Chapter 10- Unfrogettable
Naturally, nobody in Radiator Springs felt like doing much with one of their own in a coma. That was the way Radiator Springs had been for most of the past month and a half. It was unnaturally quiet, especially without Sarge and Fillmore going through their daily morning routine. It seemed a little dirtier too since none of them, especially Luigi and Guido, had kept up with the town's maintenance much. Sarge hadn't even been mowing his lawn all that much. The only thing they cleaned up was the newspapers with Fudge's face all over them.
The only other tasks they had the energy to do were tasks that they knew Fudge would consider important or they considered important, given the circumstances. They would collect Luigi and Guido's mail for them (the two Italians would always toss aside the bills and countless Ferrari magazines they'd subscribed to and just take the get well soon and sympathy cards). Flo would make meals for everyone, insisting they all still needed something to eat, even though even she didn't have much of an appetite.
One task that they all knew that Fudge would consider important was checking up on Hoppy, her pet frog, who lived down by the waterfall. Lightning was often the one who did that. He figured it was the least he could do for his little sister. He couldn't abandon her pet when she was in the hospital because of him.
Yet another day passed. Most of the townsfolk had accompanied Luigi and Guido to the hospital, sans Lightning. He had opted to stay behind to look after Hoppy and wallow in self-pity.
The residents of Radiator Springs rarely said anything to each other in the endless waiting at the hospital. Often, they would stare at the TV, without really paying any attention to it. Mater had become addicted to the vending machine. The tow truck loved the snacks, so he would often go to get himself as many snacks as possible as well as any requests the others had. It seemed, to the tow truck, to be the upside to the long hours spent at the hospital, worrying about Fudge and staring at the rain outside (the weather had been miserable for the entire time Fudge had been in a coma).
That's where he was when some familiar faces wandered into the hospital lobby.
Sarge was the first one to notice them. "Mr. Topolino!" he exclaimed as the burgundy 1937 Fiat entered. He was followed by his wife, Mama Topolino; a red Fiat (Luigi's mother, Gloria); a yellow Fiat that resembled Luigi (his brother, Mario) and three smaller Fiats: one midnight blue, one pale pink and one mint green (Fudge's cousins, Luna, Annabella and Gemma, respectively). The Jeep had been about to ask them what they were doing there, but he figured that was obvious. So, he changed his mind and informed them, "We didn't know you were coming."
Gloria spoke in Italian, not knowing much English and Uncle Topolino translated. (While they had all learned some Italian from Luigi and Guido, Fudge was the only one who had become truly fluent. It came from both living with them and being exposed to the language from a much younger age.)
"You were not supposed to know", Uncle Topolino interpreted. "Gloria was worried that you would tell her not to come." Luigi's mother did have a slight engine condition.
"Well, there's not much you can really do here", Sally informed them ruefully. "Fudge is still in a coma."
Gloria spoke again in Italian.
"We all know there is nothing we can do for Fudge", Uncle Topolino interpreted, "but we can be here for Luigi and Guido."
Everyone else nodded, murmuring that they understood.
"(Where is she?)" Gloria wanted to know.
Sally understood what she said and answered with, "(Room 617)", before translating into Italian. "But you'll need to talk to reception first."
It didn't take long for the receptionist to smile and nod, sending Gloria on her way.
Luigi closed the book he was holding with a heavy sigh. He had been reading another one of Fudge's books out loud to her. It was a book from the Babysitters Club series; the books had been Sally's when she was younger and she gave them to Fudge. Now, whenever the doctors and nurses caught him reading to her, they'd tell him he was a good father. He wasn't so sure about that. He was just doing what anybody would do.
Apparently not. The nurse currently in the room, Nurse Flossie, eyed the title of the book. "My husband would be too self-conscious to read a book a called Boy-Crazy Stacey", she informed him in her Louisiana drawl. "I can tell you'd do anything for that girl."
Luigi nodded vigorously. "I would."
Flossie smiled ruefully. "Well, I'm afraid that I am going to have to ask you to leave for a few minutes. It's test and medication time."
