Thank you to those of you who reviewed, I really appreciate your support!

Just to let you know, I have found out what is causing my illness so thank you to those of you who wished me well.

CHAPTER 2

"It's insane out here tonight," Dex spoke into the three-way radio that Gabi and Jody had ear-pieces for.

"Tyres on one?" Gabi checked knowingly.

"I reckon," her brother affirmed. "It's burning up out here…"

"The lights," Jody told her, folding down his mike. "It was eighty degrees on that track today and the lights bring back the heat…"

"We gotta be careful," she told him. "Everyone is gonna do the same, we could lose time. We have to be super-slick."

Jody nodded as Gabi turned to the team and called out her instructions. She turned back to the brown-eyed teddy bear and lifted her brows as he continued to look at her.

Jody licked his lips. "Maybe you should sit this one out."

"Why?" She smirked in bemusement.

"The rubber is hot enough to burn; maybe let one of the guys take over this stop…"

"Oh Jody," she touched his forearm. "I love you for caring, but I'll be okay. I promise."

Jody nodded even though his concern didn't fade.

"He's coming in, next lap," he confirmed what she already heard through her own head set.

"We're on, Johnson," she used his surname affectionately.

"He's in," he informed and the whole team went still with focus.

Every cell of Gabi's body was filled with awareness. She smelt everything. Saw everything. Felt everything. And then it all went blank as the car drew up in front of her and auto mode kicked in, forcing her to move with utter precision and slick speed; a so-practised routine that went the same way, every time. Every single race, every stop, every time.

"Shit!" She cursed as the wheel nut drill squealed when the nut wouldn't come loose. "Cross thread!" She yelled, quickly disengaging the equipment to work the screw lose with her fingers.

"Gabi, no!" Jody yelled at her, only she didn't hear because although in those few preceding seconds before the car came in, she could hear and see everything; once that car was actually in front of her, her mind was programmed not to stop until it had moved out again- whatever it took, whatever hurt; she kept going.

"Fuck!" She cried, falling back as the tyre came loose, the hot rubber striking her forearm and burning her deeply; the pain knocking her back and forcing her team-mate to take over while Jody jumped up to help her.

"Gabi…" He dashed over and yelled to the medic for help while Dex's car was completed by the rest of the track team; Jody's in-ear radio telling him her brother had seen the accident.

"Jody is she okay?" He demanded. "Should I stop?"

"It's just a burn, Dex, keep going," He told his friend, then threw his special helmet at his team-mate. "Keith, take over."

"Coming through!" The track-side medic pushed through the busy pit-lane and attended to Gabi's burn while she winced in agony.

"Shit!" She swore again, writhing as pressure was lent to her arm; but quickly a cooling effect began and she took a breath in.

"Just relax, miss," the medic told her and she looked up, to see who was treating her.

"What's your name?" She asked.

"It's Anthony. What's yours?" He asked back with a smile.

"Gabi, Gabi Montez."

"The ambulance is out back, ready to get up?" He asked.

"Ambulance?" She questioned. "I can't go…we have a race to win!"

"Gabi, you have a bad burn there and it might scar if you don't get treatment," Anthony told her gently.

"So what? If we lose this race, I will never forgive myself," she panicked, sitting up.

"Gabi, go to hospital," Jody told her, by her side.

"What are you doing?" She yelled. "Get back to the pit lane! Dex needs you!"

"He needs you to be okay," Jody told her. "He told me not to get back on the radio until I know you're okay."

"He needs to race more and talk less," Gabi grumbled, knowing she had no choice but to follow instructions. "Oh, fine, I'm going," she sighed and stood up, heading out for the ambulance before either of the men could follow her.

"I don't feel so go-" She frowned, right before her legs went weak and her body fell towards the ground.

"Hey," a male voice interrupted her fall at the same time his arms did.

"Gabi!" Jody ran after her, panting as he stared at the stranger holding his friend. "Who are you?"

"I just…" The guy began, and then met the concerned brown eyes of the guy. "I just caught her, that's all."

