Everyone was getting ready for the driver's parade. They weren't riding on the bus this time, they were going in their individual team cars. So Leah and Max were riding together.
"I'm kind of sad your sister isn't here today, I loved her," Leah reasoned as she sat down near the back seat so she could see everyone.
"I know, my father was quite annoyed that she kept bringing you up," Max laughed. Leah just shrugged as she waved a few fans standing near the fences.
"Yeah, well she knows which one of us is the better one," Leah muttered as Max laughed.
"Don't you start with that, I will kick you off," He pointed behind them. Leah just rolled her eyes and continued waving. "You see all those orange people out there, those are the Dutch army, see how many of them there are."
"Those are papaya fans actually, they are ready to watch Lando win," Leah smirked at him as he shook his head. He realized that he wouldn't win if he tried to argue with her. "I'm ready to race, I can feel it in my legs." Leah wiggled her legs.
"Yeah, I can tell but we have a while, we have to get through the Dutch anthem and then get everything set up," He smiled. "You know you are going to hear the Dutch anthem twice today right?"
"I'm not just going to let you win, I'm not just going to let you by because you are Max Verstappen in a Red Bull, I'm here to win, I'm here to put up a fight." Leah mocked. "I think George said something like that in an interview, along those lines of some bullshit, but I'm intending on taking this win from you Max, just so you know. One way or another. You've got Lando and me to defend against."
"I wish you both luck," Max muttered as he waved at his fans. Once they were finished with the driver's parade they all stood in line waiting for the Dutch national anthem.
"I could sing this if I wanted, I've heard it so much," Leah whispered to Max as he took off his hat. He just gave her a smile and then looked at the camera squinting since the sun was in his eyes. This one wasn't as bad as the race in Spa. Leah didn't have to fight away her laughter. She reached forward taking off the little girl's hat though. The little girl smiled when she realized it was Leah. She went to say something but Leah put a finger to her lips telling the girl to be quiet as she smiled. The little girl stood close to Leah so she rested her hands on either side of the girl's shoulders.
Once the anthem was over the girl grabbed Leah's hand and hugged her. Leah just laughed and hugged the girl back as the cameras quickly found them. Leah put the hat back onto the girl's head.
"What's your name, love?" Leah asked as she knelt down beside the girl.
"Macy," She smiled, she was missing a few teeth. "I am your biggest fan."
"I can see that," Leah smiled as she spoke to the girl. Everyone around them was moving trying to get off the track so they could start getting everything going. "Would you like to walk to my paddock with me or do you have somewhere to be Macy?"
"Please!" Macy smiled as she gripped Leah's hand with both of her small ones. Leah smiled and walked with the little girl through the crowds making sure she wouldn't get pushed or bumped into. For some reason, Leah saw herself in the young girl as she weaved through the people. When they got to her paddock Eric and Philip were already there staring between Leah and the little girl almost disappointed.
"Her name is Macy," Leah smiled as she waved at the two men in front of her. "Would you like some autographic merchandise, Macy?" Leah asked as she guided her through the paddock to Leah's driver's room with the door open.
"Is this Pippin?" Macy asked as she gently petted the sleeping cat's head. Leah nodded as she was given one of her small helmets, a hat, and a kids-size shirt. "He sleeps a lot, do you bring him with you most of the time?"
"I do, he doesn't really like to be away from us," Leah smiled as Cassidy gave her a small bag that Leah put all the things in. She knelt down beside Macy and scratched under Pippin's chin making him yawn and stretch.
"Alright, well Macy it was amazing meeting you, but I have to go get ready for the race, do you know where you have to go from here?" Leah asked as she took Macy's hand walking her back out of her driver's room. Leah walked right up to Eric and Philip with a sweet smile. The two of them knew exactly what that meant.
"I believe I do," Macy looked in the bag.