Not surprisingly, Luigi didn't want to leave. However, as previously stated, he would do anything for Fudge and that meant cooperating with the doctors and staff helping her.
He took one last glance at the little girl as he rolled out of the room. Normally, she would have a meltdown if she left, begging him not to go. Not this time. She just lay there. How could she just lie there? She didn't seem to be getting any better! It had been a month now!
Parking out in the hallway, Luigi burst into tears. He had no idea how long he could do this! How long she could do this! She was going to be fine- he knew it- but he was tired of waiting for it. Besides, he couldn't cry when he was in her room. If there was even the slightest chance that she could hear him, then he had to be strong.
A few minutes later, Luigi became aware that there was someone behind him. Slowly, he turned around and found himself looking into familiar, comforting eyes.
"Mamma..." he murmured. He knew she shouldn't have been there, with her engine condition and it must've cost a lot of money to travel across the Atlantic at the last minute. Yet, he didn't care. He just wanted- and needed- her there.
Gloria said nothing. She just held out her tyres as her eyes filled with tears. Luigi raced towards her and collapsed into her hug, crying louder. He wanted to be so strong for his daughter, but, for the time being, he didn't have to be the strong one.
Meanwhile, Lightning was heading in the direction of the waterfall to check up on Hoppy. He had been coming almost ever day since the accident. He even started a notebook to keep Fudge up to date on the things Hoppy did while she was gone. He was having a little trouble filling the pages, though. Hoppy was a frog; he didn't do much. Still, he was sure Fudge would want to see it when (if?) she woke up.
Since it was February, it was still cold down by the waterfall. Lightning saw several frogs leaping around the water, but none of them were Hoppy. Everyone in Radiator Springs knew Hoppy when they saw him.
"Where did you go, Hoppy?" Lightning wondered to himself softly, just as he became aware of laughter coming from the other side of the waterfall.
Driving around to investigate led him to discover five boys- two cars; a forklift; a pickup truck and a human- all about ten years old, stabbing at something with a stick.
"Oh, man! That is so gross!" the forklift chortled.
"Yeah, but it's so cool!" one of the cars agreed.
"Wanna bet I can tear it in half?" the pickup truck asked.
Lightning drove closer to see what they were stabbing and his oil ran cold when he saw.
"Oh, no..." he murmured.
It was Hoppy.
Blood painted the rock red and, thanks to the boys and their stick, his insides were showing. Flies were starting to pick at the pieces.
The boys happened to hear the race car and looked up from their task.
"Hey!" the other car exclaimed excitedly. "It's Lightning McQueen!"
The forklift's eyes widened. "Whoa! Lightning McQueen! You're the coolest racer ever!"
"Can I get your autograph?" the first car requested.
"Me too", the pickup truck added.
Normally, Lightning would be willing to oblige for his young fans. This time, however, he wasn't feeling like himself because of everything that had happened. Besides, he was focused on Hoppy. He pointed to the dead frog. "What happened to it?"
The human shrugged. "Don't know. It was dead when we got here."
Lightning took several heavy deep breaths, almost hyperventilating. This was so the last thing they needed right now.
The forklift gave him an odd look. "Why do you care? It's just a frog."
Lightning didn't answer. He just sped off back towards town to grab his phone.
"Well, you've come a long way", Flo stated the obvious. "Do you wanna get somethin' to eat? There's a coffee shop in the hospital."
The adults declined politely, but Mario nodded encouragingly at his daughters, who followed Flo uncertainly.
Beep, beep!
Sally checked her phone and, if cars could go pale, she would have.
"Oh, no!" she exclaimed softly.
Immediately, everyone practically felt their hearts stop. "What?!" they all demanded fearfully.
"Stickers has been to the waterfall", Sally began sadly.
"Yeah?" Sarge prompted.
The Porsche took a deep breath. "Hoppy's dead."
The entire population of Radiator Springs let out heavy sighs. "Oh, no..."
Red's eyes filled with tears.
"Poor kid", Ramone commented softly. "Now, when she wakes up, we gotta tell her her pet's dead. She never got to say goodbye."
