Page 59 of Start Your Engines

Connor slowly climbs out of the car. His body shakes violently. My fist is against my mouth. I’ll scream if I don’t keep my lips pressed tightly together.

He shakes his limbs. He needs to escape the car, but he’s frozen. Of course he is. He’s in shock.

“Connor,” I shout, although it’s more of a cross between a gasp and a shriek. He can’t hear me with his helmet on, but I won’t stop shrieking his name even as my throat is hoarse from steam and screaming.

Suddenly, he looks up and starts walking to the fence. There will be a gap—there’s always a gap. I search for it, but the steam hides everything.

As I investigate each part of the fence, a marshal points to an opening, and Connor slides through.

He pulls off his helmet. His face is the palest I’ve ever seen, and I reach for him. His skin is freezing.

As he opens his mouth, his lips tremble. He whispers something.

I lean in and catch his words. “Please don’t go to Australia.”

And then he falls to the ground.

CHAPTER 28

Connor

“Thank you,”I say to the nurse who accompanied me on the plane back to England.

“Thank you for the signed photo. My niece is obsessed with you. She’ll love it.”

He disappears back into the airport to return to Hungary, and I’m faced with a sobbing Jimmy.

“I’m so glad you’re okay. I would have come to the plane and helped you out, but I’ve got Fluffers in the car, and I couldn’t leave him and?—”

“Come here, Jimmy, it’s okay,” I say, enveloping him in a hug. He cries against my chest. “Let’s get to your car. This is the longest I’ve stood for the last two days. That’s when the accident was, right? I’m still a fuzzy with the hospital and travel.”

“Yes. Two days. Oh no, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t be crying on you.”

I hold him at arm’s length to look into his eyes. “Mate, it’s fine. Going down to my house on the coast and looking after your fluffball is the perfect recuperation. I’m grateful you’re giving me a lift because I’m not sure I can drive right now.” Will I ever drive again? I’ve been on the cusp of resigning since I woke. But then I wouldn’t be near Senna.

Jimmy eases me into the car like I’m a baby deer.

“Nice car. Where did you get it?”

Jimmy shrugs as his cat shouts at us from his carrier in the footwell.

“You be quiet, Fluffers. This is Connor, and he’s going to take care of you,” Jimmy replies before running around and jumping into the driver’s seat.

A black and white grumpy cat with one Elvis Presley sideburn sits in the carrier. His glare reminds me of Senna when she first saw me in her boardroom.

“How is everyone?” I ask casually, although I’m only thinking of her.

I don’t remember much after I crashed into the wall. My memories of getting out of the car and seeing Senna are fuzzy, as is the hospital trip where I saw her face, but that could have been a dream, too. If she was there, that was the last time we were together.

I pull down the visor to check the mirror. The scratches on my hands and the black eye that’s like a child’s painting where they’ve run amok with purple and black paint are the only physical hints that I’ve been in a crash. The true damage is psychological.

“I’ve got so many messages from people who didn’t want to bother you with calls while you were in the hospital. Silas says he’ll have you in training before you know it. Macca is proud of how you handled the car and knows you'll smash it as soon as you’re back on the track. I told him those words weren’t appropriate, but he insisted I pass it on,” Jimmy grumbles as he drives us out of the airport and towards the motorway. “Engineer humour.”

“Anyone else?”

“Did your mum and brother speak to you? They called Silas initially, but he said it was okay for them to call you.”

“Yeah, I had brief video calls with both of them. Layla was still travelling during her university break, so I told her not to come home. She deserves freedom after her hard work. I was insistent with Mum, as she wanted to fly to Hungary and wrap me in a blanket, but her job is critical. Other people need her more than me.” And I refuse to be a burden.

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