Chapter 18- Welcome Home, Fudge!
Friday was the day Fudge been looking forward to feverishly ever since she woke up from her coma. Friday was the day her family had been looking forward to since the accident. She was going home! She was beginning to think that this day would never come, but now, it was only one sleep away!
"Okay..." Luigi looked around at the several bags on the floor, stored under the bed on Thursday night. It was just him and Fudge in the room; the others had all left for the night and Luigi was supposed to be leaving in a couple of minutes himself. "I see that you have just about everything packed."
"Yeah", Fudge confirmed, unable to wipe the smile off her face. "My clothes for tomorrow are on the chair. Everything else is packed."
Luigi smiled. "Good."
"Oh, I'm just so excited to be coming home!" the girl gushed.
"Me too", Luigi agreed, taking her hand and giving her a big smile of his own. "Now, Fudge, I don't want to upset you because I know you are so happy to be coming home and I am too, but I feel like there is something we need to talk about before you come home."
"Okay..." Immediately, Fudge was suspicious.
"Okay", Luigi began. "Just because you are coming home, this does not mean you are magically better, okay?" Just looking at her, he could tell that that wasn't true. It was obvious that she was still in a fair amount of pain. Her knees were kind of scary-looking. They were covered in scars, but nowhere near as nasty as the scar on her back, and were an unusual shape from dozens of surgeries. On top of that, her face was pale, she was abnormally thin and she still looked pretty sick from the medication. "You still need plenty of rest and you can't walk just yet."
"I know!" Fudge groaned. "The doctors and nurses won't stop reminding me! Besides, I still don't feel like I can really move! I don't think I'm gonna try walking anytime soon!" She didn't really mind all of that. She didn't want to move anyway and she would much rather rest at home than in the hospital.
"That is good!" Luigi chuckled. "Because Babbo and I don't want you getting hurt trying!" He kissed the top of his daughter's head.
"Trust me, I won't."
"I know. I am glad."
"Anything else?" Fudge wanted to know.
"Just going on from that", Luigi continued, "you are still going to have to go back to the hospital. You are going to have to have surgeries and soon, you will start therapy."
"I know", Fudge repeated quietly. She had been told about the therapy and wasn't looking forward to it. Sure, she couldn't wait to start walking (if it ever got to that; they were going to start slow) and feeling like herself again and all that. It was just that the therapy sounded like a lot of work and she was sure that it was going to be painful.
Luigi nodded. "Okay..." He glanced at the clock. "It is time for me to go, but I will be back first thing in the morning with Babbo and Mack, okay?" Earlier in the week, Mack had agreed to give Fudge a ride home from the hospital in his trailer since everyone in town had agreed that it was the easiest and safest way to get her home. Besides, there was a bed in the trailer, so Fudge could nap quite comfortably on the way home.
"Can't wait."
"Will you be okay tonight?"
"I have been every other night", Fudge reminded him. "I'll be okay for one more night."
Luigi nodded. "Of course. Well, Papà has to go now." He kissed her again. "I love you and I will see you in the morning to take you home."
"Home..." At that moment, it sounded like the best word in the world to Fudge.
The human girl drifted off not long after Luigi left with a huge smile on her face. By that time tomorrow, she'd be sleeping in her own bed. Plus, not only would she get to spend as much time as she wanted with her family, but she got to spend the whole night with Doc. During her hospital stay, pretty much every time she fell asleep, there he was. She could see his smile, hear him chuckling. He would look at her the same way he did whenever she came over to the clinic in tears with a new injury. It was a look where he appeared to be annoyed, amused and sympathetic all at once by hiding a small smile.
"What have you done, kiddo?" Fudge could still hear his voice as clear as anything. Like his face looked, his voice sounded a combination of annoyed, amused and sympathetic.
"I... got hurt while I was out on the track with Lightning", she informed him quietly. "I don't remember what happened. I got told that I fell off his roof."
Doc shook his hood with a quiet chuckle. "I worry about you sometimes, Fudge."
"I'm getting better, though!" she insisted. "I'm going home in the morning!"
"Yeah, I know." Doc nodded. "I'm very happy to hear that." He gave her hair a playful ruffle. "You're way too young to be joinin' me here."
"I know", Fudge agreed with a sad smile. "I miss you, though. We all do."
"I miss you all too. Well, I see you all every day, but I can't be with you. Just know I'm there with you every day."
"I do know that", Fudge assured him. "We see you every day too."
Doc smiled, knowing what Fudge meant. Then he looked around. "Mornin's comin'", he reported. "I should go."
"I'll see you soon, though, right?" Fudge asked.
"Of course. You nap so much, I'll probably see you in a couple of hours!" Doc chuckled. "I love you."
