POV: You Love Charles Leclerc

23. Intensive Care Pt. 2

1688 words
A/N: This is the same situation as the first part but instead of being the partner, you are the emergency surgeon when Charles comes in, if that makes sense, so he doesn't have a partner in this one- only Arthur. Enjoy 😁

You hated working Sundays, it meant that you couldn't watch the F1 races. They kept you sane. You loved your job as a major trauma surgeon but F1 was a huge part of your life and had been since you were very little. You would watch the races with your dad since you were 5 and carried on after his death when you were 16 as a way to feel closer to him. You worked at the Domaine Niveze Convalescence hospital in Spa, Belgium. It was your dream to work as a surgeon there ever since you saw a trauma surgeon on TV when you were 10 and after all of your hard work and dedication, you had finally got there.
Today was the race in Spa which was extra special for you she you would've wanted to watch the race live but of course, you had been put on the rota to work today. You didn't have any surgeries in the morning which was surprising but nobody mentioned it in fear it would suddenly become more busy. Medical workers are very superstitious with that sort of thing, you see, the 'q' word wouldn't even dared to be thought in case of anything major happening. You were sipping your coffee at your desk, looking over some charts when you heard the department phone ring. That meant one thing, a major trauma patient incoming. You picked it up and gathered your team ready to take the patient to the operating theatre as soon as they arrived. "Incoming. 25-year-old male, car accident. Suspected head and abdomen trauma with cracked ribs. No underlying conditions. ETA, 5 minutes."
"Okay. Jay and Lindsey, you're with me. We're going to the patient when he arrives and bring him up, we have to move quickly, we don't know the extent of his injuries until we open him up but they don't sound good. We have radiology on hand too and we've contacted the blood bank just in case. We also have the resus team on stand-by. Move quickly people! 3 minutes!" You instructed, taking charge. Everyone busied themselves with their tasks as you, Jay and Lindsey went down to collect your patient and to assess him en-route to theatre. You gloved up and prepared just as the ambulance arrived. You walked with the ambulance crew as they wheeled the unconscious patient to you, closely followed may a young man you recognised as Arthur Leclerc. You glanced at his chart and froze. Charles Leclerc. It all made sense now. The car crash: an F1 car crash. High impact: he was driving over 100 mph. Major trauma: he was in a lot of trouble if you didn't move fast. The last thought snapped you back to reality and you picked up the pace, checking him over. You put pressure on his abdomen which showed that it was distended. Then you felt the vertebrae down his neck but didn't feel anything unusual so removed the neck brace. You kept the head blocks on so it would keep the intubated tube in place better. He was due for a CT brain and cardiac scan as well as a pelvic scan to confirm anything before surgery so you would know what you were dealing with before you opened him up.
In surgery, you were focused but every now and again your mind would slip back to the fact that you were operating on a major trauma patient that was the F1 driver, Charles Leclerc. You had followed Ferrari since you first started watching F1 and had followed Charles through his career to F1. You weren't thinking about the fact that you were leading a surgery on him from a fan's point of view but as added pressure. It would be your fault if he died from this crash. There had already been one fatality from that circuit, there couldn't be another one.
At the end of the surgery, you took off the sedation and sent him to a room while you went to speak to the people waiting for him, although you assumed it was only Arthur. "Hi," you said, approaching Arthur cautiously as you knew he would be upset. "I'm Y/N. I operated on Charles today." You used your first name as you always did with the families of major trauma patients to be less 'official' and scary. You knew hospitals were scary for lots of people.
"Hi," Arthur said, standing up to greet you. "I'm Arthur, Charles' brother. Is he going to be okay?"
"There were a few complications but he is stable now. I can assure you we will do everything to help your brother." You smiled, hoping to shine some positivity on the situation. You never promised anyone anything: there was one thing you had learned from being a major trauma surgeon- anyone can go from stable to incredibly unstable in minutes.
"Thank you. Can I see him?" Arthur looked relieved for a moment.
