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

Chapter 4

The next morning, Lightning found himself with Doc inside the dental clinic in a large town about an hour's drive from Radiator Springs. He wasn't terribly happy about it.

"I'm not a child anymore, Doc. You didn't have to come with me."

"Oh, yes I did! I know you too well, Lightning. You'd have taken off to the other side of the country before coming in here, and you know it!"

Lightning muttered something under his breath. He knew that Doc was right. Like most cars, he didn't like dentists at all! He was feeling really nervous about this.

"I know this is a stupid question, Doc, but what exactly are Wisdom teeth?"

"No question is stupid," Doc replied. "Wisdom teeth are an extra set of molars that cut through when cars are aged between fifteen and twenty-five. They're nearly always removed, because they have a tendency to overcrowd the mouth."

"Oh. How are they removed?"

Before Doc could answer, the dentist's assistant came into the waiting room. "Lightning McQueen?"

"Sometimes I wish I had a pseudonym," Lightning sighed as everyone in the waiting room looked at him. Doc gave him a firm nudge towards the dentist's office.

The dentist, a forklift named Dr Neil, smiled as Lightning and Doc entered the room. "So, it really is you!"

"If any of what takes place in this room ends up in the media, I can assure you I was personally sue you to within an inch of your life!" Lightning snapped.

"Whoa! Easy there! I always honour patient confidentiality, no matter who they are," Dr Neil replied sincerely. "Right, so, what's the problem?"

"I believe he's cutting his wisdom teeth," Doc answered on Lightning's behalf.

"I can believe that! It would explain his irritability. Can you get onto the lift for me, please, Lightning?"

Lightning drove onto the hydraulic lift, and Dr Neil raised it high enough to enable him to easily look inside Lightning's mouth. He adjusted the light before picking up a small dental mirror and a dental pick. Knowing what Dr Neil wanted, Lightning closed his eyes and he slowly opened his mouth.

After Dr Neil had spent a few minutes poking around inside Lightning's mouth, he let the race car rest. Lightning gratefully closed his mouth and he opened his eyes.

"I must say, for a racer, your teeth are in very good condition. Normally, racers lose or damage some of their teeth in collisions." He turned to Doc. "You're right. He is cutting his Wisdom teeth. I can see three crowns coming through."

"Shouldn't there be four?" Lightning wondered.

"Not always. Sometimes, there are only one, two or even three Wisdom teeth. But I believe you have four. Sometimes, the tooth can get stuck in the gum, leaving it to rot and cause the gum to become infected. That is why Wisdom teeth are usually removed. They're just troublemakers. I'll take an x-ray to find out what's going on."

"Would the Wisdom teeth cutting through have caused a fever?" Doc asked.

"Most definitely," Dr Neil replied confidently. "It's a big change in the mouth, and it can affect young cars in all sorts of ways. Okay, let's take those x-rays."

Fifteen minutes later, the x-rays had been taken and developed. The assistant handed them over to Dr Neil, who placed them against a screen with a backlight. Doc joined him to examine them.

"That's definitely impacted," Lightning heard Dr Neil mutter. "Most cars would be in absolute agony over that!"

"Racers are pretty much impervious to pain," Doc replied.

"Well, you should know!"

Lightning sniggered. Doc flashed him a glare, making Lightning gulp. Dr Neil turned around to look at him.

"I was right. You do have four Wisdom teeth cutting through, but the one in your top left-hand side is impacted, meaning that it's stuck. It'll have to be surgically removed."

Lightning groaned audibly. "How long will it take for me to recover?"

"A few weeks," Dr Neil replied.

"A few weeks?" Lightning exclaimed. "But the racing season starts in just under a month!"

"You'll be fine to race," Dr Neil assured him. "You'll just be in a lot of pain. But I know you can handle that."

Lightning rolled his eyes.

"How soon can the surgery be done?" Doc asked.

"I'll have to talk to the orthodontic surgeon at the hospital first. It should be within the next week."

Dr Neil pressed the lever to lower the hydraulic lift, and Lightning drove off it.

