Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Pixar. All OCs belong to me.

Chapter 5

Doc paced the hallway anxiously. Every now and again, he paused at the window to glance inside the operating theatre.

Elinor glanced up at him from her book. "Calm down, Hudson. Lightning will be fine. This isn't the first operation he's had, and I seriously doubt it will be his last."

"I know, but it is possible for things to go wrong, even in such a minor operation as this."

It was a few days later, and Lightning was at the hospital undergoing the operation to remove his Wisdom teeth. As family, Doc and Elinor had been the only ones allowed anywhere near the operating theatre. Sally and Mater were waiting upstairs in a waiting room.

Doc looked through the window again. He knew exactly what the orthodontic surgeon was doing to Lightning. After the young racer had been anaesthetised, the surgeon had deliberately dislocated his jaw before inserting a gag to keep his mouth open. It look horrendous and extremely painful to those who'd never seen it before, but Doc had, so he wasn't bothered by it. He was just concerned that Lightning might stop breathing, like he had during the operation he'd had shortly before his father was murdered. He'd informed the anaesthetist and the surgeon of that fact before they'd started this operation, because he knew that if a car had stopped breathing once before during an operation, the chances of it happening again doubled.

Finally, Doc saw the surgeon remove the gag and reset Lightning's jaw back into position. They then moved Lightning into the recovery room. Doc knew what would happen in there. They'd talk to Lightning and try to make him wake up. The moment he reacted, they'd leave him alone, knowing that he'd be okay. It was just to ensure that the anaesthetic was wearing off normally.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, the surgeon drove into the waiting area.

"You're right, Dr Hudson. He sure is feisty!"

"What did he say?" Elinor asked, closing her book.

"He didn't say anything," the surgeon replied. "He lashed out at the nurse who tried to shake him awake. I don't think she was quite expecting to receive his autograph in that manner!"

Doc chuckled. Yes, Lightning would be okay.

"I should've taken your advice and clamped his wheels down after we'd anesthetised him," the surgeon continued. "That's been done now. He's not going anywhere! Not for a little while at least."

"When can he be released from hospital?" Elinor asked.

"Probably in the morning, depending on how well he recovers overnight. I don't like operating on race cars. They're much too sensitive to these things."

Doc frowned. "He will be okay though, won't he?"

"I don't see why not. I'd better get back to him now. Why don't you head on upstairs? We'll bring him up in a few minutes."

…

Lightning groaned. Something was hurting him terribly, but he couldn't figure out where it was coming from. He opened his mouth to speak, but then he gasped. His whole mouth was burning in agony.

"Don't try to talk, Stickers," Sally said, although her voice sounded like it was coming from far away. "Just take a few deep breaths and calm down. You're okay…"

Sally's voice helped Lightning relax. Following her advice, he took several deep breaths. Once he'd calmed down, he slowly blinked open his eyes. He sighed when he saw that he was back in his hospital room. Sally, Mater, Doc and Elinor were in the room with him.

"It's all over now," Sally told him soothingly, gently stroking his tyre with her own. "Does your mouth hurt?"

Lightning nodded carefully. His jaw hurt too.

Doc pressed a button, and a moment later, a nurse entered the room.

"He needs more morphine," Doc informed the nurse.

Without saying a word, the nurse picked up Lightning's chart. After reading it, she wrote something down on it. She then did something to the drip that was attached to Lightning's fuel tank inlet.

"There now, Mr McQueen. That should make you more comfortable."

Lightning nodded his thanks. Smiling, the nurse left the room. Lightning closed his eyes. The morphine was already making him feel drowsy. Seeing that Lightning was about to fall asleep, Doc quietly ushered the others out of the room.

Lightning was discharged from the hospital the following morning, on the strict order that he wasn't allowed to drive any more than necessary or go any faster than fifty miles an hour for a period of twenty-four hours. But the way Lightning felt, he was sure he'd sleep for a week!

…

Lightning didn't exactly sleep for a week, but just over a week after his operation, Doc entered his room at the crack of dawn.

"Get yourself up, son! It's time to get you back into training."

Groaning with annoyance, Lightning threw a pillow at him. "Go away!"

Doc retaliated by pulling Lightning's blankets off him. "If you're not up within the next thirty seconds, I will blast you with cold air from the air conditioner!"

Opening his eyes a bit, Lightning gave Doc a mischievous grin. "Race you to the butte?"

Doc smiled. Then he chuckled. "You're on! Let's go!" And he took off out of the house.

Lightning chuckled. I think it'll take him a few minutes to figure out that I've tricked him, he thought as he settled back down to get another forty winks.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Doc burst back into Lightning's room. He was breathing heavily and he looked furious.

"LIGHTNING BLAZE MCQUEEN!"

Lightning grinned sheepishly. Yup, he was in for it now… Again.