Chapter 5. - Recovery Part 2. -

The small medical clinic, which had been Doc's private practice had been transformed into a gleaming hospital. In fact, it was no longer just Doc's clinic; it had been changed to read aptly the following: Ornament Valley Hospital. Doc still had half a dozen examination rooms in a wing of the hospital that he used as his private practice. The hospital was small with only two hundred and fifty employees. With its modern interior and state of the art procedures, it was one of the top small hospitals in the nation. With Doc spending so much time with Lightning during the racing season, he needed some help with running his private practice as well as the hospital. He shared it with the town's two new medical residents. It turned out that the red Ferrari that Lightning referred to Luigi's shop a year ago was a doctor and was looking for somewhere to start a practice. The Ferrari's name was Dr. Michael Schumacher. His wife Zoë, was a bright violet Lamborghini with green eyes, and a super sweet personality. Although Michael was much younger, he had as much experience as Doc. And like Doc, he was skilled at everything. In fact, he was more skilled in some aspects of surgery than Doc was. Zoë was a Gynecologist and Obstetrician, impressive for someone who was young. Doc was not their supervisor but equal partners. The three of them ran the hospital together. Michael and Zoë were as well loved as Doc was. The Italian-born doctors immediately fell in love with Radiator Springs. The couple was cute, young and extremely friendly.

Days later:

Lightning under Doc's care, began to improve quickly. He still was dealing with a severe concussion and was in and out of consciousness. Doc was able to repair Lightning's windshield allowing him to see again. After performing an eye exam, Doc was happy to announce that Lightning's vision was a perfect 20/20.

One afternoon:

"…And then I went and asked Doreen to be my girlfriend." a distant voice said "But she already had plans to go and move away, so she went and left me. I didn't love no one other again. Instead, I took to tractor tippin'."

Lightning opened his eyes to see a fuzzy outline of Mater.

"Mater, that's really interesting and all but… shut up." Lightning said weakly "Oh fuck… I hurt all over and I have a pounding hood ache."

"Yur awake!" Mater exclaimed "Hey everybody, Lightning's awake!"

"How long have I been out?" Lightning asked, attempting to clear his hood. "Where's Sally?"

"I don't know." Mater said "But you've been sleeping a lots. Doc said to let ya, you a healin; ya needs it."

All of a sudden it flooded back: Chick, the wreck, the hospital, the helicopter ride, and everything else. Lightning's undercarriage was especially sore and tender. He attempted to move forward, but a huge brace on his front axle prevented him from going anywhere. Suddenly, the whole town seemed to be surrounding him. Voices called Lightning's name and they made an ungodly amount of noise. Lightning closed his eyes trying to get rid of the dizziness he was feeling.

"EVERYONE! GET THE HELL OUT!" roared a very angry, very familiar voice. As soon as everyone left, Doc approached Lightning. "How do you feel Kiddo?"

Lightning forgot his grievance with Doc.

"Not great. I'm very dizzy." he admitted groggily "It don't help that my whole body is throbbing."

"Yuh look about the same as yuh feel." Mater interjected "Yur sides are all dented up and…"

"Thanks Mater." Doc interrupted "Why don't you go outside and make sure everybody's doing their job?"

"Okey dokey!" Mater said happily, leaving the room "I'll see you later."

"I'll have Jackie bring painkillers and something for dizziness." Doc said as he inputted a code on a computerized tablet "What hurts the worst?"

"Mostly my hood and my underside." Lightning said, weaker than before "But I hurt all over."

"You got hit hood-on." Doc explained "You have a severe concussion. It's affected your short term memory. I wouldn't worry about it, you should be better in a few days."

"I hope so." Lightning said "If I got hit hood-on, why does my underside hurt so bad?"

"You got hit multiple times." Doc said "That's why you're sore all over."

"Oh, well that explains that." Lightning said as he saw tubes coming from his underside "How much did I break?"

"A lot." Doc said "Your right front axle is crushed. I hate to say this… but you are going to have problems with it for the rest of your life. Your engine was crushed, so the hospital had to immediately replace that. Most of your internal organs are bruised, including your male parts. I'm happy to say that you should be able to have children without any problems."

