ALICE Ch 173

Under different circumstances, Glynda might be curious about Spanish hospitals.

As it is, she stands in the busy corridor, surrounded by people. Lora hovers anxiously at her side. Glynda gazes at her phone with a fearsome expression, then steels herself and goes into Alice’s room.

The lanky girl is sitting up in her bed, looking sour.

“Isn’t this a little much?” she asks, indicating the soft brace on her wrist with her eyes.

“There is a great deal of money riding on you, Alice. We will handle you gently,” Glynda says quietly, lowering herself into the chair beside the bed. “It’s fractured. Stop moving it.”

“You stop moving it,” Alice mutters, leaning back. “Where’s my phone?”

“I have it.”

Alice puts her good hand out. “My mom is freaking out right now.”

“I’ve already called her.”

Alice narrows her eyes. “And where’s Faye?”

“At the hotel.”

“What’s going on?” Alice’s expression is now one of open suspicion.

“We have to talk about what happened.”

“I lost power and Lando hit me.”

Glynda nods slowly. “We don’t seem to have the data confirming the power loss.”

Alice stiffens. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that there’s an issue. It’s not clear what happened. I trust your judgment, Alice. In this case, we don’t have anything to support it.”

“I want to see the logs.”

“There’s a problem with the logs.”

“Jesus Christ.” Alice licks her lips. “How convenient.”

“Alice, it’s Formula One. You were moving at high speeds just centimeters apart. These things happen.”

Alice says nothing to that. She takes a deep breath.

“I’ve already given the statement,” Glynda says.

Alice holds eye contact. “OK. Was there anything else?”

Glynda hesitates for a long moment, then takes Alice’s phone out of her bag and gets to her feet.

“No, Alice. There’s more to talk about, but not now. Now, you need to recover.”

“Yeah,” Alice replies, taking the phone with her good hand. “I’ll get right on that.”

FF1

Bright lights shine on the simple chair.

“This isn’t just a sport. It is a business,” Toto Wolff says, not giving away much with his slightly aloof look of naked confidence. “One cannot always follow the heart.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“What happened Sunday was miraculous. For Lando Norris to be able to finish the race. And for Alice Wilde to escape a catastrophic crash with only minimal injuries.” His eyes narrow slightly. “It was also strange.” His smile becomes ironic. “As has been noticed by fans on social media. To be a Team Principal in this sport, one must find balance.” He reaches out with one hand. “The company. The stakeholders. The money.” He reaches out with the other. “And here are your drivers. Your fans. When you put too much into one and not the other, it can be trouble. It is a difficult thing to navigate, even after all these years. For someone less experienced?”

He looks vaguely sympathetic.