Race With a Heart
Chapter 97: Uncertainty

Chapter 97: Uncertainty

Martin stood paralyzed as if he had been struck by lightning. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t even blink an eye. He couldn’t pray for mercy. He watched.

Steve’s car pushed by his momentum by Swanson’s car hit Feretti’s car and shot up, spinning in flight. First he fell sideways, then rolled several times until he stopped hitting the safety wall made of tires. The impact was so powerful that the tires trembled and the wall began to fall apart.

The car came to a stop with the chassis up. It looked like it was crushed by the hand of a furious child, a battered toy. Its parts were scattered throughout the route he had traveled since the collision.

The safety car came onto the track and the commentator said the other two cars would not continue the race either, but Martin didn’t care. He, scared as never before, only stared at Steve’s car.

The service people immediately found themselves at the smashed car. First, they checked for a fuel leak, and propably there was a fuel leak, because they quickly started dousing the car with foam from the extinguishers. Someone looked under the car to check the driver’s condition. After a while, he slipped out and with his thumb raised up, he signaled that everything was fine with the driver.

A sense of relief made Martin sit down heavily on the couch.

He lives! Steve is alive! Thanks be to God!

Jack Lambert kept on driving. His heart was in his throat, but he kept going. He had to. That was what the sport was all about.

"Abe?" he asked briefly.

"I do not know yet. Focus on the track. There is a safety car message. I’ll let you know as soon as I know something. "

Uncertainty was terrible. A nightmarish uncertainty as to whether his friend is okay. Jack saw the whole thing, saw Steve’s car fly, but if he put his foot on the brake, he could cause the string of cars rushing behind him to hit him, causing another collision. So he rode on, almost not like a human, but like an machine. It was like an automatic pilot, probably the same as the rest of the race.

He knew the cars were safe, but no vehicle was one hundred percent safe. If Steve was unlucky ...

Lambert gritted his teeth. The safety car message forced everyone to reduce speed. Lots of cars started sliding down to change tires. There was a speed limit and no overtaking. For many laps, nothing will happen except the cars following the safety car. As a racing driver, Jack had seen spectacular crashes, but this was the first time a friend of his had been involved. As a racing driver, Jack had to grit his teeth and drive until he crossed the finish line and a black and white checkered flag told him it was over. But it was hard for him not to think about what happened on the track. About what happened to Steve ...

"Jack, it’s okay. Steve is ok. "

Only then did Jack feel that he could breathe again.

Someone was talking to him, someone was tapping him on the shoulder, but it didn’t matter. Martin paid no attention to it. He couldn’t take his eyes off the action going on around Steve’s car.

The crew moved the car a bit and at that moment everyone could see the familiar silhouette of the driver appear from behind the smashed machine. Steve Paxton emerged slowly but on his own. He even stepped in front of the car and waved quite vigorously at the audience and the cameras. He gave clear signs to everyone that he was alive and well. He took off his helmet and showed everyone a wide, quite cheerful smile.

Martin covered his mouth with his hand, feeling that he was about to cry.

"See, he’s fine," came Sid’s comforting voice. Martin slowly began to regain awareness of his surroundings, and he noticed Teddy patting him on one side and Sid on the other. They both looked at him with concern, probably only a little less terrified by what they saw on the track. "You know best how safe the cars are right now."

Martin could only nod. He had been in such a shock and now so much relieved that he was only now breathing.

Only now was he able to look at what was happening on the rest of the track. Swanson’s car had a torn off front wing and was barely rolling into the garage. Feretti’s car had a dented side frame and a broken rear wheel, so after the technicians had pushed it over the side of the road to clear the track for the rest of the drivers, it would be waiting for a crane to take it to safety.

The cameraman showed that Feretti is doing well too. He walks over to Steve and puts hid hand on his shoulder. He was probably asking about how he felt, as Paxton looked like he was reassuring him that he was okay. For both of them, the race was over in a very spectacular way. People from their stables and medical personnel also ran up to them.

Feretti came out of the situation completely unscathed. Steve hit the back of the car and, being pushed up, didn’t do much damage to the machine and no harm to the human. However, Paxton himself was subjected to many blows and overloads, so while he was walking off the track himself, waving at people and smiling broadly, he would be rushed straight to the hospital for detailed examination. Just because he was standing on his own legs at that point didn’t mean he wasn’t seriously injured.

Martin would have given anything to be there now and be able to keep up to date about the health of his beloved. Meanwhile, he was condemned to the torture of waiting.

His only source of information was television. No, there was also the internet, but Martin preferred not to check anything there. Official information will not be available yet, only rumors, and the more sensational, the more popular. Sensational, it doesn’t mean truthful.

Suddenly Martin’s phone rang. The boy did not know this number, but he chose it quietly

"Hello..."

"I’m fine" heard a familiar, beloved voice on the other side. "I’m a little shocked, but I’m really fine."

"Thank God...!"

"We’re going to the hospital right away for the x-rays, but aside from the fact that I had a really crazy carousel, everything is fine. Don’t worry. Promise you won’t worry. "

"Steve ..."

"Okay, don’t make any promises. I’ll contact you after the tests. " Steve hung up.

Teddy stroked Martin’s head. Sid stroked his hand. Dave brought him a glass of beer.

Martin still felt as if he were stunned, as if he did not belong to the reality around him. Steve’s voice calmed him, however, and the young mechanic smiled faintly.

"He said he was fine and that he was about to go to the hospital for a routine check-up," he said. "He even joked ..."

"See?" Sid comforted him, who for some reason was showing him special concern.

"Oh!" Dave suddenly exclaimed and pointed at the television.

Steve appeared on the screen, a bit embarrassed. The commentator said the driver agreed to a short interview to show everyone he was fine.

"I’m sorry to everyone I have worried you," Steve ran an unruly gesture through his hair, which was still damp with sweat. "If anyone still has doubts, just look at me. I am alive and well. I don’t even have a scratch. "

"In fact, it must be a miracle that you came out unscathed," noted the journalist.

"Not really. Contrary to what people unfamiliar with the sport think, the cars are really safe. They are built to withstand similar situations. Contrary to ordinary cars, which, even the safest ones, cannot guarantee complete safety, so on the road, in traffic, I would not stand a chance. "

"It’s true," nodded the reporter. "Don’t you think you’re unlucky this season?"

"Unlucky? No," Steve laughed. "I think this season is extremely interesting! I haven’t experienced as many track adventures as this season in my entire career and the season is just beginning. Whatever force is behind these events, I am especially grateful to it. "

"Why? Because of the adventure? Races alone are not enough adrenaline? "

"Racing is not about adrenaline. It is about overcoming certain limitations imposed on us by nature. Overcoming the speed limit that we cannot overcome on our own and we have to use machines and overcome the limits of our own fear. The speed at which we ride, which is so unnatural to our biology, inspires respect but also fear. Any mistake can cause a tragedy. Anyone who enters the track should respect their own fear but should never succumb to it. If he succumbs to him, he will lose with himself. "

"Judging by your statement today, did you win?"

"Yes. And I will enjoy racing tracks for a long time. "

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