For those of you who wanted another What Do We Do Now chapter, dont't worry, I'm still working on it.I've just been thinking about writing this one as soon as I posted the crash chapter and it kept on nagging me so I finally did it.
It was supposed to be just a drive. The normal, Sunday drive that filled them with so much joy and happiness. Then 'it' happened, then 'it' ripped them apart.
The sun had shone like any other day while the Piston Cup champion and his girlfriend sped up to Wheel Well. There were still puddles on the road from the nightly rain and it made the forest glimmer with delight. The two laughed and teased each other the whole way up until they made it to the waterfall.
Lightning would always slow down before Sally would cross the bridge, wait for her to pass, then speed past her at the last second. This time was no different, he slowed down just before Sally reached the waterfall. When she would ask why, he responded with a simple "Just admiring the view honey….and you too of course." Lightning proceeded to kiss her fender before speeding away from her just as he had done every other day. However, this particular day, he wished he hadn't sped up, he wished he had never left her side.
Lightning was on the last turn up to Wheel Well when he heard the call of his nickname Sally gave him being cut short. The unmistakable sound of screeching tires and metal crushing replaced Sally's voice. Lightning's gut dropped as he slammed on his brakes. He whipped himself around and immediately started speeding back down the road realizing that the love of his life could have easily slipped up, or even have her tires lock up on the road.
"No, no, no. Please let that not be what I think it is." Lightning whispered to himself, dreading what was behind the mountain side. Flashbacks of his crash resurfaced which in the end made him hyperventilate as his breathing became quicker. The drive around the last three corners seemed much more tedious than any other day and it sure didn't help Lightning's anxiousness when he saw that Sally wasn't anywhere to be found. Lightning desperately tried calling her name only to get no answer. A couple seconds of silence passed before Lightning tried again, this time searching further up and down the road. As Lightning drove by the cliff face, he nearly had an engine attack when he heard the soft sound of an engine trying to start followed by a soft gasp and groan. He looked over the edge of the cliff and gasped in horror at the sight merely 15 feet below him.
There, on the cliff face, was a bed of rocks that extended out into another platform, accessible through a narrow path further back. On that bed of rocks laid a severely dented and oil covered Porsche, struggling to maintain consciousness.
"S-Sally! A-are you ok!" Lightning had no clue what to do, she was in an awkward position where she was almost sideways on the cliff wall, with rocks penetrating her side that was facing towards the ground. Sally tried to speak but found that no words were able to escape her mouth. Her cries for help became slurred and reduced to groans. She could feel the rocks that punctured where her throat was dig deeper in her, ripping away at her vocal chords. Lightning started down towards her as his windshield became teary. He tried so desperately to get her off of the rocks, but each time he tried to move her, the rocks either buried deeper within Sally, or tore through her delicate metal skin and undercarriage. She would yell in pain each time she was moved causing Lightning to freak out.
"I-I don't know what to do! I keep making things worse!" Slow but steady streams of tears began to flow from Lightning's eyes. Sally lifted her chin, allowing enough room to try and get at least one word out while her tires shook from the weight of her own body. Sally could feel the rock that struck her throat, separate slightly, causing it to be covered in thick oil.
"Mmm-terrr." It burned Sally's throat as she spoke, she feared crying thinking of the strain it would put on her body. Her engine caused a sharp pain throughout her frame. It felt like it had been crushed, making it harder for Sally to breathe. Small trickles of oil leaked from her mouth as she collapsed to the ground. Lightning immediately perked his hood up in realization on what Sally was saying. He really didn't want to leave her alone but he knew that if he didn't go she could very well die right here. Lightning proceeded to race off at his top speed to find the tow truck.
No more than ten minutes later, Mater and Lightning managed to get Sally, who was now unconscious, back to town and stop some of the bleeding. Lightning immediately started panicing more when he found her unconscious. The only sign that she was still alive were her short breaths for air. Luckly the Doc Hundson clinic had expanded greatly since Doc's death and now accommodated more medically advanced technology as well as more space.
