Against all odds

Chapter 28

"Of course, I did. Now go get changed out of this racing suit I bet its not the stealthiest walking around with this thing on and then Ill drive you guys back to the hotel so you can sleep." I said giving Max the bag of clothes.

"Before you ask no I didnt go through your room I took some clothes from my brother and got your phone from GP. Now hurry the bathrooms over there." I instructed and after he left, I turned to Jos. "what did the Doctors say?"

"It was a 51G crash, but he has no major injuries. "The dutchman answered shortly and soon after this small exchange Max was back in more normal clothes, and we went back to the hotel.

I was up until late at night unable to sleep scrolling through my phone sending some memes to my friends when I hear a silent knock on the door. My heartbeat quickened as I slowly stood up from the bed pulling my robe over my shoulders and grabbing my pepper spray with my right hand and my phone with Micks number pulled up in my left. I slowly walked towards the door well aware of the safety lock I installed. I was just about to reach out when I heard a second knock. A little louder this time.

I reached out to the doorknob turning it. The door opened a little and I was ready to attack whoever there was. The pepper spray clutched in the palm of my had I looked through the gap.

I instantly relaxed. "What are you doing here at this ungodly hour?! Youre supposed to be asleep!" I whisper yelled.

"Sorry I just couldnt sleep, and I tried waking Daniel, but he didnt answer, and I dont know what I want here. I saw you sent me a meme and thought you were still awake so maybe – I dont know. Sorry Ill leave."

"Oh, shut up Max. get in here. Before we wake someone else." I said pulling him into the room by his sleeve.

"Here sit down. Want something to drink?" I asked gesturing towards the Couch in the middle of the room.

"No thank you." He stared the empty wall not saying a word.

"I was about to do a face mask. Do you want one too?" I asked placing my pepperspray on my nightstand.

"No." he answered simply.

"Why not? No judgement here but it helps me relax." I explained.

"My dad would laugh at me." He explained still staring into the emptiness.

"I dont see him here. You know just because he helped you become who you are now doesnt mean you cant do anything he wouldnt approve of." I shrugged coming back with the Mask and a mirror. As I sat on the floor with the mirror on the coffetable applying the mask silence settled over the two of us.

As I was finished applying the mask I turned around: "you sure you dont want one too? This is your last chance its with green tea and aloe vera." I smiled.

"Okay." He nodded and sat down next to me.

"One sec lets get your hair out of the way first. Do you want the yellow or the red one?" I asked holding out two hair bands.

"Yellow please." He decided and so we were sitting here in the middle of the night applying face masks in silence.

"And done". I whispered as I put the brush down.

5 minutes later we were still sat there in the same position facing the wall in silence. Until I broke it. "Is there a reason why you cant sleep?" I asked carefully.

Max just sighed his head rolling back and resting on the armrest of the couch. Another few minutes passed before I got an answer: "I keep reliving it." He whispered just loud enough so I could hear," the crash you know? I just keep seeing it whenever I close my eyes. He was on my inside and then I lost the car. I couldnt do anything. I fly across the gravel and then everything is black. The next thing I remember is GP talking to me. I couldnt breathe and everything hurt. It was silent for quite some time after that. Well not silent but I couldnt hear much I felt like I was so far away from everything. The marshals coming and getting me out and going into that ambulance all felt like a blur. I couldnt do anything. Everything was painful. I cant get that feeling out of my brain. Every time, I close my eyes Im back in that moment. Back with that feeling. There were a few moments of silence before he continued, I know I cant talk to my dad about this because he would either laugh at me or give me some stupid comment on being a man. My mum is worried enough as it is. So, I tried to go to Daniel, but he didnt open the door and I didnt know what else to do. I just didnt want to be alone." He murmured.

"Im happy you felt save enough to tell me. Is there any way I can help you? Do you want to sleep on the couch tonight. Or do you want to stay awake all night? Because Im definitely down for either." I smiled.

"I dont know." He sighed his shoulders falling even further.

"Lets start with getting that mask off. It done now. Do you want to try a serum before moisturizing?" I tried cheering him up again.

"Okay" he smiled slightly.

Our pampering had progressed into the early morning hours and after we took our sheet masks off Max finally fell asleep on the bed after watching a few episodes of friends.

I was just cleaning everything up when I heard a knock at the door.

"What the fuck?" I whispered getting up and grabbing my pepper spray for the second time of the night.

"Fucking hell Daniel whats up?" I asked confused.

"Have you seen Max? He called me multiple times and I wanted to call back, but he didnt answer. He isnt in his room either and he even texted me SOS" He rambled.

"Calm down. He just fell asleep. Do you want to come in?" I asked as I saw the relief on the Australians face.

"Oh man I almost had a heart attack. "

Closing the door behind him I gestured to the dutchman sleeping on the bed.

"What happened?" Daniel asked sitting on the couch.

I pulled the door between the bedroom and the living area closed and joined him.

"He knocked at my door a few hours ago and after a little bit of digging I found out that he couldnt sleep because he kept reliving the crash. He said he tried knocking on your door, but you were asleep, and he probably didnt want to bother you, so he came to me. I just pampered him a bit and after a few episodes of friends he fell asleep." I clarified.

"Fuck. This never happened before. I never knew he was taking this so hard." Daniel put his head into his hands.

"I dont think its the crashing in general. He said that everything hurt, and he was in some sort of a trance, I think. He told me that everything hurt, and he couldnt escape the pain. I think its that this crash could have ended fatally." I explained.

"But why didnt he go to his dad about this. He could probably help him better, right? "

"He said that his dad would laugh at him or tell him to be a man. He probably just wanted someone to listen to him." I shrugged.

We kept talking quietly until we heard a huge gasp from the bedroom. I immediately ran inside and found Max sitting up in a cold sweat grasping the sheets and looking around frantically. There were even tears rolling down his cheeks as he was breathing erratically.