Here's another Ride companion oneshot to commemorate the anniversary of Fudge's accident. I thought a oneshot about Fudge's accident seemed appropriate in this collection.
I hope you enjoy. And I hope you enjoyed the last chapter too; I didn't get many reviews for it.
Easy Coma, Easy Go
The elevator was too slow. This wasn't the first time the two Italians had thought that. They thought it every day at this time for the past two weeks. You'd think an elevator that goes to ICU would be a little faster.
Ding!
Finally! Luigi rolled out. Guido followed.
"(What room is it again?)" the latter wanted to know.
"(617, I think)", Luigi responded.
They really had to remember. They just wanted to see their daughter. They didn't have time to check what room she was in every single time.
That was right. Room 617. Brittney Rossi-Topolino was written on the door, clear as day. Luigi paused outside the door, gathering up his courage. He knew what to expect. Nothing had changed since her first day in ICU. Still, he could never, ever get used to it. Even if he had to see it every day for the rest of his life.
The others wished they could go in and see her. They couldn't, though. Family only, the doctors had insisted. They were very strict about that. Luigi almost envied the others. He didn't like going in there. In fact, he hated it. He only did it because she needed him.
With a deep breath, he opened the door.
His daughter didn't even look like his daughter anymore. She looked lifeless as she lay there covered in casts and bandages and braces. Her face was covered in bruises and a mask. There was a long cut where she'd had to have stitches in her forehead. She'd had to have a few hundred stitches in her leg too, but they weren't visible because both her legs were wrapped up in plaster casts. So were both of her arms.
Luigi placed his tyre in one of her hands, careful not to disturb either the cast or the IV in her arm. "Buon giorno, Fudgie", he whispered.
Guido came and parked on the opposite side of the bed, taking her other hand. "Buon giorno", he echoed.
The two of them would always look at her, almost as if they were expecting a response. They never got one, of course. They missed her voice. To them, no sound was more beautiful than her American-Italian accent. It sounded more American when she spoke English and more Italian when she spoke Italian. She had kind of a deep voice for a girl and she did not have an indoor voice. She just never realised how loud she was talking. Plus, she tended to go on and on. It wasn't natural for Fudge to be so quiet.
"You got more cards!" Luigi announced, trying to sound upbeat. Though, given the circumstances, that was virtually impossible. "Shall we see?"
In all honesty, neither Guido nor Luigi could care less about the cards. (They were just an excuse to talk to their daughter, but who knew if any of it got through to her?) If one more person said that they "sent their thoughts and prayers", they were going to lose it. What good did that do? It wasn't going to make their daughter better! It was all just meaningless!
Although, on the other tyre, everyone probably felt like they ought to do something, but didn't know what. The two Italians could understand that. They felt the same way. They wished there was some way they could make their daughter better, but there was nothing they could do. There was nothing anybody could do, really. The doctors were doing everything they could, but Fudge had to do most of it on her own.
They had never felt so helpless.
"Shall we see what cards people sent Fudgie?" Luigi asked again. He opened the first card. "It is from your cousin, Annabella! That reminds me! Some of your family from Italy are coming tomorrow." There was nothing they could do for Fudge, but some of Luigi and Guido's relatives wanted to come to support the two of them. "Annabella wanted to come and see you too, but Uncle Mario and Aunt Allegra thought it would be best if she stayed in Italy for the time being."
They both looked at Fudge, as if they were expecting a comment from her.
"Papà! I don't wanna play with Annabella!" Fudge used to complain when she was little on their trips to Italy. "I don't like her!"
"Don't be silly, Fudge!" Luigi whispered, smiling softly at his comatose daughter. "Annabella is your cousin."
Guido looked confused, but then he realised what his best friend was doing.
"Shall we read it anyway?" Luigi read the card from his niece, followed by the six others that had arrived since their last hospital visit the previous morning.
When they were done, the room became too silent. Luigi racked his brain for a happy memory to go over with his daughter.
"So, Fudgie", he began finally, "do you remember our most recent trip to Italy? Do you remember taking a stroll along the beach?"
He reenacted all of his dialogue from this particular memory. Eventually, Guido joined in. There was nothing special or exciting about it; it was just a nice little memory. He just hoped talking about it would get through to his daughter...
Warm sunshine made the bright blue water sparkle. Yachts dotted the water. Children's shrieks of laughter and multiple merry conversations in dozens of languages filled the air. The Casino Bridge loomed in the distance. It was not a bad day to be on the beach in Porto Corsa.
