Since Day One - Max Verstappen X Male Reader

Chapter 8

I blink slowly, allowing the white light to seep into my eyes, causing me to let out a barely audible groan. A myriad of feelings come sweeping over me like a tsunami. Pain. Confusion. Anger. I try to turn my neck but fail, I realise my neck has been secured by some sort of neck brace. Whoever is next to me notices my struggle and gently removes the thing binding my neck to the uncomfortable plastic mattress.

Once the person, who I soon realise is a nurse, has removed the neck brace I feel a lot more comfortable and less restricted. I fumble around by the side of the bed to find the control to adjust the bed's position, changing it to make me sit upright. I whine a little as my body adjusts to the new position of the bed. My muscles ache, my neck is stiff, and I feel nauseous as the smell of cleaning chemicals consumes my nostrils.

As I dart my eyes around the room I see a Red Bull team jacket slung over the back of a blue chair in one of the corners of the very small and plain room, so I assume Max has been here at one point or is still here.

“Where is he?” I ask the nurse, my voice hoarse and barely above a whisper.

“He said he was going down to the canteen to get you some food,” she replies with a reassuring smile.

Typical Max, always resorting to food to cheer someone up. I can't lie though I am starving right now. Not long after I ask the nurse where Max has gone, he enters the room with a bag that I can only assume is filled with food. When he notices me sitting upright, he smiles more brightly. He places the bag on the chair and sits on the side of my bed.

“How are you feeling?” he asks, lightly patting my shoulder.

“I’m alright. Did you win?” I ask, a hint of eagerness in my voice.

He laughs lightly and says, “Of course I did, love, but it wasn’t as nice to win without you there.”

Before I can respond to him, the doctor comes in and explains what’s wrong with me. He says that I have sustained only a minor concussion due to the impact my car made with the barrier and that I need to stay overnight for observation, much to my resistance. In my mind, I feel fine; therefore, I am fine. Max offers to stay with me for the night, which eventually makes me give in and agree to stay.

In the morning, I wake up to Max laying on my arm that has gone numb under his body weight. The bed isn’t really meant for two people, but somehow, Max and I managed to sleep on it without either of us falling off causing more injuries. I somehow manage to remove my arm from under Max’s dead weight without waking him and get changed into the clothes Zhou brought in for me yesterday.

I have to attend a meeting today with the FIA to discuss the incident that occurred between me and Lance. I would much rather just forget about it and move on, but the FIA and indeed Max aren't letting it go that easily. The worst that will happen to Lance is that he will receive a fine, a grid penalty, or penalty points.

When I told Max last night it wasn’t a big deal, he wasn’t having it and went on a rampage about how “Lance must pay” making my existing headache at the time worse. 

Monaco is next week, and I would rather just focus on that. A double race weekend is naturally chaotic, so I could really do without all this unnecessary hassle. My parents also phoned yesterday, asking when they could meet Max and telling me how nice he is, like I haven’t spent the past few months basically attached to him, but I suppose I should be happy, as they have never really been accepting of any of the people I have dated.

Max eventually wakes up and immediately asks me if I’m alright. I have honestly lost track of how many times he’s asked me that over the past 24 hours. As nice as it is that he has a genuine concern for me, it’s getting a little overboard.