The Crash
The stadium echoed the joy of the crowd watching the race that would rewrite history. It was the final grand prix, the victory which would make Col a legend in Formula 1 history.
The commentators, pumped with adrenaline screamed at the peak of their lungs as Col Storm sped past his opponent, Aaron Martin. They both had won 11 matches making this the determining match that would either make Col the 11th time champion or Aaron Martin the 2-time world champion. With only a lap to go, the competition was tight and the racers drove with the urgency of achieving their dream.
Col took a deep breath to maintain his composure, though he was leading, he needed to remain on alert. His radio was blasting with instructions from his team, the cockpit was becoming stuffier, his breath even more laboured, his cloth was drenched yet his throat was parched and his water had long finished.
It was becoming difficult but this is what he has been training for all his life, his dream was one lap away and he wouldn't allow anything stop him from achieving it
Willing himself to focus only on his racing line, he blocked out everything and stepped even harder on the accelerator and that was when it happened... The lights had come from nowhere, it's intensity blinding and he had made the mistake of his life, he had fallen out of his racing line just at the last corner, just when the finishing line was a stone throw away, just when the cloud were cheering the loudest and just when his team were beginning to celebrate. His car knocked against the barriers and due to the speed by which he had been running, the car flipped, metal screeching against asphalt, his helmet knocked violently against the floor , a car coming from behind tried it's best to avoid it but to no avail as it ended up ramming straight into him increasing the force of collision and the last thing he had heard before the ringing in his ear had become louder and his vision had become pitch black was...
"Col Storm, just fell out of the race."
Jumping out of the bed, Col pushed his blanket away, his cloth drenched in sweat, his breath laboured and his ears ringing, the ring similar to the one of the day he had lost everything, similar to the ring that plagued his dreams.
It took him a few minutes of strained breaths to re- orient himself and a few more minutes to achieve a fairly good inspiration and expiration.
The dream had lasted longer today and it was even more realistic. His throat was not only parched, it felt burnt, like he had been screaming in his sleep. Unsure of his ability to make the journey to the fridge to get water, he remained on his bed, sweat trickling down his forehead, his eyes on the air conditioner blasting at full power. His heart thudded loudly in his chest like it was going to fall out and his body shivered like he was doused in ice.
It had been one year yet it still felt like yesterday. The scars may have healed but the consequence were just evolving. The dreams became even more vivid, the limp he had gained from the femoral fracture on his left leg was more pronounced and even more painful. His right hand feels stiff and he was beginning to feel like the wrist which he had fractured had healed wrong.
And the fear, it was like it renewed with every single dream. He wouldn't dare to admit it or may hide it behind series of outburst but beyond all of that, he knew it all boiled down to it, the fear that had taken root from his core.
A piercing shriek startled him out of the bed and straight unto the floor, hysterical, he looked around trying to find the cause of the noise and that was when it occurred to him, it was his ringtone.
Sighing, he ran his hand through his hair, the strands rising and falling with his movement, some falling right on his eye making him violently push them away.
He needed a hair cut.
Beyond his own reservations, he made to pick the phone which laid on the stand by the bed as the caller seemed to be intent on speaking to him.
Whoever it was should better have something important to say.
"Col, I have good news." It was the voice that made him recognize the caller. He had renewed his number after the incident following series of endless calls from multiple news outlets seeking an interview. They had been brutal despite his attempts to be polite making him also lose his cool and he had began to curse each one of them as he allowed his anger get the best of him.
Elijah woods, his manger had then suggested changing his number and no suggestion had sounded better ever since the accident.
"Elijah, do you have any idea what the time is?" He asked, his voice gruff unable to hide his irrigation.
"Oh, I must have woken you. Sorry the time here is 10am and I was too eager to share the news I've got."
Elijah was out of the country for some sort of quest.
After the incident, the result had been predictable. Aaron had won the match, Col had been wheeled to the theatre and the team, their disappointment evident on their face had still managed to stand by him. Everything had began to fallout once he was required to practice and he had began to have feats in the car.
His physical trainer would look at his limp in irritation, his sponsors would shake their heads in disappointment after every single feat and the final blow had come a month to the season's beginning.
"Col, you would have to sit out for the season, I think you should take a break, go on a vacation, visit a psychiatrist and... I just think you need the rest."
Honestly speaking, it wasn't an unfair suggestion. He couldn't race and the team needed to compete, he wouldn't expect them to wait for him when they weren't sure when he would be back on the track.
The betrayal had come when they had refused renew his contract, when his own personal trainer had been assigned to his new replacement, when his new replacement had bragged in his face about having a 2 year contract as driver 1, when the media had questioned Mercedes spokesman and he had plainly admitted their intentions, they were abandoning him, the fallen hero as he had been nicknamed.
Since then, Elijah had taken it upon himself to help him regain his form. He has had countless personal trainers but each one has had a different intention, some had come to pursue their own personal fame, some had been just to fulfill their curiosity, some had given up on him after one session and some had been brutal enough to tell the media the severity of his condition making him engage in a dirty legal battle .
"No team would take you in this state, Col. You need to get yourself together." Elijah would say as he presented another nightmare.
"I've gotten the perfect one." He said through the speaker and Col resisted the urge to scream.
He had called the previous ones perfect too.
"Elijah....."
"No objections Col. We are about to board a flight and I promise you if you don't like her, I'll return her though I am confident you would this time."
'It was woman?' he thought, appalled.
The idea of her being a woman was already distasteful. The last woman had ran out during one of his feat and had sent in her resignation in the same day.
"It's a woman?" He asked accusingly.
"Yes, a woman who will prove to be better than the me and women we've met combined. I am positive Col, this is our long sought answer."
Elijah may be quite humorous but he definitely did no hype.
Who is this woman that made him act out of character?
"I can reject her you say?" Col asked as a form of preemption.
He wouldn't say he hadn't warned him.
"You can grumpy Col, though I don't think you will." He replied, this time, though he sounded like his usual playful self, his voice hadn't lost it's former confidence
Confused, Col sat up.
This sounded interesting and the little part of him which could still feel began to quirk with what seemed like excitement.
"Don't get your hopes to high." He said but he knew it was more to himself than to the man on the receiving end. He had been broken one too many time and he didn't think he could afford yet another one, it may just be the final blow
