Trackside

Flashbacks

Lightning's crash was felt even outside the track. 

___

Watching the next generation racers take over the circuit left Strip feeling conflicted. The turnover rate looked a lot like what he'd experienced when he'd started racing, so in a way, he understood what all the hype was about. But at the same time, Cal had just been forced into retirement to save his name a few weeks ago, even though he wasn't ready to stop racing. And it hurt to see Cal hurting and down on himself.

He wasn't at the track that day. He had no real reason to be there without Cal, and so decided to take the rest of that season off and spend time at home. Lynda was at his side, and together they were watching the live broadcast of the race.

"It's weird to not be able to recognize any of these names." Lynda commented, frowning a little. "It's makin' me feel old."

"Mhm." Strip agreed quietly, but continued to watch how the pack moved. These kids were all so inexperienced. They were fast, sure, but the way they interacted on the track was a little disappointing in the eyes of the legend.

Strip watched as Lightning tried to fight his way though the pack. He just wasn't able to keep up with the younger cars. Strip felt bad for him, almost guilty that he'd never experienced that himself. The red racer then started to fade. Quickly. So fast that the commentators were beginning to get riled up.

"McQueen is fading!" Cartrip shouted. "Fading fast!"

Within mere moments, Strip watched as Lightning careened into the outside wall. The sound of metal on concrete was abrupt and loud even on the TV. Strip caught his breath and suddenly felt weightless, like he was falling. He continued to watch in a dissociated state as Lightning tumbled and rolled across the track and into the infield. Strip felt the jolts as his own as Lightning hit the ground over and over. He winced when the cameras showed the younger car finally stop rolling. It looked bad.

"Strip." Lynda had to reach out and tap him to get his attention. She looked worried. "Babe, I can't hear over your engine."

Strip snapped back to reality again to find that he'd rolled forward a few feet, and that his engine was running, idling high. He had no recollection of moving or starting his engine. He backed into place again and shut it off.

"Are you alright?" Lynda looked at her husband, concerned now for him. "I ain't never seen you react like that."

Strip looked down at his hood, confused. "I don't know. Somethin'... strange happened."

Lynda looked at him, looking at himself, and felt a pang of sadness. She knew what had happened. She'd never seen it on him before, but she knew a flashback when she saw one.

The paramedics rushed onto the scene. They put a halt to the race.

"Aw." Lynda said as the camera zoomed in on the crash again, this time showing Sally and Mater rushing towards him. "No..."

Strip hadn't felt this concerned for a fellow racer in a very long time. The voices of the commentators blurred into background noise as he tried to survey the damage from what the cameras showed. Lightning was definitely unconscious, there was no doubt about that. He couldn't tell how bad the injuries were, though. They showed him being loaded into the back of an ambulance and rushed to the on site facility for examination and immediate care. Strip felt like he should be there, helping somehow, some way. He owed the kid a lot.

Immediately the phone rang. Strip answered, and didn't even have time to say hello before Cal's voice came screaming through.

"Did you see that?!" Cal asked frantically.

"Yeah." Strip answered. "Yeah, we saw it."

"Is he gonna be okay?" Cal asked, starting to sound shaken. "Please tell me he's gonna be alright."

"It's hard tellin', kid." Strip told him, unsure. "It looks bad. I reckon he'll make it, but I don't know about what'll happen after that."

Cal made a frustrated noise. "I don't know what to do, Strip. I feel like I have to do something to help and I can't."

"I know, Cal." Strip found himself feeling guilty as well. Lightning had been there for him when he wrecked, but now there was no one left to help him. "All we can do right now is hope for the best."

"Do - do you think they'll let us come see him?" Cal asked.

"Eventually." Strip assured him, trying to sound more sure than he felt in order to calm his nephew. "Right now we need to wait and see how bad it really is. Time will tell."

He heard Cal take a breath over the phone. "Okay. Okay. I just - man, I wish I was there... Alright. I'll let you go. I just - I panicked. And I didn't know who to call."

"It's alright Cal. If you need to come over and talk, our door's always open."

Strip hung up the phone and returned his attention to the race coverage, which was nothing but spokesmen speculating at that point.

"Kid deserves better than that." he said in a quiet tone after a few moments. "I hope he makes it through alright."