"Oh I'm sorry if that shirt is too big, it should be around your size though," Leah reasoned as Macy suddenly dropped the bag and threw her arms around Leah. "Oh." Leah laughed as she hugged the young girl back.
"Thank you so so much Leah," Macy mumbled as she let go and showed off her missing teeth.
"You are very welcome, now These two gentlemen are going to be your personal escorts to where you are going, alright? I want to make sure you get there safely and without bother, is that alright?" Leah asked and Macy nodded as she reached for one of their hands, but hesitated.
"Can I hold your hands so I don't get lost," She asked and Philip was the first one to nod as he offered his hand. He had huge hands compared to hers so it looked funny, but sweet. Macy waved at Leah again as she disappeared into the crowd. The only thing Leah could see was Philip and Eric's tall figures making their way through the crowds.
"Leah! Come on, you've got to get ready," Isabella demanded as she shoved Leah back toward her dressing room.
"Okay, okay," Leah smiled as she walked back to her room. Once she opened the door though she was hit with a wave of dizziness. She assumed it was her moving around too fast. She had to get dressed though. So she hummed to herself as she started getting ready. She put her fireproof on and her suit, then her balaclava and helmet. She stepped out and Cassidy was already pushing her to go. Leah didn't think she was this late, but she must have been talking with Macy for too long.
"Sorry, sorry, I know, but Macy was so cute," Leah smiled as she gripped Cassidy's arm as they made their way toward the track. She tripped a little bit and fell into someone giving them a quick apology.
"Tell me about it after, we have to get you onto the track before Isabella has a stroke," Cassidy smiled over her shoulder at Leah who just nodded. Her visor was still up so she could see and people could see her eyes as well. She turned her head and a sharp pain shot down her spine making her stop for a moment. She felt a warm feeling spread along the side of her head, she just thought maybe she'd pulled something in her neck. She went to step forward, but couldn't move her feet. Or her feet wouldn't listen to her.
"Cass," Leah could barely get the words out as her knees slammed into the concrete. The warm feeling covered her entire scalp. She could only think that it felt like she was sitting in the shower and scolding hot water was encasing her hair.
"Leah!" Cassidy yelled. The crowd of people removed as Cassidy knelt beside her as she took off her helmet and balaclava. "Leah, can you move?" Cassidy looked around at the hearing people. "Someone get the medical team! We have to get her to the hospital!" Leah could barely keep her eyes open as Cassidy unzipped her suit. "Leah." Cassidy's voice echoed around Leah as she drifted in and out.
"Don't tell him, don't tell them," Leah whispered. Cassidy had to lean over to hear what she was saying. Cassidy's heart was going a mile a minute since she didn't understand what was happening. Leah was fine after yesterday. She was fine this morning, the doctors said she was fine. "I love-." Cassidy took a deep breath as she heard the sirens.
"Everyone needs to move!" Cassidy yelled. Leah felt her eyes close and all she could think about was the little girl she'd just met. Macy.
The crowd moved as the medics got Leah onto a board. Cassidy grabbed her radio and told the situation to Isabella and Christian so that they could handle it while she went to the hospital with Leah.
"I don't know Iz, she just collapsed," Cassidy spoke fast and frantically as she got into the car with her. "She's unconscious," The monitor started going off and Cassidy covered her mouth. "Oh my god," She tried to pull herself together.
"Tell her to hold on Cass, I almost have everything fixed, please, please," Isabella's voice broke. "Tell her to hold on for me, for Lando too. He won't be able to get out of the race, they won't tell him or Max. Tell her to hold on." Cassidy stayed back as they started to do compressions on her. The medics were speaking in Dutch so Cassidy couldn't understand a word they said she covered her mouth and tried not to sob on the phone as Isabella still yelled at people.
----
"Why is Checo driving for Leah?" Max asked as he watched the wrong helmet get into Leah's car.
"Something came up so Checo is racing for her, focus on the race," GP radioed back. He had gotten the news about Leah going to the hospital, but there was nothing Max could do about it.
