Forever and Always

An Emergency

"Cha, I'm going for a quick breakfast this morning with Antea. Mind if I come to the paddock a little later?" Emi asked.

Charles smiled down at her, giving her a quick kiss before saying, "Of course I don't mind, Em. Do whatever you want. I'll see you before the race?"

"Yes, you will. Don't worry," Emi replied with a thankful smile, quickly wrapping her arms around her boyfriend in an embrace.

A few moments later and Emilia was waving to Charles as he left the apartment and headed for the track. When the door had closed with a muffled click, she let out a ragged breath as her nerves came to the surface. She had managed to keep them down while Charles was around, but now that he wasn't, they were making a big appearance. 

She paced around for a moment, thinking of what to do to get rid of them before going to meet her new friend, but when her mind came up blank, she knew what the only thing she could do was. Emilia walked over to her handbag, unzipping it quickly and taking out a small box that rattled under the grip of her shaky hands. Then she tried her best to take a deep breath before going to the bathroom.

A couple minutes and a panic attack later, Emilia stared at the small stick in front of her in shock. Three Clear Blue pregnancy tests read pregnant in tiny blue writing. 

"Fuck! Uh no! What am I going to do," she asked herself as tears began to stream down her face. Her hands shook uncontrollably as she picked one of them up and inspected it closer. There was no mistaking the distinct word that seemed to bounce from the screen and imprint itself into Emi's mind. Her and Charles had only just started dating! And they were keeping it a secret from almost everyone. How were they going to be able to keep this a secret? It was going to look so bad when people found out.

She tried to control her ragged breaths as she looked over to her phone and saw the time. She was supposed to be meeting Antea in 20 minutes. 
"Shit," she whispered, beginning to wipe away the tears that streaked her face. Quickly, Emi bundled the three tests into her hand and threw them into her handbag when she walked back into the living room. She brushed her hair and smoothed down her clothes to make it seem like she hadn't been in any sort of distress and walked out the door.

Charles had left behind the car that his team had lent him for the weekend and gone with Carlos, who was staying in the same hotel. The red Ferrari 296 GTB shone in the partial rays of sunlight outside, parked under the glamourous roofed valet space just off the side of the building. Emi quickly got the keys to the car from one of the valets and quickly walked off towards it, lowering herself down into the low seat and making herself comfortable. The Ferrari started with a low rumble, one that echoed through the parking area. And soon, Emi was taking off out of the hotel and towards the cafe a few streets down.

She took her time driving around, the roar of the engine able to settle the nerves that bundled up in her stomach. It calmed her really, and she didn't want to have to get out of the car when the time came.

As she sat at a red light, she closed her eyes for a moment, trying to just quickly take in the events of the past half an hour. She was pregnant. With Charles Leclerc's baby! How in the hell did she end up in this position?
A moment later, the light went green, and the car lurched forward under the control of Emi's foot on the accelerator. Just as she was half-way across the intersection, the screaming sound of tires against the road made her heart drop. There was barely enough time for her to look over and see a giant black vehicle racing toward her before a loud crunch deafened her and her vision went black.

~

Arthur sprinted through the paddock faster than he had ever run before. The coloured team buildings blurred around him as he rushed toward the red of the Ferrari garage. All he could hear was the thundering of his footsteps and beating of his heart in his ears. 

"I need Charles! Now!" Arthur yelled as he burst into the garages of the iconic red team his older brother drove for.

Around him, mechanics rushed to block him from running any further forward, but in the rush he was in, them holding him back was something he could easily get past. Arthur headed straight past them and into the pits, quickly looking down the fast lane for any oncoming cars before hurrying to where the team's pit wall was assembled. 

"Xavi, Charles needs to come in right now!" Arthur tried, tugging on the race engineer's shirt sleeve. "It's an emergency!"

"Can't you see he is trying to race? He's leading right now" Xavi asked, offended and trying to shrug Arthur away.

"No! You don't understand! It's Emilia, she's been in a really bad car accident!" Arthur cried. He could see Xavi's expression soften, but even then he wouldn't budge.

"Emilia is nothing but a friend isn't she? Can't it wait until this is over? He is trying to win a Championship, remember?" Xavi tried.

Arthur shook his head so violently, he felt dizzy. "No Xavi! You don't understand how much she means to him! She is one of the only people who make Charles himself, ok? So tell him!" Arthur pleaded.

Xavi sighed, turning away and lifting the mouthpiece closer. "Charles, I'm sorry but you need to box. We need to retire you," he said into the microphone.

Athur could hear Charles go off straight away, his angry voice loud and clear even though he wasn't even the one wearing the headset. Then, Xavi turned to him, holding out the pair of headphones for him to put on. Arthur instantly did so.

"Charles! You need to come in," Arthur told him.

"Arthur! What is the meaning of this?! There is nothing wrong with the car and I am leading!" Charles' angry voice bellowed into his ears.

"Yes, I know! But it's Emi. She's been in a bad car accident," Arthur said, lowering his voice more and more as he got further into his sentence.

The other side of the line went quiet. Arthur looked up to a screen that showed an onboard with Charles that looked straight at him. Through his visor, you could see his distant but emotional eyes begin to glass over.

"Emi? There's no way. Surely not, Arthur. Please, tell me this is a joke!" Charles' desperate voice sounded over the radio, his voice cracking with emotion as he said it.

"Charles. We need to go to the hospital. Now," Arthur whispered.