"Maybe it's better that way", Sally spoke up. Everyone gave her odd looks. "If Fudge weren't in a coma, she would've been the one to find him. Not that I'm glad she's in a coma, but..." She trailed off.
"I suppose", Sheriff conceded half-heartedly. It was hardly a consolation to the situation, but they were all kind of glad that Fudge hadn't discovered her beloved pet dead.
Later that afternoon, everyone had returned to Radiator Springs, even Luigi and Guido had come home that day. They hadn't wanted to, but Gloria and Uncle Topolino insisted that it would be best if they did.
Besides, when Sally told them about Hoppy, the two Italians knew that there was something important they had to do.
The entire Radiator Springs population, sans Fudge, was accompanied to the waterfall by Luigi's relatives. What was left of Hoppy was placed on large leaf and covered with more leaves and sticks. They had all agreed to give him a Viking funeral, but Fillmore insisted that they only used natural material. Plus, they were going to skip setting him on fire. They knew Fudge would hate that for several reasons.
Lightning cleared his throat. "We gather here today to say goodbye to our good friend, Hoppy", he began. "I'm sure we can all agree that not many of us liked Hoppy, but he was a faithful companion to someone we all love very much."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Red and Fillmore were the only ones- besides Fudge, of course- who actually liked Hoppy. Still, no matter how disgusting they found the frog, it warmed all of their hearts to see the huge smile he brought to their little girl's face.
The race car looked around at his friends. "Does anybody have anything they wanna say about Hoppy?"
"I do!" Mater spoke up eagerly. "I just wanna say that he was a good frog. He made me laugh the time he done jumped on a tractor I just tipped over. He obviously loved tractor tippin' as much as I do!"
"Remember the time he knocked over Doc's ashes in the racing museum?" Sally quizzed the others.
They all did. Maybe it wasn't quite so funny at the time, but it was kind of funny now. Several of them couldn't help letting out a few chuckles.
"I was thinking of the time Hoppy tried to jump in the water while Fudge was still holding him!" Ramone laughed. "She lost her balance and fell in too!"
That made everyone laugh again, but their laughter was quick to turn to tears. As previously stated, hardly any of them even liked Hoppy, so none of them were particularly heartbroken that he was dead. Even Luigi's family, who had never even met Hoppy, were shedding tears. Those tears were for Fudge. Fudge, who was lying in a hospital bed, in a coma, completely unaware that her pet was gone. Fudge, who could quite possibly be joining her pet wherever he was now.
"I know I did not like you very much, Hoppy", Luigi admitted, "but I want to thank you for making my daughter very happy."
Luigi sighed sadly as he nodded, giving the signal. Red, Sarge and Fillmore lay the leaf down in the water and gave it a gentle push. Hoppy was carried down the water and soon, he was gone.
"Goodbye, Hoppy!" Mater shouted as he disappeared.
The second he was out of sight, Sally looked at the other sadly. "How are we gonna tell Fudge?" she wondered.
Sheriff sighed. "I guess she's not gonna buy 'He's gone to live on a farm'", he remarked ruefully.
Mater blinked. "Gone to live on a farm?" he repeated.
"Yeah, that's what people sometimes tell their kids when their pet dies", Lightning explained. "They've gone to live on a farm."
"It's to soften the blow", Sally elaborated.
"That's funny", the tow truck commented. "'Cause our dog actually did go to live on a farm."
Sheriff gave him an odd look. "Uh... Mater?"
"That's what you done told me!" Mater insisted. "Remember? Marshall done went to a farm in Minnesota. Propwash Junction, where I done learned to fly."
"Mater?" Sheriff repeated.
All of a sudden, the tow truck realised and his face fell. "Marshall!" he exclaimed sadly. His face crumpled up as he shed tears.
Luigi sighed again. "I suppose that is the end of the funeral", he announced. He turned to his relatives. "I will show you all where you can stay."
"If there's not enough room for everyone, there are plenty of cones available", Sally offered.
As everyone drove away, all anybody could think about was Fudge. Fudge, who was in a coma. While their worlds- not to mention hers- were all crashing down, she was completely unaware, sleeping through it all.