Soul Cars Part 10

As Hudson came out of the Cafe he was somehow shocked to see every car drinking some oil only to act like they were hyper minutes after, he was glad to see that Doc didn't try it, but having said that the car would only come out when he needed to refuel and drink then go back into the Clinic, maybe he had come out to see what had happened. He made his way to his cars Clinic where he would hopefully get some answers.

Doc was looking at some pictures of McQueens engine and undercarriage before and after he had fixed him from the accident, he didn't know why but something was telling him that he was missing something after he had fixed most of the damage on the Rookie, true the car would have to come in to sort out the dents but that could wait till they were done with the road, or if they decided to ask him politely, snort, fat chance of that happening, if they were anything like their dad they would be destroying everyones lives faster than you could say 'dirt slide'.
"Hello Doc, what you looking at?" asked Hudson as he came into the room.
Doc didn't say anything as he continued to look at the pictures of McQueen, he really didn't want to have to deal with his drivers poor sense of humor.
Hudson sensed something wasn't right so decided to stand behind his car and saw what the car was looking at. But he was still confused "there is nothing wrong with him now so why are you still looking at these pictures?"
"Something is telling me that I've missed something, but what it is I have no idea"
"Speaking of them two, do you know why everyone is acting as if they are on speed?" (no pun intended)
Doc was just as surprised as Hudson "can't say that I have, why?"
"Because everyone is having their oil and next thing I know they are hyper"
Doc thought for a moment "I was going to go get some fuel until I heard both racers talking about their fuel, according to them it's a fuel that helps cars that have a problem starting their engines, its a completly safe, organic fuel and suitable for cars of all ages"
Hudson raised an eyebrow at the explanation "wow, looks like Fillmore is going to love the stuff"
"He said and I qoute 'I wouldn't mind being partners with the one who made this'"
"Does he even know who made it?"
"No but I think that he has his suspicions, all they know is that the human has made it but they don't think that it was him who created it, when I heard everyone asking him to get them some I quickly retreted"
"Can't say I blame you" Hudson chuckled quietly.
Doc just rolled his eyes "why are you here anyway?"
Hudson thought for a moment "from what you have just told me, I believe that it was Lightning that made that oil"
"So you are both on a first name basis then?" Doc asked sarcastically.
Hudson just ignored him "I've just been to have my meal and the moment it hit my taste buds the flavour just exploded, I felt more full than I ever have before, there was no way it could have been Odie as she has tried many times, and Lightning just so happens to know a bit about cooking? And now this oil has got everyone crazy about it" it seemed logical to him, if only his car thought the same thing.
"There is no way that those cheaters can make something like that, it's not even possible or have you forgotton that we tried that before?"
"Whatever you say Doc, whatever you say, I'll leave you to your work"
Doc just sighed as he continued to look for anything that he may have missed.

Hudson rolled his eyes and sighed as he left Doc's Clinic, he made his way to his clinic when he heard the Lizzie's radio play, but he was surprised when he saw that it wasn't coming from her house, in fact it was coming from Red's house. Just why was Catherine and Lizzie's radio away from their home, he was surprised however when he saw Red and Joe helping Lightning by washing his car while singing a song he had never heard of before. A he got closer he managed to make out some of the lyrics.

Well I love my job 'cause love my car
When I hear my engine roar
Strap me in let the race begin
Put the peddle to the floor
Now I got me a big time sponser
The best crew working for me
But I ain't any different
Than the way I used to be

That verse made Hudson raise an eyebrow in question, this songs really did sound like the kid but obviously with a few twists, first off he didn't have a crew because they had quit on him because he was a 'one man show', his sponser was a whole bunch of Rusteeze and they weren't very popular as Rusty cars were all looked down upon, Mater though didn't care what anyone thought about him and that included his driver Larry, as long as they had each other they didn't give two fingers on what anyone thought about them.

You might crash and burn if you make that turn
A little bit too fast
But that's a chance you take if you're gonna rage
You can't let up off the gas

Hudson's voice got caught in his throat, that felt a little too close for comfort as it sounded just like his crash before everyone left him to look after himself, it also felt like the first time he had tried to do the dirt slide only to keep messing up every time.
He saw Sheriff a few miles away from where the racers were "hey Sheriff" he called out just loud enough for the car to hear.
Sheriff turned to the sound and saw Hudson waving him over "hey there Hudson, is there a problem?" he asked as he came closer to him.
"No there isn't" Hudson replied calmly "I just wanted to know what was going on, Catherine and Lizzie don't have their radio, I was just wondering why it's over with the racers, Red and Joe" the last he recalled Lizzie and Catherine had never let anyone take her radio as she liked to play and keep it near her house.
"Trust me Hudson, I'm just as confused as you are, although I did see that kid go into her shop, he then came out with some postcards and the radio" Sheriff said as he tried to recall the scene from his memory.
"Postcards?" this was even more confusing "why would a racer need postcards?"
"Search me Sir, that's all I know though, sorry I couldn't be of much help"
"Oh don't worry, you''ve helped out enough" although it sounded like he was saying it to himself, he walked away from Sheriff and straight to Lightning and his car, as he got closer he saw that Lightning had been dancing to the beat while he washed all the dirt and dust off of McQueen.

