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 17-Lightning's Retirement?!-
"He's letting me race," Lightning repeated when he returned to Sally's apartment, still in a faint voice to Sally. "You're joking!" Sally exclaimed. "No," Lightning replied. "Doc's building me a brace so I don't have to pit so often" "You're lucky to have him, Lightning" Sally said. "I know" Lightning said. "I don't know what I'd do without him." The next morning, Lightning woke up early to see Doc. "Hey, Rookie," Doc said when Lightning entered his office. A metal contraption was sitting on his desk. Lightning noticed the fatigued look in Doc's eyes and knew he had up all night working on it. "Morning Doc, is that the brace I'm going to be using?" "Yes" Doc replied. "The problem is I can't figure out how to relieve the pressure off your tire. It's going fucking hurt when you try to race in it." "I can handle the pain," Lightning said. "I just need you to stabilize my axle." Doc shot him a skeptical look. "I can," Lightning insisted. "Let me try it out, Doc." "Not right now, Kiddo," Doc said. "You're not going to be ready to get off your crutches yet. We'll try it out next week." Lightning just sighed. "I just wish it was a shorter race." "Me too," Doc replied. "But we can't worry about stuff that's not in our control."
A week later, Doc examined Lightning's axle before strapped his newly racing board-approved brace on Lightning. "A lot of the swelling has gone down and it looks good. Now, just try to get around the track once at fifty. Don't push yourself right now, you'll injure yourself more." Doc said looking slightly hesitant. "Like I said, it's going to hurt. "But I'm willing to try it" Lightning said, easing his weight onto his front right tire. As soon as he did pain ripped through his axle. Lightning winced, but he did not release the pressure from the tire. He pulled away, picking up speed. Lightning drove around the track one time at fifty. "How did that feel?" Doc asked. "Not too bad," Lightning replied truthfully. His axle was throbbing, but it was nothing too severe. "Good" Doc said, obviously pleased with the good news. "Could I do a little more? Please!" Lightning asked. "Yeah, you can as long as you are not in to much pain" Doc said. "Try going around at seventy, and if that doesn't hurt, then try one hundred." "Okay," Lightning agreed. He turned carefully and set off around the track at seventy. Going around the first turn, Lightning's pain axle started to sear in pain, he groaned but kept going. He power slid in the second turn and deeply regretted it when the maneuver put pressure on his injured axle; causing pain to so great Lightning had to slow down quickly, wincing every time he hit a bump. Lightning was seeing stars from the pain, and he was a little sick to his stomach. Doc rushed up to Lightning and helped him to the side of the track. "You okay, Kiddo?" Doc asked once they were off the track. "Hang on" Lightning mumbled faintly, for a moment he thought he was going to pass out. Lightning fought the stars that were obscuring his vision.
"Lightning?" Doc asked, looking slightly panicked. "I'm still here," Lightning said, a bit stronger. The stars had receded a little. "You okay?" Doc repeated. "Of course not!" Lightning said in a distressed tone. "I can't even get around Willy's Butte once at seventy without nearly passing out! This is hopeless!" "Don't get discouraged, I'm going to review the design of the brace" Doc said. "I'm going to see if I can improve the suspension to relieve pressure from the tire." "There's no point," Lightning said glumly." "Just try to roll forward a little," Doc encouraged him. Lightning put his tire on the ground and put equal weight on all four tires. His front right tire started trembling uncontrollably. Doc frowned. "C'mon, Kid," he said. "Let's get back to the hospital. I need to check to make sure you didn't put any new fractures in the axle. Lightning nodded and rolled forward slowly. He grimaced as his axle gave out from underneath him. "Here, lean up against me," Doc said. He braced himself for Lightning's weight and started rolling forward slowly. Lightning groaned quietly as he and Doc made their way back to the hospital.
