Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Pixar. All OCs belong to me.

Chapter 8 – Surgery and Recovery

New York City – 22 April 2018, 7pm

Lightning exhaled shakily as he made himself comfortable on the operating table. He was extremely nervous about his operation, which was scheduled to start shortly. The first team of surgeons entered the operating theatre, fully covered in hospital scrubs. Nearby, Lightning could see a small crane that would be used to lift his engine out of his engine bay. Another operating table was standing ready on the other side of the room. He guessed that that would be where his engine would be taken apart, overhauled, and reassembled. A 3D scan of Lightning's engine was projected on a large computer screen. Since his engine was one-of-a-kind, the surgeons needed to know exactly how it all fitted together.

Dr Spark drove into the operating room. Like the others, he was also wearing hospital scrubs. He went over to Lightning. "How are you feeling?"

"Nervous," Lightning replied honestly.

Dr Spark smiled sympathetically. "All I can promise is that we'll do our best."

Another doctor, a forklift, drove over to Lightning. He held up a respirator mask. "Hi Lightning. I'm Doctor Pace, and I'll be your anaesthetist. I'm just going to put this mask over your mouth, and then I want you to start counting backwards from ten, okay?"

Lightning swallowed nervously, but then he nodded. Dr Pace fitted the respirator mask over Lightning's mouth, and he started the anaesthetic.

"Just relax," Dr Pace instructed.

Lightning inhaled deeply. "Ten…nine…eight…sev…" And with that, he fell asleep.

Dr Pace monitored Lightning's vitals for a few minutes, to ensure that he was stabilised. He was just about to give the surgeons the okay to start when he saw Lightning's eyelid twitch.

"Lightning?" he called softly.

"Is something wrong?" Dr Spark asked.

"He seems to be fighting the anaesthetic."

A small groan escaped from Lightning's lips. Had the room not been so quiet, the doctors might have missed it.

"He's done that before," Dr Spark said. "Just be very careful when you increase the anaesthetic. He stopped breathing once when that happened while I was operating on him."

Dr Pace cautiously increased the anaesthetic by half a milligram. Luckily, it was enough. Lightning stopped twitching and his breathing became slow and even. Everyone in the room breathed a collective sigh of relief. Then, with Dr Pace's permission, the team set to work.

…

"Lightning? Stickers? Can you hear me?"

Sally's sweet voice snapped Lightning out of the deep blackness that had enveloped him. He wanted to respond to her, but he felt too comfortable to move.

"Keep talking to him," a male voice instructed.

Doc? No, it can't be him… Can it? What's going on?

"Doc?" Lightning whispered. However, because he was still so out of it, he wasn't sure if he'd actually spoken, or only imagined that he had.

"Doc isn't here, Stickers," Sally told him, confirming that Lightning had indeed spoken. "Can you try and open your eyes for me, please?"

Lightning groaned tiredly. He just wanted to go back to sleep. A shiver raced through his body, making him gasp.

"C-cold…"

A pre-heated blanket was thrown over Lightning's body. He moaned contently as it warmed him. But then, a wave of nausea hit him. He groaned as his breathing rate increased.

"Feel…sick…"

Someone pushed a vomit pan in front of him. Lightning dry-wretched. There was nothing in his tank for him to throw up. He felt strangely empty. And internally clean. It was a weird feeling.

"Will he be all right?" Sally asked. Lightning could hear the worry in her voice.

"Yes. Post-operatic nausea is a common side-effect of the anaesthetic," the male in the room explained. Lightning finally recognised his voice. It was Dr Spark.

"Is it over?" Lightning asked as he tried to open his eyes. "The surgery?"

Dr Spark smiled slightly when he saw Lightning blink open his eyes. "Yes, it's all over. And, so far, it was successful. You have a lot of new parts installed, and everything else has in your system been thoroughly cleaned. I imagine that you probably feel a bit strange now, right?"

Lightning nodded slowly. Then, he dry-wretched again. Shuddering, he closed his eyes. "I feel so sick…"

A straw was pressed against Lightning's lips. He opened his eyes to find Dr Spark offering him a drink of a clear liquid. Think that it was just water, Lightning took a sip. But it wasn't water. It was baby oil. Lightning stared at Dr Spark, confused.

"Because your system has been entirely cleaned out, and your engine recalibrated, it's going to need a few days to recover from the shock," Dr Spark explained. "But you still need to get some oil back into your system as quickly as possible to settle the nausea. So, baby oil is the best thing for you right now."

Lightning took another sip of the baby oil. What Dr Spark said made sense. His engine overhaul had made his entire system the same as a newly built baby car. And since baby cars could only digest baby oil for the first six months of their life, his system was now much the same.

After a few more sips, Lightning felt more awake. He looked over at Sally and smiled. "Hey, babe. You look so hot!"

