Suddenly Dyson’s brother leaned in towards me. I wasn’t the only one after all.

“Darren looks pissed.”

I nodded, an uneasy feeling found its way into the pit of my stomach. “Yeah. He sure does.”

“Typical Dyson,” Chance grumbled.

Instantly, I thought back to the huge fight Dyson and Darren had the other day. From the looks of things, nothing had been resolved. While I didn’t know exactly what it meant, it couldn’t be good. Darren’s anger got the better of him, and he climbed down from his observation perch, walking away and waving his hands in the air. Just then, the sound of Dyson’s car rounding the straightaway caught our attention.

I turned my head and watched.

Within seconds, Dyson tore past us. I looked up to see not only that he’d made his fastest run yet, but the fastest of anyone else, by far.

Nearly two full seconds.

I couldn’t understand the reason for Darren’s frustration. We all stood and strained to follow Dyson’s car as it continued down the straightaway. It wasn’t long afterward the reason for Darren’s anger became apparent.

In the blink of an eye, Dyson’s car disappeared into a ghoulish ball of smoke and fire as he slammed into the wall at the end of the straightaway. Horrified, I covered my mouth and looked up at the Jumbotron.

From the looks of things, Dyson’s car split in two on impact.

What transpired over the next few minutes could only be described as controlled chaos. With Dyson’s family right behind me, we jumped from our position in the stands and ran towards pit row. On the race track itself, half a dozen emergency vehicles raced towards Dyson’s position.

Everyone, stunned into silent shock, looked up at the Jumbotron for any sign that Dyson might be all right. A few seconds later, we reached the team in the pits. Like everyone else, they waited to see if their driver survived. Alone, Darren simply stood near the observation tower shaking his head.

I turned towards Dyson’s family. “Excuse me for a second, I’ll be right back.”

With one eye on the Jumbotron myself, I hurried towards Darren as fast as I could.

He glanced up, noticing my approach.

“I tried to tell him, Ava. He wouldn’t listen.”

His face was expressionless. Darren stood there, repeating himself several times. “He just wouldn’t listen…”

Just then, a relieved cheer rippled through the crowd. I looked away from Darren and glanced back up towards the Jumbotron. Although he remained motionless, emergency personnel pulled Dyson from the car. In less than a minute, they’d put him in the back of a waiting ambulance.

Taking my eyes off of the scene for a second, I looked towards Dyson’s family. Both his mother and sister were in tears, being consoled by the men. Emotion choked my throat while I watched them.

Turning towards Darren one last time, I asked, “What’s going to happen? Where are they taking him?”

My question seemed to snap Darren out of his trance-like state.

“Um, well there’s a protocol that’s followed. They’ll check him here first, and if it’s needed, they’ll helicopter him to the hospital.”

I swallowed hard, raising my hands to my mouth for a split second.

“Do you think he’s okay?”

Darren exhaled and shook his head. “I don’t know the answer to that right now, Ava. No one does. We’ll have to see what the doctors say and…”

While Darren spoke, his cell phone started to ring.

He answered.

After a few “uh huh’s” and “I understand’s”, he hung up and looked at me.

Nodding in the direction of Dyson’s family, he said, “Go get them. Dyson’s on his way to the hospital.”

Oh no.

AVA

The next few hours were tense.

Not long after we got word they’d taken Dyson to the hospital, I went with his family to see him. While we waited, Marco showed up, accompanied by a few of the team mechanics.

After seeing me, Marco walked in my direction.

“What have you heard? Anything?”

Biting my lip, I shook my head. “Not recently. All I know is he was unconscious when they pulled him from the car. He’s since come out of it, but they’re still examining him.”

Marco nodded. “Okay, thank you, Ava.” He raised his chin in the direction of the mechanics. “I’ll let the guys know. How about you? Are you okay?”

I smiled at him. “Yeah, I think so. Having Dyson’s family here with me really helped.”

Marco looked past me in their direction. “Yes, they are good people.”

After he finished speaking, Marco leaned in towards me and we hugged briefly before he turned and walked away.

Once he had, I began to walk over and rejoin Dyson’s family again, when one of the doctors that worked on Dyson, Dr. Miller, appeared through a set of double doors. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him.

After entering, he motioned for everyone to gather around.

“I just wanted to update all of you about the condition of Mr. Vix,” Dr. Miller began, moving his eyes among all who’d gathered around. “The good news is he’s stable and resting comfortably. He doesn’t have any life-threatening injuries. We’re still in the process of examining him for internal bleeding or hemorrhaging. Otherwise, he is exhibiting some symptoms of concussion. Once we’ve completed our testing, you’ll be allowed to visit with him.”

He paused for a moment, searching the faces in front of him for any sign of confusion. “Does anyone have any questions for me?”

“How soon can we see him?” Dyson’s mother asked.

Dr. Miller looked down towards his arm, flicking his wrist and checking his watch. “Um, fifteen minutes or so?”

Dyson’s mother smiled and thanked him.

“Anyone else?” Dr. Miller asked.

We all exchanged brief glances with each other before shaking our heads in collective response. With that, Dr. Miller nodded, turned and exited through the double doors once again.

Over the next several minutes, it was decided Dyson’s mother and father, Marco and I would be the first people to visit him. A half-hour later, we made our way to Dyson’s room and walked inside.

Dyson lay there barely awake.

Still in shock, Dyson’s parents rushed to their son’s side. Mary started to cry, leaning in towards her son and hugging him. Doug remained stoic, reaching down and placing his hand on Dyson’s shoulder instead. While I looked on, Marco reached up and placed his palm flat against my upper back, rubbing it.

“Come on,” he began, gesturing towards Dyson. “Let’s see how this lunatic is doing.”

A few moments later, I stood next to Dyson and looked down at him.

More than anything, I wanted to reach down and hug him as tight as I could and pepper his face with ten thousand kisses. But, that wasn’t going to happen, not anytime soon.

That was one half of me.

The other half wanted to strangle and slap him with every ounce of strength I could muster.

After everything we’d said to each other, for him to turn around and do something like this! I didn’t know what to make of it, but it hurt me, more than I probably even realized in the moment.

“Good to see you are still with us,” Marco said.

Dyson glanced at his teammate, “You’re not going to get rid of me that easy.”

The two men chuckled for a second or two and then Dyson looked at me. “Hey. You okay?”

Still muddled in my thoughts, I nodded absentmindedly. “Yeah, I’m just glad you’re in one piece.”

“Dyson,” his father began. “Have you gotten any updates from the doctor?”

Dyson spent the next minute or so explaining they wanted to hold him overnight for observation. However, if everything went well, they would release him sometime the following afternoon.

“Are you cleared to drive?” Marco asked.

“If they release me, you can bet your ass I’ll be driving. Where did I finish on the grid?”