"In the meantime," Dr Neil continued, "You can give him painkillers whenever he needs them. I think it'll be easier on him if all of the Wisdom teeth are removed at the same time. It will hurt him more initially, but then at least it'll be over with."

"I'd prefer that," Lightning agreed.

"That's settled then," Dr Neil smiled. "I'll phone you once I've arranged everything."

"Thank you," Doc said. He and Lightning then left the office.

As they passed through the waiting room, Lightning groaned when he saw everyone looking at him again.

"It's at times like this when I wish I had a normal life!" he muttered with frustration.

"Trust me, son. Your life will never be normal," Doc chuckled as he pushed Lightning out the door.

About an hour later, Doc and Lightning arrived back at Radiator Springs. They went inside the clinic, where Elinor was busy tidying up.

"What's the verdict?" she asked.

"It is his Wisdom teeth," Doc replied. "He's cutting all four of them, and one is impacted. He's going to have them removed within the next week."

Elinor looked sympathetically at Lightning. "I'm sorry about that, honey, but you'll feel much better once they're good."

"So everyone keeps saying." Lightning sighed. "I only hope nobody tries to make a souvenir out of them."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that," Doc assured him. "It won't happen, I can assure you."

"I'm going to go and tell Sally," Lightning said. And he drove out of the clinic.

Later that evening, Doc was in his office going through some Piston Cup paperwork, when the phone rang. It was Dr Neil.

"I've arranged for Lightning to have his Wisdom teeth removed on Thursday afternoon," he said. "I hope that suits you?"

"Yes, I think that'll be okay," Doc replied. "I take it he'll have to be at the hospital that morning?"

"Correct. Oh, and make sure he doesn't have anything to eat or drink from three o'clock on Wednesday afternoon. He's going to be completely under for the operation."

"I can do that. Anything else?"

"No, I think that's all."

"Great. Thank you very much."

After Doc had hung up the phone, he drove into the lounge room, where Elinor was watching TV.

"Where's Lightning?"

"I saw him take off with Mater some time ago," Elinor replied.

"If he's gone tractor tipping again…" Doc scowled. But he couldn't think of what else to say. Sighing, he left the house. Parenthood was harder than he'd ever imagined it to be!

A few minutes later, Doc was about to start driving through the town to look for Lightning, when the race car revealed himself. He shot past Doc, going flat out. Mater followed him a few seconds later. Bringing up the rear was Sherriff, who was panting heavily from the chase.

"I wasn't built for this!" Sherriff wheezed, stopping beside Doc. He collapsed wearily onto his undercarriage.

"What happened?"

"What happened?" Sherriff exploded. "I'll tell you what happened! That cheeky, no-good stepson of yours and his sidekick threw a cactus at me! And it wasn't a little one either!"

Doc discreetly glanced at Sherriff's rear bumper. Sure enough, numerous large cactus spikes were protruding from the police car's sensitive rear end. Doc's mouth twitched. He was trying desperately hard not to burst out laughing.

"Well…" he coughed. "At least he hasn't been tractor tipping…"

"You think this is funny?"

"Yes," Doc replied simply.

Sherriff glowered at him.

"Ease up, Sherriff. I'll go and chase him down for you."

Before Sherriff could say anything else, Doc took off, flooring it. He had a vague idea as to where Lightning and Mater had gone.

Sure enough, he soon found them, sipping contently on warm drinks at the Wheel Well motel. They were grinning and laughing between sips. Doc silently parked himself directly behind them.

"Oh, dang! Dat was funny!"

"Yeah," Lightning agreed. "We should do it again sometime! His reaction was priceless!"

Doc cleared his throat. He smirked when he saw the two pranksters freeze.

"You know, I think you two should spend the night in the impound," Doc said. "That'll teach you to play tricks on Sherriff."

Lightning and Mater gasped with relief before turning around.

"Oh, goodness! Don't do that, Doc! We thought it was Sherriff!" Lightning exclaimed.

Doc gave him a rough push towards the road. "You're going to apologise to Sherriff right now! I don't need any imagination to know that this was your idea! And I'll speak to you later, Mater!"

Mater chuckled to himself as Doc and Lightning left. "Later, Mater! Dat's funny right there!"

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