racing hearts - a Fabio Quartararo fanfiction [🇬🇧]

chapter 13

[I'm still standing - Elton John]

I slowly opened my eyes, which I immediately regretted when a bright light stung my eyes.
I immediately felt a head wrenching pain ripple through my skull, making me gasp.
Prepared for the bright light, I opened my eyes again. This time I realized that it was just the sunlight coming through the windows and it didn't seem all that bright anymore.
I wanted to sit up, but pain shot through me again. This time in my right hand. Looking down I saw two fingers in a splint.
I examined my left hand, which seemed normal. But when my eyes fell on my left shoulder, I caught my breath.
A huge bruise formed over it, which looked pretty bad.
I averted my gaze from my shoulder and surveyed my surroundings.
It was a room that was pretty much all white.
To my right was a door and next to it a surface, almost a shelf, where you could put something.
If I looked straight, I recognized another door, in front of which stood a small table with two chairs. A television was mounted above it.
To my left was the window, which caused me to be blinded by the sunlight earlier.
Where on earth was I?
I suddenly became aware of it.
I was injured and I was in a bed. The room is completely white. And I was also wearing these typical hospital clothes. I was in a hospital.
I tried to remember what happened and how I ended up here.
Max came to my room while I was texting with Fabio...
Then we went to the Ratzenberger monument...
The Italian anthem was played and we stood outside...
I was sitting at the barrier with Daniel and Mick and...
And then followed black in my memory.
I winced when suddenly the door opened.
"Ah, I see you're already awake," came a deep voice. I followed the voice and saw a slightly older man, around 50 years old, wearing a white coat. That must have been the head doctor.
"What happened?" I asked straightaway, wanting answers to my confused thoughts.
He grabbed a chair from the table and sat down across from me.
"So, as already suspected, you can't remember anything. When does your memory stop?" he asked.
So I told him that my last memories stopped with Daniel and Mick when I suddenly started to find a solution to this whole situation myself.
"Wait, did I crash?" I asked and the doctor nodded.
"Yes, you did. The crash took quite a toll on your head. But I have to say, you were lucky. If you would have driven 10 to 15 km/h faster, you would have swung between life and death."
This sentence stuck. I literally escaped death.
A shiver ran down my spine. Sure, it was our sport and you always race with a huge risk. Every race could mean your end. Your complete end. Even if every racing driver was aware of this, it was quite frightening when you found out that it really had almost come to this. "Yes," the doctor spoke up again, "I know that sounds pretty extreme. Since you've already turned into the corner, you slowed down, which saved your life. But I can put your mind at ease. We did the necessary checks and found that your head had no internal or external damage. We splinted your right middle and ring finger. They are not broken, but the splint is used to stabilize the finger as it was slightly injured. Otherwise you still have a few bruises which-" Absently, I looked at my shoulder again, which the doctor noticed and added, "- may look frightening at first glance, but are nothing serious."
Suddenly, however, something else came to mind. Something that was typical for racers.
"When can I drive again? I have to be fit again for the next race."
The doctor laughed, which confused me and made me slightly angry. Wasn't he taking me seriously now?
"Don't worry," he said, "we want to keep you here as an observation for one night. That's necessary. If everything goes well, you can be released tomorrow morning. However, you still have to wear the splint until Sunday, then this can also be discarded."
On Sunday, the red alert was triggered directly in me.
I wouldn't be able to race with a splint.
However, the panic subsided as soon as I remembered that I now had a week off.
I nodded after the doctor finished.
"Then everything is okay. If you need anything else, just press the red button and a nurse will come," he explained almost a bit superfluously, but he probably had to add it, "If a headache occurs or worsens, you can also ask for painkillers. Also, someone from your team had a bag sent to the hospital. From what I've heard, your clothes and valuables should be inside."
I thanked him and the head doctor left the room.
I made another attempt to sit up, this time being careful not to lean on my splinted hand.
It took a while, but I ended up sitting in my bed with my back against the pillow.
But I quickly realized that I wouldn't be able to sleep on my back for the next week because there were probably a lot of bruises there too. At least that's how it felt.
At the moment my headache was calmer than when I woke up.
I searched the room for a clock, wanting to know what time it was.
After a quick look around, I recognized a clock above the main entrance.
However, the sun told me that it couldn't be too late, which was confirmed when I saw the time.
16:12
That means the race is still on.
Not knowing what else to do, I grabbed the remote control that was lying next to me and turned on the TV.
It didn't take long to find the channel that was broadcasting the race.
Max was first so far. Behind him a Mercedes and then a McLaren. Unfortunately, it was then confirmed that it wasn't Daniel's McLaren when I had a little hope.
Looking further down I saw four names with the lettering being a gray tint.
The Eliminated.