Within the hour, all of the townies had been informed of the injuries sustained. The group waited along side Lightning, praying that everything would be all right. Luigi and Guido had already started crying while Red's loud sniffles could be heard. In fact, Lightning had never even seen Flo cry until now. She described the feeling as if she were losing her own child.
Sally's vocal chords had been damaged along with a punctured lung. The external damage didn't look worse than what a racecar would endure in a race, but they were naturally stronger than the average car. By the looks of it, Sally must have rolled at least once on her way down and was covered from bumper to bumper in harsh dents. However, the dents caused severe internal bleeding. Typically the crash wouldn't appear to do any major harm compared to Lightning's crash, but then again, he crashed on smooth pavement where as Sally landed in the rocks. Also considering that Lightning had been modified to take the damage at 200mph and Sally still had her fragile frame that could easily break at the speeds they were going which were close to 170mph.
Several rocks had lodged itself inside Sally's engine and tore it up in the process. Even worse that she was a rear engined vehicle, meaning all of her important parts that were compacted tightly together, were now destroyed. One of Sally's axles had dislocated, and penetrated through her undercarriage and into her right lung. But what really worried everyone was the possibility of brain damage, it wasn't unheard of but it certainly wasn't common for an average car to suffer from brain damage.
Lightning's body trembled as he continued to stare at his tires, covered in oil...her oil. Wishing that this was all a nightmare, wishing he would just have stayed by her side instead of speeding off.
Several hours passed before they got any news on Sally's condition. The doctors had told everyone that she couldn't be saved. She had lost too much oil and the damage to her engine, internal organs, and brain was irreversable. Even if they could have saved her, she would be in constant pain and misery. If she attempted to make a sound, it would feel like she had just had a blow torch put in her mouth. She wouldn't be able to drive very far without assistance and her engine, even if replaced, would constantly malfunction.
Red could be heard wailing as he left the room, while the townsfolk were reduced to tears with the exception of Sarge and Lightning who just stared on. Lightning tried to process what was going on while the world seemed to stop around him. One by one the townies had to say their goodbyes, each of them returning with a pained expression. Flo returned sobbing into Ramone while Sheriff didn't even try to hide his tears. Mater stayed silent the entire time, keeping his mouth tightly sealed for he felt if he opened it, he would end up balling. Lightning was the final one to say goodbye and the thought of this being the last time he would see her, mentally broke him.
He mustered up the strength to go through those horrid double doors and came faced to faced with a sight he never thought he would have to see at this age. Sally's blue hue had dulled down to a pale blue grey and from the looks of it, she had been crying even in a state of unconsciousness. Her once perfectly smooth frame now had dents, some so deep that they actually tore open and were leaking oil. She was hooked up to several different machines all working endlessly. Most of the oil had been wiped away and it appeared that she had stopped bleeding, but the tubes and rags connected to her underside said otherwise. Lightning drove closer and found it harder to look at her, It's my fault...I did this to her.
"I'm so sorry. T-this is all my fault. All I had to do….was wait..for three damn seconds. And now look where we are." Lightning sped up his pace, feeling the urge to cry. He leaned up against her least damged side, feeling her warmth leave by the second.
"I didn't even get to propose to you….or even start a family like we talked about all those years ago. I-I was supposed to protect you…a-and I didn't… Please…don't go. Please d-don't leave me here without you." Lightning had only sobbed twice in his adult years, but he couldn't care less right now. He was soon engulfed in a trance before a small squeak caught his attention; Lightning didn't have time to react before he heard Sally wake up and fight through the pain to say one last thing so quiet that Lightning had to strain himself to hear.
"S-ckrs...s-sorry...love ya.." Lightning was caught off guard and closed his eyes tighter, returning the expression.
"Love you too..." Lightning felt heart broken, lost in his own world just as the unthinkable happened. The loud beeping of the heart monitor turned into a long hum. Lightning's eyes shot open, staring in disbelief.
