The day started off so beautifully, Taylor had no doubts in her mind when she headed to the yard to see her beautiful stallion, Socks. On arrival she let her horse out into the field as she pulled on her gear, her hands struggling to do the helmet clasp as she watched Socks running on the grass.
Giving up on her helmet she threw it to the ground before she grabbed the tack for her horse and geared him up. Trying her helmet one more time, she was relieved when it clipped into place before she climbed onto her baby.
Jumping the fence, she rode Socks out into the wooded area that was at the back of the stables. Usually she would go with a friend, but everytone seemed to be busy today, so Taylor went alone.
The rode peacefully for most of the day, stopping for breaks and a drink before the night started to roll in. As Taylor returned back to the stables thorugh the woods, there was a loud bang, Taylor was surprised and didn't have time to react as Socks bucked sending her flying down, her head smashing off a nearby tree before her horse in his panic ran over her stomach.
She didn't react, she couldn't when she was unconcious. She laid on the ground, her body bruised and broken as Socks ran off leaving her alone.
XOXOX
Sitting at home, Hanna glanced at the clock before looking back at her work laptop before looking back at the clock. She expected her oldest daughter home by now, she hadn't said she'd be staying out late, there was no indication that she was running late. Picking up her phone, she called the teenager but the phone just went to the voicemail box.
Her next port of call was her husband, Taylor's father. Calling his phone, she waited as the call connected before he answered. "Hallo, Schatz." He answered the phone in a cheery voice.
"Please tell me you have heard from Taylor," Hanna rushed her words as she got straight to the point.
Sebastian laughed, "She's probably hanging out with that boy again. What was his name? Luke."
Hanna rolled her eyes at her husbands lose attitude. "I haven't even had a text from her."
"So, go check down the yard. If she's not there then go to Luke's, then we can start to panic."
Hanna headed to the stables, her sister popped by to look after to the two youngest children. When Hanna arrived she found Socks wandering around in his tack and out of his field. "Where's Hanna?" She asked even though she knew the horse couldn't reply to her. She looked around, even putting her light on her phone as she called out her daughter's name loudly.
She knew Taylor wouldn't leave Socks out and with his gear on. Taking large footsteps towards the woods, she started to run as she flashed her light around hoping to find her soon.
"Taylor!" She called again hoping for a reply.
Getting further into the woods, she gasped when she saw her daughter laying on the ground in the woods. She looked like she was sleeping and she would have looked peaceful if there were no bloodstains near the teen's ears and nose. "Tay," she dropped to her knees as she felt the girls skin. Her hands fumbled with her phone as she called for the emergency services, she needed to get help to her and quickly.
XOXOX
Sebastian wasn't worried when Hanna called him about Taylor, it wasn't the first time she had gone missing on a whim. Sitting in his car, it was the last session in qualifying, there was less than five minutes on the clock as she watched it count down. He was currently up for a second-place on the grid but he was hoping the second run would make it a first.
"Seb," his PA headed towards him before leaning down to his car so only he could hear. "Hanna is calling."
He shrugged his shoulders, "Probably just calling to say she found Taylor. I'll call her back when I'm done here."
A couple of seconds passed before he drove out of the garage, heading down the pit straight and towards his opening lap to hopefully put in another good time with his one remaining go around this track.
Hanna was sitting in the hospital, her hands were shaking as she stared at her oldest daughter. She wondered how long she'd been laying there alone in the woods, she wondered what was going to happen to her. Taylor didn't usually go out on her horse alone, why was today any different?
"Mrs Vettel," she was approached by a Doctor who looked like he was about ready to end his shift. His clothes were crumpled and there was bags under his eyes.
Getting to her feet, Hanna stood in front of this man. "What's happening?"
"Your daughter is in a coma," he informed the woman before him. "When she came in, she was sent for tests, currently she has swelling and a bleed on her brain. We're hoping that being in this induced coma can give her half a chance at survival."
"Survival?" Hanna repeated quietly. Everything was becoming too real as she listened to the doctor speaking. "I have to call my husband, again."
The doctor looked at her sadly, "Do you need anything else?"
Hanna shook her head before she turned away, as she held her phone in her hands she began to cry. She was shaking as she rang her husband another time, she knew he was busy today with qualifying but he also knew she was concerned about Taylor.
"Did you find her?" He asked, his voice chipper as he answered the call. "Make sure you are keeping her home tomorrow, that way she can watch me from pole position."
Hanna sniffled as she heard her husband's good news. "Seb," she spoke filling the silence between us. "I need you to come home."
"It's not that bad, is it?" He chuckled as he rolled his eyes. Sometimes Hanna could be pretty dramatic.
"Taylor, she's fallen from her horse." The words sounded foreign leaving her lips as she informed her husband of the terrible truth. "We're in the hospital," she let the tears keep falling.
Sebastian listened as his wife told him that their oldest daughter was injured. "What's happened to her, Hanna?"
For a moment she didn't speak, Sebastian walked further away from his team as he waited for her to speak. "She has a bleed on the brain," she managed to choke the words out. "She's in a coma right now, they are hoping it will help her recover."
His hands shook as he leaned his forehead against the wall, "Stay with her." He told his wife before he ended the call. He couldn't listen to her anymore.
He knew he shouldn't have come to this track, the day he arrived he had a dreadful feeling in the pit of his stomach but the longer he was here the more he felt everything was going to be okay. Leaving his phone on the side he walked outside to get some air, he needed a moment to be alone.
Charles watched as Sebastian disappeared into the crowd, his head was down and his body language told him something was wrong. Right now, Sebastian should have been celebrating the fact that he achieved P1 but he looked totally downtrodden.
Leaping out of his car, Charles followed the man he'd been looking up to for so long. He weaved through the people, hoping to catch him up before he saw him. Sebastian slipped through the crowds and into the hospitalitly building, before heading up the stairs, Charles followed him before Sebastian entered a box.
Taking a deep breath, Charles followed him in after a fe moments and looked at the man who was stanidng by the window staring down at the world. "Seb?" He questioned him as he stood by the door and waited for him to speak.
Sebastian looked at his team mate before returning his gaze to the bustling arena below. "When you see this, how does it make you feel?" Sebastian asked him, it didn't make much sense but the young man tried to answer him never the less.
Charles stepped towards him and stood by the window and watched as people looked at each other with smiles on their faces. There was fans every where, drivers who looked exhausted, disappointed or happy, many different emotions were apparent as Charles watched the people below him. "When I watch from here, I feel like I am watching a film." He looked at the broken man before him, "What's going on?"
The German kept his eyes towards the windows, "Sometimes this is such a difficult thing to do."
"You're worrying me now," Charles admitted to his friend. Watching Sebastian, he saw his eyes gloss with tears.
"I'm scared," Sebastian spoke quietly as he showed weakness to the younger Ferrari driver. "Taylor is in a coma," he rarely spoke about his family with anyone. "She's fifteen, she's a baby." He shared details about his daughter he wouldn't normally. "I am so scared right now. I don't know what to do," his tears were more free-flowing as he spoke about his oldest child.
Charles put his hand on Sebastian's shoulder and took a deep breath before he gave him some advice. "I know if that was my daughter I wouldn't give any of this a second thought."
Sebastian shook his head before he looked at the man before him, "It's not that. None of this matters right now." His words sounded foreign, then again he'd not had to deal with anything like this before. "Taylor, I just don't know if I can see her like that."
"You need to go and be with your wife," Charles informed his friend. "Go be with your family, your daughter needs you there. She needs to see you when she wakes up."