"How long until I can race again?" Lightning asked making Doc hesitate "Come on… Tell ME!"

"A long time." Doc said "If you rush your recovery, your injuries won't heal properly."

"How long?" Lightning asked "I want to know!"

"Six months to a year." Doc said "Or until next season…"

There was a knock at the door.

"It's Jackie, I have your medication." The nurse said "Can I come in?"

"Sure." Lightning said "I hate getting shots."

"Well, you can relax." Jackie said "Everything I'm going to give you, is an I.V. You won't feel a thing."

She quickly administered the medication. Lightning sighed in relief as his pain started to go away.

"Better?" Jackie asked as she checked his oil pressure "Those are long acting painkillers, so you won't need anything until tonight."

"I don't hurt, but now I feel like I'm going to throw up." Lightning said as he swallowed a few times "Can I have a barf bucket?"

"I was hoping that you wouldn't need this." Jackie said as she sat a sick basin in front of him, then she pulled out a syringe and injected the contents into an I.V. line. "This will help with the nausea, but it's going to put you to sleep. Do you need anything else?"

"No, I don't think so." Lightning said "Thanks Jackie."

"Anytime Kiddo." Jackie said "And you *points at Doc.* Don't forget your three-o-clock conference call."

She gathered up her equipment and left.

"This sucks!" Lightning groaned "Are you sure I'll be out the rest of the season?"

"Yeah." Doc said "You got pretty banged up. I have good news though, Chick is suspended until further notice."

"What?" Lightning asked, his mood lifting slightly "How did you do that?

"I threatened the league with a lawsuit if they didn't punish Chick." Doc said "I don't know if it helped, but I was told that there was a petition being passed around. It demanded that the league do something about Chick's behavior. If they didn't, most of the racing teams were going to boycott races until the league did something."

"That's impressive, it's nearly impossible to get racecars to agree on anything." Lightning said "I guess something positive happened because of my accident. Do you know what happened to the petition?"

"No I don't. I'm assuming it was dismissed." Doc said "But there's another thing we need to discuss… I'm sorry I got into your personal life Kiddo. I should have minded my own fucking business. I'm really sorry, this is my fucking fault."

"No it's not." Lightning said weekly "I was the one who was too aggressive on the track, not you. You warned me not to try to pass Chick…"

Lightning closed his eyes and groaned as intense pain ripped through his body.

"It's okay, just relax." Doc said "The painkillers should kick in soon."

Over the course of a half an hour, Lighting got more and more tired. Doc stayed with him until he fell asleep. Hours later: Lightning groaned and opened his eyes. Sally was reading in the corner of the room.

"You're awake!" She said softly "How do you feel?"

"A little banged up." Lightning said "Whatever Doc is giving me for pain is keeping most of it bearable."

"I'm sorry I broke up with you. Doc said it was for the best. I'm sorry that I didn't have the courage to stand up to him." Sally said with tears in her eyes "Doc is very remorseful for what he's done. He has begged and pleaded with me not to give up on our relationship."

"I wouldn't be in this situation if I listened to him." Lightning said "Are you saying we're still boyfriend/girlfriend?"

"Yes." Sally said "You almost died because of me!"

"This isn't your fault." Lightning said softly "I was the one being stupid at two hundred miles an hour."

"I never stopped loving you." Sally sniffed "I'll always love you."

"I love you too. You know how overbearing Doc can be…" Lightning said as he attempted to get out of bed causing pain to race through his body. "I shouldn't have done that! Oh! Fuck that hurts!"

"You can't get out of bed." Sally warned "Doc wants you to remain in bed for at least a week, maybe more."

Lightning nodded slowly and sighed.

"How do I look?" he asked "I mean you don't have to go into detail. If it hurts to move, I know it's pretty bad."

"I have a copy of your wreck." Sally said "Do you want to see it or would you rather not?"

"Sure." Lightning said miserably "I'm going to see it eventually." Sally nodded and went to the television.

She turned it on, pulled out a DVD, and hit play. Sally fast forwarded through most of the race.

"Are you sure you want to see this?" She asked, stopping the tape right before his wreck "It's pretty graphic."

