Dopamine | Adrenaline Book Two

11- Maxie

When the morning light began to filter through the windows, Charles felt its brightness against his eyelids and heard hushed whispers around him. Instinctively, he rolled over, wanting to bury himself into Max to avoid the light and the people interrupting his sleep. Instead of finding Max's solid frame beside him, he met empty space. Only then did Charles realize that Max had left without waking him. He smiled at the gesture, finding it sweet but wishing he had gotten one more kiss. Given how things played out the night before, though, Charles doubted it would have stopped at kissing.

"Charles?" his mother's voice broke through, her hand resting on his forehead and pushing some of the hair away from his face.

The brunette responded with a soft grunt, his eyes opening and causing him to wince.

"Is he awake?" the nurse asked.

"Just barely," his mother teased, pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

"I'll alert Doctor Romano," the nurse added, making her exit.

"They're going to examine you, and with how good your recovery has been, they've agreed to let us bring you home tonight if all the test results are good. Don't get too excited yet, but it's looking promising." The woman's hand ran through Charles' hair, her anxiety from every second of this journey clear on her face. She hoped to bring him home, needing it as a sign that all was truly okay.

"I can't wait to get out of this bed," Charles said with a smile to his mom, turning to fully face her.

Her eyes scanned down her son's face and her eyebrow furrowed when she caught sight of his neck, a deepening bruise prominent on it. "Your bruising isn't getting any better, is it hurting?" she asked.

Charles' eyes were quick to widen, he was not someone to be quick on his feet in terms of lying but seeing that she was only questioning the pain he shook his head and hoped to leave it at that.

"Did you bring a change of clothes?" he asked, diverting her attention.

"Lorenzo and Arthur are on their way up with a bag of options," she assured him. "Max Verstappen came to visit yesterday, huh? What a good boy, he's changed a lot since your karting days."

Charles's eyes lit up at the mention of Max, but the light quickly faded as he began to wonder how they had found out about the Dutchman's visit.

The fact was that it didn't take long for images of Max leaving the hospital in the early morning hours to start circulating in media outlets. Despite the layers of disguise, it was clear that he had visited the brunette driver. Fortunately for Max, most reports praised him for his sportsmanship and care for the other driver. This was more than enough confirmation for sources to claim they were best friends, suggesting that Charles would forever be indebted to Max's efforts. His actions had painted him as the perfect "good guy."

However, the reception at home was far from favorable. Arriving early in the morning, Max found Kelly at the main table, eating breakfast with his mother, a figure he hadn't seen in months.

"Max!" his mother called out, her voice filled with surprise and a hint of reproach.

Max never truly knew how to behave around his mother. He knew she loved him and would do anything for him, but the closeness one usually feels to their own mother was absent, much like what he often felt in the presence of his sister. If anything, he felt more familiar with his own father, despite it all.

"I got so worried," his mom commented, approaching him. She wasn't very touchy; she simply stood there analyzing the look of exhaustion on his face and the deep bags under his eyes. "Kelly told me you weren't sleeping or eating well," she added, placing her hand on his back to gently push him forward. "I made you some breakfast. Come on," she said, guiding him to the table.