Cars One-shots

The Wreck

(5 years after Cars 3)

It was the last race of the season. It was the perfect day for a race, the sun shining bright with no clouds in sight. The Florida 500 was about to begin, and the 500,000 race fans were itching for the thrill of this fast-paced sport.

The whole Piston Cup Circuit was dominated by Next Generation racers now. The one that stood out the most was Cruz Ramirez. She was now a three-time Piston Cup champion. Lightning McQueen had officially retired from racing about a year ago, and he was now a full-time crew chief to Cruz.

Words could not express how proud McQueen was of Cruz. She had finally accomplished her dream of becoming a racer and more. It truly was better to be the trainer than the racer. Seeing Cruz's smile whenever she won a race, and the smiles when she lost, was enough to make McQueen feel so proud and happy for her.

"Mr. McQueen, am I good to go?"

Lightning was on the crew chief stand, getting his headset situated and checking Cruz's stats, "Yep, you're good to go, Cruz."

She smiled and began bouncing on her tires in excitement, "Great! I sure hope I win today! It would be great to add another trophy to my shelf."

Lightning smirked, "Don't get too cocky now."

Cruz rolled her eyes, a playful smile on her grille, "Oh, come on. You were way worse than I am. Admit it."

Lightning held his tires out in defeat, chuckling, "Alright, you got me there."

All racers, please report to your designated pit, we will begin the race in five minutes.

Cruz smiled, revving her engine, "You see, Mr. McQueen. I'm already in my pit, which means I look even more ready to win."

Lightning chuckled sarcastically, "Oh yeah, you've got them shaking in their tires."

Cruz gave him a glare, smiling, "Anything you wanna tell me before I head out there?"

"Yeah, win."

Cruz rolled her eyes.

Racers, head to the track for the pace laps, and let the race begin.

"Wish me luck!" Cruz exclaimed, speeding onto the track and settling into a position behind the pace-car along with the other racers.

"Have fun out there, and be careful." Lightning said into his headset.

"Don't you worry, I will."

~~~~

The race continued on with only ten laps to go. Cruz was in the lead, with Jackson Storm on her tail. Lightning was watching from the stand intently, waiting and studying Jackson's every move. He knew Jackson would do anything to win, and he wanted to make sure Cruz would be safe.

The white flag was lowered, signaling the final lap. Lightning smiled, he knew she had this in the bag. She would win another Piston Cup. Cruz could taste the victory.

She made the final turn, and Lightning smiled, looking down at Sally, "She's got it, Sal!"

BANG

Lightning looked up, just in time to see Cruz fly through the air. Jackson had bumped her rear bumper a little too hard, causing her to swerve and crash into the wall. She flew in the air for what seemed minutes to McQueen, when she came down on the hard asphalt, rolling and flipping continuously.

She eventually came to a stop, all crushed and dented. There was nothing but static in McQueen's headset as he kept staring in shock and disbelief. He kept seeing flashbacks of his wreck flashing in his mind, how similar both their wrecks had been.

He kept telling himself it was just a dream, until the sirens of emergency vehicles snapped him out of his thoughts. He shook the headset off violently, basically jumping off the stand. "CRUZ!!!!"

~~~~

Lightning was pacing the hall, anxiously. Cruz had been in surgery for the past half hour, getting her dents fixed and parts replaced. Lightning still couldn't believe this had happened. A few hours ago, she basically had her fourth Piston Cup in her tires, and now she was in the hospital.

Lightning stopped pacing and leaned against the wall, lost in thought.

"Mr. McQueen?"

Lightning instantly looked up, turning to the voice, "Doctor, what's happening? Is she okay?"

He nodded, "Yes, she's young, she'll pull through well, but it's important that she gets plenty of rest. She badly damaged her front right fender, we'll do surgery tomorrow morning to correct that, and her front wheel axle is badly broken, so we've wrapped that and that will take quite a few weeks to heal properly. We've gotten all the dents fixed, but everything else seems to be alright."

Lightning sighed in relief, "How long until she can come home?"

"Well, after the surgery tomorrow, it'll probably be a few days here at the hospital. It all depends on how well she's healing during that time. I'd give her a good four days at most. Then she'll have to remain in bed. No racing or doing things that require a lot of energy."

Lightning nodded in understanding, "Okay, thank you so much doctor! For everything."

The doctor smiled, "No problem, now she's resting right now, but you can go in and see her if you'd like."

Lightning nodded and drove into the hospital room. The lights were turned off. He heard a beeping monitor in the corner and saw a figure sleeping in the bed. He brightened the lights a little, for there was a dimmer switch on the wall. There was Cruz, sleeping soundly with an oxygen mask over her mouth. The doctors and nurses had done a great job of repairing her, she looked almost brand new. It was just that fender that was still pretty beat up.

Lightning sighed and slowly drove closer to her. He leaned his tire gently against hers in a comforting way. He just sat there, silently, thanking Chrysler that she was going to be alright.

Suddenly, Cruz stirred slightly in her sleep, and cracked open one of her eyes. She glanced over to McQueen, a small smile creeping on her grille. McQueen smiled back, motioning for her to keep quiet, due to the oxygen mask still on her grille. She nodded in understanding, snuggling back into the bed and slowly falling asleep again.

~~~~

A week had passed since Cruz's horrible wreck. The surgery had gone well, and she was recovering quickly and smoothly. She was allowed to leave the hospital three days later, and she's been lounging around her cone ever since.

Lightning had done everything in his power to keep an eye on her. He would bring her anything and everything she needed, and he was always there to bring her any comfort if she was in pain.

"Mr. McQueen, you don't have to do all this y'know. I'm capable of taking care of myself."

"Cruz, stop calling me "Mr.", I already know I'm old you don't have to keep reminding me, and I'm sorry that I care. I just thought you would enjoy my company."

Cruz smiled, "You know I do, it's just I don't want to be such a burden. Why don't you go have a date night with your girlfriend or something."

Lightning sighed, "And what if you need something?"

"I have a phone, I can just give you a ring."

"Race cars don't have phones, Cruz." McQueen joked with a smirk.

Cruz rolled her eyes, "Then I'll call someone else. Now, will you please just go and live your life, and stop worrying every second about me."

Lightning sighed in defeat, "Alright. Okay, you win. I'll go, but if something bad happens or you need something, don't say I didn't tell you so."

Cruz chuckled, "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Go have fun."

Lightning opened the cone door and backed out, waving to Cruz as he went. Cruz just smiled and waved back. Yep, she knew there were going to be times like these. Times where you would feel helpless and suffer from a terrifying wreck, but she was sure glad she had a friend, mentor, and even father like McQueen to help her through it.