"Because of the concussion, I don't have any memory of what happened after Chick pinned me against the wall." Lightning said "I want to see it. Sally, I'm a racecar, I've seen grisly accidents."

Sally hit the play button and Lightning saw Chick slamming against him, his tire blowing out, then rolling down the track before being hit by the other racecars. A camera zoomed in on him, Lightning gasped as he was almost unrecognizable to himself. Sally turned off the television and gave Lightning a pitying look.

"That explains a lot." Lightning said "Who won the race?"

"The Dinoco one, I think her name is Sapphire." Sally said "They're calling it the worst wreck in the league's history."

Sally moved in front of Lightning and gave him a kiss. His half healed male parts responded to the stimulation. Lightning groaned in pain.

"Stop that!" Sally scolded "Even when your injured, you're horny."

"I'm a man." Lightning said "And a racecar… what do you expect. Where's Doc?"

"I suppose he's with Sophia." Sally said "He's been spending a lot of time with her."

"I get the feeling they have known each other for a long time." Lightning said "They make a very striking couple."

"I've noticed that too. I helped Sophia set up a web page for you. She's keeping everyone informed of your recovery." Sally said "From my talks with her, their relationship goes back pretty far. From what I understand, Sophia was just starting her career as a reporter shortly before Docs' career ending injury. She covered his recovery and attempted return to racing. For some reason, she was the only car he kept in contact with after he went into his self-imposed exile… I don't know… There some sort of chemistry between them. I've never seen Doc so interested in a woman before."

"If you're suggesting Doc is gay… he's not." Lightning said "You've never seen him at the track. Most the time he is focused on racing. But every now and then when a hot babe rolls by, he gets a stiffy like all the other guys."

"Lightning that's gross!" Sally said as he let out a huge yawn "I've got to go, I have a ton of paperwork waiting for me at the cone. Besides you look like you need a nap."

"That's the only thing I'm allowed to do." Lightning complained "Eat, sleep and watch movies."

"Yeah, well your healing and that takes a lot of energy." Sally said "I'll be back later."

A few days later: Both Lightning's spirits and body were brightening. Thanks in no small part to Sally's gentle hot wax massages.

"Ohhh, Sally!" Lightning sighed "Thank you. It feels wonderful."

"Well, Doc said it would do good to stimulate your body." Sally replied "Besides I like taking care of you."

"My dented-up carcass is hardly worth waxing and polishing." Lightning said "I think I have more dents than Mater."

"Your carcass is always worth waxing and polishing, no matter what shape it's in!" Sally assured him "After your surgeries, you can give me a hot wax massage. I been so worried about you that I'm all in knots. In fact, I'm already looking forward to it! *Sally rested on top of Lightning's roof for a moment.* Is it okay if I do this? I don't want to hurt you."

"Actually what you're doing feels good." Lightning said "The pressure is relieving strains."

"Trying to be a chiropractor are we?" Doc said with a smile as he came through the door

"Well, the town needs one." "Oh boy!" Sally said, blushing deeply "I'll be off him in a sec!"

"Don't go." Lightning pleaded "It feels really good!"

"Don't worry about it." Doc assured "It's good that you're stimulating his body. It'll make him heal faster."

"Do you really think I can race again?" Lightning asked "I want a straight answer."

"Well." Doc responded "Collisions will be more painful than they used to be. You'll need more frequent check-ups, other than that, yes, you should be able to race again."

A few days later:

Doc, two male nurses, and a pity approached Lightning.

"Do you want to try driving around?" he asked "I think it's time you get up and start moving."

"Yeah." Lightning said eagerly "I'm going crazy with boredom."

The pity attached the tires to his rims. Lightning wasn't happy that they weren't racing tires. The tires that the pity put on him were slightly heavier than normal and had a thick tread on them.

"I know what you're thinking. Racing tires don't have a lot of grip. The last thing we need is you slipping and falling." Doc said once the pity was done "I must warn you, it's going to hurt like a son of a bitch. When you drive, you carry sixty percent of your weight on your front tires."

"I'll take my chances." Lightning said "I need to get out of this hospital room!"

"I'm going to take the brace and I.V. off." Doc said "Then we're going to take it slowly."

