Chapter 3. - Crash -
A week later: Lightning and Doc boarded their trailers and headed for the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Unfortunately, they were still not talking to one another other outside of the track. Lightning had always felt comfortable here. He easily won the Auto Club 400. After the awards ceremony, Lightning left the track to spend two days in Radiator Springs. Doc and the rest of the team headed to the next track, Watkins Glen International. Mack and Lightning arrived at the track on Thursday afternoon. Doc was not happy to see Lightning showing up so late for a race. Since Lightning was the last racecar to arrive, Mack had problems getting into his parking spot. Doc ground his teeth in anger, before pulling out his phone.
Sunday morning: Once again, Lightning rolled down his trailer's ramp revving his engine loudly. As always his trailer was surrounded by reporters. Fans cheered loudly as they saw Lightning leave his trailer.
"McQueen!" called one reporter "Do you think you'll break The Fabulous Hudson Hornet's record today?"
Everyone knew that Lightning was tied with Doc's record of most season wins. It was the top subject of most news programs.
"There's no way to know, but I think the odds are in my favor." Lightning said shrugging "No more questions please."
Lightning wanted to break Doc's record badly to prove he was the better racecar. He drove to the pits and saw Sally talking to Doc. Neither car looked happy. When Sally drove up to Lightning, he kissed her.
"What a wonderful surprise!" Lightning said happily "I didn't know you were coming today."
"Doc flew me in." Sally said, tears streaming down her hood. "I can't see you anymore, but I still love you."
She then drove away, leaving Lightning with a shocked expression on his face.
"All racecars, make your way to the track!" the loudspeaker called "I repeat, all racecars make your way to the track!"
Lightning angerly drove over to Doc.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY TO SALLY?" he raged "HOW DARE YOU!"
"Get on the fucking track!" Doc said gruffly as he got on his crew chief stand, Lightning just stood there. "NOW! … We'll talk about this later."
Lightning looked in the direction of where Sally had driven. He growled angrily, wishing he could find her and talk to her. Lightning knew it was too late for him to withdraw from the race, so he headed to the track. Lightning felt tears gather in his eyes and he desperately tried to shake it off. He needed to concentrate on the race, but all he could think about was Sally and the tears running down her hood.
"Light?" Sapphire asked "Are you okay?"
He turned to see her looking directly at him.
"Yeah, I'm okay." Lightning said tearfully "It's nothing."
"It doesn't look like nothing to me." Sapphire said "If you want to talk about it after the race, you know where my trailer is parked."
She knew that Lightning and Doc were having some difficulty in their relationship. It was not uncommon for racecars and crew chiefs to disagree and fight with each other. Sapphire knew how disastrous a strained relationship between a racecar and their crew chief could be.
"Thanks Sapphire, I'll think about it." Lightning said "Maybe we'll go to dinner or something."
"That sounds like a wonderful idea." Sapphire said "I don't know about you, but I'm always starving after a race."
Lightning nodded as he watched Dexter raise the green flag over his hood. Three hundred and fifty laps later: Lightning was in tenth place. There were fifty laps left in the race, but his mind was elsewhere.
"Get your fucking hood in the race!" Doc raged "If you lose, I'm going to beat the shit out of you."
Out of anger, frustration, and feeling that he needed to break Doc's record, Lightning sped past nine cars and ended up behind Chick. Lightning stayed there until there were five laps left in the race. While racing down the backstretch Lightning accelerated harshly, attempting to pass his rival on the outside. He noticed an incredibly narrow space between Chick and the outside wall. Lightning thought he could fit through.
"Kid! don't do it!" Doc exclaimed, as he saw what Lightning was about to do "It's too small, you won't fit!"
"I don't listen to your advice anymore!" Lightning said coldly "In fact, this is your last race as my crew chief!"
Lightning sped up and entered the space between Chick and the wall. Doc knew this was not going to end well. He closed his eyes and waited for the enviable outcome.
"No you don't!" Chick exclaimed "This fucking race belongs to me!"
He slammed up against Lightning, knocking him against the wall. Lightning groaned in pain.
