[ one shot ]
You have been working as a firefighter at motorsport races for the past couple of years. On the tracks, you have met George Russell and the two of you have grown towards each other.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

You had always liked the adrenaline running through your veins. Growing up, you were climbing trees and chasing after ducks in the park, never forgetting to keep yourself and others safe and helping others when needed.

Even though you had wanted to be a princess when you were younger, firefighter seemed to be the perfect job for you. And it was.

Via via, your parents managed to get you with a professional emergency team on motorsport races for an internship and you stayed with them after you were done with school.

Now you were in the first line of helpers whenever needed on the Formula One weekends. You traveled with the teams from circuit to circuit.

You had been able to pull a few strings with Williams to travel with them, as you knew George Russell from her internship when he was still in Formula Two.

The two of you really hit it off that time and always have been keeping in touch with each other. You could say that you have grown to be best friends over time.

You loved to be with him at all of the races he had to drive, being able to support him from right next to the track.

And though you were schooled to be a firefighter, you also had your First Aid, making you someone who was also checking up on the drivers when they had a crash and nothing too bad happened.

It was actually a good thing that you didn't have to do your 'real job' very often though. That would be a bad sign...

It was time for free practice on the Saturday, driving at Silverstone. You liked Silverstone. It was close to home so you could sleep there instead of motorhomes and it just was a familiar environment, which made you feel at ease.

You knew every corner and straight of this circuit. You knew the best spots to stay during the races and you knew where the risky parts were.

Usually, you liked to be nearby the parts of the circuit where to most things happened, but today those spots were taken so were placed by curve 3.

It was fine really, you were with nice colleagues so you definitely wouldn't get bored this race.

The practice had been going on for a bit now and as you were talking with some of your colleagues, the sound of someone speaking went through your earpiece.

"There is a car with a possible gas leak on the track, we don't know who it was yet. Further information following."

A gas leak? That barely ever happened anymore.

You were only processing the information you just got when the sound of screeching tires filled the part of the circuit.

A car just slipped through the corner and it was skidding over its own fuel that had indeed been leaking.

You squinted your eyes and saw that it was one of the Williams cars.

Hopefully it wasn't George.

"Okay, driver 63 has a gas leak and just skidded over their own fuel. Stay alert please."

Your heart sank to your stomach and worry washes all over your face. It was George.

A loud boom was heard and the only thing you could think now was to focus on checking his safety and injuries.

You prepared yourself to help him when you heard screaming.

"The car's on fire. I repeat, the car is on fire!" one of your coworkers yelled and you immediately dropped the things you were holding to replace it with a fire extinguisher.

Not George. Not anyone, but not George.

The board radios were filled with concerned conversations, as was Lando Norris's. He had also become close to both George and you over the years. He knew how close you had gotten and that you meant everything to one another.

"Shit, was that George?" he spoke as he had driven approached the crashed car.

"Yes, it was. Keep driving but be careful of the fuel on the track. Safety car will come in shortly."

"Is he alri- Oh shit his car!"

Flames burst out of the car right in front of him and he had to squint his eyes to not get blinded by the sudden light.

"Keep driving, Lando, stay safe please"

"Yeah, yeah, copy. Keep an eye out for y/n please, if you can do anything at all. She is the fire-fighter girl. She'll be over there, he is her best friend."

"I'll see what I can do."

But there was nothing really that anyone could have done. Your mind was not functioning properly anymore and the only thing in your head was: "I must save George."

You heard the distant voices of people telling you to work professionally, but they didn't do much to you.

You just ran across the track to the car that was going up in flames and dropped the extinguisher on the floor.

He had to get out.

He hadn't gotten out of the car himself yet, so it must be bad. Colleagues had caught up with you and actually started to extinguish the fire, while you were trying to get in contact with your best friend.

There was literally no movement in his body after you tried to talk to him and you started to get anxious about the whole situation.

This was like Bahrain all over again when Grosjean had crashed, only this time, there was nothing coming from the driver, and you were really fearing for his life.

"Come on George!" you yelled and you unbuckled his seat and got rid of the steering wheel.

The heat was starting to make its way into your fireproof suit. You had been in these flames for too long but you weren't going to give up on him.

You dragged his body out of the car hanging onto his waist for dear life, and slowly but surely he got out of his car.

And as you got his full body over the halo, there was a loud explosion coming from the car, sending the both of you into the air and you land a couple of meters further, knocking you out as well.

