Life Could Be a Dream

Chapter 10- The Delinquent Road Hazard

"Come on, Fudge", Luigi had announced one night after he had given her a bath, put her into pyjamas and brushed her hair and teeth. "Bedtime."

"I have to go to sleep?" she had asked fearfully.

Luigi had nodded.

"But what if I go to sleep and never wake up like you said? I don't wanna die!"

"Fudgie!" Luigi kissed her. "That is not going to happen. You are not very, very, very sick or very, very, very hurt."

"I know, but..."

"Come on." Luigi picked her up. "Bed."

Fudge had gone to bed without incident that night, but little things occurred overtime. Like when she came down with a virus in February.

"Papà? Am I going to die?" she quizzed her father worriedly as he took care of her.

The Fiat glanced up from his task of cleaning out the bucket Fudge had been given to be sick in. "Of course not, Fudge. What makes you think that you are?"

"You said that if I was very sick-"

"You are not that sick, baby", Luigi interrupted.

"Promise?"

"Promise." He kissed her gently.

Doc entered just then. He had come over to check on Fudge as her doctor.

"Hey, kiddo", he greeted her with a smile.

"Am I gonna die?" was her response.

Doc, Guido and Luigi exchanged a look that said, We have a problem.

Doc sighed. "No, you're not. It's just a bug. You'll be feelin' like yourself in no time. I'm gonna make sure of that."

It didn't help that, after her, every single Radiator Springs resident ended up catching her bug. Luigi and Guido caught it from her, so Fudge stayed with Flo and Ramone for a while, who also caught it. Then everyone else except for Doc got it at the same time, only for Doc, after spending a week and a half taking care of his sick town, to come down with the bug himself. (By that point, Doc, who was only one car, got exhausted from racing around town, taking care of everyone and, consequently, had all of the townsfolk temporarily move into the courthouse, so he could reach them all quicker if they needed him.) On top of that, somewhere in the middle of it all, Fudge ended up catching it again from the others. The whole time, Fudge was hysterical, worrying that they were all going to die. Still, everyone was kind and patient with her, assuring her that they weren't that sick and the town would be back to normal soon.

Two weeks later, she was at it again when Sheriff had been injured in a tractor stampede. It was only a minor injury, but...

"Is he gonna die?"

Everyone sighed. Guido and Luigi had talked to Fudge about this. So had Doc. And Sheriff. And Sally. And Sarge. And Fillmore. And Flo. And Ramone. And Mater. And Red. And Lizzie.

"I'm not gonna die, kiddo", Sheriff assured her. "I'm fine."

"Really?"

"Really."

The others had to remind themselves that it was just a phase. She'd be fine.

Fudge's nightmares continued for months and they got worse with her departure right around the corner. Not all of them had anything to do with her upcoming departure from Radiator Springs, but that was the reason for her nightmares and any nightmare she had was terrifying. Plus, when her nightmares began, she started wetting the bed again too.