Seconds later: Chick pulled away, laughing harshly. Without warning, Lightning's right rear tire blew out causing him to roll violently. After barrel rolling six times, Lightning noticed that he was laying on his left side, crossways on the track. Painfully, Lightning attempted to get back onto his tires. Before he could do that, Frank Hollister, a fellow racecar came out of nowhere and smashed into Lightning's underside. The force of the collision sent the two cars skidding in opposite directions. Frank was lucky, he ended up in the grass. Lightning however, ended up in the middle of turn three.
Seconds later: A pack of cars came barreling down the backstretch and into turn three. Unable to avoid the wreck, Lightning was hit by two more racecars. Intense pain shot through his body. It was only a few seconds more before Lightning was knocked unconscious. As other racecars scrambled to avoid Lightning they ended up crashing themselves. Wisely, the racing officials stopped the race. All racecars were ordered to return to their pit. Doc and two other crew chiefs who also happen to be doctors, headed towards turn three.
"Kid… talk to me!" Doc said as he reached Lightning "Where do you hurt?"
There was no response from Lightning. His eyes were closed and he was breathing heavily. Doc pulled out his stethoscope and monitored his vital signs. There was little else he could do until the medics got there. As expected, the medical team arrived within moments. The racetrack's doctor immediately took control of the situation. Doc remained at Lightning's side offering help whenever he could.
Twenty minutes later: The medics had Lightning stabilized and they prepared him for the ride to the hospital. With nothing else to do, Doc looked at the carnage around him. He was relieved to see everyone who was injured, was being attended to.
"Sir, we need to get him to the hospital." a medic said "He's critical, but stable enough for transport."
"I'm going to check in with the team. Then I'll head to the hospital." Doc responded as he drove over to the pit crew "Lightning survived… I'll call you if there is any changes."
The head pity nodded as he herded his teammates back to the pit. Since the accident, the stadium remained silent. All the injured started to be loaded into ambulances. As each ambulance drove past the grandstand, the crowd cheered. Not to overload one hospital, the wounded are being sent to different hospitals around town. With Lightning being the most severely injured, he was sent to the closest. Metropolitan Hospital had been informed of the situation and they had a full medical team standing by. After the ambulance arrived at the hospital, Lightning was rushed into the ER. Escorted by police cars, Doc arrived moments later. Reporters surrounded Doc before he could enter the hospital.
"Okay, everyone! I will give you a brief statement. I will have a follow-up press conference as soon as we know more about Lightning's condition!" Doc said loudly "I never thought this would happen. No matter what, I'm not giving up. Lightning and I will return. Thank you."
The press respectfully parted in silence, allowing Doc to enter the hospital.
"If there's anything I can personally do for you, let me know." A hunter green Audi said as Doc passed by. "I know this is probably not how we wanted to meet again."
"Sophia Duster! It's been a while." Doc said turning towards the reporter and longtime friend "I was wondering who I could get to be our press agent."
"So you want me to quit my job?" Sophia asked somewhat playfully "I'm glad to see that you're still blunt and to the point."
"I'm sorry I-I-I'm sorry." Doc stuttered "You have a career, I can't ask you to drive away from that."
"I'm honored, let me see what I can arrange with my boss." Sophia replied "No matter what, you have a friend in me."
"Thank you." Doc said as he hugged Sophia "Now let's go see Lightning." Side-by-side the two cars rolled into the hospital.
"Doc Hudson! We need to talk!" A doctor said as Doc and Sophia rolled through the door "I'm Doctor Jack Pantera, Lightning's attending physician. Would you come with me?"
"Not before I see Lightning." Doc calmly responded "I demand to know how he's doing."
"It's not possible to see Lightning, he's already in surgery." Jack said "It's going to be hours before they are done."
"Then I'll wait. I have a feeling that I know what you want to talk to me about." Doc said "I'm not going to make any decisions before I see him."
Four hours later:
"Doc, I just got word." Jack said "Lightning has been taken to the ICU, if you would follow me."
He led Doc and Sophia to the intensive care ward.
