Faded Love - Charles Leclerc

Chapter 9: The Monaco GP 2028

🎶 In The Stars — Benson Boone 🎶

When I woke up again, my eyes immediately fell to the clock hanging in my room: 9.47. I looked out the window and saw daylight which meant that I must have slept 15 hours or so. A nurse entered the room and smiled at me:
"Good morning, I am very happy that you were able to rest. Sleep makes the body heal faster. Do you want some breakfast?" she asked friendly.
"A water and some bread would be great" I replied and she nodded.
"We also have a flower delivery for you, can we bring it in or are you allergic?" she asked while walking out of my room.
"No, no, you can bring it, thanks" I said confusedly, who was sending me flowers now?

She brought it in, and I noticed it was a small bouquet of red roses. 8 to be precise. It could only be Charles. It was a number showing support when a friend or family member was going through a rough time. I noticed that there was a card and opened it.

Please tune in for the race today.
I will be always there if you need me.

Two simple phrases, but the last one warmed my heart. Suddenly, there was a knock on my door and my attention diverted to the people standing there.
"Mary, we were so worried, what happened? You didn't answer any of our calls!" Carmen said with Lando and George looking worried behind her.
"Did you hear about Bobby?" I asked.
They all nodded and had gloomy faces.
"But why the hell are you in a hospital bed?!" Lando asked worriedly.
"This cannot leave this room, please. I had a miscarriage. I was 5 weeks along" I whispered and Carmen gasped.
"Oh God, did you know?" she asked and I shook my head. She quickly sat down on my bed and hugged me.

"Bobby's mother called me as she couldn't reach you. I know this is the last thing you want to talk about now, but I have to prepare you. They will be arriving around 5 and bringing the coffin and stuff for him to wear. They will lay him out in the hospital chapel where a priest will hold a small ceremony before you will leave from here around 8. There will inevitably be photographers, I found something black for you to wear in my closet as I figured you won't have taken mourning clothes with you. If you want, us three can be here for the send-off, but only if you want." Carmen said.
I threw my head back, she was right, these were the last things I wanted to hear, but time was passing and we definitely had to bring Bobby back home.

"Yes, it would be very nice if you could come, will you manage in time after the race?" I asked.
Lando and George nodded and Carmen spoke up once again: "Ok, we will let you rest now. I'm going to find black suits for you two and bring them to the track, so you can get changed straight after. Whoa, who are the roses from?"
"Charles" I admitted.
The three of them nodded but had strange expressions on their faces and I could understand them. I still had to wrap my head around him being here yesterday, but there was just so much more stuff I had on my mind right now that was more important.

I managed to get a bit more rest and the OB/GYN came to check up on me and cleared me to leave the hospital today. My eyes fell on the clock and it was 14.45. I debated if I should turn on the TV or if it would hurt too much. In the end, I decided to turn it on and was looking for a channel to watch the race on. Unfortunately, I only found one with Italian commentary, but maybe that was for the best as they were probably talking about yesterday's tragedy. I noticed everyone wearing black bands on their sleeves, which I found a very touching gesture. Before playing the National Anthem, all the drivers gathered for a minute of silence. The Prince and his family joined them too and I noticed them having put up framed picture of Bobby, which was blended in for a few seconds.

After that, everyone made their way to their respective cars and they were showing the grid lineup for today. George had bagged pole with Lando starting next to him on front row and Charles was starting 21st, as Ollie obviously wasn't competing today and Ferrari hadn't put a reserve driver in his car yet.

My eyes were glued to the screen when the lights went out and I let out a small yelp when I saw Charles overtaking 5 cars on the inside of the first turn. He was driving like an absolute madman: everyone knew that overtaking in Monaco was almost impossible, but lap by lap, he closed in on the driver before him and overtook the others, one by one. With twenty laps still to go, he only had five drivers in front of him and his race engineer told him to pick up pace. I noticed that he had put a sticker with "RIP Bobby" written on it at the back of his steering wheel, right in front of one of the cameras on the car. My eyes welled up when I saw his gesture, but I quickly concentrated on him again. 5th was Pierre in his Alpine and he put him back in 6th at the tobacco shop. Next up was his teammate Liam, who almost lost the car in the hairpin and Charles was quick to take advantage of that. In third was Yuki in an Aston Martin and Charles closed in on him in just a lap - he failed to overtake him two or three times, but he finally succeeded at Mirabeau. I gripped the edge of my bed harder, there were only five laps to go now and George and Lando were close at the front. In just two laps he closed in on them and the commentators were shouting in Italian agitatedly by now. Lando had to give his position to Charles after he used his slipstream in the tunnel and made a move right at the Yacht Club. George's engineer was now getting nervous and it all came down to the last lap, Charles was on his tail. He tried a move at the Casino Place and later at the Swimming Pool, but there was no place past him. The last corner, Rascasse came and I closed my eyes for a second, but quickly opened them again when the commentators were full on shouting now.
"Signore e signori, il Predestinato vince, per la prima volta, il Gran Premio di Monte-Carlo!"
My Italian wasn't great, but I understood those words. The cheers were so loud, I could even hear them from my room here.

Charles had his hands on his visor while driving the out-lap, and they played his radio messages.
GP: "What an amazing drive Charles, congratulations, P1."
Charles: "Ughhhh. Thanks guys, the car was great. Amazing how you managed to turn it around."
Christian Horner: "Well done, Charles, you are a legend, congratulations. From last to first in Monaco, this is for the history books!"
Charles: "Thank you. Ugh. Hard to enjoy on a day like this. But this is for Bobby." he said and pointed a finger in the air.
Christian Horner: "This is for Bobby. This win is for him."

My eyes started tearing up. Charles parked on the position with 1 written on it, George on 2 and Lando on 3. When the guys had all gotten out of the car, they all hugged each other. The cameraman zoomed in on my ex-boyfriend as he kneeled down next to his car and pointed to a sticker with "Racing for Bobby" on it.

The post-race interviews were conducted by David Coulthard and he started with Lando.
"Lando, great drive, congratulations on the podium. How was your race?"
"Pretty solid. We held our position up until this madman came up out of nowhere. I still haven't seen the footage but that must have been an amazing drive." he answered.
"George, your feelings must be the same?" he asked him.
"Yeah, pretty much. I was going into my last lap as the leader and then Charles overtook me in the last corner, I must admit that stings a bit, but I will get him next time."
"Charles, on to you: Did you have some pepper in your pants that you wanted to finish so quickly?" David tried to joke, but my ex remained serious.
"It was a hard day yesterday, losing someone on this track in such a tragic way. My thoughts are with his family and loved ones, I met Bobby just a few times but he was a great F1 fan, so what I did today was for him." Charles answered diplomatically and gave the microphone back to someone standing around there before he could be asked another question.