Fudge had decided to accompany her dads for a leisurely drive- or walk, in her case- along the beach. She needed a break from all the relatives. It wasn't that she didn't like them. There were just so many of them and they came off too strongly. Being around them too much really stressed her out. She wore a fedora, sunglasses, a T-shirt and shorts and carrying her flip-flops as she walked along the water's edge where the sand was wet and gloppy and waves rushed over her feet.
For a long time, not one of the three spoke. They just took in the sights and the sounds and the wonderful fresh air.
"(What a beautiful day!)" she declared. The three of them almost never spoke English when they were in Italy. (In Radiator Springs, Luigi and Fudge tended to speak Italian when they were talking to Guido at home alone and when they spoke to each other, they would go back and forth between English and Italian.)
"(It is)", Luigi agreed. "(We have picked the perfect day to come.)"
His twelve-year-old daughter nodded in agreement."(It's hard to believe last time I was here, I was on an international spy mission!)" She laughed. "(Sammy and I were in Mater's truck bed, flying over here because he had a parachute!)" The whole thing was pretty scary at the time, but now, it was so unbelievable, it was kind of funny.
"(Yes. And there was a devastating crash up on the Casino Bridge.)" Luigi pointed to the bridge in question. "(We all thought it was a tragic accident, but you knew differently, didn't you?)"
Fudge nodded again, shuddering at the memory.
Luigi noticed. "(Don't worry, angel. There are no evil Lemons around. You are just on a nice, relaxing walk with your dads.)"
She smiled.
All of a sudden, Luigi stopped driving.
"(Is something wrong?)" Fudge wanted to know.
"No, no", Luigi assured her. "(I was just remembering something...)"
"(What?)"
"(Is this where you...)" Guido questioned.
"Si", Luigi confirmed.
"(Where you what?)" Fudge wondered.
"(When I was fourteen, I came down to this very beach one night with a girl and under the moonlight right here, I had my first kiss.)"
Fudge made a face. "(That's gross!)"
Her dads just laughed. They knew Fudge really thought that was nice; she just liked giving people a hard time when it came to kissing.
"(We are going to say the same thing when you kiss a boy, Fudge)", Guido informed her.
The young girl made another face, like she was about to barf. "(I'm never kissing a boy!)"
"(You say that now)", Luigi pointed out, "(but before we know it, we are going to lose our little girl to some boy who is not good enough for her!)"
"Papà!" Fudge exclaimed. "(You are never going to lose me!)"
"(Well, right now)", the Fiat announced, "(I want to make a better memory of kissing a girl on this beach.)" He kissed Fudge on the forehead. "(And you are much more beautiful.)"
Fudge smiled. Though, she wasn't convinced that she was more beautiful than anybody. "(Grazie... I have good memories on this beach too. Remember how I kept finding money here?)"
There was an awkward pause.
"(What?)"
"(You do not know?)" Guido asked in surprise.
"(Know what?)"
"(I have a confession to make...)" an embarrassed Luigi began. "(I buried that money, so that you would find it. My mama used to do it with us all the time.)"
"(What?! You mean, I never made an amazing discovery? I thought I was going to be an explorer, but it was all just a lie?!)"
Luigi drove off, but Fudge chased after him, kicking up water to splash him. Pretty soon, all three of them were splashing and laughing.
That was when they were interrupted. A young nurse with light brown hair came in. They didn't recognise her. Over the last couple of weeks, they'd seen dozens of nurses trooping in and out.
"We're here for Brittney", she announced.
Luigi nodded. Fudge had to be taken off every few days for scans and surgeries to fix the many injuries his daughter had. He'd forgotten that she was having another one that day.
"Okay. Just please take care of her."
"Of course", the nurse assured him. "She'll be in very good hands with Dr. Wilson and Dr. Moss."
Guido and Luigi just nodded again. Dr. Wilson was the main doctor in charge of Fudge's recovery and Dr. Moss was the head surgeon. The two fathers had met both of them and liked, respected and trusted both doctors. However, all the trust in the world wasn't going to soothe their nerves. This was their little girl. They only wanted the best possible outcome.