"Why is she not racing, what happened?" Max wanted to click the button to connect their radios but he knew Leah wouldn't be the one to answer.
"I don't know anything yet Max. Just focus on the race," GP radioed back as he watched Isabella come running in and out yelling at people. The lights went up and everyone quickly tried to focus.
"How are you feeling?" Lando clicked the button to connect his radio to Leah's, but she wasn't in the car.
"Who is this?" Checo asked. Lando realized immediately it was Perez.
"Where is my wife? Why are you driving for her?" Lando asked. He heard the sound of the radio connection being cut off.
"She was unable to race today, that is all I know of right now, I will keep you posted," Will radioed back. He truly didn't know what was happening, but Zak had told him to make sure Lando focused on the race. He turned off his radio when he saw Isabella approach him.
"Leah is in the hospital, tell Lando when you get a chance," She told him as she ran back toward Zak. She had tears streaming down her face, but a calm voice.
"We've just got news that Leah Norris is now in the hospital in critical condition," Ted read off. They both sat in silence for a moment. "That means that her crash yesterday wasn't nothing after all. She said she hadn't hit anything."
"We all send out our prayers to Leah and hope she makes it through this. She's a tough woman, she's fought for herself this long, and she's got more time in her," John reasoned. He looked at Ted for reassurance, but Ted just stared at his phone.
"I doubt anyone on the grid knows or else there wouldn't be a race today, most if not all of the men on this grid care for Leah, they are her family. They would all be at her side right now," Ted muttered.
"It's lights out and away we go!" John radioed as the cars took off. All cars went off taking their places in the race quickly. Max of course making a break away and taking his lead. Norris however slipped back into P5.
"Norris is having an unlucky start," Ted radioed. "I don't want to blame it on Leah's absence, but he definitely isn't focused."
"Oh, Leclerc and Sargent go off!" John yelled.
24 laps in. 46 to go.
"Did you get any update on Leah?" Lando radioed back as he stayed behind Lewis waiting to use his DRS.
"No not yet," Will radioed. Zak did not want him to know because he knew that Lando would get himself disqualified just to go see her. "Focus on the race."
"I can't focus on the race Will, because I'm too worried about my wife, who ironically none of you know any information on and it's not like I'm going to win this race at this point,"
Lando snapped at him. Will took a deep breath and looked over at Zak who was standing at him.
"All I know is that she was taken off the grid, that's it, you can't do anything since your racing anyways, so focus please," Will radioed back as he shook his head. Lando wasn't the only one who was worried either.
"Anything?" Max asked. He was leading by quite a bit. He even tried to hit the radio button to check on Leah, but remembered that she wouldn't be the one answering.
"She's at the hospital undergoing emergency surgery, you can't do anything except wait," GP radioed back. "You practically halfway through the race anyway, you know she would want you to finish the race first."
"Fuck," Max breathed. "Does Lando know?"
"I do not believe so," GP answered and Max took a corner fast, almost clipping the wall. "Focus, do not throw this away you are now racing for both you and Leah."
63 laps in. 7 more laps to go.
"Someone tell me something," Lando begged as he continued racing. He had a tight feeling in his chest, the anxiety eating away at his mind. He knows something is wrong. "Will, please, please just tell me if she is alright?"
"She at the hospital, mate. Please just finish the race and the sooner you can get to her," Will radioed as she saw Zak shake his head annoyed.
"How long has she been in the hospital?" Lando asked.
"Just a little over an hour, she's in critical condition, Lando. Just finish the race," Will muttered.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Lando yelled. It was raining out so he couldn't lose all of his focus, but he was extremely close.
"Max Verstappen wins the Dutch Grand Prix! He won his home race! Fernando Alonso takes second! Pierre Gasly takes third!" John yelled. "As the drivers finish the race you can start to see all of them abandoning their vehicles after the race. Max is quickly making his way around for congratulations," The camera followed Max as he quickly walked with Christian toward a car. "They are heading to the hospital for Leah Guessey."
