To Emily (guest): That does come up later in the story. They have a proper talk to Fudge about her mother when she's a bit older.

To everyone: So, this is where things take a turn for the worst. Please read and review. I would say enjoy, but I'm not sure if you'll be able to. After all, if I've gotten the emotions right, you'll feel sad and if I haven't, then I haven't done a very good job of writing this. It's all so confusing! Just read the chapter!

Chapter 2- Doc!

It happened about a month after my birthday, in the middle of July. Maybe, looking back, I should've seen it coming. After all, Doc had been tired and unwell a lot for several months now. Still, it came as a massive shock to me.

It was supposed to be another day of training down by Willy's Butte. Lightning and Doc were lined up at the starting line and I was up on Lightning's roof, ready to go.

"Speed", Lightning whispered. "I am speed. Float like a Cadillac..."

"Sting like a Beemer!" Doc and I finished in unison.

"Do you wanna say it, Fudge?" Doc quizzed me.

"On your marks, get set... GO!"

We zoomed off, laughing and hollering. As it often did, making the left turn brought back memories of the first race Doc and Lightning had against each other.

"That was funny!" I proclaimed, giggling.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up", Lightning groaned.

"Well, you were too cocky for your own good", Doc reminded him. "But you learned way faster than I thought you would!"

"That's right!" Lightning responded. "I'm not gonna end up in a cactus today!"

Doc grinned. "We'll see."

I giggled, but I was also a little nervous. What did Doc mean by that? He may have just been joking, but I wouldn't put it past Doc; he could be very cruel when he wanted to be.

As it was, he didn't have anything planned, but he ended up scaring me all the same. After several laps going around the dirt track, we made the left turn again. Lightning nailed it. I remember twisting my head around to see how far behind Doc was. Despite the fact that he hadn't been well lately, he still managed to keep up a good pace while we were racing. Not this time, however. He was still a fair way behind. Not only that, but he was a bit shaky. It was obvious, even from a distance.

"Fudge?" Lightning called out.

I faced forward again. "Yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, but I don't think Doc is."

At those words, Lightning stopped and spun around. I nearly went flying off his roof.

"Doc?"

If he hadn't have stopped, we never would've seen it. Doc was making his way towards the left turn. He still wasn't going that fast, but as he drifted across the dirt, he lost control all the same. I guess that was because of how much he was shaking. Doc failed to make the turn and skidded uncontrollably. I watched, horrified, not sure if he was going to stop. The good news was he did. The bad news was that when he did, he rolled over onto his side and couldn't get up.

"Doc!" Lightning yelled, just as shocked as I was.

I slid off his roof and the two of us raced over to the older Hudson Hornet.

"Doc?" I called fearfully. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" he assured me. He made another attempt to get up, but he just couldn't do it. Not only that, but he sounded very much out of breath. That's when I was really starting to panic. Something was wrong. I had no idea what, but it was definitely something.

"You're not fine, Doc!" Lightning insisted. He turned to me. "Fudge, you stay here with Doc. I'll go back to town and get help."

"I can go", I offered.

"I'm faster!" Lightning reminded me. "I'll go!"

Before I could protest any further (I guess I couldn't really argue with that, anyway), he was gone.

So, I waited with Doc. I wanted to go back to town and get help. I hadn't wanted to stay with Doc. I was afraid of him and I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do while we waited. I couldn't move him and wasn't sure if I should even if I could. Do I say something? Should I just wait in silence? I decided not to say anything unless Doc did first. He didn't. While I just stood there, staring at him, feeling helpless, he stared at me. I think he was feeling just as helpless and I think he knew how afraid I was.

You know, just as I'm writing this, I'm starting to wonder if it was really that bad. Of course, as you know now, the whole thing turned out to be about as bad as it gets. But this moment, though. I think it might have been a lot worse in my head than it was in real life. After all, Doc was still breathing. He was still conscious. He was responsive. I was just panicking.