Jody squinted at the handsome stranger who had piercing blue eyes and tousled brown hair not unlike his own.

"You want me to…?" He led, offering Gabi to him.

"In the ambulance, sir," Anthony came up behind Jody and directed the guy to the van parked, waiting.

"Oh, she's sick?" The man checked and Anthony nodded.

"Burn on her right arm."

"From a tyre." Jody added in explanation as the stranger continued to frown confusedly.

"She's been changing tyres?" He repeated incredulously.

"She's the fastest," Jody licked his lips, and then squinted. "Do I know you?"

The man pressed his lips together, his blue eyes hardening. "No, sorry."

Jody watched as the big man carried her into the ambulance with gentle care and lay her down, looking into her face for a minute.

"Take care of her," he told Anthony before he climbed back down and looked at Jody.

"Are you sure we haven't met?" Jody checked again.

"Nope, sorry man. I have to go. Keep an eye on that one," he added before he slunk into the darkness, leaving Jody with a strange sense of déjà-vu.

/

"Where is she, is she okay?" Dex pushed through the well-wishers and grasped Jody by the shoulders.

"They took her to hospital; she was fine when they left."

"Keith said she blacked out," Dex added with concern, his face creased with worry.

"Its okay, some guy caught her before she fell…"

"Some guy?" Dex repeated.

"I know him, I just can't think how…" Jody frowned.

"You know the guy that just happened to catch my sister before she fell?" Dex repeated again, incredulously.

"Okay, I know it sounds ridiculous," Jody sighed, running a hand through his hair. "But let's get out of here already…"

"Good idea," Dex agreed.

/

"I'm fine," Gabi stressed for the fourth time in that many minutes as the two guys in her life fussed over her.

"You're not fine, you got hurt, Gabi," Dex told her.

"Right," she rolled her eyes. "Like that never happened before…"

"You never had to go to hospital before," her brother complained.

She lifted her brows and smiled wanly.

"Not since you broke your arm after crashing your go-kart," he amended.

"No, because you don't let me do anything remotely dangerous, despite the fact I am fine."

"I don't want you on that track, Gabs," He frowned.

"Don't even start that," She frowned back, knowing she would have this to deal with after one stupid accident.

"I mean it! I know we said no racing but what if that tyre hadn't hit your arm? What if it was your face? What if this was worse?" He posed.

"It's not," she argued, sighing. "It's part of the job. The job I adore," she added. "Please don't try and take it away from me."

"I can't have you on my track-team," he hard-lined and Gabi pressed her lips together stubbornly, her brown eyes showing her hurt.

"Fine," she agreed flatly. "Then I'll work for someone else."

"Guys," Jody broke in, breaking the tension with his inimitable ease. "Don't make promises you'll regret tomorrow. It's been a long day; let's just sleep on it, huh?"

Dex shook his head and stood, staring at Gabi. "You're not going anywhere near a track again."

Gabi felt her eyes fill with tears and waited for him to leave before whispering, "You're wrong."

/

"Hey…uh…hi," an unfamiliar face poked around Gabi's curtain and she watched as the muscled stranger coughed into his hand shyly, then pushed back his messy brown hair; revealing sharp blue eyes that pinned her.

"Hi," she replied, smiling flatly.

"Ah, you don't know me…"

"No," she smiled in her agreement, amused by his approach. He had his hands in his well-worn jeans pockets and the material hugged his rather nice thighs. His thick chest and apparently bulky arms were wrapped in a tee and he licked his lips nervously before he spoke again.

His dark-edged blue eyes squinted at her as if trying to work her out. "I caught you." He said.

"What?" She arched her brow.

"I…oh god, I am totally screwing this up," he mused to himself, and then met her gaze again. "Can I start over?"

"If you think it will help," she teased.

"I'm Troy. I was in the parking lot when you…you know, passed out…" he explained more eloquently.

"Oh…" She waited for him to go on.

"I kinda…I kinda caught you when you went down…lucky I was there, really," he babbled on. "Right place, right time."

"Thank you," she blurted, breaking his flow.

"Ah, you're welcome."

