Formula one sickfics/oneshots

"Let me take care of you"

Drivers: Oscar, Lando

Ages: Oscar (22), Lando (23)

- POV Oscar -

The warm water hits my back as I stand in the shower, my head hanging low. I started my morning with a training session, but even though it wasn't more intense than usual, I already felt drained. When I woke up this morning with a headache and a sore throat, I didn't think much of it, but during training, it started to occur to me that maybe this was more than just a cold. After a while, I sluggishly stepped out of the small cabin and dried myself off, quickly changing into a pair of jeans and a McLaren hoodie.

I grabbed my phone and started walking the 5 minutes to the track. I could feel the down on me, but I couldn't feel the heat it radiated, shivering in the 31C (88F) degree weather. "Morning mate", Daniel greeted hastily as he sprinted past, presumably in a hurry. I chuckled at his chaotic personality, but it ended up sending me into a coughing fit. I had to stop for a second, to catch my breath. "Are you okay?", a familiar voice asked, a hint of amusement in his tone, laughing about the slightly embarrassing situation. I nodded and turned to face my teammate.

"How the hell are you even surviving in that?", he asked, pointing at my orange hoodie. "Well, I was cold", I shrugged, standing up and walking with Lando to the track. He frowned at me. "Are you ill or something, mate?", he joked, going to press a playful hand to my forehead, but I stopped him before he could, not wanting to bother him with this. " shut up", I replied with an eye roll. We just continued our conversation and before I realized, we were already in front of the McLaren motorhome. We walked up the stairs to the conference room and waited for the rest of the team to join us, so the meeting could start.

It was actually quite an interesting and it was over before we knew it. "Can you two come with me? We need you to film a bit for a new challenge", a tall woman asked, looking at me and Lando. I sighed. I was hoping I could go to the hotel after the meeting, sleeping this illness off and hopefully feeling better tomorrow, but of course we still have to do some stupid challenge. "Come on Oscar, we're waiting", the woman said, to which I slowly got up and followed her.

We end up in a room with all sorts of art supplies and 2 canvases. "This seems fun", Lando smiled, looking excited. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad. I mean, it's just painting. The media team forced us to wear big plastic aprons, which was a very accurate description of our maturity. "Mate, what is this", I laughed, but I ended up in a coughing fit yet again. When I looked back up, I noticed Lando giving me a look of suspicion. "You good?", he and I just nodded slightly, accidentally worsening my headache.

The challenge was actually alright in the end and Lando and I shared a laugh over our horrible artistic skills. "I've nailed it". "It's abstract. I'll give you that", I laughed. The camera's cut and Lando and I lost it, laughing our heads off at the other's painting. "I think you should consider a career switch", he told me, tears in his eyes from laughter. "Haha, definitely. I should have *coughs violently* I should have become an artist". Lando looked at me and his mood immediately changed from lighthearted to concerned. "Mate, I know I was joking earlier today, but are you okay? Like, genuinely?", Lando asked. "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me", I said.

"That's it for today boys. See you tomorrow", the media team told us. I got up and walked away, Lando following me to the exit. Usually, I would enjoy the outside air, but today, it made me feel even more miserable. After having walked about 3 minutes, I suddenly hear fireworks from the other side of the street. I cover my ears, but the loud sounds make my already pounding headache even worse and it makes me feel dizzy and lightheaded. I stand there frozen in my place, not daring to move, because I feel like if I did, I would pass out. I squeeze my eyes tightly shut and attempt to stay awake by shutting all my surroundings out.

A pair of hands on my shoulders bring me back to reality and I open my eyes, looking into Lando's concerned ones. I uncover my ears and realize the fireworks have stopped. "Jesus Oscar. You're so pale". "I'm fine, just tired", I tried, but Lando looked at me skeptically. " you're not fine. Look at yourself", he argued. I tried to stop him, as he went to place a hand on my forehead again, but this time, I wasn't strong enough. "Oscar, you're burning up! Why didn't you say anything?", he scolded. "Didn't want to bother you", I shrugged, as I made a move to walk away from him, but he followed me all the way to the hotel. He even walked with me until we had reached my room.

"Lando, you can leave now. I'll be fine". " you won't. You've been telling me you're fine all and you were not. Just let me take care of you. You really aren't bothering me at all", he assured me, entering the hotel room. I decided to just let him help me, but that I would try to do as much as I could by myself. Lando threw me some sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt he found in my luggage. "Do you have medicine with you?", he asked me, to which I nodded. "Bathroom counter", I told him. He appeared a minute later with cough drops and ibuprofen, as well as a water bottle. "Thanks", I replied, taking the pills.

"Need anything else?", he asked me after a while. "Is there a kettle here or something? Some tea would be really nice". Sadly, after some investigation, Lando shook his head. Then, he picked up the phone in the room and dialed a number. "What are you doing?", I asked curiously. "It says: for roomservice, dial 9, so, I dialed 9". That was actually quite a smart idea, so I let him ask the reception for some tea. "Order something for yourself", I whispered to him. "Oh, and a small Diet Coke please". I smiled, knowing Lando sometimes had trouble taking care of himself, so it made me content to hear him order something for himself too.

Some time later, there was a knock on the door. I went to stand up, but Lando was already at the door. He took the beverages and came back up to me again. When he noticed me standing up, he raised an eyebrow. "Oscar, please just sit down", he instructed. "I'm sick, not disabled. I can do things on my own", I argued my case, but he looked me dead in the eyes and said: "No, you will stay there and rest, until you are feeling better again". "Okay. But you know I'm an adult and I can do that mys- ". Before I could even finish my sentence, Lando chimed in. "No. No you can't do this alone and no I won't leave. I get that you're an adult, but you're not properly taking care of yourself, so I will make sure you are being taken care of", he told me.

"Aren't you bored?", I asked him, after noticing him pacing around the room. "A bit, but that's okay. I'm the older teammate, so I have to take care of you". "Lando, I get that, but nothing will happen if you distract yourself for a bit", I explained. Suddenly, Lando's face lit up. "One second". He ran out the door, only to come back a little while later with a stack of board games in his arms. "Now this is a good idea", I smiled, happy to have some form of distraction at the moment. We ended up playing Uno and Monopoly and I ended up losing everything. "I'm so shit at this", I laughed, as I lost for the thousandth time. "You are", Lando agreed. "Another round?". "", I said excitedly, not even bothered by losing again. We were having fun and that was all that mattered right now.