𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒: 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐊 | 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐬

[ 013 ]

'It is not the bruises on the body that hurt. It is the wounds of the heart and the scars on the mind.'
- Aisha Mirza

It was already after midnight when her family started their way home. They had talked for a long time and many tears had flowed. When had it happened the first time? How many times had it even happened? Whether anyone had witnessed it? Whether something else had happened as well? And above all, what should happen next?

One thing was clear for the Leclerc family: they wanted to do better. They wanted to help her more. The last time, a lot of wrong things had happened, because none of them knew how to deal with Luise. She was often alone. Had left her alone with her feelings as they had a lot to do themselves. Had given her the peace she needed. Had given her the space she wanted. And above all, they had left all decisions to her. And unfortunately, a lot had gone wrong as a result. The principles had made sense, but not for Luise. She was lost in them. She didn't want to go out anymore, was hardly ever around people. Had eaten nothing, drunk nothing. She no longer had any confidence. Had panic attacks every day, where they didn't know how to deal with it for a long time. And had them implement every decision she made, no matter how stupid, even when they knew it didn't make sense.

Moreover, it was immediately clear that the next day they would report to the police. It was a difficult step, because it would also mean that she would have to undergo examinations that she didn't like and that would throw her back into her childhood.

Luise shouldn't be alone for the time to come. She was supposed to move in with her mom until they found another option. Also the idea had remained that she would continue to accompany her brothers to the races. Her mom often had a lot to do with her own hair salon and could not always respond to her and her brothers had better chances. In addition, they had all noticed that she harmonized very well with the other drivers and did not feel bad in their environment. So Luise would also be among people, even if it was only to have dinner together. It would still be a bigger effort, but still all doable. Especially if her brothers did it for Luise.

And then the most important: the last competition of the season with preceding training camp. She herself didn't want to stop the saison prematurely, nor did she want to compete in any competition. After all, it had not gone well in Beijing either and she could not use such a defeat at this point. So her family members had made the decision that she would end the season early. To avoid rumors, she was going to post a post herself the next day, when she was home, that she was ending the saison.

They would then discuss more over the next few days. After all, she had been very exhausted and now needed time to process all of this.

They all sat around her. Arthur still in her bed. Charles on the table and Lorenzo and her mom each on a chair. Luise herself had taken a semi-upright position and had finally gotten off the IV. By now she had been so tired that her eyes kept falling close and she could hardly concentrate.

"You're tired and you need to rest. We should go now," her mom said, squeezing her hand tightly.

Even though she was tired, a strange feeling came over her when she said this. She didn't want to be alone, even though she knew the hospital was a safe place.

"Do you all have to go?" she asked therefore, looking back and forth between all the parties.

"I don't know if we-" her mom started, gently trying to teach her that probably no one was allowed to stay.

"The doctor said we could stay. Even overnight.", Charles clarified and her heart slowed down again.

A brief silence arose. From what Luise knew, they were just thinking about who would stay.