Everything Has Changed //Ryan Blaney//

4.1 - Accident

Sienna

"Eleanor, please be careful. You almost fell." My warning didn't seem to faze her. I don't know how many times I had told her that in an hour. She was riding her bike on the gravel driveway and going a little too fast for my liking. Her daddy and Chase decided to take the training wheels off for her the other day and now that she knows how to ride without them she thinks she's invincible. 

"Mommy, I'm okay."

That was the response, but when she got close to me she would wobble, having a hard time grabbing the brakes. I let it go, knowing that she was beginning to be hard-headed like Ryan is. She had been spending so much time with him since her school year had started a couple of weeks ago. It seemed like I had to pry her away from his side to even get her to take a bath before bed.

Last week when we were at Dover, she made sure to sit in the pit box, even after I had told her we didn't want to be in the way. Then when Ryan's day had been cut short, she tried her hardest to be right with him before he gave his final interview. 

I didn't know what was wrong but it just seemed like Ryan had become her favorite parent and she was trying her best to avoid me. Or at least that's what my irrational thoughts liked to tell me. Thinking of it again had my heart hurting and my eyes burning with emotion. I didn't like to cry because of it because I knew it wasn't true but I couldn't get the thoughts to go away. 

Turning away for a split second to wipe at my eyes, I hadn't even heard Eleanor yelling at me; listening to my head instead of what was going on. When I did hear her it was already too late. She had started taking the spill on her bike, sending herself and the metal ride into my front legs. Forgetting about myself, I instinctively tried to grab her so she wouldn't get hurt. That only caused me to hit the gravel harder with all of her weight on top of me. My head and back landed on the rocks, and the bike landed on my legs.

Trying to move past the pain in my head, I immediately looked over to El. Hot tears were rolling down her red face before she let out a wail of a scream. Panic set in as I tried to find what was wrong. 

"Where does it hurt, baby? Show mommy." She stuck her face into my chest, crying even louder. Frantically I searched her body, seeing her knees scraped and blood pooling in them. Then I spotted it. The indent in her arm was a surefire clue. Oh, I hope it was an easy break.

Kicking the bike off of me, I tried my best to get up off the ground without hurting her more. I stumbled a bit once getting to my feet but I shook it off. Thankfully she had her helmet and pads on but I was going to be putting her in bubble wrap when she was better. Of course, she would take the clumsy aspect from me.

"El, go get in the truck. I've got to get my keys and an ice pack for your arm."

Ryan

It had been a pretty overloaded day in the office. Tim was sitting us down to talk about how we were going to work together this weekend at Talladega. There was a lot we were trying to go over with who we thought would work well to work with. I immediately said to not work with Ricky because I wanted to make it to the end. He was a hell of a pusher but sometimes that pushing put you into the wall with everyone flying right at you.

"I agree with Ryan. I think our best bet is the stick with each other. Bring in Paul to help in his car. I'd say to work with Stewart Haas but sometimes they don't work well with us." Brad had spoken, going over the paper that had statistics of past super speedway finishes.

Out of nowhere, the sound of my ringtone blared throughout the small conference room, jolting all of us. Seeing them all look at me had a blush arising on my cheeks, I tried to hush the voice of Cody Johnson to no avail. Not like shushing it would help. Joey had chuckled at my attempt to silence my phone, instead of answering it.

All of us had been looking on our phones but I was sure I had been the only one to leave my volume up. Go figure. That didn't matter though as I saw the caller was Sienna. Feeling my stomach drop, I told the guys that I had to take the call. Stepping outside the room, I saw Brad and Joey leaning to hear.

"Sienna, what's wrong?" It had been the cries in the background that I heard that caused me to answer the phone differently. Eleanor was crying, and Sienna was calling while I was in a meeting; neither was a good sign.

"Don't freak out on me." She started saying fast then continuing again before I could answer. "Eleanor and I had a little bike accident and now I'm taking her to the emergency room." Even though she had told me not to freak out, I was walking back into the room looking at them frazzled. Pulling the phone away for just a second I told the group, "I'm sorry to do this but I have to go right now. Family emergency."

All of them had pushed me out the door, telling me they hoped things were okay and to let them know once things were okay. Going back to the call I asked her about the accident. She hadn't said much so I was praying it wasn't anything bad.

"Eleanor was riding her bike in the driveway without her training wheels like she had the other day and I wasn't paying attention to what was happening. When she tried to brake, she, and the bike, ran into me causing us to both hit the ground. I know she has a broken arm."

As worried as I was for our daughter, I also had to worry about my wife's well-being too. She had hit the ground as well so maybe she hurt herself in the process as well.

"Are you okay?"

Seeming to blow the question off, she started to give me an answer about how she was more worried about Eleanor than herself. As I came out of the doors and into the parking lot, I fished my keys out of my pocket. I unlocked my truck, climbed in, and started it. The truck's in-car calling picked up so I didn't have to press my phone to my ear anymore. Setting it in the middle compartment.

"Honey, I'm asking about you. Did you get hurt too?" Backing out of my spot, I put my foot down on the gas; pushing down even more when I got onto the street. I would just have to explain that I was fearful for my family's well-being if I had any flashing lights come up behind me.

"I don't think so Ry. Nothing was broken, just starting to feel nauseous. I hit my back and head on the ground and a few bruises formed on my legs. Other than that, I'm okay."

Nope, that didn't sound alright to me. What she said had red flags going up because I had worked so closely with my foundation to know that feeling sick after hitting your head was a sign of a concussion. "Where are you?"

"We're coming up to Charlotte now, Erin and William's house is just a couple minutes away." She said, her voice sounding distant as she was also trying to console Eleanor in the back seat. 

Knowing where she was had me changing directions, especially after hearing her symptoms. "I want you to listen to me. When you come up to their house pull in and wait for me. I'll be there in just a minute." I told her, pulling onto the street that was a straight shot to my sister's house.

"Okay, I'm just now pulling in. Why did you want me to stop?" Her tone changed, sounding more irritated than she was. Another sign, another red flag.

"Because I think you may have a concussion."

Word Count - 1489

So I was wanting to set up some things for the next chapter and this was the best way. Poor Eleanor though. The next chapter is being written as you are reading this so hoping to have it up soon as well. I hope you like it, even if it's a bit shorter than last. And just a reminder that this is set in the 2019 Nascar season. 

- Stay Beautiful

Courtney S