When Lightning was sure that he had covered every part of McQueen with soap he turned to Red "would you mind squirting a little bit of water on my friend please Red?"
Red who was a red fire truck nodded and quickly splashed water all over McQueen, the race car spluttered and coughed some water out since he had forgotton to close his mouth but otherwise didn't say anything.
"Thank you Red" Lightning gave the truck a thumbs up before grabbing a sponge and procceeding to wash off the soap from his friend.
Red just nodded with a smile on his face and continued to water his flowers, he may be shy but he was very friendly with a lot of people, he was really happy to have met Lightning as the boy had given him a few tips on how to make his garden look better, he had been trying different feterlizers to help his garden look better but with little result, then Lightning came and offered him his theory and what would you know? It worked like a charm, plus the kid had helped him make a few things that were lying around, who knew you could make a windmill out of some everyday objects.
When Lightning had finished rinsing McQueen he grabed a cloth so he could dry him off.
"And now we hope everyone will enjoy the song 'Life is a Highway' by the Rascal Flats.
Lightnings looked like a kid at christmas when the song began playing, it was one of the only songs that made him feel happy, that is if his dad wasn't around shadowing his every move.
He was humming with the music while drying off McQueen when Hudson and came over without them even noticing.
Lightning turned round to face Joe who was planting some seeds at the side of his house and near the statue of Stanley, a small smile crept onto his face as he watched Joe and Red working together on something they loved most, if only his dad appreciated stuff like that, everything he saw was just a game, like chess since he loved minipulating people. It was just shame nobody could see through his lies.
"Whatcha doing kid?" called a voice.
Lightning cried out "ah" slipped on some soap that was on the ground and slammed his back and head hard onto the pavement "Okay, that's going to leave a mark" he groaned out as he tried but failing to try and stand up.
Hudson immediatly acted after realising that he was really stupid to have scared the kid, but in his defence he thought Lightning had seen him, obviously not.
"Kid, wait a moment if you move too fast it will do more harm than good" he warned Lightning as the boy tried to get up but still failing terribly.
Lightning really didn't want to be lying on the ground, especially when he was in a vulnerable postion with a Doctor near him no less, he forced the flashblacks into the back of his mind as he tried to calm his nerves and breathing, he could feel his hands visible shaking and he had no doubt that Hudson could see it too.
McQueen watched this all happen, he couldn't do anything since he had no hands, if he had he would have grabbed Lightning and got him the heck away from here.

Hudson was almost thinking the same thing, he could see Lightning's hands shaking but what from he couldn't tell, the minutes seemed far longer than they should have before he said "alright, we're going to try and get you up but take it steady now ok?"
He watched Lightning slightly nod his head, out of the corner of his eye he saw Red and John looking with worried expressions on their faces, how could everyone have gotten close to the kid in a matter of days? No, there would be plenty of time to think of that later, right now he had a patient to sort out "alright Lightning, I am going to move you onto your side before I help you to sit up, this is just so I can check on your spine and see if you have damaged it alright?"
"Yes sir" Lightning said weakly, Hudson could tell he was on the verge of another panic attack, probably similer to what happened out on the dirt track.
Hudson did as he said, he moved Lightning onto his side as carefuly as he could then waited for Lightning to calm down in case he went into a panic attack. Thankfully it never came so he quickly but carefully moved to the next step which was to help Lightning sit up, he was about to place his hands near Lightnings top half but Lightning flinched away and growled out "don't touch me" but it partly sounded like a bark "I can do this myself"
Hudson really didn't want to but he knew that if he pushed it, it would make the boy even more scared and might make everything worse. So he moved away but not too far if the kid slipped and fell again.
Lightning carefully moved into a sitting position and once again gasped for breath, he took a few deep breaths before moving to stand, he was doing well until his back decided to crack "AH!" he flinched as the pain shot all the way down to his spine, he paused once again to breath, then with a huge amount of effort he managed to stand up on his feet, even though he had to grab a hold of his friends roof when he felt his head spinning "see" he breathed out to the man who was looking at him in slight shock "told you I could do it myself" he regretted those words when his vision went black and he past out before he could touch the floor, he never noticed Hudson grabbing him and carrying him back to the Clinic, he just hoped the kid didn't have concussion.