Mon Chéri

32

ND68:

I called Pierre to see if he was okay and he was. "Where are you Chéri?" He asked. "Ferrari, in my driver's room." I said. "You need to go to the medic." He said. "Yeah well, everyone is busy with Carlos right now because he got third." I said. Fuck it hurt to breathe. "Oh, mon Dieu. I'm on my way." He said. "It's fine P. I can wait." I said. "No I'm coming and we're going to medic. That's final." He said and I sighed. "Fine." I replied. "See you soon." He said and hung up. I texted Tristin my strategist to direct Pierre when he got here. He sent an okay and I put my phone down. Fuck my ribs hurt, and my leg does too but I'm not doing anything with it so it's not horrid. I heard a knock on my trailer door so I sat up a bit. "Come in." I said. The door opened and I saw Pierre's head pop in. "Didn't I tell you to not crash again?" I asked. A certain look of sadness on his face seeing me. "I didn't mean to." I said. "I know. Come on let's get going." He said. I nodded and went to stand up. I figured my leg was just sprained and when I stood up to fast earlier it just gave out. As soon as I put weight on it I felt a shooting pain. I let out a small scream and dropped once again. "Holy shit Nova!" Pierre said in a panic and rushed towards me. "Fuck my life." I groaned. "Okay, I'm gonna carry you." He said. "Oh yay, I get to be carried twice in one day." I said with a smile. "Who else had to carry you?" He asked as he placed his arm under my legs. "Lewis when we got over here." I replied with a sharp inhale as he picked me up and the weight moved on my leg a little more. "Okay. Now off we go." He said and started walking.
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We had received a few odd looks on the way over but Pierre didn't seem to care. Now the dating rumors are gonna be insane. I'd been thankful to avoid any of those but that was going right out the window. "Okay, I'm gonna suggest you go to the closest hospital and get checked out. You have a lot of pain for it to just be a sprain." The lady said. "Shit. Okay. Thank you." I said. "I can supply you with a wheelchair or crutches if you'd like." She said. "Crutches, please. So people don't have to carry me around." I replied and she nodded then walked off. "None of us mind Nova." Pierre said. "I know but I do. I hate being a burden." I said and he looked at me. "You would never be a burden to any one of us drivers Nova. You've brought peace back to the grid, and for that we all owe you." He said. The nurse came back before I could reply and handed me the crutches. "Thank you." I said. "You're welcome." She replied. I stood up on my left leg and put all my weight on it. I slid the crutches under my arms and looked at Pierre. "Alright let's go." I said and he nodded. He opens the door and we left. As we walked past BWT someone called Pierre. "I have to go. Will you be okay?" He asked. "I'll be okay. See you around." I said and he smiled. "See you." He said and went to the garage. Oh boy, now the long crutch over to Ferrari. I was passing Williams when Logan ran over to me. "Yo home girl are you good?" He asked. "Not sure yet. I have to go to the hospital once I get back to Ferrari and Carlos or someone is willing to take me." I said. "I would but I rented a little scooter thing to go around on. I'm sorry. " He said. "Oh no it's okay. I'll get there one way or another." I said with a small laugh. Ooooo that hurt. "Okay well, I shouldn't hold you up. Do you need help or are you okay?" He asked. "I'm okay. Thank you though." I said and he smiled. "See you around Nov." He said. "See ya." I replied.
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I sat in a plastic chair waiting for Carlos to get done with interviews so I could ask him to drop me off when Charles walked in. "Hey." He said softly. "Hi, Char." I said with a small smile. "How are you holding up?" He asked. "I'm okay. I'm just waiting for Carlos so I can ask him to drop me off at the hospital." I said. "Nonsense. I'll take you come on." He said. "No, you won. I'm sure you guys have plans and stuff." I said. "I don't care about parties you know this. Come on I'm not taking no for an answer." He said. I rolled my eyes and sighed. "Okay fine. Let's go." I said and stood up. I grabbed my crutches and crutches alongside Charles as we walked out. "Where you guys headed?" Max asked as we passed Redbull. "Hospital." Charles said. "Damn that bad?" Max asked. "Well, I can't put weight on my leg and my ribs hurt like a motherfucker so yeah." I said and he gave me a sad smile. "Please text me when you know what's going on." He said and walked over closer. "I will." I said and he nodded. He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me. "Charles don't hurt her." Max warned with a glare. "She would beat my ass before I could hurt her." Charles said. "No, I'm hurt right now." I said and he sighed. "She'll come back no worse than she already is." He said and Max nodded. "Come on Nov." Charles said and we went back on our way.
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"Broken ankle, fracture knee, three broken ribs, and a small concussion." Not what I wanted to hear. "How long am I out?" I asked the doctor. "Two to three months. Keep yourself off that leg and don't do anything that will cause you to breathe hard." He said. I sighed looking at the ground. Tears threatened to fall from my eyes. I was done for the season. Three races left and I can't even do them. "I'll send in a nurse with a prescription for the pain she will get a cast on your ankle and knee. After that, you're free to go." He said. "Thank you." I said and he left the room. "Chéri, please don't cry. It's going to be okay." Charles said putting his hand on my shoulder. "I just wanted to finish the season." I said softly trying to keep my tears at bay. I don't know how to explain the feeling I felt but it was pure sadness. "Next year you will. It just was not meant to be this season. You've learned so much. You've taught half the grid so many things. You're one of the best rookies the sport has seen. You'll come back even better for 2025 Nov."