It was about five painful minutes, which felt like five painful years, before my entire family came rushing back towards us. Nearly all of them made a beeline towards Doc while my fathers made a beeline towards me.

"Are you okay?" Luigi quizzed me.

I nodded uncertainly. "He scared me."

"(I know.)" Guido hugged me and turned me away from the sight. "(I am sure Doc is fine.)"

I wished I could be so sure.

As scared as I was, I kept looking over. I had to see what was going on. I remember someone called an ambulance, but I don't remember who. Everyone was trying to keep Doc warm and comfortable. Even though it was Arizona and the middle of July, he must have been very cold. I thought he would try to protest and insist to us that he was fine, but he didn't. He just remained silent and tried to focus on his breathing. The only time he spoke was when Sally asked him if he was in any pain.

"Yeah, a little", he responded. "In my engine..." He stopped and winced.

"That sounds like more than a little", she commented worriedly.

I was having to take deep breaths too. My heart was racing and my hands were shaking. My face was probably white too. I was so afraid. What was wrong with Doc?

If waiting for the others to arrive felt like a long time, then waiting for an ambulance to arrive felt like an eternity! Finally, they did show up, though and we all reversed back to let the paramedics examine Doc.

"What's wrong with him?" I blurted out fearfully at one point, breaking the awful silence.

"We're not sure just yet", one of the paramedics replied. "We're going to take him to hospital and do some tests there. "

I had been afraid it would come to that, but I guess I should've known. In that state, how could they not take him to hospital?

I nodded. "Okay..."

Doc must've seen how worried I was because he gave me a reassuring smile as he was loaded onto a stretcher. "I'll be fine, kiddo. They're just gonna figure out what's wrong, all right? I'll be home soon."

"All right..." I wasn't so convinced.

I did feel a little better, though, when we all decided to follow the ambulance. I sat in Mater's truck bed as we rode down the highway in silence, each thinking our own thoughts and concerns about Doc. What was wrong with him? Would he be okay? What if he wasn't? Those were the kinds of thoughts that were going around in my mind during that journey. The others were probably thinking the same thing.

The next time any of us spoke was when we arrived at the hospital. I demanded, "Where's Doc?" I looked around at the hospital and it only just occurred to me that I'd never been in one before. I'd been in Doc's clinic several times, of course, but never a hospital. It was just as bright and clean as Doc's clinic, but a lot bigger and a lot crazier. I was kind of overwhelmed.

"They're probably still examining him, sweetie", Sally explained gently. "I think we're just gonna have to wait."

"I'll find out", Sarge offered, going over to the reception desk. He came back about a minute later, confirming what Sally had just said.

Now, I'm not exactly known for my patience, but this time, I didn't complain. I just sat there, reading all of the signs on the walls, staring at the clock on the wall and looking over at each of my family members. They all looked as worried as I was. However, nobody looked more afraid than Lightning. He looked worse than even I felt. I'd only just noticed that, but now that I thought of it, he hadn't said or really done anything since he had returned to Doc and me with help. At the time, I just assumed it was because he was the only one besides me who had actually seen what happened to Doc. Now, I know it was much more than that.

Tick, tick, tick. I'd been watching that clock for nearly two and a half hours now. It was dark outside now. How long did it take to know what was wrong with someone? I lay up against Luigi, nearly falling asleep (it wasn't really late, but it had been a long day and I was physically and mentally exhausted), but I was quick to stir when a doctor approached us. Everyone was alert by then, eager to hear what this doctor had to say.

I don't remember the exact words the doctor used as there was a lot of jargon in there, but I remember the gist of what he was saying: they had done some tests and they still weren't really sure what was wrong with him. However, they still needed to wait a little while before some of the results came back.

"You can see him if you want", the doctor added. "Visiting hours are almost over, but you can have five minutes with him."

Five minutes didn't seem like an awful lot of time, but it was better than nothing, so we rode the elevator to Doc's room on the fifth floor. He was in Room 511, which we found in no time.

