Doctor on the grid

22. Burn the house down

Well, it's my birthday so what else to do than update? 🤩🤗

Also, shit is just about to hit the fan.🤫

I honestly had no idea how the Verstappens snuck home at the middle of the night, and still succeeded in not waking us up. 

When I opened my eyes I realised I'm snuggled next to Daniel. It was the second night I slept next to him in this short time  and both times I was pretty worn out, and squeezed, but somehow still felt calmed down and secure. 

Now as I looked at the peacefully sleeping Australian and felt truly grateful for him being there for me yesterday. I smiled because I noticed his disheveled hair and his peaceful expression with his slightly open mouth. He was snoring quietly and that made me giggle. 

I blinked around, and checked the time on my phone. It was 6:35. 
No missed calls, no new messages, not even a fucking email.

I gazed down to the now crumpled green dress which I was still wearing, and it made all the bitter memories of last night flashing back to my mind. I sighed as my heart filled up with heaviness. 

I gathered all my skills to climb from the couch as careful as possible, without waking Daniel up. I wasn’t in the mood for a morning chat, not like this, and even without getting a shower or a coffee. 

Somehow I managed to leave the couch, and I went into the guest room, what I got as my own for that weekend. I showered, and changed to my Red Bull outfit. In two and a half hours I supposed to host our second training with the FIA. 

Then I snuck into the kitchen, and tried to make some coffee without waking anyone up. I only made one for Victoria and one for myself, hence the boys didn’t drink any coffee. Weirdos. 

I was already sipping on my second espresso when I heard some slow shambling from the corridor. 
Soon, a very sleepy Max appeared in the doorway with his blonde, destroyed-by-a-pillow hair, scratching his abdomen lazily. 

“Hey,” he groaned. “Are you OK?” he looked at me sleepily but still with some concern. 
“Yes,” I lied. I must have been convincing because he smirked, and came closer reaching for me. 
“Come here,” he pulled me in a tight hug. He held me close for a minute, and that alone made me feel much, much better. 

I've decided as always - to bury myself into work, so I didn't have to deal with the reality. 

I snuck out, to walk to the Paddock, leaving Max to have breakfast alone and also didn't say goodbye to Daniel. Well, he was still asleep anyway, already hugging a giant pillow tightly in his sleep. 

At least the weather was good, perfect excuse for wearing my sunglasses to hide my dark circles under my eyes. 
I headed straight to the FIA building, to find Dr. Conrad. 
"Good morning Clara," he greeted me with a friendly smile when I arrived to his office. "What a party, right?" He winked at me. "I hope you rested well?" 
I guess he was convinced that I spent the night with Max, having wild sex so that's why I looked like shit.
"I'm fine," I more like grimaced than smiled. "Let's have this training settled, shall we?" I suggested, so we left to get prepared for the training.

At least that was fun. This week's topic was about major bleeding management. We installed several scenarios, and also used some fake blood to make it more believable. 
The teams did well, that's why I didn't understand David's frowning when he approached me at the end of the session. 

"Uhm Clara," he cleared his throat. "Do you have some clothes to get changed?" 
Now, it was my time to frown. 
"No," I said. "Why?" I asked, and automatically looked down on my shirt. 
At once, it was clear why he asked that. 
I helped a lot, managing the scenarios, so my shirt had several fake-blood patches all over.
"Fuck," I winced. Then I realised it's Dr. Conrad I'm talking to. "Oh, I'm sorry. I just," I opposed, but the German traumatologist already had his lips curved to a cheeky smile. 
"Well, if you don't want to shock everyone out there, then wear something over that shirt, I suggest," he winked.