"Look at this, it's one after the other after the other," Ted muttered as the drivers each took their time and then left to go to the hospital.
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Cassidy and Isabella were both sitting in the waiting area. They both were speaking in hushed voices as they waited. They've been waiting for over an hour.
"Cassidy!" Lando yelled as he ran down the hall. Max is behind him as well.
"Did you guys finish the race?" Cassidy asked as she hugged Lando. She had finally stopped crying, but she still felt like shit.
"Yeah, we finish," Max nodded as he hugged Isabella. "How is she?"
"We haven't heard anything since they took her back, she's been in emergency surgery," Cassidy rubbed her forehead as she looked past the closed doors. There were people running everywhere, but still, no one came down the hall to inform them of what was happening.
"Zak, wouldn't tell me til the end of the race. When did this happen? Did she fall?" Lando asked as he unzipped his suit and looked around. He was suddenly getting extremely hot as he kept looking around the room.
"She collapsed as we were on the way to her car before the race and then in the ambulance they were doing CPR, so I don't know, they didn't tell me anything," Cassidy shook her head as she checked her phone once more.
"How is she?" Christian asked as he came over.
"None of us know," Max shook his head. "We should have fucking been here."
"You did great, you won the race, and you did it for her, you know she wouldn't have wanted you to disqualify yourself," Christian assured him. Cassidy nodded.
"Before she went out, she told me before she went out, she said not to tell them, don't tell him. She wanted you both to finish the race," Cassidy explained. She saw Daniel come in as well as Carlos and Charles behind him. Cassidy couldn't help it as she went toward him hugging him careful of his broken arm. Carlos held Isabella as they all sat in the waiting room.
Another forty minutes they sat as more and more people from the grid slowly joined them in the waiting room. The doors finally opened and everyone got to their feet.
"How is she?" Lando was the first to speak as he stepped toward the doctor.
"Are you family?" The doctor asked.
"I'm her husband, but we are all her family," He reasoned as he looked back at Max who nodded along with him. Kelly and Penelope had come to join them. Penelope had fallen asleep on Kelly as they waited for news. the doctor pulled Lando to the side and whispered things to him. Cassidy watched as Lando's face broke and she collapsed. Isabella shook her head as Carlos pulled her close to him. The waiting room couldn't have been quieter. Lando just kept shaking his head.
"Where is she?" He muttered as his voice broke. His eyes filled with tears. The doctor allowed him to go through the doors and brought him to one of the rooms. He saw her body lying on the table. There were still some nurses cleaning the bloody rags out of the room. He couldn't even get past the doorway at first. He just stared at her pale face, her body covered by a sheet. He was half expecting her to sit up and make fun of him, but the longer he stood there. The more and more it set in that she wasn't going to get up.
She was gone.
The doctor went out and brought Cassidy, Isabella, Max, and Charles. Only a few were allowed in the room at a time. Cassidy went to touch Leah's hand and was surprised when she felt how cold and stiff it was.
"Leah," She sobbed and tried to cover her mouth. Isabella came over as well quietly crying with her friend.
"She's gone," Isabella breathed as she gently took Cassidy's hand off Leah's body and held him close. "She's gone." Lando was sitting in the corner. His knees were up to his chest as he stared at her body. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. Max was in a similar situation. Charles wiped at his face every now and then as they all stood in the room. The only sound is Cassidy and Isabella's cries. Other than that the three men were stunned. They didn't know what to think. Gradually the doctor would allow more and more people to come in as others left to go home or go back to the waiting room. Lando however stayed. He sat in that room with her. He knew how much she hated hospitals, so he knew she wouldn't want to be left alone. He didn't care if she was gone and this was just her body now, he wouldn't leave her alone.
It was his Leah. His Wife. His heart. He wanted to stay with her.