"And you came to make sure I was ok?" She wondered, touched.

He shrugged. "Well, I have a friend in here…it wasn't a problem at all…"

Gabi giggled at his cuteness.

"Ah…am I being an idiot again?" He checked.

"No," she smiled. "It's cute."

"Cute?" His brows both rose at the same time and she noted his smile fade. "So…uh…how's the arm?"

He ventured closer and she twisted her lips as she looked down on her bandaged limb.

"I won't be changing tyres for a while," she sulked.

"That's a…bad thing?" He guessed.

She looked up. "It is for me."

"You're not the usual track bunny," he admitted confusedly.

"I'm not a track bunny at all," she confirmed. "I'm part of the track team."

"Which team?" Troy asked interestedly.

"Montez." She shared proudly.

"Best track team on the circuit," he murmured and Gabi frowned.

"You race?"

"Hm?" He came out of his apparent daze. "Uh, not anymore," he denied graciously.

Gabi nodded faintly, intrigued by this news. "Well, thank you for coming by."

"Do you…uh, want some company?" He wondered, pointing to her chair.

She smiled, relaxing back against her pillows. "As long as you're not here to tell me to stay away from the track…"

He smiled in puzzlement at her comment, taking the seat and turning it so that he was facing her. He pointed to the jug of water, silently asking her if she wanted a drink and she nodded so he stood to hand her the plastic cup before he sat and spoke again.

"Who told you that?" He wondered.

"My brother," she sulked.

He arched a brow. "He obviously cares about you."

She gave him a look. "I thought you agreed you were on my side."

He lifted his hands in surrender. "Hey, I'm totally with you," he teased.

"Good. Because although he does care about me, I am still a person with my own opinions."

"He's just protecting you," he offered softly.

"Well I'm fine," she repeated. "I just wish everyone would realise that and quit fussing…"

"So," he twisted his lips. "If he got hurt in a race, you'd want him to go right back out there and race again?" He tested.

She smirked at him. "My side," she reminded him playfully, then, "no, I guess I wouldn't."

Troy shrugged. "Just saying."

"Well don't," she grumbled. "How am I supposed to convince him he's wrong if everyone agrees with him?"

Troy paused, his lips curling into a smile. "You're sure you wanna go back out there?"

She smiled sadly. "What I want, is to race. But I'm not allowed to do that. So being on the track team was the next best thing…now apparently I'm not allowed to do that either…"

"You want to race?" He questioned, surprised.

She gave him another of her long looks. "Yeah."

"Do you know how dangerous it is?" He asked quietly, in a way that told her he knew exactly how dangerous it was.

Gabi pursed her lips and shrugged off the shoulder of her gown, pointing her bare shoulder toward him while he sat and stared in wonder. She had a beautiful shoulder, he mused.

"See that scar?"

He squinted. "Nope."

She sighed, wriggling her shoulder around until the gown dropped lower and Troy sat in awkward anticipation.

"Are you trying to undress?" He teased huskily to which she rolled her eyes.

"See it now?"

He leaned over until the faint jagged line became apparent and then he raised his brows in acknowledgement. "Dislocated shoulder."

"You've had one?" She checked.

"Hurts like fuck," he confirmed.

"And you know how that happens," she added.

"Yeah, by taking a hit."

She didn't speak again and he read her unsaid words.

"You've raced," he concluded and she nodded.

"A little…"

"Without your brother knowing," he added.

She shrugged with a mischievous smile. "A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do…"

Troy smiled at her and Gabi suddenly realised how quickly they had fallen into this comfortable conversation they were having even though they'd never met before.

"So…uh…thank you, for carrying me…" She offered awkwardly, putting her guard back up somewhat.

"Oh, you're welcome, like I said; you just kinda flaked out right as I was passing…"

Gabi smiled. "Sounds about right…"

"Look…ah, I'll let you rest. I hope you feel better soon…" he trailed off, waiting for her to confirm her name.

"Gabi," she provided for him as she realised he was waiting for something. "My name's Gabi."

Troy nodded. "I might see you at the next race…"

"I hope so," she smiled back.