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PIXAR AND DISNEY CLAIM THAT RIGHT.
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Rated M for language and sex
Chapter 18-Tough Love-
Halfway back to his cone, a mob of reporters came out of nowhere and started harassing Lightning with questions. "Lightning!" a reporter called. "What's this we hear about your early retirement?" "Leave me alone, guys," Lightning said in his lifeless voice. He pulled away from the reporters but they kept following, and shouting questions at him. "I think he told you guys to leave him alone," an angry voice said. Doc drove up behind the reporters, causing them to scatter. "Sorry, Mr. Hudson." One of them said. "It won't happen again, Sir." "Good" Doc said. "Follow me to my office, Rookie." "Doc, I just want to go back to my cone, and be left alone" Lightning said. "That wasn't a fucking request! I got the reporters away, but I'm still not happy with you," Doc said in a voice that he meant business. "NOW" Lightning huffed, but he did not want to experience Doc's legendary wrath in public and followed him to his office.
"I don't know what fucking game you're playing Kid," Doc said as he and Lightning entered his office. "What do you mean?" Lightning asked angrily. "I'm not playing any game!" "Oh yes you are!" Doc countered. "With some work you could get back on the track and you know it." "Do I?" Lightning asked. "Yes, you do!" Doc said. "You've been moping around feeling sorry for yourself!" "My axle hurts!" Lightning said. "You saw me out there! I couldn't even lap the track at fucking seventy!" "You have to work for it!" Doc said. "Don't you remember last year? You worked your fucking bumper off to get back in shape and back on the track!" "Yeah, that's when I didn't think I could keep getting hurt!" Lightning said. "You know what your fucking problem is?" Doc asked. "You don't know how lucky you are." "Lucky?" Lightning scoffed. "How the fuck am I lucky?" "You got hurt. Not once but twice, and the racing world still wants you back!" Doc said. "You have an absolutely gorgeous fiancé that loves you, and would move heaven and hell to help you. But after what you said to her last night; I'm not sure how she feels now. You have everything I didn't, and that includes a long and fabulous racing career ahead of you! So get your fucking hood out of your fucking tail pipe, stop having your little petty party and man up. If racing was easy, everyone would be doing it! You have a whole town that is will to do anything to help you get back on the track. Can you not see that?" Lightning froze and thought over what Doc had just said. Lightning finally understood what Doc was saying. It wasn't just Sally pulling for him, it was the entire town. He knows that he would be letting them down if he quit racing. Lightning knew he had hurt Sally very badly last night when he said those terrible things to her. He had to start mending fences, starting with Doc. "I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I don't know what I was saying, can you forgive me." "Yes, only because I know what you are going though" Doc said. "Now go, make up Sally." "Thanks, Doc" Lightning said, feeling a tiny bit better. "Anytime, Kid" Doc responded "The last time I saw Sally she was at the cone, and she didn't look to happy." Lightning nodded and headed to the Cozy Cone.
Lightning left Doc's office feeling numb. He drove back to the Cozy Cone's office and saw Sally fretfully asleep at her desk and Giovanni, happy playing in his crib. To Lightning's relief; she was still wearing her engagement rim. Lightning parked beside Sally and gently nuzzled her. She woke up and saw Lightning parked next to her. "Oh," she said. "It's you." "Sally, I'm sorry," Lightning mumbled. "I made a really big mistake, and I know you're extremely upset, but please forgive me. There's no excuse for what I said but I'm in pain, frustrated… I just lost control my temper." He looked at Sally uncertainly. "Please, Sally… forgive me, please" he begged, desperate for her forgiveness. Sally seemed to think for a few minutes. "No matter how hard I try I can't stay mad at you," she said, giving Lightning a very small smile. The small smile quickly turned into a frown though. "But you need to know I love you for who you are, not just because you're a former world-famous race car." "You're wrong about that," Lightning said. "What?" Sally asked anger dripping from her voice. "You said a former race car," Lightning said. "You're not retiring?" Sally squealed. "No," Lightning said. "Doc knocked some sense into me," he added, smiling slightly. Sally drove up to Lightning and kissed him. "Wow," Lightning said, his lips still touching Sally's "And I thought you didn't like me racing" "Oh, shut up" Sally said playfully. "Okay Lightning said, passionately kissing his fiancé back. Lightning spent the rest of the day babysitting Giovanni while Sally attended to the cozy cone's customers. The cone was once again fully booked, and she was happy to have somebody watch him. Giovanni was such a delight to have around; maybe having a baby wasn't so bad after all, Lightning thought.
