Pixar One- Shots

All Uphill From Here (Cars 3)

A one-shot detailing Lightning's recovery from his crash, starting with him lying on the track immediately after. Basically, this'll pick up right where Disaster's Peak left off. Only a little of what I'm about to write will have come from the trailers. Also, I'm completely making most of this up as I go, because I don't know if the cars feel pain the same way we do, or if they can be... fixed, I guess with... surgery..? This world is very confusing if you really think about it... WARNING, POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR CARS 3. Hope you enjoy, because this is a longer one-shot than usual! ;)

In the grandstands, all sounds had died off. Every audience member, young and old, was staring in disbelief at the scene before them. Even the longtime race fans didn't know what to make of the situation. The legendary number 95 had just wrecked, and he was unnervingly still. It didn't appear as though he was going to be driving again.

Within thirty seconds of Lightning McQueen's horrific crash, an ambulance, two police cruisers, two race medics, and four race officials were surrounding him. Lightning's body was badly dented up, his spoiler had ripped almost all the way off, several long gashes ran along his sides, smoke was creeping out from under his cracked hood. And that was just the superficial damage. It was impossible to tell at that point what else may have been damaged inside him.

The race officials and medics recorded as much information regarding Lightning and the accident that had just occurred as they could, and then they all drove quickly off to inform the on-grounds hospital tent that a wrecked vehicle would be coming in. Meanwhile, the damaged race car was loaded carefully into the ambulance, and police cruisers escorted the ambulance to the tent.

Lightning had hit the ground several times in his roll across the track. When they reached the large white tent, the medics jumped into action, taking Lightning inside the building and fully sedating him. A few scans were performed on him, revealing cracked pipes, a spark knock, and even a blown head gasket. Some other minor damage had taken place as well; almost every bit of machinery had been jarred, but most of it wouldn't cause too many problems. The main issue was definitely the primary gasket; it was what was causing Lightning's engine to overheat and was resulting in all of the smoke that was still streaming from beneath his hood. Having fully assessed him, the medics set to work.

Five hours later, the medics had stabilized Lightning, and he'd shown signs of waking up. By this time, Lightning's pit crew had been waiting outside for almost as long. The head of the medical crew had decided it would be alright to transport Lightning to a regular hospital about a half hour away. The racing grounds' hospital tent was pretty high tech, but they couldn't fix everything. One of the staff members was making arrangements for a helicopter to come for Mr. McQueen when she heard him move behind her. Eagerly she turned around, and watched the racer slowly open his eyes.

"Sir?" He winced, but looked at her. He was still half passed out, and there was no guarantee he'd even remember waking up later on. "I'm going to ask you some questions, alright?" Lightning shut his eyes again, but nodded slightly.

"What's your name?" She asked him, wanting to be sure he hadn't hit his hood too hard.

"Lightning McQueen." He looked around the room, only moving his eyes.

"What's the last thing you remember?" The racer suddenly looked horrified.

"Storm! I- I wrecked.." Mr. McQueen looked devastated. He gently shook his hood, maybe in disbelief. Finally he looked up again. "Where's my pit crew?" He asked, with a bit of energy coming back into his voice.

"Oh, they're here. They have been for the last several hours, waiting for any news." The forklift answered.

"Can I see them? Sally or Mater, at least?" Mr. McQueen looked pretty desperate to see a familiar face. And who could blame him, with the situation he'd just awoken to?