"S-Sally?! Sally! No! Please no! Sally! Are you there?! Lightning tried to shake her tire, getting no response, he began to cry his heart out. His world came crashing down on him as everything began to feel hazy, he tried to grip harder on her tire half expecting her to grip on, but he knew now that would never happen. She could never laugh again, move again, talk again. Lightning's sobs grew louder, to the point where the rest of the group heard. He continued to cry for several more minutes before he couldn't bare to be in the same room as Sally. He drove to the double doors, looking back at her lifeless body. It broke Lightning in two to see her like this, to see her this injured and then suddenly...gone. He didn't want to look away just in case she would somehow magically wake up again, but Lightning knew that would never happen.
The room was silent as Lightning re-entered. Tears fell off his fenders before Lightning managed to croak quietly and break the silence.
"I could have saved her." Lightning felt the eyes all point in his direction, especially Cruz's.
"W-what do you mean Mr. McQueen?" Cruz's voice cracked. It was hard enough that her actual mother could car less about her, but then to have her motherly figure ripped away from her, hurt much worse. Lightning couldn't control himself any longer and snapped at Cruz.
"It's all my fault! Do you hear me! If I would have slowed down she would never have slipped! Sally's DEAD now because of me! It was my fault I wasn't there for her when she WENT OVER THE DAMN CLIFF! I pretty much just KILLED her!" Lightning lost all of his thought process and stormed out of the building. Cruz began crying harder while Flo tried to comfort her. Lightning couldn't look at the town, he just had to get away.
He drove as if he could out race what just happened. Faster, and faster, at this point he could care less if he crashed. It was impossible for him to think of a life without Sally. It was too horrible to be true. He didn't want to stop, he needed to go somewhere, he didn't know where, but anywhere away from that town.
Lightning wasn't seen for five days. He hadn't slept and hardly eaten. All he did was drive. He would stop for gas but that was it. He began crying whenever he'd have to drive up a mountain or anything that reminded him of Sally. It was too hard for him to think about her. Eventually he found his way back to Arizona, exhausted mentally and physically. Lightning couldn't even keep a straight posture without the tears coming. The funeral was planned for that afternoon and was kept extremely private with the exception of Sally's family from California. Lightning didn't make it through the funeral without breaking down and driving off. He waited until everyone was gone to finally go to her grave which happened to be next to Doc's, somehow making it worse. The setting sun shone over the graves, giving the glimmering effect, similar to the effect to puddles would illuminate on the forest whenever it rained on the way up to Wheel Well.
Lightning tried to talk to them both but found only tears could escape his body. It still pained him that he wasn't able to finally after eleven years, give her his last name or even have a kid. His life felt incomplete without her. Every time Lightning thought about all the things he and Sally hadn't done, he entered another guilt trip. He spent at least an hour apologizing to the grave. Lightning couldn't accept the fact that Sally, seven days prior was as lively and bubbly as could be and now, was dead, six feet under the ground.
Since then, he's refused to even make the turn to Wheel Well, still living in guilt about what happened that fateful day, all though everyone tried explaining it wasn't his fault. Lightning still supports it financially but will never go there again he says. Lightning had also said the same thing about the Cozy Cone, but later came to realize that Sally wouldn't have wanted for him to abandon what they worked so hard on. Lightning hasn't redecorated the Cone despite all the times before when he told Sally she took the theme one cone too far. It tore Lightning up inside whenever he entered the Cone, the office felt empty without her.
It takes almost a year before Lightning can adjust again. Talking about Sally still creates a lump in his throat but now he can talk about her more so with good memories. He hasn't moved passed her death and the thought of being in another relationship would never cross his mind. The memories of everything they did became bittersweet. He regretted no being able to do more with her, he figured that they would have so much more time together. He thought they would have at least another forty years together but obviously that wasn't meant to be. Because after all, if you don't live life to its fullest, you'll regret it when that life runs out.
I actually did this when I was half asleep cause believe it or not, I sleep write and type. So welcome to my half asleep midnight thought process. XD