"I love you too."
"I love you so much, Fudge", Doc repeated, suddenly slipping into an Italian accent. "Fudge... Fudge... Fudge..."
"Fudge..."
The girl opened her eyes slowly to find Luigi and Guido parked by her bedside, shaking her gently and whispering her name soothingly over and over again.
A slow smile spread across Fudge's face at the sight of them. "Hey..."
"It is time to go home now, angel", Luigi announced.
"Yes!" Fudge cheered.
"Okay. We need to be as quick as we can because Mack is outside waiting for us. Let's get you in the bathroom and then we will get you dressed, okay?"
"Okay", Fudge agreed.
As a nurse named Aubrey wheeled Fudge down the hall in a wheelchair she was taking home with her, many doctors, nurses, patients and their families called out cheerful farewells to the girl. Although she'd spent most of the time in her private room, Fudge had gotten to know several other patients a little bit, who all seemed sad to see her go. Fudge would miss them, but she wasn't sorry to be leaving, not even a little bit.
"Ah! Fresh air!" Fudge exclaimed with a huge sigh of relief as soon as she was out the door. Warm sunlight and a gentle breeze washed over; it felt amazing, especially after being cooped up indoors for four months.
Luigi, Guido and Aubrey all laughed.
"I haven't missed the sun this much since we went to England!" Fudge continued, making the other three laugh even more.
However, something else greeted her: flashing lights and dozens of people shouting.
"Whoa!" she murmured at the sight of all the reporters. She'd heard reporters had practically been living outside the hospital, but she thought her family were just exaggerating; she didn't think the fans and the press cared about her that much.
"Lightning McQueen's cheerleader, Fudge Rossi-Topolino, has been discharged from the hospital this morning", Roxanne Petrolski reported. "So, she should be coming out of these doors any minute now."
When she came out, the press swarmed her.
"Fudge!" Jo Beth Nakamura called out. "How do you feel finally being allowed to return home to Radiator Springs?!"
"Pretty good!" That was all the twelve-year-old could get out before her dads pushed her away shouting, "No questions! Scusi! Out of the way!"
"Paparazzi!" Guido muttered as they wheeled her away until...
"Hey!" a voice called out happily. "Fudge! How you doin'?!"
Fudge couldn't help smiling. "Hi, Mack!" She hadn't seen the big truck in ages and there he was, also swarmed by the paparazzi.
"Wow! I almost didn't recognise you in those glasses!" he commented. Fudge knew that it was more than just the glasses; Mack was just too polite to mention how sick she still looked or how much weight she'd lost. "How you doin'?"
"Better", she replied, even though she wasn't sure it that was true. Well, emotionally, it was true; coming home was already doing wonders for that. It was just that, even though, everyone told her she was getting much better, she didn't feel it all that much. Of course, she'd noticed that she wasn't as sick or in pain as she felt when she first remembered waking up from the coma, but not by much.
"Well, that's good. So, shall we hit the road?"
Fudge broke out into a huge toothless grin. "Sounds good to me!"
So, with the help of Luigi, Guido and Aubrey, it was only a matter of minutes before Fudge was settled in on the bed in the trailer and all of her bags were loaded in after her. Then, after Aubrey had called out a cheery goodbye and reminded Fudge to take care of herself, she was gone. The trailer door was shut and they were on their way! The reporters followed them for a while, but Fudge didn't care. She felt like she'd been let out of prison.
Still, the pure joy she felt wasn't enough to keep her awake. She drifted off after about ten minutes. The only problem was just as she was drifting off...
"(I still can't believe you are okay with McQueen taking care of our daughter!)" Luigi shouted at Guido.
"(I still can't believe you are acting like this)", Guido shot back in a perfect deadpan.
"(Well, I seem to care more about Fudge than you-)"
"(Don't you say that!)" Guido interrupted, sounding angrier than either Fudge or Luigi had ever heard him sound. "(DON'T YOU EVER SAY THAT! I don't even know how you can say that when I was with Fudge in the hospital-)"
"(I had an engine attack!)" Luigi argued defensively. "(You don't think I wanted to be with our daughter?!)"
"(The engine attack was not your fault, Luigi)", Guido admitted, "(but I am talking about being there with Fudge while you were running around, getting coffee!)"
"(I can't believe you are still bringing that up!)"
"(Yes! Because I think it says a lot about you, Luigi!)"
"(What is that supposed to mean?!)" Luigi sounded very disgusted.
"(I think you know!)" Guido snapped.
It went on and on like that until Fudge fell asleep and probably after that too. She slept the whole way back to town (and she did end up seeing Doc again). It was pretty exciting when Luigi shook her and announced, "Fudgie! Look where we are!"
