Everything Changed- Carlos Sainz

20. Tell me, can you keep a secret?

"I'd like to make it very clear that I do not agree with this plan." Georgie sighed as she drove Carlos towards the track the next morning.

"And yet here you are driving me in anyway." He smirked.

"Yeah because if not we both know you'd have found someone else to take you or just got a taxi. At least this way I can keep an eye on you and bring you back to the hotel when you finally realise what a stupid idea this actually is."

"I'll be fine. Just going to be in the garage and a few meetings. Give Ollie some tips. You make it sound like I'm going to try and get back in the car." He rolled his eyes at her.

"You and I both know that if you thought there was even a slight chance that they might let you drive then you'd be trying to get back in that car today."

"True." He confessed. "But I already asked and they said no. So you don't have anything to worry about."

"Of course you asked. Why am I even surprised?" She asked, manoeuvring the Ferrari slowly into a parking space as they arrived at the track. Thankfully, she'd gotten quite used to driving it over the last few days. She'd even go as far as to say she'd done a better job of parking it than Charles had with his.

For all his assurances that he would be absolutely fine, when Georgie climbed out of the drivers side of the car and walked around to the passenger side, Carlos was still sitting there trying to work out how to get his seatbelt off.

She opened the door and silently leaned across him to unbuckle the seatbelt.

"Thanks." He mumbled, twisting awkwardly to get his legs out of the car.

"You know it's not too late to go back to the hotel." She offered, holding out a hand to help him up as he struggled to get out of the car.

"I'll be fine when I'm up it's just the getting out of the car." He groaned, taking her hand and letting her pull him out of the car, leaning heavily against it for a moment as he tried to catch his breath.

"Again, I think this is a terrible idea." She sighed, looking at him as he leant heavily against the car. His face was pinched in pain, the colour had all drained from his face and he looked almost as rough as he had the day she'd taken him to the hospital.

"Come on, let's go." He mumbled.

The two of them walked very slowly towards the paddock entrance. The way his arm was wrapped around her probably looked affectionate from the outside, but it was actually the only thing keeping him upright as he walked.

"Carlos... this is ridiculous." She sighed. "Let's just go back and you can watch on the tv."

"No." He shook his head. "We're halfway there now anyway. Look." He gestured towards the Ferrari building visible ahead of them.

"We're going back to the hotel as soon as the race is over." She conceded, knowing she was never going to win this argument with him. "You should be resting. You'll be kicking yourself when you're not ready to race in Australia because you pushed yourself too hard insisting on being here today."

"I'll be fine." He reassured her. "But we'll go back to the hotel as soon as the race is over if it makes you feel better."

"It would." She nodded.

"Carlos! Welcome back!" Charles grinned as the two of them walked very slowly into Ferrari. He quickly gave his teammate a hug, and Georgie didn't miss the way that Carlos grimaced as Charles hugged him. "Good to see you Georgie."

"Thanks." Carlos mumbled. "How's Ollie doing? He must be excited?"

Charles nodded. "I have to go find him for the drivers briefing now, make sure he doesn't get lost. But I'll come catch up with you for lunch. Take it easy, okay?"