When they were passing the Cozy Cone, Sally saw Lightning hobbling next to Doc. "What happened?" Sally asked, speeding up to them. "The brace didn't work," Lightning said with gritted teeth. "The brace worked fine," Doc countered. "I told you there was going to be pain and you fucken' didn't believe me." Lightning did not respond. They continued on the way to the hospital, Sally right behind them. Once they reached the hospital, Doc removed the brace and x-rayed Lightning's axle. "Well, there's some good news, no new fractures," Doc said, reading the x-ray. "That's good," Sally said, glancing at Lightning. "Not good!" Lightning said. "That means the pain I felt is going to be normal isn't it, Doc?" Doc nodded. "I'm going to line it with some padding and see if that helps." Doc said as he put Lightning's regular brace back on. Lightning shook his hood dully. "It won't help," he said. "I'm just going through another season empty-handed." "No!" Lightning jumped, not expecting an outburst from Sally. "You're not coming home empty-handed," Sally said. "If Doc and I work on the brace, we can find a way to relieve the pressure." "Sally, it's no use," Lightning said. "I should just retire now, and start training other racecars." "Quit talking like that, Rookie," Doc said. "You're just upset, any car would be." "I'm not upset!" Lightning said. He received skeptical looks from both Doc and Sally. "Okay, maybe I am a little," he admitted. "But you two talking about it just makes it worse." With that, Lightning rolled out of the room, putting as little pressure as possible on his front right tire. As soon as Lightning drove out of the hospital, Kori Turbowitz caught him. "Lightning" Kori said. "Could I have a minute?" "I guess so," Lightning said. "If it's really a minute" "Thanks," Kori said. "Word is that you're still racing for the Piston Cup this season. Is that true?" "No, it's not," Lightning said bluntly. "So you'll return next season?" Kori asked, seeming slightly surprised by Lightning's blunt response. "I haven't decided yet," Lightning said. "Whenever I work hard and get back into shape, I get hurt again, so it seems pointless as of right now." Kori seemed shocked. "T-thanks, Mr. M-McQueen," she stammered, losing her usual professional composure. Lightning nodded and continued hobbling down the road. He entered his cozy cone and shut the door behind him.
"Lightning?" Lightning's eyes opened slowly. He was disoriented for a moment before realizing he was in his cozy cone. "Lightning, please open the door." Sally's voice said from outside. Lightning opened the door to his cone and drove out a little. "Come to the office," Sally said. "We need to talk." Lightning sighed and followed Sally to the Cozy Cone's office. "What do you want?" Lightning asked in the same dull tone he had been using ever since his disastrous training session. "You can't quit, racing" Sally said softly, tears gathering in her eyes. "Why not?" Lightning challenged "You don't even like me racing." "That's not true," Sally countered. "I worry about you, but that's normal after what I saw last season. I'm proud of you and your career. Not everybody can say they're getting married to a racing sensation." "Is that the reason you agreed to marry me? Because I can race?" Lightning asked harshly, glaring at his fiancé. The tears that had gathered in Sally's finally eyes spilled over. "Sometimes I wonder why I ever said I'll marry you" Sally said quietly before speeding out of the office. Lightning sighed angrily. He drove out of the office and back to his cozy cone. Normally he would go to Will Butte and race around the track until he calmed down, but he can't even to that. Racing helped clear his mind and allowed him to cool down from their fights. He felt awful that they ever fought. He often dreamt of those first few days, when they fell in love. Everything was so carefree back then. Maybe it would be again; maybe they were only enduring a rough patch with the Dinoco 400 fast approaching. Lightning glared at the picture he had beside his alarm clock of Sally laughing as he kissed her fender. It had been taken an hour after they were engaged. He knew that he loved Sally, no question there, but he loved racing nearly as much. He shut his eyes, not wanting to look at the picture any longer, and willing his axle to stop throbbing.
Before Lightning knew it, he was waking up to Jimmy Hendrix and a shrill trumpet, both in the battle of the bands. Lightning cursed both Serge and Fillmore for disturbing his sleep. He opened the door to his cozy cone and drove out of it. His axle was throbbing relentlessly. Lightning took a dose of painkiller and waited for it to start working. He drove past the Cozy Cone's office and pulled into Flo's café. Lightning received a nasty glare from Flo. Lightning figured Sally had gone to her after their fight. Very annoyed, Lightning realized he was not hungry after all and decided to return to his cozy cone to sulk.