The Last Chicane

Austin GP- Sunday

Tessa, Lana and I are in the garage watching the race. The 3 of us wearing the headphones that were given to us so we could hear them talk in the team radio.

Lana had a lot of really good questions, to my surprise. We taught her about the different types of tyres and all of the different team members that help get the drivers and the car ready for the race.

These past few days with Lana have been amazing. Charles and I have really loved being with her and getting to know her.

There are 2 laps left in the race. Charles is P1, Max and Lando are fighting for P2 currently. Carlos is not too far behind them.

Tessa is currently pacing back and forth, chewing on her bottom lip as we watch the monitor. I have a strong feeling as to why she's so nervous, but I didn't want to ask her and make her even more nervous.

I was too distracted watching her pace back and forth when I heard on the radio Carlos yell, "Are they okay?!"

I turn my head to the monitor just in time to watch the replay. They were at turn 15 when Lando's tires lost their grip, causing him to spin out, bumping Max's back right tyre, both of them crashing into the barrier.

My eyes grow big as I hear Tessa gasp loudly. The safety car was called. I can hear Charles and Carlos as well as the other drivers repeatedly asking if Max and Lando are okay.

I turn my head back to Tessa to check on her. She's frozen, staring at the screen with her hands clasped tightly in front of her chest. Tears pooling in her eyes.

I know that fear, that look. It reminded me of how I reacted when Charles had crashed when we were at work.

"Something is wrong with my arm," Lando's voice softly comes over the radio.

Relief fills me. I see Tessa visibly take a deep breath followed by a single tear trailing down her left cheek before she quickly wipes it away. She takes in another deep breath, closing her eyes.

I glance down at Lana, realizing that I haven't checked on her since the crash.

Her glassy eyes are glued to the monitor. A huge frown on her face, like she was fighting the tears.

I kneel down to her, taking off my headset before taking hers off as well.

"Lana," I say softly. She's still glued to the monitor. I gently grab her wobbling chin and guide her face to mine so she will look at me. As soon as she locks eyes on me, she breaks into tears.

"It's okay Lana." I say as I gently stand and pick her up so I can hold her. Her face immediately nestles into the crook of my neck as I feel her hot tears on me.

I glance back at the monitors and then back at Tess, who still has her headset on so she can hear what's being said.

Fear and worry lace my gut, as I have yet to see any movement from Max in his car.

"Shhhhh, it's okay Lana," I start rubbing her back with my free hand.

I can barely hear her voice as she speaks through her sobs, "Are LanLan and Maxie going to be okay?"

I can't help but smirk at her nicknames.

I glance back up at the monitors before answering her, still no signs of Max.

"I'm sure they're going to be okay... the medical team are getting there now. You want to see?" I offer. Growing up, the more I knew about a subject, the less scary it was. Hopefully Lana was the same as me.

Lana's sobs have gotten softer. I feel her head lift off of my shoulder as she turns her head to the monitor.

The medical team split up. Two people going to Lando as he's slowly making his way out of his car. The other four rush to Max and quickly get to work.

"LanLan is okay, see him getting out of his car?" I point to the monitor showing him. Lana gently nods as she sniffles.

"What about Maxie?" She asks weakly.

"Well, right now they are looking him over, making sure nothing is physically hurting him. They want to make sure it's safe before they get him out of the car." Two of the medical team members reach in the car and slowly start unbuckling Max from the car.

I can barely see Max's helmet bobbing but not I'm sure if it's Max or the medical team moving his head.

"I'm scared for Max..." Lana confesses, looking like she's embarrassed for saying that out loud in the garage.

I tilt my head at her, "It's okay to be scared. I'm scared too," I admit.

Her eyes meet mine, "Really?"

I nod my head. "Of course it's okay. You are allowed to feel things. You don't have to be strong all the time. It's just important that you learn how to think through your feelings."

A tear rolls down her face and I softly brush it away.

"I love you," Lana whispered.

My heart squeezes as tears start to swim in my eyes. I open my mouth to reply but Tessa speaks up first.

"Oh thank God."

Lana and I both look at the monitor to find that Max is now out of the car, being held up by two people from the medical team as the ambulance arrived and rolled the stretcher to Max.

They sit Max down in the stretcher and start buckling him in all they can bring him to the medical center. Before they start rolling him towards the ambulance, he slowly lifts up and starts undoing the fastens of his helmet to take it off.

It seems like an eternity passes as he slowly pulls his helmet off and hands it to one of the medical staff. Then he tugs his balaclava off and hands that off as well.

As soon as everyone sees his face, cheers and claps erupt from everywhere. From the strands, from the pit lane, from the announcers, from everyone in their garages. I could see all of the drivers' replies on the monitor that were watching.

Max's eyes look hazy and spaced out. If I had to guess, I imagine he has a bad concussion. They finally load him into the ambulance and rush off the track to the medical center.

"See?" I ask Lana. "Max is going to be okay. They are taking him and Lando to the medical center, which is like a hospital, and they are going to make sure they're both okay."

She slowly nods her head as she starts thinking about everything that just happened.

"Can we go see them?"

I glance at Tessa, who is looking like she was going whether she was allowed to or not, then look back at Lana.

"As soon as they say it's okay for them to have visitors, we will go and see them. Okay?"

Lana smiles as she nods her head, "Okay!"