Charles Leclerc)///

You always thought that if you and Charles ever broke up, it would be loud. Screaming, tears, slamming doors.

But everything happened differently.

Quietly. Painfully. Slowly.

He no longer brings you your morning coffee. You bid each other goodnight as if it were just a habit. An invisible distance grows between you, until one day you both utter the same words:

"Maybe we need some time apart."

You agree to live apart for a few weeks to figure out what happened to your love.

Before leaving, he kisses you on the temple.

— I still love you.

"I know. Me too."

But this sounds like goodbye.

The apartment feels empty without him. You walk around the rooms in his sweater, making tea and leaving it cold. The smell of his perfume on the fabric makes you barely hold back your tears.

Soon you feel sick. At first it seems like it's just stress. Then comes weakness, dizziness, stomach pain, and fever. It becomes increasingly difficult to stand.

You keep quiet. You don't want to worry anyone. Especially him. You don't want him to think you're trying to win him back because of your own pain.

But one evening the body surrenders.

You fall to the floor and crawl to the phone. His name is the first on the list of recent calls.

You press the bell.

— Charles...

His voice instantly turns alarmed.

— What happened?

"I... feel really bad. I can't move..."

"I'm leaving now. Stay with me."

Consciousness fades before he arrives.

Through the darkness you feel him pick you up in his arms.

"Please hold on. I'm with you."

You wake up in the hospital. An IV, the beeping of a monitor, the smell of antiseptic.

Charles sits next to you, his eyes fixed on you.

As soon as he hears his name, he immediately squeezes your hand and presses it to his lips.

“What happened?” you ask quietly.

"A severe infection. The doctor said another ten minutes... and everything could have ended differently."

His voice breaks.

"I didn't want to bother you..."

He looks as if those words hurt more than anything.

"Alessia... there's nothing more important than you. Not the race."