Doc

Hudson awoke the next morning with swollen, red eyes. Sure, he had slept over nine hours but his crying from the previous night had dragged him down, and worn him out. The crisp, cold air rushed into Hudson's room as he opened the door to head out. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and started heading towards Ramone's. Ramone was an early riser, who prepared his shop and had everything ready to open by 5 AM. Because, of course, people needed their cars painted at such an ungodly hour of the morning… Hudson chuckled a little and stepped inside, speaking with a hoarse voice.

"Good morning."

Ramone turned around from his pile of paint cans he was organizing and smiled up at the young man. "Heeeey, good morning man! We thought chu' was never gonna get up."

Hudson blushed a shade of red, "No, no, here I am," he said in embarrassment. Before he could open his mouth to ask about his car, Mater trotted in.

"G'mornin' folks!" He shouted in a cheerful and excited tone. "I see Hudson finally showed up," he put a hand on Hudson's shoulder and gave him a playful push. Hudson stumbled and turned red again.

"Yeah, but I'm here no-"

"SAY," Mater interrupted, looking at the paint cans that Ramone had put to the side. "Is that there a fancy eggshell white?"

"Oh yeah," Ramone replied, then waved a paintbrush in the air. "Goin' old-school. Gotta paint our fence. Flo wants it done."

"Awhm, speaking of Flo, she sent me here to tell yah that there's sum breakfast ready for everyone."

"I'll be right over," Hudson said politely.

"Well you better come soon or I'm gonna eat it all!" Mater laughed and headed off to breakfast.

All was quiet for a moment as Mater trotted away. "So," Hudson started, as Ramone finished up the last of his organizing. "How's my car coming along?"

"Still got some work to do man," Ramone replied. "Don't worry about it, Ramone's got it under control," he pointed to himself. "Now chu' just enjoy your time in Radiator Springs."

Hudson quietly scoffed and rolled his eyes when Ramone looked away. "See you at breakfast." He turned and left the shop.

When breakfast ended, Hudson helped Flo pick up the dishes and even washed them for her. He stayed quiet but still wanted to help if it was possible. He hoped it would make the time go by faster too.

"Honey, that's so sweet of you to help," Flo put a hand on Hudson's shoulder.

"It's nothing, I don't mind," Hudson said softly.

"Do you think you could do me another favor, well, do Sheriff a favor?" She pointed out the window. Sheriff was balancing on the edge of a ladder, trying to reach the corner of the window. He had a spray bottle and a cloth in his hands as he stretched up to wipe off the water.

"You're taller than Sheriff," Flo said. "Maybe you can help him wash those windows?"

Hudson nodded and ran out the door… "Hey! Need some help?" He asked, grabbing hold of the ladder before it could tip over, with Sheriff standing on top.

"O-oh!" Sheriff looked down and sighed. "I can't reach the top of these windows, maybe you could get it for me?"

Hudson looked up at him, but his eyes were quickly drawn to a bandage that was wrapped around Sheriff's arm as he climbed off the ladder.

Hudson got onto the ladder and started wiping down the window. "What happened to your arm?" He asked as he started on the second pane of the window.

"Oh, I hurt my arm on a piece of barbed wire… Nasty stuff, you can't see it until it's already stuck in your skin! There's a lot of that old stuff out in the desert."

Hudson looked down at Sheriff, then stepped off the ladder after finishing the window. "Is it bad? I could look at it for you. I went to medical school…"

"But are you a doctor?" Sheriff asked.

Hudson nodded. "I am, actually. Is it infected or anything? Did you bandage it properly?"

Sheriff shook his head. "All I did was wrap it."

Hudson sighed. "Theeen it's probably infected."

"I'll get the first aid kit from my car," the sheriff said as he headed off. He quickly jogged back and gave it to Hudson. The kit looked like it was at least twenty years old, but Hudson could make it work… The young doctor made him sit on the ladder step as he unwrapped the wound and prepared to redress it. It was quiet for a few moments but Sheriff tried to start up a conversation with his new friend.

"So… where are you from Hudson?"

"The South."

"Ah, I see. I'm from Texas."

Hudson didn't reply but instead asked another question. "What happened to the doctor here?"

Sheriff watched Hudson as he got out a little jar of a healing cream. "Well, after the town died he just left, went somewhere to get more business I guess. We're on our own out here… We've been looking for someone to take the spot, well, if you were wanting to stay here for a longer period of time…"

No reply. Hudson dabbed the ointment on the sheriff's arm, which made him cringe a little, but Hudson reassured him that the ointment would help prevent any infections in the future. Sheriff agreed, slowly starting to realize that the quiet man was in no mood for sharing about his past, or talking in general… So Sheriff decided to wrap it up until another time.

"You make quite a good doc," Sheriff huffed. "Thanks, er," he stammered, "doc!"

"Anytime," Hudson said softly. He pulled out the bandage and began wrapping the arm gently. "If anyone else needs help, you just let me know…"

"You got it doc," Sheriff laughed a little, and Hudson just made face.

"Is that what you're going to call me now?"

"Well, why not, Doc?" Sheriff pushed at his arm, but Hudson stood and shook his head.

"I'll have to think about that one. For now, you can just call me Hudson like I said."

"Alright alright, was just playing with yah', silly." Sheriff snorted and stood up. "Now, come on, we gotta finish these windows for Flo before noon…"

Hudson took a deep breath and exhaled in a slow manner. "Alright." He stayed quiet for a few minutes, washing the windows quietly to himself before he finally turned his head to Sheriff once again.

"You know what, maybe 'Doc' doesn't sound so bad after all…"

Sheriff piped up. "I knew you'd come around!"