𝗱𝗼𝗹𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗿 𝗻𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲 ; 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘤

her.

charles ;

i've stopped my car and leapt out of it before my brain even realises what i'm doing.

and i'm running. my legs are carrying me faster than i've ever ran in my entire life. i have tunnel vision on her dark blue car, stray debris scattered around it.

i see someone else running in my peripherals, towards zhou's car, but my entire being is focused on her, seemingly unmoving in her car. i don't even glance at the stranger running, nor at the car in the barrier.

when i reach her, my breathing is heavy and my pulse is rapid. either from my sprint or the fact that i've just seen giuliana pinelli's car flip what looked like a thousand times with her in it.

"giuliana!" i yell, grasping onto her hands.

she looks up at me, unbuckling her seatbelt. i let out a breath of relief seeing her conscious and breathing.

"giuliana," i say, grabbing her forearms and pulling her out.

my heart rate is wild. i'm gripping her tightly, as if i'm worried she'll slip away if i let go.

"you're an idiot." she says once i've dragged her out of the wreckage.

"are you hurt?" i say frantically, scanning her body.

"i'm fine." she begins walking away, but i see her stumble a little.

"don't lie to me, pinelli." i try to hold her still, but she continues walking away from me, heading to the other cars stopped on the track.

"what about your race?" she asks, her tone laced with distress.

"where does it hurt?" i ask, tugging on her hand.

"nowhere." she says sternly, not making eye contact. "where's zhou?"

"can you just sit down? where are the fucking marshals?" i look around frenziedly, in search of some authoritative figure to convince her to take it easy.

"i'm fine."

"you scared me to death, giuliana," i still can't breathe. "just let me help you."

we're basically holding hands as she fast walks over to zhou, dragging me along. i keep trying to pull her back towards me to check on her, but she seems adamant in getting to the alfa romeo.

i realise that the figure heading to the crash moments ago was george. now he's in front of us, touching her shoulder comfortingly.

"you ok?" he asks her.

"yeah." she says. "is zhou?"

"yeah," he pats her shoulder lightly. "they should be able to get him out soon,"

i'm gripping onto her race suit tightly, my fist clenched tightly around the fabric.

"can you go get checked out?" i ask her.

she gives me a look. "i'm fine, charles."

"but–"

"he's right," george concurs. "when the ambulance gets here, just have them clear you. it was a pretty big crash, ana,"

she just barely nods. "you sure he's ok?" she asks, referring to zhou.

"i promise," george replies.

my heart is still racing as i clutch onto giuliana. i realise she's shaking.

"giuliana," i say quietly.

when she turns her head to look at me, i see her wince through the visor.

i instinctively pull her closer to me. i feel her grasp my race suit as i guide her to the approaching ambulance. a medic approaches us, and i gently sit her down on the edge of the ambulance and unbuckle her helmet. i pull it off her as carefully as possible, but i still see her jaw clench.