pulled out. I got out of the car and everything was spinning. I felt like I was going to puke up. My head just kept thumping. Then all of a sudden everything went black. Next thing I know I'm waking up here."

He sat on the chair next to the bed and took her hand in his. 

"How's the pain now?"

" Bareable. They've given me some painkillers. I still feel like I'm going to puke though." 

" I've literally never been so scared in my life Mollie. Seeing you fall to the ground like that ...."

"I've got to have a brain scan Seb.  They think it could be my head injury bleeding again.  "

"No!"  Seb felt the tears welling up in his eyes. Please God no.

"If it's that my career is done. The championship is done. I'll never race again."

"Mollie. Your health is the important thing."

" I don't know what I'll do if I can't race again Seb."

"Mols, let's cross that bridge if and when we come to it. Yes, we.  I'm in this with you.  I love you baby and I'm with you through thick and thin. Let's concentrate on getting you better."

"Seb, I'm gonna puke."  He quickly held the bowl up to her mouth and used his other hand to stroke her hair as she parted company with the contents of her stomach,which seemed to be acid rather than any food. 

The door knocked and the same doctor returned. 

"Just letting you know we'll be taking you for your scan in around half an hour.  The nurse will be along to take some more bloods shortly."

"Surprised I have any left in me after all the tubes they took before," Mollie grumbled, as the doctor left the room.  Suddenly something occurred to her. "Shit! Mum and Dad! They'll be frantic.  Seb, can you call them please?"  He agreed to call them even though he didn't want to leave her. They came to a compromise. He would call them when she was taken down for her scan.

Exactly half an hour later a porter and a doctor came to collect her. Seb dropped a kiss on her forehead.

"Everything will be fine baby," he reassured her. "I'll be waiting for you when you get back ."

He headed outside to make the difficult phone call he needed to make. 

The phone rang once and Darren Rashford answered, his voice full of worry.

"Hello?"

"Darren, it's Sebastian. "

"Seb, how is she? I spoke to Tom Smollett but he said he hasn't heard.  He said you're with her.  What's going on?"

" Darren, she asked me to call.  Try not to panic. She's ok. They're just doing some tests to find out why she fainted."  He didn't mentioned the concerns about her head injury. Mollie had asked him not to mention it until they knew for sure. 

"Seb, can I just say Kate and I are so pleased about you and Mollie. She sounded so happy when she called us Friday and told us."

"I love her Darren. I think I always have."

"Keep us informed Seb. Look after our girl for us."

He headed back to Mollie's room. About half an hour later she was brought back. She had a bit more colour in her cheeks.

"How long should this take?" he asked the doctor.

"Not long. Results are almost instantaneous nowadays with the technology we have." (Really have no idea about this so just go with the flow and assume this is true)

Seb held Mollie's hand tightly. They sat in silence. The wait was excruciating. Both of them just wanted to know whether it was good news or bad. Was this it for Mollie and her dream of winning the FW title?

She knew it would break her heart if this was it but she had her Seb. She knew he'd be there with her the whole way.