"Of course, I'm actually heading to see him now. I'll show you." You walked with him in silence to Charles' room. You were going that way to see how he was after the anaesthetic as he hadn't responded in the time hoped.
"Here. Room 301." You pointed at the door that had been left ajar and Arthur stepped in cautiously. You had been in this job for years but you had never felt close to a patient and it hurt, you didn't know exactly why but it did (you couldn't say why you felt close to Charles as you had never met him). You took a deep breath and stepped into the room. Your eyes scanned the room as you slowly approached the bed: Arthur was sitting in the chair next to the bed, staring at the wall opposite in silence, you supposed he was just taking it all in; Charles was lying motionless with tubes and wires surrounding him; the curtains on the window were open, letting the moonlight stream in, like a spotlight on his lifeless body. You took out his chart to see if any of the nurses had seen anything change but nothing was written. You then went to the side of the bed and checked the medication dosage on his IV and how much he had had. Nothing was abnormal so you wondered why he wasn't waking up. You could do another set of scans but in a critical condition, you didn't want to expose him to more radiation. "How long until he wakes up?" Arthur broke the silence, his voice cracked slightly, obviously noticing the concerned look you wore unintentionally. You straightened up and approached Arthur to sit on the chair next to him. "I'm not sure, you have to understand that we are doing everything for him but we can't guarantee anything. I'm so sorry."
"No." Arthur said blankly, a sort of anger building up inside him.
"Sorry?" You said, confused at his reaction.
"No. He will get better. He will race again. I can't lose him, not like my father." A tear slipped down his cheek slowly and silently.
"I understand. I lost my father too. I know what family is like after that. I can assure you I will do everything I can to help you and your brother." You assured Arthur, hoping that, for his sake, Charles woke up.
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You went in and saw Charles and Arthur, who hadn't left the hospital since Sunday, everyday. Even when you weren't working, you would go and see them to check if anything had changed. It hadn't. You were working again today, Friday. 5 days since Charles' crash. You were on a break talking with some of the nurses at the nurse's station when you heard a shout. "Nurse! Someone!" You recognised the voice as Arthur so you joined 2 of the nurses running to 301. When you went in, you saw Charles lying in the bed just as he had been doing for 5 days but his eyes were wide open. He looked scared, confused. His eyes were flicking around the room rapidly, in hopes of getting some answers so you gave them to him. "Let me do it," you instructed the nurses who left the room, leaving you, Arthur and Charles alone again. You quickly went over to Charles reassuring him. "Charles, I'm Y/N. I was your surgeon. You had a crash in the race on Sunday so you are at the hospital, okay? You've been asleep for 5 days so today is Friday but you're okay now. I'm going to take this tube out now and hopefully you'll be a bit more comfortable." You spoke slowly in French to help him understand as much as possible. You used the buttons on the bed to lie the bed flat so you could take out the intubated tube that was helping him to breathe but he was doing it on his own now so you could take it out. You tilted his head back and took out the tube slowly so as not to make him gag too much and then sat him up again. "Sorry," you apologised, knowing that it wasn't the most comfortable experience. "I know that can be uncomfortable, how are you feeling?" Charles gave you a nod, indicating that he was feeling okay.
"Water?" He croaked, his throat dry from the tube. You went and got him the water, leaving him and Arthur to have some time alone.
When you returned, they were both smiling. This is what you did your job for. "Thank you." Arthur said, standing up to hug you. You hugged him back, "it's just my job. But you're welcome." You smiled.
"You saved me." Charles took the water gratefully and sipped it, sincerely thankful for you. You left the room to go back to theatre to prepare for the rest of the day. As you did so, you smiled to yourself slightly, you had done it. You had told yourself you couldn't lose another patient and you hadn't. He was okay- he had a long way to go but he was okay.

A/N: Sorry this was so long, I just thought of this idea and wrote but it ended up being so long. Also, sorry this one took so long, I'm on holiday so I haven't had much of a chance to write. After this one I'm going to have a small break until the end of my holiday and then I'll be back.
Remember, you are loved and strong and beautiful ❤️
-A