71
McGILL UNIVERSITY HEALTH CENTER
MONTREAL, QUEBEC
Dakota McManus hated hospitals.
The sunlight shone through the windows, the after-race show playing on the room's flat screen tv as the pit crew mechanic lay nestled among layers of blankets, her head resting on a too-soft pillow, her head sinking right through the middle.
"Checo." She whined, palms covering her eyes, the once blinding migraine now dulled to a staccato throbbing. "When can I go back to the track?"
"Dakota, you passed out." Sergio said firmly. "I don't care how much you hate it, you're staying here."
"But I have shit to do, dude." The Aussie complained, shifting to sit up in the bed.
One minute she had been fine, sitting on the pit wall and watching her team fuck shit up like they had been doing all season. Their place in the constructors was looking less and less certain. Haas were gaining on AlphaTauri, and if they couldn't pull their shit together before the summer break started, they were going to lose to Guenther Steiner. The next minute, you ask? The nausea hit her like a truck, and every engine revving, every tyre being lifted down from a rack and thumping against the floor felt like someone was jabbing a railway spike through her head.
"Jake," she had mumbled, passing the older man her headphones. "I need you to hold down the fort. I'm not feeling too good."
She'd already spent the morning wearing her prescription sunglasses, the darkest ones intended for the worst migraine days, when light made her life a living hell.
"Mac, are you okay?" Vanessa had asked her as she ambled into the garage, past Carolyn and Fabiana, past whatever celebrity guest AlphaTauri and Red Bull were hosting that weekend.
She'd passed out in the paddock, on her way back to the hospitality suite. Sounds and lights and noise were too much, and she'd already doubled over to throw up in the trash can next to the Ferrari hospitality suite. Her legs had buckled from underneath her when she passed the Red Bull building, and she could only guess what had happened from there.
Checo had picked her up, and carried her out of the paddock as quickly and quietly as possible, although Dakota figured that her little episode had already hit the news.
Her episode of Drive to Survive was writing itself.
"Mac, with all due respect, what do you possibly have to do that is more important than your health?"
"I have podcast appearances, magazine covers. Publicity shit that's been in overdrive ever since I came clean about the fucking driver's academy!" Dakota shouted, throwing her arms up in the air and resisting the urge to shudder when she heard the flopping sound of the IV in her arm. "Before Silverstone, I was supposed to go on Sung's Garage, which is a big deal for me. You know how much I love Sung Kang. And after Silverstone, I was going to do Screaming Meals with Clem and Marcus."
Checo felt for the girl, he really did, but meeting the Fast and the Furious actor could wait, and should wait, until Dakota pulled her life together. She was going downhill fast, and some days he wondered if he was the only one who noticed.
"Did somebody call the calvary, eh?" A heavy French voice called from the doorway as Pierre Gasly came into the room with a flourish and a paper bag from a French bakery near the hospital. "For you, m'lady." the driver joked, handing Dakota the bag.
"I brought your book." Yuki said softly, sitting in the chair next to the bed so he could hold his lover's hand. "Although I'm not sure if you should be reading right now. It might not be good for your head."
"Jesus Christ, what are you all doing here? Next thing I know, you'll be calling Daniil." Dakota groaned
"Dakota, what happened?" Alex Albon pressed, leaning against the wall. "You've been off your game all season, something is seriously wrong with you."
"Alex!" Pierre scolded. "Have some tact."
Dakota shook her head before resting it on Yuki's shoulder, the driver rubbing gentle circles on her hand and around the area where the IV protruded from her veins. "Alex is right. I don't think I've been okay since the Leclerc Photos." She hated that they were called that, hated that one of her weakest moments had a name. "Maybe even before that. I've been bottling up everything that happened at Red Bull, and I think that getting a chance to move away from all of that this year dragged everything back up again. My migraines have never been this bad, the pills aren't working anymore. One of these days I'm going to overdose just trying to make the headaches go away."
Yuki kissed the top of her head softly, wishing that Dakota could see how his heart ached for her. But he had no idea what to say, no idea what he could do to help her.
For the first time in this relationship, he allowed himself to feel what he had been feeling for months already.
Helplessness. The feeling that all he could do was sit back and hope that Dakota dug herself out of the hole she was digging, hope that she would see the light at the end of the tunnel. All he could do now was sit by her side and be there for her.
"What do we do next?"
Dakota sat up, still clutching Yuki's hand as she raked her other palm down her face. "What I've been avoiding since the first time a migraine put me in the hospital."
Pierre and Checo exchanged a look before glancing over at Alex. They had all been there in Mexico City, they all knew what she was about to say, and just how much the idea scared her.
"I need this to end, I need to get my shit together, guys. I'm going to try botox treatments, they say it's the best option for people who have more than fifteen migraine days a month." Dakota sighed. "The idea scares the shit out of me, but I'm out of other options."
"I'm proud of you." Yuki said softly. He had been so distracted when Jake's voice came over the radio instead of Dakota's that he almost crashed. And when Jake told him that Dakota had been taken to the emergency room, he went into a wall during the next corner and the PR team had to reluctantly hold him back from skipping his post race duties. "You can beat this, Dakota. You're stronger than you think."
Pierre nodded in agreement. "We'll be with you every step of the way."
BBC Sports: McManus released from hospital following paddock collapse, team reveals update on her medical condition
MONTREAL, QUEBEC - A spokesperson for AlphaTauri released a statement this afternoon on McManus's behalf, stating that McManus is 'working through personal issues' and has 'ask[ed] to be left alone as she recuperates at home with Yuki'. The pit crew cheif has not released a personal statement, but as she is no longer active on Twitter, it seems unlikely that we will get one.
AlphaTauri's statement reads:
Yesterday afternoon at the Canadian Grand Prix, Dakota experienced a migraine that resulted in her admittance to the McGill University Health Center. She is fine, and was discharged earlier this morning into the care of her boyfriend Yuki. The doctors state that her migraine was brought on by intense mental stress, and that she needs time to recover and relax.
As she is currently working through personal issues, she asks to be left alone as she recuperates at home with Yuki in time for our appearance at the British Grand Prix.
Wishing her all the best in recovery,
Franz and the AT Team.
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