Page 1 of Black Flag

1.200 MPH Tape – Sway

200 MPH Tape – This isalso known as “racers tape”. Duct tape so strong it will hold a banged up racecar together long enough to finish a race.

“How’s he doing?” Iasked Nancy, Jameson’s mother, standing outside his hospital room.

After hearing of the accident,we arrived about an hour ago at the Pocono Medical Center but still hadn’t beenallowed to see him.

I understood, seeinghow it was now around three in the morning. It was hardly visiting hours but Iwouldn’t be anywhere else right now. Not when my boyfriend, and the father ofmy unborn baby were here.

Nancy’s teary eyes metmine before wrapping her arms around my neck, holding me for a long moment.“The doctor is in there right now doing an exam. One of his broken ribspunctured his lung. That seems to be the worst of it. Also, the capillaries inhis eyes ruptured from the G-force of the hit so his face looks pretty bad.”

Nancy broke away frommy embrace when a few members of his team approached us. Justin West, one ofthe drivers of Jameson’s sprint car team, and close friend of his, smiledtoward me. It was a comforting gesture and one I appreciated right then.

“Will he need surgery?”Jameson’s younger sister, Emma, returned with three bottles of water handingthem to Nancy and me.

“Not for the lung. Theyput in a chest tube so that seemed to help. He will need pins put in his wristas the bone splintered up his arm.”

I cringed, thinkingabout how painful that must have been for him and knowing that out of anyone,Jameson Riley could handle physical pain. A few other drivers for the cupseries came by to check on Jameson. Bobby Cole, his teammate with Riley Racing,approached us, his dark hair scattered from a night of sleeplessness.

“Is he stillunconscious?” Bobby asked leaning against the wall, his tired eyes hard.

Looking over his team,everyone looked exhausted. Though they looked exhausted, no one would leavenow. Not until they knew he’d been all right.

“He’s in and out. Thedoctors are giving him medicine to keep him sedated. He’ll heal faster thatway.” Nancy looked down at her hands. “He’s got numerous broken bones on hisleft side and you know Jameson, hewon’tstay still.”

I was starting to getdizzy again so I used the wall for support, sliding down until I was sitting onthe floor and pulled my knees to my chest.

Immediately Nancy andEmma were beside me.

“Are you okay?” Nancyasked.

Nancy, though shewasn’t my biological mother, mine died of breast cancer when I was six, was theclosest thing I had to a mother these days.

The guys walked backtoward the waiting room with the rest of his team, leaving us alone outsideJameson’s room.

“Yeah...I just...I’m worried about him.”

“He’s going to be okay,Sway.” Nancy reached for my hand. Her rusty loops of hair that matched Jameson’sfell into her face. “How are you feeling?” She asked brushing my own hair frommy face.

“She puked the entireplane ride here.” Emma answered for me. “Poor Wes was a little grossed out byit all.”

“I wassosickwhen I was pregnant with Jameson.” Nancy smiled. “The first four months werespent praying to the porcelain gods.”

After a debate with mycat, Mr. Jangles, and him eating my birth control pills, I ended up pregnant.Long winded story short, I flew out to Charlotte to watch my best friends firstCoca-Cola 600, we ended up becoming fuck buddies with benefits, discovered weloved each other all along, and that ended in me getting knocked up. There wasa lot more to it, but that’s the short version.

“See, he was an assholeeven back then.” Emma added casually picking at her nail polish.

“He was a perfect babythough,” Nancy defended flicking Emma’s arm. “I did have a horrible pregnancybut he was the best baby out of all you.” Emma glared.“Alwaysquiet and observing.Jimi actually pinched him sometimes just to makesure he was normal and would cry.” Nancy got this far away look as sheremembered her youngest son as a baby. “The first time we took him to a race,it was at Skagit. He was maybe nine months old at the time. His eyes never leftthe track. He was mesmerized by the cars even then.”

I smiled, that soundedlike Jameson. For being the middle child of Nancy and Jimi, he was completelydifferent from Emma and Spencer.

The door cracked openand all three of us stood.

A round dark haired manthat looked like a stubby version of George Clooney walked out. I assumed thiswas the doctor by the white coat.

His eyes found Nancy.“We will be taking him for surgery on Tuesday morning. I want to give him sometime to rest.” He told her. “Our main concern is the pneumothorax.”

I’m pretty sure hecould tell we all had no idea what that was. It sounded like a fancy name for“pain in the ass” to me.

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