ℝ𝕚𝕧𝕒𝕝𝕤 [ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕖𝕤 𝕃𝕖𝕔𝕝𝕖𝕣𝕔] ✔

Part 56

The flight to Italy was an absolute shit show. It turns out that having anxiety for plane rides really gets reinforced when you can't stop thinking about how the person you love are in a coma. It is safe to say that Y/n was more than relieved when the plane finally landed. Not that she really wanted to be in Italy right now, but at least she wasn't on the plane anymore. 

The usual cheerful and excited team spirit had completely vanished, and it was like no one dared to say a word. Instead the spirit was stressful and miserable, and none of the team members barely spoke as they checked in on the hotel. 

Y/n plopped down on her hotel bed not wanting to see or talk to anyone right now. She was physically and mentally drained from the plane ride, and her mind that would not allow Y/n to catch just a 5 minute break. 

She was constantly thinking about Charles who were currently being transferred to a hospital in Monaco, and she was constantly thinking about everything that could go wrong and how, if it did, she wouldn't be there, but instead driving a car in a different country. 

She wasn't even looking forward to the race. She was just looking forward for the weekend to end, so she could catch the earliest flight to Monaco, so she could get back to Charles. 

--

Y/n had had a lot of trouble sleeping and just purely existing, and media day yesterday had drained her from energy. She was currently doing her warms ups for FP1, but it was hard to maintain focus. 

"Y/n you need to focus, come on" Peter said trying to sound encouraging. "I know... it's just so hard" she explained and Peter felt so sorry for her, "I get it, I really do, but if you aren't focused, you could end up in a coma too, and I don't want that to happen" he said and Y/n sighed knowing that he was right. 

"You're right, I'm sorry" she replied and Peter placed a hand on her shoulder, "Listen kid, you go out there, and you enjoy yourself. Push everything else aside because this is only about you and the car. This is your passion, your life, and you are gonna go out there and smash it because I know, you can do that. And I know that Charles and the rest of the team knows that you can do that" 

For some reason those words hit Y/n in a way she didn't think was possible. "Wow, Peter that was... inspiring" she said and for the first time in a long time, she had a smile on her face. "Well I am your coach" he grinned, "But also, I care about you, and I want you to achieve your goals" he smiled and Y/n couldn't help but pull him into a tight hug before getting into the car.

--

After yesterdays inspiring speech from Peter, and her great FP1 and FP2 results, P3 and P6, Y/n felt much more confident for qualifying today. She had talked a bit with Lando over some lunch, and it felt nice to kinda not be thinking about all sorts of horrible things at the moment, but only focus on the race. 

"Ready for quali?" Lando asked as they had finished their lunch and were walking down the paddock. "As ready as I can be, you?" she replied looking at him. "Yeah same, any news from the hospital?" he asked and Y/n felt her heart sink a bit. "No, none" she replied. They continued to chat for a bit until they had to get ready for quali. 

The pace was looking good, and Y/n's first lap put her in P5 in Q1. But as more cars enrolled the track, she was now down to P9, but as Q1 was ending soon, she decided to not do anything about it as she was still safe for Q2.

Then Q2 arrived and she once again began her lap a bit later this time. She felt the car having a decent grib and she didn't clip the apex that bad. "Very good, P7" Riccardo spoke over the radio and Y/n smiled to herself. 

She made it to Q3 and felt the pressure and nerves getting higher and more intense. Q3 was the most important one, and she really wanted to get a good result and maybe bring home a few points despite everything. 

She rushed out on the track and thanks to one of the Racing Points cars, she managed to steal a bit of slip stream as she began her hopefully very fast or fastest lap. Diving into the first corner she hit the brakes the latest as possible and took the shortest way around speeding up again as soon as she was round Turn 1. 

The track was long, but she was purple in the first two sectors, and she felt like flying. Maybe it was Peter's words that were still stuck in her brain, but she really let out a big sigh of relief when Q3 ended and she waited for Riccardo to tell her the results. "That was an outstanding lap, P2!" she heard the cheering in the garage through the radio and she cheered along. 

"Yes guys!!! This is for Charles, for the team" she cheered and felt so much relief when the qualifying was finally over. She still felt drained and was looking forward to just go back to Monaco and stay with Charles praying to God that he would wake up soon, but at least she managed to get a front row for the race tomorrow. 

"See, I knew you could do this" Peter beamed giving Y/n a hug as well as the rest of the garage. She smiled, but probably mostly because the day was almost over and she could get back to the hotel and sleep.