I love you, always | Charles Leclerc ✔

4

The following race week-ends, Jules's performances were worse and worse. First, Canada's race was a DNF. Then he didn't mark anymore points for the following 4 Grands Prix, Austria, England, Germany and Hungary. After, we spent the summer break with the Leclercs, in Monaco and on their watch. Julie never felt more at home, surrounded like that by the people she held the closest to her heart.

After the summer break was the Belgium Grand Prix which sadly ended in a DNF again. Fortunately, in Italia on the Monza track and in Singapore, Jules did finish the races, just not in the points, respectfully 18th and 19th out of 22. Julie didn't even need to comfort her brother as he was the most optimistic person she had ever met. He always said that despite his performance, there was always something to learn about it, as much for himself as for his engineers. That's why he arrived hopeful in Suzuka, Japan for the 15th race of the season.

But Julie experienced something she never did for the whole season, for the first time when they arrived at the track, the morning of the race. Jules had placed 18th during the qualifying session and hoped to gain a few places. But something didn't settle right with Julie. That's why Julie called Charles. She didn't want to stress her brother out and Charles always knew what to say. 

« Charles, j'ai un mauvais pressentiment. »
"Charles, I have a bad feeling."

« Qu'est-ce qu'il se passe Juju ? Dis-moi tout. »
"What's wrong Juju ? Tell me everything."

« Il pleut à torrent et j'ai peur que quelque chose arrive. »
"There are torrential rains and I'm scared that something will happen."

« Ne t'en fais pas Juju, ça arrive une mauvaise météo en course. Tous les pilotes de la grille sont parfaitement capables de s'en sortir malgré la pluie. »
"Don't worry about it Juju, sometimes a bad weather happens during a race. Every single one of the pilots are perfectly capable to pull through rain."

« Mais ils ont déjà retardé la course Charles ! Ça veut bien dire quelque chose ! »
"But they have already delayed the race Charles ! That's got to mean something !"

« Oui c'est vrai Juju, mais ce sont des experts qui prennent ces décisions, s'ils décident que la course peut tout de même avoir lieu, ça veut dire que les pilotes ne courent aucun risque. Je te le promets Julie. »
"Yes that's true Juju, but the ones who take those decisions are experts, if they decide that the race can still take place, it means that the pilots are safe. I promise you, Julie."

They then hung up as the race was about to start. Jules came to his sister, as usual, before getting in his car.

« J'y vais ma Juju. Amuse toi bien. »
"I'm going my Juju. Enjoy yourself."

« Fais attention s'il te plaît Jules. Ne fais rien de trop dangereux. »
"Be careful please Jules. Don't do anything too dangerous."

« T'en fais pas Julie. Je serais prudent, c'est promis. Je t'aime. »
"Don't worry Julie. I'll be careful, I promise. I love you"

Jules kissed her forehead while she said 'I love you' back, and then Jules went to get into his car. Jules sensed that his sister was really anxious, to try and cheer her up before he had to go, he made a heart with his hands directed to heart which she did back but not before mouthing to be careful.

Julie started biting her nails as the tension built up, waiting for the red lights to go out. And when the lights went out, the anxiety didn't stop as the pilots suffered from aquaplaning. The first lap was not even finished that a driver already went off the track and into the gravels, it was Marcus Ericsson from the Caterham team. Then, the race stopped because of a red flag before restarting behind a safety car which stayed for a total of 8 laps. Fernando Alonso retired because his car stopped. Each time a pilot got past another, Julie could hear her heart beating in her ears. The start of the race didn't appease her bad feeling and until Jules would get back in her arms, she would not feel better.

Lap 41 was what Julie dreaded, an accident, a crash. Adrian Sutil, from the Sauber team, crashed in a wall in the first sector. Julie selfishly released a breath when she learned that it was wasn't Jules. She looked down to collect herself but when she looked up, her small smile was gone and replaced with a look of horror. She froze, horrified with what she saw. A heavy silence settled in the Manor garage. Nobody talked, nobody moved, nobody breathed. One of the multiple screens was always showing Jules's car, it was the screen that Julie always watched, to keep an eye on Jules. 

An F1 car drove straight in a corner and right into the back of the tractor that had no business being there. There was no red flag so the tractor technically couldn't be here, the flag was green, allowing drivers to get back in racing mode.

And that car was Jules's. Julie's brother. The person Julie loved most. That was an extremely dangerous crash, a very serious one and every single person present that saw the crash could tell. Julie heard far away, a voice desperately calling for Jules, asking him to answer and get out as soon as he could. The voice grew louder as it asked the questions and Julie could feel her blood running colder and colder. 

When she saw the ambulance, it was like a flip switched. She started breathing erratically and panicking completely. Her limbs were trembling and she grabbed the railing to prevent from collapsing. She saw the ambulance leaving on the screen in front of her and that motivated her to move. Julie began to run, faster than she ever did, she ran to find the FIA's office. They were the only one who could tell her where Jules was transported to. She barged inside, surprising everyone but once they all noticed who entered, they all offered her sad smiles which only brought more tears to her eyes.

Not even 2 minutes later, Julie was at the entrance of the circuit, waiting for an Uber to take her to the hospital, trying to realize what she had just witnessed.