"What about the tube that you have in my…my…" Lightning said struggling with the words, before pointing at his manhood "My rama lama ding dong."

"Once I'm sure you're up and about, I'll take it out." Doc said "But not a moment before."

Lightning winced as Doc took the large brace off and replaced it with a lighter one.

"All right, were going to take it nice and slow, there's no rush." Doc said as Lightning readied himself "All right… I want you to get out of bed. Just go slowly."

Lightning inched forward but had to stop when the pain flared.

"Oh fuck, that hurts!" he said "If it hurts this bad just getting out of bed, what will driving around feel like?"

"Just go slow." Doc said "If you move slowly you should be fine."

Lightning slowly inched his way to the edge of the bed. The two male nurses braced Lightning between them. Slowly they helped him out of bed. Once out of bed, Lightning had all of his weight on his tires. Terrible, intense pain ripped through Lightning's body.

"Stay with me Kid." Doc said calmly "It should go away in a few minutes."

Minutes later:

"It's not stopping!" Lightning said "If anything, it's hurting worse."

"That's because you shifted your weight onto your front axle." Doc said "Try leaning back, keep most of your weight over your rear axles."

Lightning nodded before taking a deep breath. He tried to forget about the burning pain that was ripping through his underside. Lightning held his breath as he rolled forward.

"It's okay." Doc said "You have to keep going."

The pain eventually subsided. Lightning took it as an opportunity to drive forward again. He accelerated slightly and braced himself for pain. When it came, it was not nearly as bad as it had been. Lightning turned down into the hall. Once the nurses were sure that Lightning was not going to collapse, they let him drive on his own. Lightning accelerated slightly and made it up to ten miles per hour.

"Good Kid." Doc said encouragingly "You can drive up to twenty miles an hour. We'll see if we can make it up to fifty in a week or so."

"Okay." Lightning said "Will you take the tube out? I feel like everyone is looking at it."

"If it's bothering you that much, go back to your room." Doc said "I'll grab Jackie and we'll be in a minute."

With the help of the nurses, Lightning made it back to his room without too much difficulty. He was just stretching out in bed when Doc and Jackie arrived.

"Before we remove the tube." Doc said "I want to put the heavier brace back on your axle. When you're up and about I want you to wear the lighter one, it will make driving around easier."

"When can I take the heavier one off?" Lightning asked "It's hard to get comfortable with it."

"I want you to wear it today and tomorrow." Doc said as he washed his mechanical arms in the sink. "After that you can take it off when you're resting."

Jackie covered Doc's mechanical arms with latex before covering her own. She held Lightning's manhood as Doc grabbed the tube and started to pull it out. Lightning's undercarriage flared with pain.

"OWWWW!" Lightning squealed "That hurts!"

He gritted his teeth as Doc finished removing the tube.

"There it's out." Doc said "When you urinate, you're going to feel a burning sensation. It's normal and should go away by tomorrow. Do you have any questions?"

"Am I allowed to come and go as much as I want?" Lightning asked "I need to get out of here."

"I want you up and moving around as much as possible, but don't leave the hospital." Doc said "Tomorrow, if you're strong enough I can let you out for a while."

"Okay." Lightning said "How long do I have to stay here?"

"At least for rest of the week." Doc said "I have other patients to see, so I'll see you later."

Doc and Jackie left the room. Lightning grabbed the remote and watched TV for the afternoon.

COMMENTS:

Guest 2

Seems I'm still the only one here. - It's okay. (In Stich's voice(from Disney's Lilo & Stitch)) My friend! *Pats you on top of your head*… Sorry, I had WAY too much coffee this morning! I had only one... … … pot! LOL!

Lightning seems to be a gannet being hungry all the time. - You know how athletes are, their metabolism burns through food quickly and they have to eat large amounts of food.

Doc is strong willed encouraging Lightning and Sophia's getting closer to Doc. Very supportive of the crowd on Lightning's return home and vow to start racing again. You have made a big difference but it's nice.- Thanks. The original story so badly written, I had to do something about it. I'm going to take it down at some point.

Doc seems to be remorseful for interfering with Lightning and Sally's relationship.- Sally and Lightning talked about in this chapter.

Look forward to more action- Me too!

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