The next morning, Lightning woke Doc up for a change. "C'mon, Doc? Lightning said. "It's time to train!" Doc woke up with a jump "So you're back, huh?" He asked as he rolled out of his front door. "Yeah," Lightning said, trying to suppress his happiness slightly. "Did you work on the brace?" Lightning asked hopefully "Yeah, Sally came over last night after you went to bed and we worked on it" Doc said. "I added a layer of neoprene to the inside so it should absorb shock and cushion your axle. Hopefully it should be more comfortable for you." "I hope so" Lightning said. "Did it pass the racing guidelines?" "Yeah," Doc said. "Now let's put it on and see how it works. If this doesn't work then I don't know what will." "Okay," Lightning said, slightly nervously. He knew that if the brace did not support his axle well enough this time, he would not be racing again until next season. Thirty minutes later, Lightning was tearing up the track at one hundred miles an hour. He pressed himself harder and got up to one hundred and fifty miles per hour. "Good work!" Doc called through the intercom system. "Bring it in!" Lightning slowed, his axle throbbing only slightly. "How'd it feel?" Doc asked. "Much better!" Lightning said excitedly. "It's throbbing a little, but it's nothing near what it was." Good," Doc said. "We'll work up to four hundred laps eventually." "Okay," Lightning said. "That sounds good." "Yup," Doc said. "Now go ice your axle. Since this is working, stop taking painkillers, they need to be out of your system before the race. I'll do a drug test right before we leave, to make sure that you are clean." "Okay," Lightning said. He drove off the track, only favoring his axle slightly. The drive to the Cozy Cone's office seemed much sunnier today; Lightning actually noticed how clear the blue sky was and did not mind the usual quarreling between Serge and Fillmore.
Lightning reached the Cozy Cone's office where Sally had a bag of ice, and something for him to drink waiting for him. "How did your training go?" Sally asked as Lightning settled on the ice. "Really well," Lightning said, grinning widely. "I got up to one hundred and fifty today!" "Great!" Sally said, grinning at her fiancé's enthusiasm. "So you like the brace?" "I love it, Lightning said. "The neoprene is awesome. Whoever thought of it was pure genius." "It was Doc and I. He wanted something foamy like a sponge and so I did some research and found neoprene online," Sally said. "It's not very foamy, but it absorbs shock well and it's cushiony. Doc had some on hand, and we lined your brace with it." "I could kiss you," Lightning said. "Then why don't you?" Sally asked, laughing a little. Lightning rolled forward and kissed his fiancé. He slipped a tire under her and attempted to remove her bra. "No" Sally said "Not in front of the baby" Lightning saw Giovanni peaking out of his crib. "Don't worry about him" Lightning said "He can't talk yet." "Michael and Zoë are going to be back tonight; after they pick up can we have sex" Sally said sternly "That's if your axle will allow it."
The next morning, Lightning's training went very well. He got up to one hundred and seventy miles per hour and power slid with better consistency than before. "Great job, Kiddo," Doc said, looking incredibly happy. "Thanks," Lightning said a huge grin on his face. The grin faded slightly when a thought hit him. "Do you think I'll be ready for the Dinoco 400 in time?" "You'd be ready for it if it were tomorrow," Doc replied. "Do you want me to register you?" "Do I have a chance at winning the Cup," Lightning said. "If not, I'll wait for next season." "If you win the race, you'll get the Cup," Doc said. "I figured that the day after you broke your axle." "Awesome," Lightning replied. "What if I finish second?" "Chick gets the cup by half a point," Doc said. "Go ahead and register me." "I will," Doc said. "Go and rest up. You're bound to be tired. You've put a lot of effort in over the past two mornings." "I am tired," Lightning said. "I'm sure Sally has something for me to do though." "That's right," Doc said. "The wedding is only three weeks away, isn't it?" "Yeah," Lightning said. "I feel so uninformed about it." "You have been letting Sally do all the work," Doc said. "But you've been busy too." "Yeah, re-breaking axles and all has kept me and you busy," Lightning said, laughing slightly. "I'm going to see what needs to be done." "All right," Doc said. "See ya, Rookie." "Bye," Lightning said, driving up the bank from Willy's Butte to the Cozy Cone.