I hovered outside the door for a little while, afraid of what I would find when I went in there. I could hear Doc's voice, so he must have been okay.

"Where's Fudge?" I heard him ask.

"She came with us..." The sound of engines came closer to me.

"Hey, Fudge!" Ramone called. "You comin'? Doc wants to see you."

I nodded, taking a deep breath. "Okay..."

Ramone could tell I was nervous, so he took my hand and led me in.

Doc didn't look so bad. He was just lying there in a hospital bed. He wasn't hooked up to any machines, he wasn't unconscious. There was no slow beeping of a heart rate monitor. He looked weak and tired, but other than that, there didn't seem to be anything wrong with him.

The Hudson Hornet smiled when I came into the room. "Hey, Fudge. I was wonderin' where you were."

"Well, I'm here... Are you okay?"

"I'm feelin' a little better", he assured me. "I still ain't feelin' too good, but I'm better than I was earlier."

I nodded. "So, what is it? What's wrong?"

"The doctors aren't sure yet, kiddo", he explained gently. "They've been doin' a lot of tests-"

"What kind of tests?" I jumped in.

"All kinds. Oil tests. X-rays. They've examined just about every inch of me."

"And they still don't know?"

"Doctors ain't miracle workers, Fudge", he reminded me. "I'm sure they'll know soon enough. We're still waitin' on some of the results."

"You didn't have an engine attack, did you?" At that point, I was thinking that that was one of the worst case scenarios. From what I'd heard, engine attacks sounded horrible. Of course, even as a ten-year-old, I could think of much worse possibilities as well, but I just couldn't bring myself to say them.

"It ain't an engine attack."

"How do you know?"

"I'm a doctor, remember? I know the symptoms of an engine attack and I ain't showin' any."

"If you're a doctor, don't you know what it is?" I asked.

He shook his hood. "I'm sure everythin' will be fine, though."

I nodded uncertainly.

Unfortunately, that was when a nurse came to kick us out.

"Can we come back to see him in the morning?" I wanted to know.

"Of course", the nurse answered. "But for now, he needs his rest."

For what felt like the millionth time that day, I just nodded, but I was still worried. However, there was nothing we could do about it. The doctors and nurses wanted us out, so I just gave Doc a kiss (he was so weak I was afraid to hug him) and told him I loved him.

"I love you too, kiddo", he replied.

Once again, the drive home was quiet. Not only were we worried, but we were exhausted. It had been a long day for all of us. Even so, as Luigi and Guido were putting me to bed that night, I wasn't sure if I was able to sleep.

"What if something happens?" I wondered. "The hospital might call!"

"They might not", Luigi pointed out. "You should just try to go to sleep."

"But what if they do call? What if they need to tell us how Doc is?"

"Well, then we will come and wake you up, okay?" Luigi promised.

"Okay", I agreed.

"Good night, angel." The Fiat kissed me.

"Night, Luigi."

Guido also kissed me. "(Good night, Fudgie.)"

"Night, Guido."

I tried to sleep. I really did. However, when I rolled over and looked out of my window, despite the fact that everything looked the same as it always did, it made me think, Doc's not there. All of a sudden, the whole town felt empty and quiet. That was weird. Doc would hardly ever be in my bedroom at this time of night, but still, even my room felt empty and quiet without Doc's presence.

Don't worry about it! I told myself as I lay down and tried to sleep. Doc will be home soon! He's fine. Those were the thoughts that were going around in my head as I went to sleep that night and I genuinely believed them. Doc, Luigi, Guido, Lightning, Sally, Mater, Fillmore, Sarge, Sheriff, Flo, Ramone, Red, Lizzie and I were, are and always will be a family. And family will always be together. No matter what.

Awww! Fudge is worried about Doc. In these kinds of situations, I'd be worried, but I really wouldn't be sure how to show it. So (since this is a self-insert), Fudge is asking all those questions to make sure Doc's okay. Please review! :)