bucket list || l. norris

fifty six

we're still here and vibing - hope you enjoy this one :)

please vote and comment as you go - important note at the end <3

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"I hope he's okay," I whispered as I allowed my muscles to relax while Lando ran his fingers through my hair, grazing my forehead every so often. "I hope they're okay."

We were in Mexico for the first race of a double header. I wasn't too keen on leaving my brother behind but Micah was adamant that I would be flying across the Atlantic with Lando. And I was pleased I did because I needed a break from the pain and the fear and the fucking hospitals.

Micah ended up needing to have surgery on his cheekbone. He wasn't scared - there wasn't anything to be scared about, he reminded me over and over - but then I remembered that the people closest to me knew what it was like to see their loved one be put under anaesthetic and wheeled into the operating theatre. They knew because they'd watched it happen to me numerous times. I'd never watched it happen to to anyone.

He was fine. Him and Ivo were home now, recovering well.

When Ivo's parents arrived at the hospital, and after brief introductions and long hours of waiting to hear the outcome of his condition, his parents sat down with mum and dad to talk about the near future. The near future being his discharge from hospital.

Micah wanted to be with Ivo during their recovery. He didn't want to be apart, and I understood that with everything in me. And of course, our parents and Ivo's parents were understanding of that, too. So, with plenty of space at home for everyone, mum and dad offered Ivo's parents a place to stay for as long as they wanted to be in England. It meant Ivo could have his family with him, but Micah and Ivo could recover together. And honestly, I knew that was exactly what they needed.

"You know they're fine, Mils," Lando stopped running his fingers through my hair and I sat up with a sigh at the lack of contact. I looked at him. "They were fine when we left, and they were fine when you called. Please try to relax."

I sighed, and fell forwards into Lando's grip. He was warm and he smelled like home. And when we were thousands of miles away from home, with an ocean between hotel and home, he was what I needed.

"I know, and I am," I rested my cheek on his bare shoulder. "The whole thing is just on my mind but I've been distracted with work today, and tomorrow I'll be even more distracted since it's media day but I'm just thinking about them."

"Mila," Lando wrapped his arm around my waist and it wasn't long until we were lying beside one another, our faces resting on the comfortable hotel room pillows, glancing into each other's eyes. "I know how hard this has been for you. It's so foreign, you being on the other side of things, I know. And with everything you've got going on too, it's been a lot. But Micah and Ivo are at home together and your mum and dad are with them and Ivo's parents are there."

I nodded, moments before closing my eyes for a second. Lando shifted beside me, and I reopened my eyes when I felt his index finger brushing against my cheek. Moments like these - when it was just the two of us in a hotel room in some corner of the world - reminded me of just how lucky I was to know him, to have him, to call him mine.

"You've handled it so well, you know?" Lando's smile made me smile. "I saw the look on your face. When he called, when we got to the hospital, when you saw him and when he told us about Ivo. Everything, Mila, I saw how it made you feel, and I wanted to take that pain away from you, of course I did, more than anything in the world. And I know you were scared because even though you know your way around a hospital like the back of your hand, you didn't know this one, because it wasn't you who was in the bed, who was hooked up to machines. It was familiar but foreign and you handled it all so, so well. I'm so proud of you."