LOCK UP - Lando Norris [BOOK 2]

36

Lando had been a little distant with me over the past few days and I chalked it down to the fact that Charles was coming over for the week. I was excited to see Charles, it had felt like forever and even though we messed constantly during the week, it never felt right when he wasn't right here. I guess, I felt safe when I was with Charles, and sure of who I was. 

Yes, I was still missing a huge chunk of my time with Charles, but the way I felt about him before, and the way I feel about him after align. And that to me is quite comforting. Johan having a boyfriend in Gabriel is, although not really surprising, I always had my suspicions, but the fact I can't place the before and the after with that, it feels like another inconsistency. 

Charles was due to arrive in the next hour, he had already let me know that his plane had touched down and he was making his way through security. 

"You seem awfully chipper today" Lando acknowledges as I smile down at my phone. 

"Charles has landed, he should be here in about an hour" I inform him, his expression changing immediately. 

"Right" he mutters before disappearing into the kitchen and I hear plates and cups banging and clanging again. Anytime Charles is mentioned he gets into this mood, and I'm sensing there is a lot of history there, I just don't know it. 

"Hello my favourite patient" Dr Armidale announces as he knocks briefly on the doorway to the living room. 

"Morning" I announce shifting higher in my bed so I'm in a seated position now. 

"How are you feeling today?" he asks, setting himself down on the edge of my bed. 

"Good actually, Charles is arriving today, just after our session in fact" I buzz. 

"That's good. Have you had any discussions with him about your dreams yet?" 

I shake my head, "I thought it would be better to do in person" 

He nods, "That's a good idea. Have you had anyone since that you want to share?" he wiggles one of his eyebrows at me mockingly. 

"Ha ha, you're so funny" I chuckle, "No, no more, just those ones I mentioned the other day" 

"Are you having any headaches at all?" he holds a flashlight up to each one of my eyes, holding my hair out of the way with his other hand. 

"Not really" I lie. 

Lando appears to our side with a fresh made plate of sandwiches and a orange juice. 

"Thank you" I appreciate, catching his hand before he removes it from the table stand. 

He gives me a comforting smile and then walks out from the room, I let out a frustrated breath, "He hates me" 

"He doesn't" Dr Armidale reassures, "This would be difficult for him as well" 

"I know that, I just wish I could make it better for him, you know?" 

He nods like he understands, "You just focus on making things better for you okay, Lando can handle himself. He's a big boy. Just try and focus on your future Ev, okay? I'm here to help you remember your past, and believe me, I want to help you piece it all together as much as you do, but I also don't want you missing out on everything in front of you whilst you're too busy looking behind you okay?" 

I fold my lips in on themselves, "Okay" 

"I want you to focus on a happy memory for me, close your eyes and try and remember it as clear as you can. Tell me everything." Dr Armidale instructs. 

I close my eyes and think, letting whatever the first thing that pops into my head take the lead. 

"The day I met Johan" I open my eyes, feeling the ache in my cheeks from the smile the memory brings to my face. 

"Good" Dr Armidale smiles, nodding encouragingly. "Tell me about it?" 

"Max had just been given his contract with Red Bull and our whole family was invited to the testing season." I recall. 

"What year was this?" he asks. 

I close my eyes and do some quick sums in my head, "It would have been 2016, he had come from Toro Rosso. He was only 17 years old" I recall with pride. 

"Very good Evelyn, that's fantastic, keep going. What happened when you went to the testing session?" 

"We were introduced to members of the team, Christian was introducing mum and dad to Max's engineers and his strategy manager, I was standing behind them when I saw a boy, about my age, outside the garage helping one of the older guys push a trolley of tyres." 

"Was it Johan?" he asks. 

I nod, giggling at the memory. "We were only 15 at the time. I snuck away from my parents, who wouldn't have even remembered that I was there and went over to him, saying he was too young to be working in the garage. I felt like I was so prim and proper. 

He told me that he had just come down for the day to have a look with his dad, pointing to the man on the other end of the trolley. I followed them whilst they left the trolley in the garage and then walked through out into another room, The Red Bull hub and Johan's dad offered me a strawberry flavoured paddle pop. Johan and I sat on the front step of the hub for, it must have been an hour, before my parents walked past, not even realising I had been missing" 

I see the judgement in Dr Armidale's eyes, and I couldn't blame him. It was the same one anyone got really when they considered how my parents were toward me. "Johan and I still bring each other strawberry flavoured paddle pops whenever we hang out now" I recall. 

I snap out of my memory lane, finding Dr Armidale's face full of pride, "That's really good Evelyn. You remembered even the smallest of details." 

"So what does that mean?" I ask hopeful. 

"Well, it means your long term memory seems to be intact, and from our discussions, your last solid memory is at testing in 2023?" 

"Yes" I shrug, "I remember arriving on the flight with Charles, we hung out at his hotel and he drove me to testing when he was scheduled to go. I remember Red Bull couldn't even get Checo's car to leave the garage that day, he had gear box problems" 

"Yes, Johan confirmed that memory, that's good. What happens next, what happens after testing?" 

The lump in my throat constricts and I push away the tears, "I don't remember leaving the track, I remember being in the grand stands with Johan and Maddie and then..." 

"It goes black?" 

"Then I wake up in a hospital bed, in Florence." I sob. 

"Hey, it's okay. What you did today, that was really positive, really, really positive. I've got something for you." He pulls out a leather covered journal out of his bag. "Anything you remember, whether it be before the darkness or anything that happens in a dream, write it down. Write every single detail that you can. And then, whenever you're ready, or whenever you want too, try and get the memories confirmed by those around you." 

I nod my head, accepting the journal and letting my hand run over the length of the cover. "Thankyou" 

******************************************************

Now, given Evelyn's current state, this can go 1 of 2 ways and I'd like your input. Do they just accept her situation for what it is, and give it an ending. ORDo we made a 3rd book? Following her progress and the continued push and pull between Lando and Charles?