The Last Chicane

Canada GP

" Okay. Sooooo what do I do now?" Claire, the new grad that I'm training, asks.

I smiled. I love new grads. "Just press start."  I pointed to the IV pump.

"This button right here?" She pointed to the green button.

I held back a laugh. "Yes Claire. That button. Right there."

She was frozen, still staring at the IV pump. I reached down, grabbed her hand, and pushed start with her finger.

She glanced at me. "I'm not good at this."

This time I actually did laugh. "Claire. You've been doing this for a week. It's okay to be nervous. There's a lot to learn."

She nervously laughed as we walked back to our computers at the nurses station.

It was Sunday, race day. They were in Canada this week. The race had started an hour ago but we've been too busy to watch it.  Claire was charting while I was watching the race on the tv across from the nurses station.

Max was P1. Lewis P2. Lando P3. Carlos P4. Charles P5.

That's odd. How is Charles P5?

"Hey Blake, can you look to see if I'm charting this right?" Claire brings my attention to her.

"Sure-"

"Leclerc is in the wall! Gasly bumped Leclerc's rear tyre! Is Charles okay?" The F1 announcer's voice catches my attention.

My head jerked back up to the tv.

The instant replay showed Pierre losing control of his front end and slamming into Charles' right rear tire, causing Charles to spin 6 times before crashing into the barrier.

I gasped out loud. Tessa who was around the corner heard me and rolled her chair around to me.

"Blake, what's wrong?" Tessa looked up at the tv and gasped as well. All the tv was showing was Charles' Ferrari in the wall of the track.

Everyone was looking at me to see why I had gasped like that.

Typically, the drivers are out of the car by the time the safety car gets to them. But Charles had yet to get out. There was nothing coming through on his radio. Charles was completely silent.

"Here we have Pierre Gasly getting out of his car. All seems well with him. Now we wait to see about Charles." The announcer said.

My breathing hitched, tears stung the back of my eyes. My mind started racing of all of the possibilities of what could've happened.

Carlos came on on his radio. "Is Charles okay? What happened?"

My mind went to Tatum. She was there today.

I shot out of my chair. "Tessa keep an eye on things." I didn't give her the chance to reply as I walked into the closest empty patient room, closing the glass door and curtain and turned on the tv.

I whipped out my phone and called Tatum, who picked up on the first ring.

"Please tell me he's okay. Please." I rasped, my throat was tight as I tried to hold myself together.