Chapter Text
The beginning of the race was a blur. Driven by a blinding rage that manifested as a slight tremor in his hands and a glaze to his eyes that separated him from all the other cars on the track.
He was angry. He was reckless. And he had tunnel vision. So focused on what was in front of him that he ignored other factors, ignored the voice in his ears, only momentarily distracted by flashes of memories reminding him of what happened the last time he drove with that much emotion.
It was that lapse in attention that caused him to react a split second too slowly. Maybe he accidentally blinked. One moment he was focused on his anger, the next he was crashing and stuck in that dreaded place again.-
In the APXGP garage, the team sat, enveloped in a rare second of silence. The engineers hung their heads and the pit crew squeezed their fists, deterred but aware they still had work to do.
They watched on the screens, and called over the radio, but were met only with silence, and so the tension grew and with that people sat up and began to show their panic. Even faced with the sudden onslaught of noise, Ruben could only stare with his brows furrowed, in his mind, he wondered what he'd do if Sonny was actually hurt. It was his fault, Sonny would've never of been here if it weren't for him desperately wanting to salvage a team that couldn't be saved.
His old friends health for the sake of his fortune. The businessman in him was reasonable, knowing that it was Sonny who drove like that in his anger, but another buried part of him, the one was once on the track with Sonny decades prior, ached at the thought of causing such a thing.
The Marshalls arrived quickly, pulling a limp Sonny out of the car as the other racers began pulling into the pit once the red flag was called. Voices took to the radio, some drivers asking if the old man was okay- how bad was the crash- others focused on their own races and soon all calls of worry quickly became discussions of strategy and comparing performances.
The race continued on without the unconscious APX driver, the crash quickly escaping the immediate thoughts of the audience. For the team stuck waiting in the garage for new information, the race seemed everlasting, until finally, news came. --- Ruben ran to catch up with the ambulance before it took off.
"Sir you can't be down here," one of the paramedics said to Ruben.
He had blonde hair grown out into somewhat of a mullet. For a second, Ruben was hit with a startling sense of deja vu before sobering at the sight of the young man's green eyes. Not Sonny, Sonny had blue eyes, and Ruben knew that for sure because he used to tease him when they were younger for having blue eyes and blonde hair. Told him he looked like those Barbie dolls that were popular in the States.
"He's my driver, I just need to know where he's ending up."
The other man's face twisted into one of sympathy, seemingly recognizing something in his expression that revealed Sonny mattered to him as more than just a driver, "Alright fine, he's not critical right now but because he was unconscious they're heading to Valley for further evaluation."
Ruben nodded his understanding and waited no further before returning to the APX garage. He still had another driver he couldn't abandon just to see the other one off. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling of nervousness at Sonny not getting out of the car on his own. That along with the car supposedly not qualifying, this day was turning out to be quite the hassle.
The team did not falter because of Sonny's departure, however, in fact they performed rather remarkably. Everyone exceeded expectations and Pearce landed on the podium in 3rd place. It should've been a win. And it was, mostly.
The team cheered and Pearce returned the car with a smile, obviously eager to stand on the podium alongside those he looked up to. Ruben couldn't help but also be happy, as it was undeniably a good race for the young driver, and so he forced himself to grit his teeth and stay put during the award ceremony. As it ended, and the team began to gather in celebration, Ruben quietly slipped out to his own car.
The drive to the hospital was silent, and as he sat in the parking lot, Ruben's earlier impatience vanished, replaced by an icy cold fear that settled in his veins, turning them to lead and pinning him to his seat.
He remembered Sonny's crash. The original one when he thought he'd lost it all. Ruben was sure Sonny would never recover when he barged into the hospital and saw him lying there surrounded by all those machines. He had frozen then too. And now that same fear paralyzed him again before he even got out of his car.
For how arrogant and loud he was then, at least his younger self had had the courage to step through the doors before he broke.
But then he guessed this time was a little different. The chill in his veins was not just fear. No, it was guilt too, and a different type of fear. Not just scared for Sonny's health, but for the possibility that he might have to feel remorse if his friend didn't walk away from this the same.
It took a while for him to exit the car, and even longer for him to arrive at the entrance of the hospital on shaky legs. But when he finally gathered enough of his wits to walk in, the hospital seemed eerily calm, the tranquility only serving to aggravate him further.
For all the times he's been to hospitals, they'd always appeared busy and chaotic, but this particular trip was different. It felt like the people in the waiting room, the lady at the desk, and even the clock on the wall were judging him. As if they knew the man he came to see was only there because of his selfishness.
After speaking with the woman at the front desk, Ruben stayed calm when she explained he had to wait to visit Sonny. He thought that he ought to stay put and argue with her, but again that cold part of him spoke, and consumed by his perceived guilt, he couldn't find it in himself to pretend that he was in Sonny's life often enough these days to be considered family.