POV: You Love Charles Leclerc

4. Intensive Care

1041 words

Dating an F1 driver has its ups and downs, the highs of winning but the stress of crashing out or the fear of losing. You knew it all after dating Charles Leclerc for 6 months now. Every crash, no matter how small, would make your heart skip a beat, scaring you until you heard his voice on the radio telling the team and you that he was okay. It scared him too- he didn't want to lose you and he hated scaring you when something happened. He knew you watched every race and sat with the engineers with headphones so you could hear and see everything. However, everything about Charles outweighed these concerns. To you, he was the most amazing thing and you were too good to be true to him, falling more in love everyday.
This weekend was Spa, the Belgian Grand Prix. This would be a hard race for Charles, P4 with Max, Carlos and  Checo in front. Like every F1 driver, he had a drive to win but knew it would be a push to get there. He just had to put his head down and drive fast. As always, you wished him good luck and gave him a quick kiss before assuming your position with the engineers and he made his way to the grid to start the race. You felt the butterflies in your stomach, fluttering around like they did every time your boyfriend set foot in that scarlet car for a race. You were used to them by now but that didn't mean they went away.
The race start was good, Charles didn't lose any positions and nearly made a move on Checo but he defended too well. The first few laps went by and Charles started to look strong so you settled a little. Now all he had to do was fight Max for P1 to be in the lead and then maintain it.
On lap 20, Charles was in prime position to overtake for the lead and was on track for a fastest lap. He was truly pushing down the hill and into Raidillon going faster than he had gone into that section before. The following moments were a blur after that. Charles fighting, pushing to overtake, so close to succeeding until he wasn't.
The entire paddock and track fell silent. You sat in shock, not knowing what had happened, silenced like the rest of the garage. Then panic set in. The sudden urgency in the voice of Charles' race engineer on the radio to him. "Charles, are you okay?" No answer. "Charles, press something to let us know you're okay." Still no answer. You knew that you had seen this somewhere before. Then it set in. Antoine Hubert. In the same section. Fatal. Your cries were intense, people all around attempting to comfort you even a little but nothing helped. You slipped down to the floor, hands on your face. 'What if' was all you could think about in that moment.
A hand on your shoulder paused you for a moment. As you looked up, your eyes came level with the ones of Arthur Leclerc, Charles' brother. He was the only Leclerc there as his mum couldn't make it to that race. "Come on." He said before helping you up. You both ran through the stewards to Charles' car. The silent radio had given you all the information you needed, you had to get to him. When you got there, 2 ambulances, stewards and the safety car team surrounded the car wreck, trying everything to release Charles from the car. "Charles!" You half screamed, half cried. "Please Charles!" You saw the top of his helmet through the wreckage. He was deathly still. There was nothing.
It took them 15 critical minutes to get him out and when they did, he was lifeless. Ambulance crew surrounded him, hauling his body onto a stretcher and into the ambulance, checking his pulse and ripping his clothes away and taking his helmet off to properly examine him. You don't remember a lot of details from that day but the one thing you do remember was his face when the helmet was removed. Pale and bruised.
You were allowed to ride in the ambulance with Charles to the hospital, Arthur reassuring you the whole time and you crying hysterically. In the ambulance, Charles was intubated and hooked up to machines and IVs. It broke your heart to see him like that.
When you reached the hospital, he was immediately taken away and all you could to was wait. You waited for 3 hours before you could see him, entering the intensive care room cautiously as you were afraid to see him in that state. The sight you were met with was enough to break you and you had to step out again.
You spent the rest of your time there, sleeping in the chair next to his bed in case he were to wake up. The doctors told you every day that it would be more and more unlikely as each day went on. However, on the 5th day, something incredible happened. It was the morning and you had only just woken up, you rubbed your eyes and looked around, the sun shining in your eyes. When you could focus properly you were met with the eyes of your lover, darting around the room furiously. You gasped in shock and pure delight and he immediately locked eyes with yours. You could see it in his eyes that he was scared but he couldn't say anything because the intubated tube was still in, allowing him to breathe. You saw his discomfort immediately and shouted out into the corridor for a nurse to remove it. Once she had, Charles looked at you in your eyes and you just held his hand. "Désolé, ma cherie." (Sorry, my darling) He croaked, his throat dry from the tube. "Shhh, Charles. What are you talking about?" You asked softly, playing with his hair gently.
"You were scared, no?" He replied. Wow. He had just been in a coma for 5 days after a traumatic crash and he was more concerned about you. You just laughed a little.
"What?" He asked you innocently.
"Oh Charles, je t'aime." (I love you)