Complex ∞ Lando Norris x Oscar Piastri

𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 47

♪ I like to say, "What if?", but if
We could kiss and just cut the rubbish
Then I might be on to somethin' ♪

Lando Norris POV

"Congrats on pole mate," I hear my engineer's voice, but something is off.

"Everything's alright?" I ask as I enter the pits. No answer is given, so I exit the car and do everything as usual, a sinking gut feeling still there.

"Lando," Zak calls me as I was heading for the media pen and I stop in my tracks, he was too serious for someone who just got a pole.

"What's wrong?" I ask worriedly.

"You've been excused from the media pen interviews. Eleanor is in your room; she needs you. She won't talk to anyone else, but it has to do with her dad," he says, and I start running there, my breath accelerating as I enter the motorhome.

I open the door to my room and see my wife sitting on the bed as she sobs loudly; I sit by her side and hug her, quickly getting my shirt drenched in her tears.

"Lando," she says between sobs, and I run my hand through her back in a somewhat comforting gesture.

"I'm here, baby. Should I call Em or Riley? You can't talk to me like this; I need to know what is happening so I can help you," I say calmly, and she shakes her head, lifting it while trying to clean the tears. A box of tissues appears, and she uses them to clean her tears and nose.

"He- My dad is in the hospital. I need to come back to the UK; Em doesn't know much, and neither does Margot; they were all having lunch, and suddenly, he had a huge headache and asked them to take him to the hospital, and he was in and out of consciousness on the way there. Lando, they say it might be a ruptured aneurysm; he might die, and I am here," she says, and I hug her again.

"I will ask some favors, and you will be there quickly; we are in Hungary, we are close," I say confidently, and I take out my phone.

After some calls, I had a plane ready to take off in less than an hour; the flight would still take two and a half hours, but she would be there as soon as I could get her there.

"I'm going to take you to the airport. I will meet you there tomorrow as soon as everything ends here. He will be fine; your dad is not someone who would go without a fight," I say as she is calmer.

"Please, just go whenever you can. I need you there," she begs, and I nod.

"I will be there by dinner time at most, I swear. I would go today if I could. Call me if you hear anything from them. I will be available at all times, minus the race," I say, and she nods.

We leave the motorhome, her sunglasses covering the red and puffy eyes. I didn't stop for anyone, I took her to the car and then drove to the airport as silence filled the car. I will take her stuff with me tomorrow. She didn't need that, she would go straight to the hospital anyways. I kissed her goodbye and went to the paddock again, doing the interviews later than usual; no complaint was given either.

The following day, it was a headline. Albert Badden, the British billionaire, struggles between life and death after a ruptured aneurysm. Doctors were positive he would recover; him being alive when getting to the hospital was already good.

But there were endless possibilities, many of them scary. Most people who survive a ruptured aneurysm end up neurologically damaged, and he was too good to go down like that. Eleanor was, obviously, inconsolable.

I spoke to her on the phone until she fell asleep by his hospital bed. None of the three women agreed to leave the hospital before he woke up, and I understood it. I wouldn't leave my dad's side too, and I hope Eleanor wouldn't leave my side if it was.

I did the race, finishing up second. Daniel won it, and he deserved it. I did everything that was asked of me. In the interviews, there were a lot of questions surrounding Albert; everyone knows he is my father-in-law and a big sponsor of McLaren. The public was worried, but I just said we were all there for him and we were wishing for a quick recovery.

I left the paddock with my suitcases in tow, ready to go to the airport. I arrived in the UK, went to our house to leave our stuff, got my car, and took a change of clothes for her. I got some food on the way and finally reached the hospital. I entered the room where the three women were. Albert was awake, and he smiled when he saw me in the doorway.

"Look who it is!" He says happily, and they turn around. Eleanor smiling as she comes to hug me.

"That was quite a scare you gave us," I say as I approach him and shake his hand, his hold still strong as always.

"I'm as good as new, I am sorry for making both of you rush here. You should be starting your summer break on a positive note," he says apologetically, and I shake my head.

"You are doing well; that's good enough for me. I would've been here sooner if I could," I say honestly and I raise the bag in my right hand. "Time to eat something decent, I will stay here, don't worry."

"Thank you," Eleanor whispers as she kisses my lips.

"Change into this," I say as I give her the bag I still had and she nods.

She changes in the bathroom, leaving it in my McLaren's shirt and a pair of shorts, a good choice. They were quick enough, but Albert explained calmly that the doctors had told him that due to the quick action and being in the hospital so fast, he was probably going to recover fast. The speech wasn't a problem, but they would test the remaining possible complications with time. He had undergone surgery to stop the bleeding, so that was the focus before going to see what was to come.