Start Again | Forbidden Book 2

35. Strangers

"Did I do something wrong?" asked Max turning to his father and sister.

"Max, that's Liv" said Victoria slowly "You remember Liv right?".

"Liv?" he asked as he tried his best to search his brain, he had heard it before, but he was pretty sure he didn't know any Livs "Checo's sister Liv?" that's right, he had heard it from Checo. Checo always talked about her. 

"Yes! Exactly, Checo's sister" said Victoria thinking he was remembering. 

"What is she doing here? She works in Mercedes now?" he asked.

"Son, you work in Red Bull still" intervened Jos "Liv works in Mercedes, she's their photographer".

Max's face still looked confused as Victoria continued "and you two met in Monaco when she moved there, she's your girlfriend, you live together and have two cats" said Victoria.

The doctor gave her signs with her hands to slow down and then intervened "If you don't remember the last couple of years it doesn't mean it won't come back eventually. We are gonna keep you here a couple of days more and then.."

"I want to go home" said Max decidedly and slightly angry. He didn't like this, at all, he couldn't understand why he was supposed to have a relationship and a home with someone he didn't even know. The last relationship he remembered was Ashley, which wasn't a good relationship but it's what he knew. 

"When can he race again?" asked Jos.

"Race?!" the doctor turned to Jos incredulous.

"Yeah I need to race. You said I should go back to my regular life and that's all I know" added Max stubbornly.

The doctor seemed ambushed "You can't race right now Max" she said as calmly as possible.

"Then when?" asked Jos.

"In 4 to 6 weeks we can reassess and do more tests" said the doctor "One step at a time".

Jos nodded "You can stand 4 to 6 weeks" he said "You are 99 points ahead right now".

"99?!" said Max in shock, back in 2021 it was a constant battle, any missing race would've meant the end of the championship for him. 

"Yeah" said Victoria with a smile proud of her brother. 

"I want to know everything" said Max turning to his father.

"We can start by watching the races" nodded his dad. 

The doctor then turned to Jos and Victoria "I will leave you to that but before I leave, may I have a word outside please". 

As they both followed her out she said "It's good for him to fill in the blanks of what happened, it can help him remember, but he must also go back to his regular life. Even if it's his regular life outside of racing. You must also understand that there is such a thing as too much information. This was a traumatic moment, his brain is healing, try not to unsettle him. He can suffer from mood swings right now, it can all be very harsh on him. Let's keep him comfortable, let's remind him what his life was like and not push his boundaries too much". 

Both of the Verstappens understood and agreed, then as Jos went back inside to start watching the 2022 season with Max, Victoria headed to find Liv.

She found her outside the hospital doors, sitting in a bench by herself, her eyes were lost somewhere far away and there was a terribly sad look on her face as Victoria sat next to her and placed her arm around her.

"What is going to happen now?" said Liv with a quiet and broken voice.

"Now we're gonna make sure he gets back on his feet" said Victoria "It's going to be fine Liv, he will remember eventually. He already remembered you are Checo's sister".