Battle Scars // Esteban Ocon

10

Abi woke up after dreaming about that night during summer break in Paris with Esteban. She was confused as to why that memory had entered her mind in a dream but was even more confused when she opened her eyes.

The bright light hurt her head causing her to close her eyes once again and place her hands in front of them. She slowly opened her eyes allowing them to adjust to the light.

She looked around and realised what she was laid in a hospital bed. She tried to sit up but a sudden and sharp pain occurred in the side of her stomach. She lifted her top to reveal large white bandages wrapped around her chest.

She could also feel a tightness around her leg. The Brit lifted her blanket to reveal a cast wrapped securely around her right leg from bottom to top.

The Brit felt severely confused. The last thing she reminded was waiting in the garage for the rain to stop and the stewards to announce when qualifying would start.

Abi lay in the hospital bed feeling very confused when a sudden familiar face walked by the door.

"Lando." She called out and a few seconds later the door opened to reveal one of her best friends since karting.

"Oh my god Abi." Lando exclaimed as he walked in the door and pulled the girl into a hug.

"Ow ow ow." She muttered as he squeezed her ribs too tight.

"Sorry." Lando replied as he took a step back from her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Minus all of this." Abi joked as she gestured to all her bandages and cuts. "So what happened?"

"You don't remember?" The McLaren driver wondered looking down at his best friend who simply shook her head in reply. "You were in an accident Abi. Up Radillion during qualifying. You spun and crashed into the barrier before bouncing into another, nearly went straight through it."

"Oh my god." Abi said in surprise.

"Yeh they had to operate on a bleed in your brain. You broke your right leg, fractured three ribs,  punctured a lung and got a severe concussion." Lando explained as he took a seat on the edge of her bed. "You're parents are on their way. They had to drive to London to get a a direct flight. They should be here in an hour or so."

"Oh god. Everyone would've seen it." Abi realised as she thought of her entire family seeing her crash happen on tv.

"Yeh it was pretty scary. Your team radioed but there was no answer. The medical car had to pull you out and get you into the ambulance. Do you want to see it?" Lando asked and Abi nodded in reply. She wanted to see if it looked as bad as it sounded.

Lando reached into his pocket and produced his phone. He went to YouTube and searched for Abi's crash. It was easily found between the initial part being shown on tv and fan clips recorded from nearby.

Lando handed her the phone as the clip began to play. Lando listened to the commentary and knew what was about to happen. Abi suddenly winced as she watched the accident unfold.

"Oh shit." She spoke before handing the phone back to Lando.

"Yeh. Wasn't pretty." Lando said shaking his head before tucking his phone back in his pocket. He stood up and walked towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Abi asked as she tried to sit up but winced in pain.

"Sit down you idiot." Lando told her. "I'm just going to tell everyone you're awake."

"Everyone?" Abi wondered in confusion. It was dark outside now telling her it was at least 7pm if not later.

"Yeh everyone. Once qualifying was ended everyone came here to see how you were." Lando explained before leaving the room.

Abi lay in silence with her head resting against the pillow as she stared out the window. It was dark and she could see the stars in the sky. The sound of the door opening again caught her attention.

The first person to come into the room was her teammate and the man she had been avoiding since Paris over three weeks ago. But right now neither of them seemed to care about that.

"Abi." Esteban spoke before he walked forward and gently gave her a hug almost like she would break if he squeezed too tight.

"Hey." She breathed out as he took in the familiar smell of his cologne.

"Are you okay?" The Frenchman wondered as he stopped back and looked down on his teammate.

"Yeh. I'm fine. Minus everything that's actually wrong with me." Abi joked with a smile causing Esteban to laugh. He was glad things weren't still awkward between them like they had been since arriving in Belgium.

"So are we friends again?" Esteban asked her.

"We were always friends. We just made it more awkward." Abi laughed slightly causing Esteban to nod in agreement.

"I'm sorry." He told her.

"Why? You have no reason to be sorry. We were both in Paris that night." The brown haired girl reminded him.

There was a moment of silence between the pair after that. Esteban took a seat at the edge of her bed and took Abi's hand in his own.

"Abi-." Esteban started to say before the door burst open to reveal Abi's family causing the Frenchman to jump out of his seat.

"Oh sweetheart." Abi's mother spoke as she rushed forward and pulled her into a hug.

Amit all her family hugs, Abi missed Esteban sneaking out of the room wanting to leave Wilson family alone with Abi after everything that happened.

"Este-." Abi started after she finished hugging her family but she realised that her teammate had already left.

"How are you dear?" Abi's mother wondered as he family sat around her.

Abi pulled her gaze from the door where Esteban would've left through. She thought maybe that conversation was leading somewhere but now she would never know.

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