"Even though you're a physician, I must warn you." Jack said "Lightning is in very bad shape. His appearance is quite startling."
Doc nodded in understanding.
"Sophia, could you wait out here?" Doc asked "I want to see him… alone."
"Of course." Sophia said "I don't have a strong stomach and the last thing you need is me throwing up all over the place. While you visit with Lightning, I'll call my boss and we'll try to work something out."
She gave Doc a kiss on the fender before rolling away. Dr. Pantera waited outside as Doc entered Lightning's room. Even though he was warned about Lightning's condition, Doc gasped as he saw his protégé. A web of tubes and electronic cords surrounded Lightning's battered body. His roof and windshield were hidden by bandaging. Lightning had a respirator over his mouth and with the help of a life support machine, he was breathing. Doc counted at least a dozen I.V. pumping medicine and other life sustaining fluids into his body. Lightning's tires had been removed and Doc could see that his right front axle had been crushed. Lightning's body was covered with dozens of dents, cuts, and scrapes. Doc could hear gentle beeping of one of the monitors. Lightning's vital signs were weak, but regular. Slowly, Doc drove up to him.
"Hey Kiddo, how are you doing?" He asked as he stroked one of Lightning's fenders. "I know that the doctors are doing everything possible. *Lightning took a deep breath on his respirator.* "I promise, I'll get you home soon as possible. *Lightning took another deep breath.* Right now, rest and I'll be back later to check on you."
Tears came to Doc's eyes as he rolled out of the room.
"Doctor Hornet, are you okay?" Jack asked "If you need to talk to someone, I can get you a counselor."
"I'm fine. I already have someone I can talk to." Doc responded "What do you want to talk to me about?"
"If you want to follow me to my office." Jack said "We can talk in private."
Soon: They entered the plush office and Dr. Pantera closed the door behind them.
"I'll get right to the point. As you've seen Lightning has stabilized, but his condition remains critical. There is a chance that he will not live through the night. Because of his injuries Lightning can't breathe on his own. If it wasn't for the life support machine, he would have died from injuries a few hours ago." Jack said "As his power of attorney, I'm asking you if you want to remove him from life support."
"I'm aware of how grievous and dire Lightning's injuries are." Doc said "However I'm not ready to give up on him. I've seen cars… "
"Bringing Lightning back to any decent quality of life will be very difficult, if it's possible at all." Jack said cutting in "We had to replace his racing engine because it was crushed. I don't know if Lightning's body will accept a normal everyday engine. On top of that, Lightning has multiple internal injuries, been blinded, has a crushed right axle, extensive damage to his aluminum skin, and there's possibility of a severe concussion. We have a CAT scan and MRI planned, first thing in the morning. We're not sure when Lightning will wake up, if ever. Even if he overcomes all of that, there will be a long period of therapy and rehabilitation. We will care for him for as long as you wish. But it may be best to consider letting Lightning go, and end any suffering he may be in, even now."
"Thank you, Doctor Pantera." Doc said evenly "I can appreciate your opinion and your need to maintain objectivity. I understand how the odds are stacked against him. Once Lightning wakes up, and I have no dought that he will. I will take him home and give him the one on one care he'll need, no matter how long it takes."
"I respect your decision." Jack replied "You know we can't do anything until Lightning wakes up. It's just too risky."
"I understand." Doc responded "Let's allow him to rest for tonight. I'll talk with you again tomorrow morning."
Doc headed back to the intensive care wing to check on Lightning. Sophia was there to meet him.
"I've talked with my boss. He said that I have three weeks of vacation. I'm taking it, starting right after your press conference." Sophia said "I've arranged a press conference in about a half an hour…or so. I know that you don't want one, but rumors are going to spread if you don't. After that, I'm yours for whatever you need me to do."
Doc sighed unhappily
"I guess you're right… Thank you Sophia." He replied gratefully "You know, you don't have to do this."
"Yes, old friend I do and you can't talk me out of it." Sophia responded, making Doc smile with a tear of gratitude in his eye. "Now, let's go check on Lightning. I've asked a nurse to get you a cup of coffee when you return."
