SEVEN MINUTES || L. NORRIS

THIRTY EIGHT

I forgot to love you, love you, love you

---

LANDO

I'd not been home for one week now. I refused to leave Isabelle's side and each day, she was making some sort of progress and the doctors were hoping to try and bring her round from her induced coma today. I'd been sat down with her main doctor and he told me the potential consequences of this; I knew that there was a chance of Issy being unable to deal with this change and she would most likely not survive it, but he explained how the chances of that happening were rather slim. They'd completed further tests and from what they found, she seemed to be ready to handle being conscious and she was already breathing for herself, which was always a good sign.

I was no longer preparing to leave for France for the Grand Prix. The guys at McLaren reached out to me, they called me and told me that I didn't have to worry. Charles left England a few days ago, to prepare himself for the race and I promised to get in touch with him if anything happened. Her parents were staying at her apartment and they visited every day. They were coming to the hospital in one hour, I felt a little lonely being here with nobody to talk to. I was so desperate to hear Isabelle's voice and deep down, I knew I wasn't too alone, because I always had her company. I talked to her as if she was awake and listening to every word I spoke.

"I'm right here, Issy," I whispered as I rubbed my eyes, sitting myself up from the uncomfortable few hours of sleep which I had somehow managed to gain. I was too upset to sleep, too worried of something happening whilst I was resting. I didn't want to miss anything. "Today is a big day for you. I'm going to be right by your side through all of it. I'm so proud of you. I love you."

The only reply I was given was the constant beeping of the machines positioned around Isabelle.  It was reassuring in a way, because it told me that she was alive, no matter how bad the impact of her accident was, Isabelle's heart was still beating. I knew it was for me; she always told me whenever I was away, that she held on for me. She told me that I was the reason she went to work and continued with the writing of her very first book and I felt so privileged to be by her side throughout it all.

"I'm so sorry for everything I ever did to you, Isabelle. I should be where you are right now because I deserve it more than you ever could," I exhaled, shaking my head as I sat up, taking her hand tightly between my fingers and rubbing her cold skin. "I will never be able to apologise enough for everything I put you through. I really broke your heart, but you waited for me and you wanted to be with nobody else but me. You are the love of my life, Isabelle. I am so excited for you to become my wife, then you really will be Isabelle Norris, like you've wanted to be for years."

I smiled to myself, remembering the evening she told me that she was desperate to take my last name. I was holding her as we cuddled beneath the sheets in her bedroom at her parents house and she was holding her fingers around my wrist, caressing my skin with the tips, a smile plastered across her face. It came out of nowhere, but I remembered the way she spoke those few words as if it happened yesterday - "Lando, I really would like to take your last name one day, and I really mean that." - I was so excited. I never thought her feelings towards me would match how they ended up.

"I'm never going to leave you, ever again, Isabelle. I promise you, I won't go anywhere if you aren't with me," I had to stop due to the overwhelming feeling of tears building in my eyes, a lump forming deep in my throat, causing me to swallow hard and take a inhale heavily. "I should've been with you on that night, Issy. This should never have happened to you."