ʀᴇᴅ sᴛʀɪɴɢ ᴏғ ғᴀᴛᴇ; ᴍᴀx ᴠᴇʀsᴛᴀᴘᴘᴇɴ

2.

—
It had been like this for weeks. The pacing around, the faces full of concern and most annoyingly - the wait. Each time Grace Anderson stepped foot in the Good-Health Hospital in Heathrow, all the staff turned to her with a bread-faced,pitiful smile. She hated it.

"We're just wasting time." Her remark receives arguments against it from her two loving parents.
Their eyes always swelled up with concern whenever Grace showed even slight signs of giving up. She was their only child - and companion. Now that both of them had retired and spent their time debating which flowers looks best in their garden, their 24 year old daughter was practically their only contact to the outside world - as they both were homebodies.

The introverted characteristics had definitely passed down to Grace as she too only got out of her house; or room, on two occasions. Firstly for her minimum wage job in a local flower shop and second; the newest addition, hospital visits.

"Grace Anderson. Dr. Smith is ready to see you." The receptionist smiles shortly.
Grace stands up, hesitantly walking away from her parents.
She stops infront of the receptionist's desk.
-Katie- hands her a bar of chocolate, winking at her.

This was the gift she got everytime after her first visit where she dramatically fainted in the middle of her shift in the flower shop. Thankfully, she wasn't alone. Her good friend Justice had quickly called an ambulance. Upon reaching the hospital, James and Hannah - Grace's worrisome parents greeted her with a bunch of 'thankyous'.

"Ah, good to see you Grace. Looking alot better." Dr Finly Smith remarks seeing the usually messy and frizzy hair of Grace now straightened into a well done ponytail.
She had done so, along with wearing an abnormal amount of jewellery,in the morning,to make herself feel better for her 6th doctors visit in a month.

"Well. I think we might have found out why you started seemingly getting dizzy and loosing energy out of nowhere." Her widened brown eyes settle awkwardly on the paper he slides to her.
"What does this mean?" She asks trying to dissect the font that is 'a typical doctor's handwriting'.
"Heart disease. Your hearts not beating properly." His tone is polite, borderline casual as Grace is on the verge of a breakdown.

Sure she ate a fair amount of unhealthy food, hated working out , barely ingested vitamin D from its natural source- but she certainly wasn't the only 24 year old to do so. It didn't make sense for her to be the only sick one out of all the people.

"It's hereditary- passed on from previous generations." Dr smith explains slowly.
"But mom and dad , they're healthy."
Quite frankly the healthiest 56 year olds Grace had ever come across.
"Maybe your grandparents?"
"I'm not sure. Can we call them in?"
Grace taps her fingers on the table before the door to Dr smiths office is thrown open.

"I suppose mom did have it." Mr James speaks up after a involuntary long period of silence.
Hannah sobs into her hand as her daughter helps her to a tissue.
"What can we do doctor? What are the next steps? Surely it's treatable- our Grace is young, she can recover." Mrs Anderson's voice breaks off a little.
"I'm fine . I'm okay." She mutters waving her hand dismissively at Grace , trying to be strong for her.

"I'm afraid heart disease is unpredictable. It can strike anytime and with wavering intensities. There's no way of putting this lightly - for the lack of a better phrase , Grace could literally drop dead tomorrow."
Grace appreciated her doctors honesty. She doesn't know how she's managed to remain so calm throughout while her parents are hysterical.
"You can monitor it though. Here-" he hands her a black box with a big watch pictured on it.
"Anytime your heart beats abnormally, this will notify you. Your immediate response should be to relax, take a seat and call for assistance."

The rest of the appointment goes on with little to no response from either of her parents. Grace pretends to listen as Dr smith cautions her through a list of dos and don'ts.

Just as they get up to take their swift exit, Grace stops- ushering her parents out. She didn't want to worry them more.
"Can one of the symptoms be like nightmares or vivid images?" Dr smith stares back at her like she's a madman.
"Uh. Not that I've heard of before but I wouldn't put past it." He leans back on his chair as Grace nods.
"Take care, Grace." He genuinely smiles as she exits muttering a small thanks.

"I'll be fine. I promise." She assured her parents for the umpteenth time at breakfast the next morning.
After their appointment yesterday, the rest of the day had passed like a fever dream. Everyone ,including Grace , had refused to come to terms with it. Until she woke up and the box Dr smith gave her was placed in her side table and the sound of her parents sniffling and crying greeted her through the thin walls of her bedroom.

It still tranced her. She had seen it happen in movies and shows but couldn't even fathom dying young. She had- correctly stated by her dad admist his freak out- seen the neighbourhood yet alone the world. All her life she had waited for someone to teach her how to have fun as her own parents were no good in that. Being an only child was also a contributing factor to her limited social skills and part of why she chose to work in a local flower shop that barely had any customers.

She had limited herself to her family, books and electronic devices. She barely had any friends- apart from Justice, who she had grown closer to after her fainting episode.

All these realisations hit her like a truck. Yet she remained calm and composed, comforting her parents instead.

"I know you will be , Grace. You're our strong young lady." Her dad pats her head.
"Did you get a good nights sleep?" Her mom asks wiping the tears fro her own eyes.
She nods but she hadn't.However Instead of the impending arrival of her sudden death , her f1 obsession had kept her awake.

Just like any other Formula 1 fan , Grace was regularly scrolling through the said themes concept, specifically of a certain 7 time British world champion- Lewis Hamilton. She had looked up to the man for as long as she could remember. She dreamed of meeting him but when she hit her head on the shiny floor of the a flower shop , all her dreams , literal ones,have been about a Dutch driver. Confused wouldn't even be an appropriate word for what Grace felt about having romantic and strange dreams about Max Verstappen.

"The Grand Prix is this weekend. Are you still planning on going?" Her moms voice shakes her out of her trance.
Her completely fine self had booked a ticket to fulfill her lifelong dream-of seeing Lewis Hamilton race and preferably win.
She could see her mom's hesitation in letting her go alone but Grace wasn't going to give in - for all she knew this could be her first and last grand prix.
—-
Varying chapter lengths are my speciality 😎