Hoo boy...

...wait for it...

*inhales*

….CARS 3 WAS SO GOOD AND IT HAD EVERYTHING I'D EVER WANTED IN A CARS SEQUEL AND IT WAS SO CUTE AND FUNNY AND MADE ME CRY AND OH MY GOD THAT WAS SO GOOD :''''DDDD

…ahem. Yeah, as you can see, Cars 3 was an absolute blast :3 And, because of the release of the new film, I'm officially inspired to write fanfics again! :D

This will be a series of short one-shots and flash fiction stories, and they will take place throughout the chronological series, across all three films. A lot of these were actually suggestions from my fans and followers, so if one of you guys gave me a suggestion and you are reading this now, so thank you so much for these suggestions! :D

Speaking of which, this first story was suggested by Fanfiction user Tin Lizzies (though honestly, it was only a matter of time before I wrote something like this...)

But, I should give a quick warning: these stories WILL DEFINITELY contain spoilers for Cars 3. If you have not watched the film or any of the trailers, go and do that before coming back here. This has been a PSA.

Now, with that all out of the way, please enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: Even after so long, no, I definitely still do not own Disney and Pixar's Cars. Sorry guys. :\

"…You're gonna be okay, I know you'll be okay. You'll be fine… We're gonna get you some help… They'll fix you up… I know it…"

Sally kept repeating it – more to herself than to McQueen. She sat next to him, in the back of a wailing ambulance, speeding away from the racetrack towards the nearest hospital. Just a mere half an hour ago she'd watched perhaps the most horrifying thing happen to him – he'd spun out, slammed into the wall, then into the pavement, over and over and over again – and she'd been completely powerless to stop it.

Nurses and ambulances had been on the scene in an instant, pulling up next to McQueen's motionless body and checking the extremities of his injuries. Sally, of course, had sped onto the track – she'd just had to get to him – just as Mater, Luigi, Guido, and the others did the same. She'd almost cried when she made it to his side – both from seeing her boyfriend be torn apart, and from the security cars who'd immediately pushed her away so the nurses could do their jobs.

They'd soon had him on a stretcher, ready to load him onto the approaching ambulance. Then, when one of the nurses asked her and the rest of his team if one of them wanted to ride with him, she'd practically thrown herself into the back of the truck.

She needed to be with him. She needed it just as she needed oil and gas to stay alive.

Looking at him now, Sally felt the urge to scream rising up yet again. Sharp dents and cuts covered McQueen's entire frame, a few of them still bleeding dark oil. Much of his paint had been scraped clean off upon impact, and his spoiler had been torn off, still hanging on by a sliver of metal. His eyes were shut, and the only indication that he was even alive was the shallow puffs of breath coming from his mouth. The nurses had stuck an IV in his side right before they'd taken off. As the ambulance went over speed bumps and made sharp turns Sally fought the instinct to reach out and keep the stupid needle in place with her own tires; she was just so sure it was going to be ripped out somehow…

Sally kept her tire wrapped around McQueen's, squeezing it hard whenever she needed to reassure herself. Half the time she expected him to react to it – he'd jolt awake, go "Ow", look at her and say "Whoa, watch it, that hurts". And damn her if she didn't want him to react – she wanted something, anything that told her that he was still here… with her–

"Y-You… you are here… You can hear me, can't you?" she said, her voice a shaky whisper, "You're… you're gonna be fine, Stickers… I'm sure of it… They'll fix you up… You'll be okay… Okay?"

Still no reaction. Of course.

Sally bit her lip and pulled her tire away from McQueen, pushing the blinds away from the ambulance window. She leaned forwards, looked at the outside world. She spied a few tall, spotless buildings in the city ahead. She quietly prayed to the Manufacturer that at least one of those was the hospital.

Then she heard something that made her entire frame freeze over.

"…S-S…S-Sal…?"

It was small, weak, almost inaudible – and yet she still heard it.

Her mouth feeling like sandpaper, Sally turned her attention back to her boyfriend.

He was still there. Still broken. But he'd opened his eyes – just by a little bit. He was staring at her. Looking right at her between his slit windshields, the whites of his eyes glassy and tinged with red.

Sally stared right back, swallowing hard. She felt that familiar pressure build behind her eyes as she looked him over, took in his sorry state yet again. She drove forwards a centimeter.

"S-Stickers– ?"

As quickly as he'd come back to her, he left again. He shut his eyes, letting out a ragged, groaning breath as he did so. Sally sat frozen for a few seconds before gripping his tire again, giving it a light jostle. Nothing. Not even a twitch. He only lied there, only breathing to show how alive he was.

Sally couldn't take her eyes off of McQueen, even as her eyes filled with tears and a sob filled her throat.

"…You… are… going… to…. be… fine…"

...You guys miss my special brand of angst? :3

Anyway, more is definitely to come! Please leave a review and tell me what you thought! See you in the next one!

~Pixel