WORKING FOR THE KNIFE ━ lando norris.

XXI. Chemically Calm

   

   

   

( ACT II. ── Uncertain Waters )
chapter twenty-one / Chemically Calm

   

   

   

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"Breathe. Breathe." Teddy's rough, calloused hand rubbed gently across her back. His voice commanding but gentle. Seated on the edge of the fitness bench, Annika had the end of an exercise band wrapped around the hand of her afflicted wrist, painfully rotating against the resistance from the opposite end, clamped beneath her foot. Breath captured in her chest, pain clouding her head and eyes and ears. "Breathe." Teddy hit her on the back, too rough maybe, but it worked. She exhaled, it was more like a cough, or as if she'd been kicked in the ribs.

"How many more?" she asked, her voice strained and weak.

"Three."

"Jesus," she said through gritted teeth. "No, I can't. I can't."

"Yes you can. Go ahead."

So Annika did. Sweat dripped from the bridge of her nose and pooled around her eyes, her pulse thumping hard beneath her hot skin. One turn, two, three.

With her teeth digging into her cheek to stop herself from making a pained noise, she gingerly released the band and let her hand go limp, holding it immobile, stiff, just for a moment without burning pain.

"Flex your fingers," Teddy commanded. She didn't want to, but he was getting her a cool cloth, so she did as she was told.

She laid back on the bench and closed her eyes, pressing the damp cloth over her face. All of this was in preparation for Austria, just over a week away. If she was going to drive, she needed to pass the FIA requirements, and that meant a lot of grueling physical therapy in the days leading up. Teddy was a saint about it, traveling with her to keep an eye on her injury. This was the most serious she had ever seen him, and his typical casual demeanor was gone. Replaced by someone who truly seemed to care.

Maybe he was just ensuring job security.

It was hard for Annika to stop re-living Canada. Her chance at redemption in pole position, stolen away. The crunch of carbon fiber and the numb jarring sensation that snapped up her arm, the smell of burnt rubber and smoke. She should have been happy, at least, for the team and for Lewis, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find it in her heart. Selfishly, she couldn't block out her jealousy.

It should have been her up there. Winning. She had defended against Max Verstappen in a Red Bull. Did she not deserve something for that?

Her outburst in the pit lane had not gone unnoticed, either. A kick at the wall. One simple expression of frustration, the angriest she had been in so long, and it was plastered all over Twitter, Tiktok, Instagram, Reddit, you name it. People condemning her, people defending her, she didn't know which was worse at this point.