"I need something a little stronger than that." Doc said "I dought that the hospital has any alcohol."
"Well they do." Sophia said playfully "It's not the drinkable kind."
Doc chuckled as they headed back to Lightning's room.
Roughly an hour later:
"Shall we go out and make a press statement?" Sophia asked "There's dozens of reporters waiting for you."
"Sure." Doc said "I've written a short statement. Hopefully it will satisfy them for a while."
Side by side, Doc and Sophia rolled out onto the hospital's plaza. Not only was the press gathered, but a throng of well-wishers too. A collection of flowers and mementos was growing on the hospital's plaza. As Sophia rolled up to a cluster of microphones, Sapphire approached Doc.
"The racing community would like to make a statement." She said "I promise it will be brief."
"Of course." Doc gratefully acknowledged "Do you want to go first?"
"No." Sapphire replied "I think we all want to hear how Lightning's doing."
Sophia finished addressing the crowd and Doc rolled up to the microphones.
"Thank you all for coming." He began "I want to inform you that Lightning is in critical, but stable condition. He appears to be resting comfortably. I personally want to thank you for your tremendous show of support for the Radiator Springs Racing Team. Thank you, that's all I have to say for now. Ms. Sapphire Winters has a few comments to make."
Doc rolled away from the microphones, allowing Sapphire to roll forward.
"We in the racing community would just like to say that we're here for Lightning, Doc, and their entire racing team." Sapphire said tearfully "In their two years with us, they have showed us what champions are like, on and off the track. We are not going to allow them to be forgotten in their hour of need. So Doc, we just want you to know that we've got your back here, so if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask!"
A cheer arose among the assembled crowd around them.
"Thank you, Sapphire." Doc said rolling up to the microphones again "All questions are going to be handled by our Press Agent, Sophia Cruiser. Again, thank you for coming."
Reporters shouted questions as Doc and Sophia headed back to Lightning's room. Unfortunately, there was no change in his condition. Doc picked up his phone and called Sally.
"I need to be there. I know I just got back…" Sally demanded "If he knows I'm there, he'll wake up."
"Although it's a good idea, you can't see him." Doc said gently "Only family is allowed. *Sally was crying on the other end.* I promise I will call a few times every day and keep you informed."
"Okay." Sally said tearfully "Flo said that she's going to stay with me tonight… I have a feeling she's worried I might do something drastic."
"That's not like you." Doc said "But it's a good idea, you know from the moment you drove into town, Flo took you under her wing… she's almost your second mother."
"I know she is." Sally said "I gotta go… I have guests arriving."
"All right, take care of yourself." Doc said "I'll call you later tonight."
COMMENTS:
Guest 2
I like the upgrades you've made. You've made the sexual talk between Lightning and Sally more exotic.- Thanks. I use my and my friend's husband sexy talk. I would like to thank Cindy and Mark, for the "Are you a speeding ticket?" quote. I wrote that one down, because it sounded exactly what Lightning would say.
Funny how Mater talks but we know he's cute.- Actually he's hard to write for. He grammar is so bad, it's hard to think how he would say something.
Lightning's gonna have to find another pet name for Sally as she doesn't want her past coming back to her. I can come up with one if you'd like help.- I would like that... I'm kinda busy and I don't have the time to think of one. They call each other "my king' and 'my queen' in the stories. I can use your 'pet' names until then.
Who is Doc to have the nerve to go poking his bumper in to Lightning's personal life even though it's racing judgement? He'd better watch it before he stirs up conflict.- At this part of the story, Doc has been alone for so long he has forgotten what's it like to have a girlfriend. Soon, someone drives into his life to make him remember what's it like.
Oh I hope you enjoyed St Patrick's day last Sunday. Coz I did- I did, I can't remember parts of it though. *wink, wink
I do not own Cars or any of its characters. PIXAR AND DISNEY CLAIM THAT RIGHT. READING ENJOYMENT ONLY
Please read and review! I need criticism and encouragements! Rated M for language and sex