The girl smiled and her heart leapt as she peered out the window to find that the tall buildings of the city had been replaced by the familiar desert landscape where she had grown up over the last twelve years (well, almost thirteen). The Leaning Tower of Tyres and the sign advertising Flo's V8 Café came into view moments later. She was here! She was home! It wasn't a dream! After all this time, she had finally come home!
Mack's horn blared out as he pulled up to Flo's.
"Close your eyes, Fudge!" Luigi instructed her.
"What for?" Fudge wanted to know, obeying.
"You will see!"
"Okay, but don't be surprised if I end up falling asleep."
Luigi laughed. "I won't!"
With her eyes still closed, Fudge felt herself being wheeled out of the trailer. The sunlight greeted her once more. It felt different to the one she'd felt in the city. For some reason she couldn't fully explain, the sunshine in Radiator Springs felt different to the sunshine anywhere else in the world.
"Okay, Fudge", Luigi's voice rang out in the darkness. "Open your eyes!"
With a big smile, Fudge opened her eyes. She was let out of the trailer right at the edge of town. Of course, Lightning, Sally, Mater, Sarge, Fillmore, Flo, Ramone, Sheriff, Lizzie and Red were there. Then were Gloria, Uncle and Mama Topolino, Mario, Luna, Annabella and Gemma. Plus, Finn, Holley, Sammy and even Siddeley was parked behind Flo's and off to the side. That was pretty much all she was expecting to see. However, there were Rusty, Dusty, Bobby Swift, Brick Yardley, the entire Weathers family, Tex, Otis, Van and Minny, Jeff Gorvette and Fudge didn't know who else. All of them had lined up down the street to make it look like a one float parade.
Luigi pushed her all the way to Flo's, everyone smiling broadly as she passed them. There were lots of colourful balloons tied to the metal pillars of the café and an equally colourful banner strung across the front of the building above the crowd. WELCOME HOME, FUDGE, it read.
"Hi!" the twelve-year-old called out, over the moon to see each and every person there.
"Welcome home, Fudge!" everyone stage-whispered, pulling up to the café behind her.
"Thanks!" she giggled.
"We couldn't let you come home with a little celebration, honey!" Flo informed the girl with a smile. "Just a quiet one 'cause you're still supposed to be restin'."
"Wow! Thank you so much! This is awesome!"
"Can I get you anything to drink, sweet pea?" Flo asked at one point.
"Just water, thanks", Fudge responded, thinking that she felt too sick to drink anything else.
So, Fudge received a cup of water and she noticed that everyone else had drinks and Sarge was pushing his forward.
"As I did when I first heard the news that she was coming home, I would like to propose a toast to Fudge. Just like I said then, I think I speak for everyone here when I say I couldn't be happier that she's home and I wish her a speedy recovery. To Fudge!"
"To Fudge!" everyone echoed, pushing forward their own drinks, making the human girl's face go red.
For the next ten minutes, Fudge went around, greeting every single person there individually. She didn't talk to most of them for very long; just long enough to thank them for coming, let them know she was glad to see them and respond to questions about how she was feeling.
"Hey, Fudge!" Otis greeted her happily at one point. "I'm sorry I couldn't come and see you in the hospital. I tried to once, but..." He trailed off, letting his sputtering engine do the talking. "The joys of being a Lemon."
Fudge smiled. "That's okay, Otis. I'm glad you're here now. Hey! Do you wanna hear a joke I heard when I was in the hospital?!" She knew Otis loved a good joke.
Otis grinned. "Sure!"
"Can dogs operate MRI machines?" MRIs were something else Fudge had become a little too familiar with in the hospital, unfortunately.
The dark blue car frowned, obviously stumped. "I don't know."
The twelve-year-old girl grinned. "No, but CAT scan!"
Otis burst out laughing. "I get it! That's a good one! I'll have to remember that!"
"Fudge, we were so sorry to hear about your accident, dear!" Minny stated, concerned. "We're so glad you're all right! For once, we came to Radiator Springs on purpose to make sure you're all right."
Van rolled his eyes. "Really, Minny!"
When it got to Lightning's turn, he took her hand and started crying.
"Wow! I am so glad you're home!"
Fudge couldn't wipe the smile off her face. "Me too!"
"I am so sorry I got you in there in the first place!" he repeated.
"Don't be. I know it was an accident."
"Now, you take care of yourself, all right?"
"I will."
"Good. And I'll help with that."
Once she'd had a drink and greeted everyone there to see her, Fudge felt her eyes begin to water and she struggled to keep them open.
"Do you want to go home and get some rest now?" Luigi questioned.
She responded by yawning loudly, making the crowd laugh.