_______

A bitter artificial smell entered your which made you scrunch it up a little.

'Where were you?'

You flickered your eyes a couple of times letting them adjust to the bright white room, before being able to take in your surroundings.

You hadn't moved yet, but you had put the puzzle pieces together.

You were in a hospital.

A sigh escaped your mouth and only then you noticed that someone was holding your hand as it softly squeezed in yours.

You tilted your head to the side of the person and there you saw him.

George.

Immediately tears started forming in your eyes and his smile faded from his face.

"You're alive." you managed to get out of your mouth between the sobs.

He nodded and caressed his fingers through your hair. His hand was wrapped up in bandages.

"Yes. I am. You saved me." he whispered, the exhausted but genuine smile coming back carefully.

You lifted your arm, squinting your eyes in pain in the process, and took his bandaged hand. You looked at it with a sad face.

"How bad are your injuries?"

"Less than yours. I only have my hands burned, first and second grade burns and bruised ribs..." he said carefully, knowing that you would want to know what your injuries where. He himself said that yours were worse, so.

"And mine?" you indeed hinted to his statement. He looked you in your eyes and you saw a sad emotion you couldn't quite place.

"Third degree burns on your arms and torso, three fractured ribs, your left ulna is broken, and..." he hesitated for a second and you saw the pain in his eyes.

"And what, George?" you whispered, now placing your indeed plastered hand under his jawline to lift his head back up.

"And your left leg is paralyzed from the knee down for now. They are making sure it will not get paralyzed any further." he breathed out. He had said it so quietly that you found it hard to hear what he just said, or maybe you just didn't want to hear it.

And as you heard him say those words, your arm dropped down from his face onto your bed.

A numb feeling washed over your body and you stared at the plain white ceiling. There were no tears, as you didn't feel sad. You didn't feel anything at all at that moment.

"Y/n, please say something?" George asked, his breath hitching. You looked at him and saw that a tear trickled down his cheek, but he quickly wiped it off.

"I am glad you're here with me George. And I am glad you're alive." You smiled at him, it was genuine. You were truly relieved to see he wasn't hurt too bad.

But what you didn't know was that he was hurting. His physical pain might've not been too bad, but he was mentally hurting badly. He felt guilty for the fact that you were losing your body. For three days he had been worried about the possibility of losing you. It had only been today that your state was stabilized.

"And it's okay to cry." you added as you saw him wiping away another tear. "I am okay, really. I will get over this, I trust the doctors to work at the best of their abilities. I'll be alright, w- we'll be alright."

He smiled at you through his tears, now letting them stream down his face. He held your hand and an electric feeling went through your body.

"We'll be alright."

You nodded and you smiled as well, tears now rolling down your face too.

"Look at us. Crying and injured." you laughed out between your sobs.

"We're a mess." he replied. He stood up and moved you up a little, careful not to mess up the oxygen regulators or to hurt you, leaving just enough space for him to lie down beside you.

You laid your head on his chest, it felt safe. He made you feel safe. Even if you were the one with the job of saving people, he was your safe haven.

You had laid like this so many times before and people often thought you were a couple, but this was just how you were most comfortable and at ease. George made you feel like that.

"Have you seen how it happened yet?" you mumbled in his shirt.

He rubbed your back and replied: "Yes, I have. It looked really bad. We were launched at least two meters high into the air, we landed a couple of meters from the car. I landed onto you, making you my fall-breaker. I didn't get many injuries because you broke my fall, only causing yourself to end up with bad ones."

"Don't feel guilty for my injuries, I know you do, but I kept you safe that's really all that matters to me."

You felt his gaze being settled on you so you looked up to meet his staring eyes.

"This might be the wrong time to say this, but I love you so much y/n. I thought I was losing you and I couldn't handle the thought and-" he just blurted out. It kind of took you aback but the smile on your face returned shortly after.

You shut him up by pressing your hand against his mouth so he couldn't speak anymore.

"There couldn't be a better timing to say this, George. I love you too. I just think I only realized when I thought I was losing you. I realized that I can't live in a world without you."

His eyes widened and the sparkle that was always there when you were with him returned. He hugged you tightly, a little bit too hard for your broken ribs, but you didn't say anything about it.

You were way too happy right now to feel the pain. The feelings you were currently experiencing relieved the pain of your whole body. George was your painkiller, and you were hoping to not ever have to lose him.

You loved him and he loved you and that was all that really mattered at that moment. You had each other and that was enough to know.