[3] MARANELLO || C. LECLERC

FORTY SIX

* once again, thank you for sticking with me and with this story. it's not always easy to keep up with updates etc when life is so busy! i hope you enjoy this chapter. please keep engaging; your votes and comments really spur me on and they're so important to me! thank you. enjoy!! *

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CAMILLE

I was getting used to being in this room, surrounded by beeping monitors and machines, while clinging onto my best friend's hand for hope.

Mama sat in the corner of the room, her eyes focused on the book she was reading. I asked her to stay here for company whilst everyone else tried to find something for lunch. Charles and Lando were training so they couldn't be here, no matter how much I hoped and begged and even shed a tear. They needed to prepare for Hungary; the final race before the summer break.

Our wedding is so soon.

I didn't take my eyes off of Max for a second, too busy caressing the chapped skin on his hands with my fingertips. Anything to let him know that I was by his side and would not leave until he was awake. Knowing that he would be able to feel me here gave me the boost I needed, that little bit extra energy to spur me on. Exhaustion was kicking in big style because I struggled to sleep when I left the hospital despite being curled up in Charles' arms in the spare bedroom at Lando's place. My fiancé often lay awake with me to calm me down but he managed to fall asleep before I did. This was all getting a little bit too much for me.

However, things were looking up. Yesterday evening, Max was brought off of the ventilator which had been responsible for his breathing. That in itself was a massive step forward and I was delighted to get the phone call from Jasper. It lifted a weight from my shoulders but it still wasn't enough to totally calm me. I still barely slept a wink, worried that I'd wake up to find he was back on the ventilator after having a difficult night. Charles told me not to worry as soon as I came off the phone and Lando almost cried tears of joy, but I knew it wasn't over yet.

Max's other consultant who worked the opposite shift to Jasper greeted us this morning with positive news. She introduced herself as Kaia and she seemed fairly young; very beautiful, very welcoming and obviously very clever. She was very kind to me, treating me with the most patience she had in her body, sitting me down alone and talking to me about Max. Apparently she did the same with Dilara, then spoke to Sophie and Victoria together. The message was then relayed to my parents.

Kaia explained how Max has been responding well to his treatment. Everything is good, things are looking positive. Those were her exact words. They took Max for another CT scan of his head earlier on and the bleed was completely removed during surgery. He was recovering well, albeit while sleeping, but that was best in this situation.

The best news was this: earlier on today, the doctors were able to bring Max out of his induced coma and just let him rest like he normally would. His breathing was great, his oxygen levels as they should be, and there was nothing to be concerned about in regard to his head or brain so they thought it would be best to do it now. Max was simply sleeping in this moment as I held onto his hand and stroked his knuckles with my fingers.

The relief I felt when Kaia told me the news was indescribable. I called Charles immediately and asked him to put me on speaker so that Lando could hear the news, too. They were delighted. Everything was going well so far, but we weren't completely out of the woods yet.