I remember

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

Sienna POV

'That little fucker' he explodes. 'Please tell me you haven't had chance to kill him yet because I want to do that myself!'

Before I have chance to respond there's an almighty ruckus right outside his hospital room.

'What on earth....?' I get up to go and see what all the noise is about.

As I open the door various bodies pile in and end up in a heap on the floor.

'Ah, get off me!'

'Can you get your foot out of my face!'

'A little air here please!'

Max stands in the door, hands on hips, a smirk on his face.

'What the hell?' I ask, trying my hardest not to laugh as the pile unravels.

'They were arguing about who could go in first. The nurse said only one at a time.' Max explained.

'I've known him the longest!' A voice I recognise as George shouts out.

'By about a week!' Alex rolls his eyes as he helps Daniel to his feet.

'I'm going to leave you guys to it and get myself a cup of tea' I walk towards the door. 'Do not get him too riled up' I point my finger at them all 'or I'll tell the nurse to ban you all'

'You wouldn't!'

Only then do I notice a 5th person is here. Carlos is leaned against the frame of the door, quietly watching the scene within the room.

I place my hand on his arm, 'Carlos' he turns to look at me, the relief evident on his face, his eyes glistening with tears, 'he's fine, he's going to be fine'

He glances over at Lando, and then back at me again, like he just wanted to make sure what I said was true.

'I thought we'd lost him' he whispers. 'I was so lost. And then I felt so selfish because you were going through so much worse. We all knew you were here. Oscar will pay for what he did'

'Hey, you don't need to worry about any of that now. Look at him.'

As we both did, Lando glanced over, a huge smile on his face. The boys filling him in on all the gossip that he'd missed.

'Carlos! Get over here'

He hesitates.

'I bet he could do with a hug from his best friend' I say quietly.

He suddenly grabs me and pulls me to him. When he lets go he doesn't say a thing but just nods and walks into the room, joining the others.

Sunday 20th August 2023

Lando POV

'I can go home?' there is clear disbelief in my voice. I have been dreaming about this all week, trying not to get my hopes up too much. I wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible.

'We've done all our tests and you're all clear. Just take it easy though, ok? You've got a lot of rehab ahead of you. Don't rush back in the car before your body is ready' the doctor warned.

I see Sienna struggle to conceal a scoff beside me. She knows me too well. If Zak allowed it, I'd be back in the car for the next race. I know he won't though. He's already warned me that I'm unlikely to be back in the car this season. Oscar had cost me half a season. Now I had to make sure that I got into the shape of my life ready for next year.

'So... are you going to tell me all about this secret meeting you had with Zak?' I ask Sienna as soon as the door closes behind the doctor.

She chuckles. 'He can't keep anything to himself can he?' she paused 'I just want this whole issue with Oscar resolved before the season restarts, so I went to see Zak to set out my terms.'

'Your terms?... I'd say the only terms I'm interested in is how soon is Oscar going to fuck off?' I'm still so angry about what he did. The thought of having to be on a team with him again makes me sick to my stomach.

'Lan... you know it's not as simple as that. If this whole thing ever got out, it would ruin Mclaren. They'd never recover from the scandal. Sponsors wouldn't touch them. I love the team and everyone who works there far too much for that to happen. But Oscar completely deserves so much shit for what he did. Therefore, I thought we could use that to your advantage.'

'Ok?' I'm not convinced. 'What's your plan?'

'Oscar keeps his seat' she started. I couldn't help but roll my eyes and I cross my arms across my chest. I think she got the message that I wasn't very happy about that.

'However, he is firmly made the number two driver, his sole purpose next year will be to do everything in his power to help you and the team win the championship.'

'and after that?' I ask

She shrugs. 'We'll see. I don't believe Oscar is a bad person. This wasn't his idea, he was corrupted. I know he feels remorseful, and that he wants to make amends.'

'God babe I love you. You have so much compassion for someone that very nearly ruined our lives. I'm not sure how on board I'm going to be with having him as my team mate but if you're willing to put it behind you, then I owe it to you to try.'

'I love you too. Now let's get you out of here.'