Luigi and Guido could only watch with anxiety at an all-time high as this nurse and another one, an African-American man in his late twenties, early thirties, wheeled Fudge out of the room. They knew that down in the lounge, Flo was probably praying that the surgery would be successful. Although, theyjust didn't have the energy or the faith for that. They could only hope it would go well.
"How'd it go, honey?" Flo wanted to know as they were getting ready to leave. She was the only one who'd come that day. Since Guido and Luigi had stayed at a hotel down the street the night before, she'd given them their mail (they'd tossed aside everything that wasn't a get well card). Then she decided to stay in the lounge, in case they needed her.
Luigi sighed as if he were doing the most laborious task in the world. "The doctors say it is too soon to know. But there are no changes so far! It has been two weeks! Why has she not made progress yet?!"
Flo sighed too. "It's still early days, honey", she tried to reason. "No news is good news, right?"
Luigi shook his hood. Those were just two more clichés he was sick of hearing. He was sick and tired of "early days", as everyone called it. He just wanted to skip straight to the part where she got better.
As for the whole "no news is good news", was that really true? It seemed to him like the only good news would be if Fudge made any signs that she was awake. He was relieved that she hadn't deteriorated, of course, but he wouldn't go as far to say that her lack of progress was good news.
Flo seemed to sense how he felt. "Remember when Fudge was a baby? You were so worried that she wouldn't learn how to walk? Well, it took her a while, but she did it. Some things just take time."
This isn't like that. It's not the same, Luigi wanted to tell Flo, but the words wouldn't come. A baby not walking, being a little behind with her physical development was not at all on the same level as a twelve-year-old girl who had been in a coma for two weeks and was showing little signs of progress. This was much more serious.
At that point, the former show car realised that nothing she said was going to make a difference. She could understand it. She was a mother herself. She'd even lost a son at birth. Nothing anybody could say or do made her feel better about it. She'd learned to live with it now, but those first few months had been torture. She supposed that was how Luigi felt right now.
"Let's go home", she suggested finally. "You two need some rest."
Everyone was at Flo's when they returned home, sipping on their oil half-heartedly.
"Nothing yet?" Sheriff guessed.
Luigi sighed and shook his hood.
"I'm sorry", Lightning apologised and sympathised simultaneously. "I- I really wish there was something I could do-"
"You have already done enough!" Luigi snapped. He couldn't believe that Lightning had been irresponsible enough to let this happen. He promised he'd take care of Fudge, but look what had happened!
Everyone told the small Italian car that what had happened wasn't the stock car's fault, but what did they know? Most of them weren't parents; they didn't know the strong desire, the strong need, to protect a small person who needed you. Despite everyone's begging, Luigi had no desire to be nice to Lightning.
"Come on, he's your friend!" they all shouted.
Maybe that had once been true, but Fudge was his daughter. That came before anything. Even his friends.
"Come on, honey", Flo intervened before another fight could break out. "We better get you home."
Of course, Luigi and Guido couldn't sleep. They couldn't even rest. Luigi parked in the kitchen, ignoring the cup of coffee he'd made, almost pointedly. His face was blank; staring, but not seeing.
Meanwhile, Guido would start doing insignificant tasks like adjusting some tyres on display, wash a spot of dirt on one of the windows or start folding some of Fudge's clothes. Then he would stop, thinking that it didn't matter. So, he would park there, still and silent for about two minutes. Once he got to about two minutes of doing nothing, he would start doing something else. Not because he cared or thought it was important, but because it drove him crazy not to be doing something.
At one point, when Luigi was just parked in the kitchen, he almost thought he could see Fudge sat at the kitchen counter. She was sipping the soda she liked, but he hated (far too much sugar!) and watching him make dinner. She would whimper and look away if she didn't like what the stove was doing. Whenever she thought he wasn't looking, she might try to swipe a piece of bread he had out.
"Fudge Rossi-Topolino!" he would admonish her, hiding a smile. Once again, he did it out loud now. "Why can you never wait until dinner is ready?"
"I'm hungry!" she'd respond with a sheepish smile. "And they taste better when it's fresh!"
Luigi laughed softly. "It will still be fresh in five minutes. And it will taste even better with the pasta."
"Pasta?!" Fudge would exclaim, feigning surprise. "Oh, boy! We never have pasta!"
The Fiat laughed again. "Out!" he ordered, pointing to the door. He opened the cutlery drawer and pulled out three knives and three forks. "Why don't you go and set the table?"