Sally gave an embarrassed chuckle. Dr Spark winked. "That's just the anaesthetic talking."

"No, it's not!" Lightning protested. His voice slurred slightly. "Come here, Sal. I want to feel your tongue down my throat."

"Yep, that's the drugs talking all right," Sally agreed. "You hate French kissing, Lightning."

"Maybe not as much as he says he does," Dr Spark chuckled. "Come on, Sally. Lightning needs to rest now."

"But, I'm not tired," Lightning protested, despite his eyelids half drooping.

"Go back to sleep, Lightning," Sally instructed. "I'll see you again tomorrow."

Lightning's eyes had closed before Sally and Dr Spark had even left the room.

…

Over the following four weeks, Lightning continued to recover from his surgery in the hospital. He was kept sedated most of the time, because when he was awake, he was restless and ravenous. His brain craved solid food, but Dr Spark would only allow him to drink baby oil. He knew that Lightning's system wasn't ready for solid food yet. For his part, Lightning tried to be patient and cooperative with Dr Spark's instructions.

Eventually, the day came when Dr Spark determined that Lightning's engine had recovered enough for him to try and start it. Lightning almost squealed when he was told the good news.

"Finally! So, will I be allowed to drive around again?"

"Maybe not today," Dr Spark replied. "Today, I just want you to try turning over your engine, and we'll see how you feel after that."

Lightning felt nervous excitement when he was moved into an examination room. Most of his surgical team had gathered in there, just in case something went wrong. Lightning was offered a drink of standard oil. While he drank it, two nurses filled up his fuel tank with the lowest grade of fuel that his engine needed to function properly. Dr Spark refused to let Lightning have any racing fuel, since he knew it would send his RPMs racing. His engine just wasn't ready to handle that yet. They needed to take Lightning's recovery process slowly.

Once Lightning's tank was half-full, the nurse removed the can. Dr Spark had placed sensors on Lightning's hood, so he could monitor his engine.

"Okay, Lightning," he said. "You may start up your engine when you're ready. It may take you several tries to get it going."

Lightning nodded. Then, he attempted to turn on his engine. It took him four attempts to start his engine, because the fuel needed time to flow from his tank into his engine. As soon as the spark plugs ignited the fuel, Lightning's engine roared into life. It was so loud, everyone inside the room cringed and moved back. Dr Spark motioned with a tyre for Lightning to cut his engine. Lightning reluctantly did so.

"How do you feel?" Dr Spark asked once the room was quiet again.

"Fantastic!" Lightning exclaimed. "Can I go for a short drive, please? I'm so tired of standing still!"

"Tomorrow," Dr Spark promised. "I want to monitor your engine over the next few hours. I know you're restless, but you need to take things slowly for now."

Lightning shifted restlessly. He knew that Dr Spark was right, but everything within him itched to move. Even a short drive would satisfy him. Instead, he was taken back to his hospital room, where he found Sally and Tex waiting for him.

"Hey!" Sally greeted him. "We were just wondering where you were. The nurse said you were undergoing tests or something."

"I just had him turn on his engine," Dr Spark explained. "Everything's looking good. I just need to keep monitoring him for now. See if you can distract him. He's pretty restless."

"He's definitely recovering then," Tex remarked.

"When can I go home?" Lightning asked.

"When I say you can," Dr Spark replied firmly. He turned to Sally. "Try and get him to sleep, please. He's going to be more tired than he realises after this."

Sally nodded in understanding. Sure enough, Lightning was already getting settled down for a nap when Dr Spark left the room.

"So, what am I missing?" Lightning asked Tex. "How's Cal going with Cruz?"

"Quite well, I think. They seem to be getting along, and Cruz has been placing in the top ten. It will take time for them to find a system that works for them though."

"Yeah," Lightning agreed. He remembered how hard it had been for him to adjust to each change in Crew Chief that he'd gone through during his rookie year. In hindsight, he really hadn't given then enough time to get used to him, and vice versa. He was lucky that he and Doc had clicked almost immediately. "Has there been any updates about the new racing series?"

"Not officially, but I did have a meeting with Justin Swerve a couple of weeks ago. He wants you and Cal to be there for the official launch."

"So, it is going ahead then?"

"At this stage, yes. Most of the sponsors have agreed to re-hire former racers for the series if it goes ahead. Most of them will probably start on a one-year contract though."

Lightning nodded sleepily. He tried to suppress a yawn and failed. Sally drove forward and she planted a loving kiss on his cheek.

"I love you, Stickers."

"I love you too, Sal," Lightning whispered. He yawned again before closing his eyes. He hated to admit it, but Dr Spark had been right. The effort of turning over his engine had left him exhausted. Minutes later, he fell asleep.