His Lucky Charm

Hospital

Strip ended up fighting Chick in the pool. The two of them were laughing.

Lynda hadn't come downstairs yet, so, they were just destroying the pool.

Tex was sitting on a lounging chair reading a book. He told the boys if any one of them decided to spray him with water they're fired.

Eventually Lynda made her way down. She had a white two piece on. She caught Strips attention.

He looked at her, but then he was immediately dragged under water by Chick. Strip came back up to the surface coughing.

Chick smirked. "If you're gonna stare at her, make sure I'm not here." He smirked.

Strip just splashed him with water.

Lynda didn't feel like swimming just yet. So she sat next to Tex and read a book. She put her sunglasses on her head.

Strip got out of the water to go get some water. She stared a bit at him. Tex glanced at her and chuckled. "If you're gon' stare, might wanna put your sunglasses on." He said as he flicked them down her face.

She felt herself blush.

"I wasn't staring."

"Uh huh."

Then quali days arrived. Strip was doing interviews for a bit , and Lynda was sitting by next to Tex watching like she normally did.

The past few days she had been feeling weird and just uncomfortable. She was eating a snack, and it wasn't helping.

Her head had been killing her and it just was terrible. Tex noticed as she put strips water bottle against her forehead. "You okay kid?"

"Yeah... just got a headache..." she said quietly.
He raised a brow. "Wanna head inside?"

"Nah. We have quali soon."

"You don't have to watch quali kid..." he said patting her shoulder. She knew she didn't have to watch, but she wanted to do.

Strip eventually finished his interviews as he walked over to the two. She stood up, it was shakily but she still handed him the water.

"Thanks sunshine..." he sipped the water as he noticed her holding onto the railing.

"Hey... you okay?" He said as he looked at her. Lynda held her head and nodded. "Just hot..."

"I'll go get you a little fan." He said leaving his water with her. Her went into the tent to grab a fan for her.

As he did he heard tex. "Strip!" Strip ran out and saw Lynda on the ground. His eyes widened.

He ran over and knelt down by her. "Hey! Lynda!" He yelled to his crew chief to call the medical team.

Strip picked her up and rushed her over to the medical team as they arrived. They carefully put her in the ambulance. Strip looked at Tex who gave him a nod.

Strip went with her to the hospital.

She was admitted. They weren't sure what caused her to faint. But no matter what, Strip was right there.

He was holding her hand as she slept. She had an oxygen mask on cause she was having difficulty breathing.

He gently rubbed her knuckles as her door opened. In came Tex.

"Strip... you've got quali." Tex said starting to get worried.

"I'm not going to quali." Strip said. Tex was dumbfounded.

"What?"

Strip got up and grabbed his arm pulling him out of the room.

Strip closed the door and looked at Tex. "You... are projected to get pole position, and you're not going to do qualifying?!" Tex was getting frustrated.

"No I'm not. Because I'm not leaving her here... alone." He said standing firm on his decision.

"I'll have one of the crew there-" Tex got interrupted.

"Not good enough. You're at the race, I'll be in the race and so will Chick. So, I've decided, I'll qualify last." He said seriously.

"Strip-"

"If you don't believe I can get into the top ten, then fire me. But I can guarantee... you won't find a better rookie than me." He turned and went back into the room.

Lynda woke up about an hour later. She felt a hand in hers. She tiredly looked around and saw Strip besides her.

"Strip..." she mumbled. Strip woke up a bit. She saw him in his racing suit.

"Isn't... isn't it quali?"

He nodded a bit as he rubbed his head with his free hand. "Yeah... I didn't go."

She looked at him like he was crazy. "Why..."

"You're in the hospital." He said as he looked at her. She held her head with her free hand knowing Tex was going to be in a bad mood.

"I- strip.. you should've gone to quali. You would've gotten pole."

"Cool I get pole. But no one would be here with you. You're more important." There was hesitation in his words.

"I'm more important...?" She said stunned. He nodded. "Yes. Yes you are. I would never leave you here alone. You understand?"

She teared up a little bit and nodded. "But I feel so bad. You're at the back now."

"Sunshine. I chose to do that. Plus... I'll just have to work harder to win now huh? That's all." He squeezed her hand a little bit.

"But how are you feeling now?"

Strip fell asleep next to her bed as she started to wake up. She didn't understand. He's trying to win a championship... and he's sitting right here.

She looked at him as he slept. He was such a kind man. He showed more care for her than her ex of four years. As she sat there, there was a knock on her door. In came Tex.

He saw her awake and sighed in relief. "Hey kid. How are you feeling?"

"Really tired... but better." She said not looking at him, afraid he was mad.

Tex noticed and chuckled tiredly. "Kiddo I'm not mad at you, I'm not even mad at him. Just been a long day."

She slowly looked at him as he sat on the other side of her bed. "His father did the same thing for his mother. So I'm not surprised."

"Does he have a chance of winning tomorrow?" She asked suddenly. Tex looked at her. The Texan just smiled a bit.

"He seems to think that if you say it, it'll happen... so... what do you think, lucky charm?"