"Okay!" Fudge took the cutlery and grabbed three plates. Then she scurried out of the room, calling over her shoulder, "I'll come back for the glasses."
Guido came into the kitchen, reading the electricity bills, which got more and more demanding. He was surprised to find the table had been set. He pointed. "(Did you do that?)"
"No." Luigi shook his hood. "Fudge did."
For the second time that day, the little forklift was a little confused, but after a moment, he knew what Luigi meant.
The Fiat sighed again. "I am going to make that pasta Fudge likes... Do you want some?"
Guido sighed too. "(I suppose we have to eat)", he muttered half-heartedly.
Luigi wasn't particularly enthusiastic about the idea either. He just felt compelled to do it, as if Fudge were really there. His brain went on autopilot as he made the pasta, thinking things will be different- they'd be better- when he was making it for Fudge again.
That's right. When, not if. The doctors and nurses kept telling him to prepare himself, but he wouldn't. Fudge was going to come back. He just knew it. If anybody asked him why or how he knew that, he'd just simply state, "Because she has to." Things like this didn't happen to families like theirs. Fudge was going to be fine. She was going to come back. He just hoped it would happen soon and they could forget this ever happened.
After forcing down as much of the pasta as they could, each of them retired to their rooms. Luigi hated how there was no sound coming from his daughter's room next door. The silence was torture. He wanted the inside door, connecting his room to Fudge's, to open.
"Papà?" Fudge would venture. Sometimes, it would take several attempts to wake him up.
"What is it, Fudgie?" he asked soothingly.
"I can't sleep", she would tell him.
"No?"
The little girl would shake her head. "I'm scared."
"Of what?"
"My dreams!"
Luigi's heart twisted. He knew she had bad dreams all the time.
"Don't worry, angel. It is okay."
"Can I sleep with you? Please?"
"Well, I can't leave my little angel all alone when she is like this. Of course. Come." He patted the mattress he was lying on. Not many vehicles used mattresses, but Guido and Luigi both did, so Fudge would be a bit more comfortable if she decided to sleep with them.
So, Fudge crawled onto the mattress, made herself comfortable by Luigi's tyres and before long, they were both fast asleep.
The elevator was too slow. This wasn't the first time the two Italians had thought that. They thought it every day at this time for the past two weeks. You'd think an elevator that goes to ICU would be a little faster.
Ding!
Finally! Luigi rolled out. Guido followed.
"(What room is it again?)" the latter wanted to know.
"(617, I think)", Luigi responded.
They really had to remember. They just wanted to see their daughter. They didn't have time to check what room she was in every single time.
That was right. Room 617. Brittney Rossi-Topolino was written on the door, clear as day. Luigi paused outside the door, gathering up his courage. He knew what to expect. Nothing had changed since her first day in ICU. Still, he could never, ever get used to it. Even if he had to see it every day for the rest of his life.
With a deep breath, he opened the door.
Nothing had changed. Fudge was still as still and silent as she had been for the last two weeks. Even though her eyes were closed and she was unconscious, her dads could tell that she was in pain.
"Buon giorno, Fudgie!" they each greeted her as warmly as they could.
There was no response, of course. Fudge just lay there helplessly.
"Please, my angel!" Luigi begged, taking her hand. "Please let me know you are okay!"
No response. Her breathing was slow and shallow. Luigi wished he knew what, if anything, was going on in her mind...
Fudge stumbled across the rocks as waves crashed against her violently. Rain pelted down, making visibility poor. She had to try to find something, though, She had been stranded on this island all alone for days, ever since she was thrown out of her boat. She had to see if there was anything in sight.
She thought she saw a bright light, perhaps it was a lighthouse. The human girl waded out a little further, but the light grew farther and farther away
"Papà!" she tried to shout. "PAPÀ!"
Unfortunately, the wind and the rain were making more noise than her. Nothing she'd tried to get help had worked. Nobody had seen her flashlight blinking out the letters SOS. Or seen the HELP she'd made out of rocks.
Desperately, Fudge ran across the beach, round to the other side of the island. Voices became louder there. It wasn't just Luigi's or Guido's. There were the voices of just about everyone she knew. Her family in Radiator Springs. Lightning's racing buddies. Finn, Holley, Sammy and RJ. Her relatives in Italy. So many voices.
And she couldn't reach any of them.
I might do another oneshot about later on after the accident, if you guys want that and I get some ideas.
In the meantime, please review.