I do not own Cars or any of its characters.
PIXAR AND DISNEY CLAIM THAT RIGHT.
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Rated M for language and sex.
Chapter 16-A New Plan-
Two minutes later, Lightning shifted his weight uncomfortably and groaned softly as pain shot through his axle. "You okay?" Sally asked. "Yeah, I think so" he said in an unconvincing tone. Sally flipped the light back on. "If you're not okay, just tell me." She said somewhat angrily. "I broke my axle in two places, Sally," Lightning said. "There is obviously going to be pain. I'm going to go back to my cozy cone so you and Giovanni can get some sleep." "Don't worry about it," Sally said. "I'll be awake worrying about you anyway." "You don't need to," Lightning said. "But I will," Sally said. "Very true I guess," Lightning said. "Go get sleeping medicine from Doc," Sally said. "I don't want to wake him up," Lightning said. "I'm pretty sure he's not sleeping either," Sally said. "I can tell you he's up worrying about you too. I'll be here when you get back." Lightning gingerly attached his crutches on to his broken axle. "I hate seeing you like this," Sally said, looking at Lightning in concern. "I hate being like this," Lightning said as he hobbled out of Sally's apartment.
Lightning made his way slowly down the dark main road of Radiator Springs; one lone street lamp seemed to guide him to Doc's house. Lightning awkwardly knocked on the door and waited for Doc to open the door. As Sally had predicted, Doc showed no signs of being woken up. "Hey, Kid," Doc said. "What's going on?" "Could I have something to help me sleep?" Lightning asked, almost embarrassed. "Sure Kiddo, come in" Doc said. "Having trouble sleeping?" "Yeah," Lightning said, hobbling into the house. "Is it because of pain or shock?" Doc asked. "I guess, a little of both," Lightning mumbled "But mostly pain, I can't seem to get comfortable enough to go to sleep." Doc looked sympathetically at Lightning. "Okay, Rookie, I think that you do need something to help you settle down for the night" he said. "It's going to be an injection, it will work quickly. Doc drove to his cabinet where he stored the medication and selected one. "How long am I going to be on crutches, Doc?" Lightning asked miserably. "I'd give it another week Kid," Doc said as he prepared the syringe "You had one really nasty break and another smaller one beside it." "Then what will I get after crutches?" Lightning asked "A driving cast" Doc said. The wheels in Lightning's head began to turn. "What will my speed limit be with a driving cast?" "About fifty once you're healed enough," Doc said. "That's all?" Lightning asked. "Yeah," Doc said. "They get torn up pretty quickly if you drive too fast." "What is too fast?" Lightning asked. "At two hundred the brace only lasts fifty miles," Doc said suspiciously. "Why?" "Just wondering" Lightning said, a plan forming in his head. "I just can't believe I'm missing another Piston Cup," he added in a depressed tone. "I'm sorry, Kid," Doc said, driving around to Lightning's rear. He rubbed a cleanser liquid on the underside of Lightning's bumper. "It's not going to hurt is it Doc" Lightning asked. "Just close you eyes and it'll be over before you know it." Lightning did as he was told, not wanting to see any of this "Three, two, one" Doc injected the needle into Lightning administering the medication. Doc removed the needle. "There done." "Now, get to your cozy cone before this kick in." "Thanks Doc" Lightning said. "If you come looking for me, I'll be at Sally's, she is letting me stay with her tonight." "Ok, Kid" Doc said "I'll check you tomorrow." Lightning carefully maneuvered out of Doc's home and out onto the main street. Lightning drove down to the Cozy Cone and found Sally fast asleep. Giovanni was on her hood, awake and sucking on a bottle. He was almost finished with it when Lightning picked him up. "Come on Kid, bed time" Lightning quietly said. He rocked Giovanni on his hood until the baby fell asleep, which was only a few minutes. Lightning took the nipple out of his mouth and laid Giovanni back in his crib. Lightning beginning to feel the effects of the medication, turned off the light with some difficulty, unlatched his crutches, snuggled up to Sally, and fell asleep.
The next day, Lightning woke up to a familiar throbbing in his right front axle. And his rear was sore from getting the injection. He groaned and headed to the living room, where Sally was watching TV. Giovanni was attempting to crawl the floor. He was scooting on his undercarriage on the floor every time he tried crawling. "Wouldn't that be easer of he had tires" Lightning asked when he saw that Giovanni didn't have tires on his little rims. "Michael and Zoë said that is the one of the first things they are going into when they get back." Sally said "They were going to do it before they left, but ran out of time." Lightning picked the baby up and he cooed happily. "You're a happy little thing aren't you?" He asked "Other when he's hungry or needs his diaper changed, yes, he's happy. Light, are you okay?" Sally asked glancing over to Lightning "Yeah," Lightning said. "Listen, Sally," he said. "We need to talk." "About what?" Sally asked, looking baffled. "I have a plan," Lightning said. "But you're not going to like it." "I was wondering when the 'I'm going to race in the Dinoco 400' scheme was going to come," Sally said. "That's exactly what I'm going to say," Lightning said. "If I get a driving cast, I can go around the track fifty times and then replace it." "That's going to be a lot of pit stops," Sally said. "I know," Lightning said. "But I just have to finish in the top thirty and the Piston Cup is mine." "You're going to make Doc angry," Sally said. "He'll cope," Lightning said. "Okay," Sally said. "If you wear two driving casts at the same time, you'll be able to cut your pit stops in half." "Good point" Lightning said. "So you're on board for this?" "No," Sally said. "Not on board, but I know how much this means to you." "Thank you," Lightning said. He kissed Sally. "You're welcome," Sally said. "I'm not taking the heat for this." "I don't expect you to," Lightning said. "I just need to get my Piston Cup." "I'm surprised you decided to tell me what you were planning," Sally said. "Yeah," Lightning said. "But I trust you more than any other car, and I didn't want you thinking I was backing out of the wedding by disappearing a few days before it." "Good thinking," Sally said. She smiled slightly, but it quickly turned into a frown. "I think you should tell Doc though." "What would I say?" Lightning asked. "Hey, Doc, I just wanted to tell you that I'm going to race in the Dinoco 400, whether you like it or not." "Oh you are, are you?" came Doc's voice from behind Lightning. Lightning grimaced; he maneuvered around slowly to see Doc parked in the apartment's doorway. "Hey, Doc," Lightning said meekly. "Come on," Doc said. "We need to talk."
Lightning sighed and followed Doc out of the apartment. Doc drove a ways down the road and stopped. Lightning pulled up beside him. For a minute or two Doc was completely silent. Lightning gave him a sideways glance trying to read his expression but it was blank, as usual. "We need to talk about your training schedule," Doc finally said. "You're going to let me race?" Lightning asked, looking Doc square in the eye. "Technically I can't stop you," Doc said. "But I'm going to have to design a brace that'll clear the racing board's regulations and keep your axle in stabilized." "Thank you!" Lightning said, not believing what he was hearing. "I'll get started on that," Doc said. "It might take me a while to design something." "I appreciate this so much, Doc," Lightning said sincerely. "I really do." "I know you do," Doc said. "If you didn't I wouldn't be doing this." And with that, Doc pulled away from Lightning and headed back to his office at the hospital. Lightning was dumbstruck for a few minutes. He slowly grinned; he was going for the Piston Cup. "He's letting me race," Lightning said faintly, still not believing it. Lightning turned around stiffly, wincing as he hit a small bump and drove back to the Cozy Cone to tell Sally.