My Heart Will Go On

Chapter 8- My Heart Will Go On

"Okay", I heard a voice, which could only be one Lightning McQueen, whisper from inside the trailer. "Here we go. Focus. Speed. I am speed. One winner. Forty-two losers. I eat losers for breakfast."

I couldn't help smiling. That wasn't the first time in a while that I'd heard Lightning say that. That was how psyched himself up for every race.

Do I need to tell you we were at one of Lightning's races? I don't think I do. What I probably should tell you, though, is that this was Lightning's first race without Uncle Doc. Apart from before he met Uncle Doc, of course. I think he was nervous, but he tried to play it cool. As long as he remembered what Uncle Doc had taught him, he'd be fine, he insisted. I sure hoped so because, as selfish as this may sound, I didn't want him to get another crew chief. Nobody could ever replace Uncle Doc. From the sounds of things, Lightning felt the same way. At least, he wasn't exactly in a hurry to find another one.

Over the last couple of weeks, I'd still been feeling kind of down and had even more stomach aches, but there were several things that helped me get through it. The first was obviously the love and support of my family. They would never let me go through something like this alone.

Another thing that helped was when Sally, as an attorney, went over Doc's will. Some of it went to his sister and her family in Ohio (we'd never met them; apparently, they weren't very close) and old friends in Thomasville, but most of it went to us. Everyone in town inherited something too, including me! Honestly, I wasn't expecting to inherit anything because I was a kid, but I was glad I did. Not because I got some money and a couple of Uncle Doc's most prized possessions, but because I knew he still loved me, even when he was gone.

The third thing was that my dads could see that my abandonment issues were a serious problem for me. So, they decided to send me to a therapist. Her name was Dr. Kirsten Snow; unlike my family, she was a human. (Papà and Babbo thought it would be beneficial for me to see a human therapist, since I didn't have a close connection to any other humans.) She was very nice and helpful- if a little kooky and scatterbrained- and helped me accept my abandonment a little better.

She even helped me realise that the reason I focused on my mother's abandonment after Uncle Doc died was because subconsciously, I wanted to be mad at Uncle Doc. That way, I wouldn't miss him quite so much.

I also started to feel better once we'd arrived at the speedway. Papà insisted on having me apologise to everyone who had attended the funeral, so I had to find the Weathers family, Tex, the Rust-Eze brothers and a bunch of others. It had been difficult to apologise, but I felt better once it was over. They all accepted my apology and were sympathetic and understanding. I think they were relieved to see me acting like myself again. Not only that, but everyone was making an effort to be nice to me.

"Hey, Fudge!" Lightning had called out once all of my apologies were over. "I'm gonna take a couple of practise laps with Bobby, Cal, Brick and The King! Wanna come with us?"

I lit up like a Christmas tree. It was my first real smile since Uncle Doc died. "Yes please!"

"Go grab your stuff!" he had instructed me hurriedly. "Let's go!"

I had raced back to the trailer as quickly as I could to grab my magnets and helmet. As usual, I was overjoyed to be racing with Lightning. On that occasion, however, Lightning wasn't the only one who let me race with him. He, Bobby, Cal, Brick and The King all took turns letting me ride with them, much to my delight.

Now, as the race was about to start, I began to feel excited. I never thought I wouldn't be excited about a race without Uncle Doc there, but I was. I was determined to try my best to help my family. Without our crew chief, I'd be helping out more than ever. I really wanted to make Uncle Doc proud. I sure hoped I would and Lightning and his friends complimenting me on my racing skills convinced me that I would.