If You Could See Me Now

16

Maddy was on pins and needles through the entire first stage, watching Ryan as she also kept Lukas occupied. He took P4 in the first stage and made a quick pit stop during the caution, losing 5 more spots.

They were about to go back to green and she was watching as he came to the choose arrow, taking the bottom for the restart.

The green flag waved above them and the second it did, all they could hear was the sound of the engines revving.

It all happened so fast. The 7 of Corey Lajoie got bumped by the 45 and went sideways, falling right in front of Ryan's car. At the speed they were going, there was no saving it, Ryan then got loose and also skidded sideways. Soon after, all Maddy was watching was Ryan's car tumbling through the grass.

She had to cover her own mouth to keep from screaming and scaring Lukas since he was calmly watching his show on the iPad that Maddy brought for him.

It felt like hours before the car stopped but she let out a breath of relief when she saw the window net go down. She heard his crew chief talking to him and Ryan was obviously responding to all the questions. She completely forgot about the scanner in the app and got on it faster than she ever had before.

"You good Ryan?"

"Yeah. I think," he answered but Maddy could tell pretty quick by how he was talking that something was wrong. "Tell Maddy I'm okay,"

As soon as Jonathan turned around, she just nodded that she'd heard it, so he went back to talking to Ryan, "Yeah, she knows. She'll meet you at the care center,"

Maddy got Lukas all packed up since she knew Ryan's day was done and texted Jay and Hailey where to meet her. She didn't want to take Luke to the care center in case Ryan was actually hurt and not showing it with the adrenaline.

"Was he talking on the radio?" Hailey asked as she met up with Maddy.

"Yeah, but he didn't sound like himself. I don't want to take Luke with me just in case," she rambled, handing over the bag with all of Luke's things. "I'll let you know what's going on,"

"We got him," Jay nodded.

"Mommy loves you," she told her little boy before rushing over to the care center and cursing herself for wearing heels.

As soon as she walked in, the woman at the front desk noticed her rush and almost knew why she was there.

"Ryan. Blaney," she told her, being pointed toward the room.

Ryan was set up on the bed, already laying back with some ice and a towel over his eyes.

"I'm fine Mad," he mumbled, almost as if she could sense she was there.

"Concussion?"

"Most likely," he sighed, "but I'm okay,"

"Mhm. Good thing you're dating a nurse," she smiled a little, joking to keep her emotions in check. "You're gonna hate me tonight,"

"How many times are you gonna wake me up?"

"At least 4 or 5," she smiled a little, "I'll have my parents keep Luke. Just know how much I love you even when you're annoyed at me,"