"I will take that as a yes!" Luigi chuckled, beginning to wheel her off home. Only Guido and Lightning followed. The others stayed behind; they could see Fudge later. For now, though, she needed to rest.
Fudge's smile expanded as she looked around her home with all of the Ferrari posters on the walls and tyre displays set up. "I've really missed this place!"
"It has not been the same without you, Fudgie!" Luigi declared, kissing the top of her head. "Now, shall we take you up to your room?"
"Yeah!" She couldn't wait to sleep in her own bed! She had arrived! There was her bedroom door with the block letters that spelt out her name. They had been painted red, yellow, green, blue and purple respectively.
Before long, Fudge was settled into her own bed in her own room. She was glad to see her blue walls; her racing posters; the map of the world (with pins in the countries she'd been to) and the cat posters. Fudge loved cats and wished she had one, ever since Luna got a kitten two years ago.
"(We tried to keep your room just how you left it)", Guido explained apologetically as he pulled the covers over her, "(but that was hard to do when we brought things to the hospital for you.)"
"(That's okay)", Fudge assured him. "(Either way, I'm glad to be back.)"
"(And we are glad to have you back.)" The forklift gave her a kiss.
"Grazie."
"Okay. So, Papà and Babbo will be here with you as much as we can", Luigi informed his daughter. "Though, we will still be working in the store too. We are very sorry, but we do have to work." He really did sound sorry, which Fudge was glad to note after all the times he hadn't been there. "So, you have the bell." He held up a small silver bell, which had been on the bedside table. The bell was something that they'd had for years. When Fudge was sick and had to stay in bed, she would ring the bell whenever she wanted something. He put it back down where it was. "Do you think you can pick it up?"
"I think so..." Gingerly, Fudge lifted the bell and gave it a small ring.
"Okay." Luigi kissed her. "You have the TV." He gestured to the TV he had brought up into Fudge's room. "And your portable DVD player is in its usual spot." Fudge kept it on the desk in her bedroom. "Just let someone know if you need help with putting movies on."
"And I'll be here", Lightning added.
"You will?"
"Absolutely. I'm not racing right now, so whenever you need me, I'll be here, all right? I don't care if it's two in the morning and all you want is some ice cream."
"I'm gonna make you regret that!" Fudge teased, though she was extremely grateful.
"I doubt it! I wanna be here with you!" The race car gave her a kiss.
"Thanks..."
"So", Lightning spoke up. He turned to Luigi and Guido. "What do you say we get all of Fudge's stuff packed up while she takes a nap?"
"Okay!" Guido agreed while Luigi just nodded curtly. The Fiat wasn't really making snide remarks towards Lightning anymore (except for the occasional one), but he was still making it clear that the stock car wasn't forgiven.
Lightning looked back at Fudge and kissed the top of her head. "Sssh... Go to sleep."
So, that was what happened. All of Fudge's things were put away while the girl slept.
"Fudge's clothes need washing", Luigi commented.
"I'll put them on!" Lightning announced, scooping them up.
Guido smiled gratefully. "Grazie."
"I just want you to know", Luigi began, glaring at Lightning coldly, "that I am still not happy that you are here."
"I know."
"You can't just help me look after my daughter and think you are being a hero! It does not change what you have done to her!"
"Luigi, this isn't about making things right with you!" the race car reasoned. "This is about being there for Fudge!"
"Fine!" Luigi huffed.
Lightning looked confused for a moment before shrugging it off and putting Fudge's clothes in the wash.
Fudge slept for a couple of hours before being woken up by a voice whispering her name gently. Opening her eyes ever so slightly, her vision was blurred. She was surrounded by a series of colourful blobs. However, after rubbing her eyes and putting on her glasses, those blobs took on the shapes of Lightning, Flo, Finn, Holley and Sammy.
"I brought you some lunch, honey", Flo announced, bringing forward a tray of soup and sandwiches along with another cup of water. "You've been in the hospital so long I'm worried you've forgotten what real food tastes like!"
The twelve-year-old lit up and gave a little laugh. "I think I have! If you and Uncle Ramone hadn't brought some snacks in for me, I don't know what I would've done. Thanks, Aunt Flo! I can't wait to eat something you've made!" Flo could cook just about anything and it would always be scrumptious.
As predicted, the soup Flo made was delicious. The only problem was that Fudge was still feeling kind of sick and didn't feel like she could eat all of it.
"Is something wrong, honey?" Flo asked, concerned. "Don't you like it?"
"No. I do. It's really good, Aunt Flo. I just... don't feel very well. I don't think I can eat it all."
"Come on, Fudge!" the ex show car pushed her gently, aiming the spoon at her lips once again (Fudge was unable to do that herself.) "I know you're still sick, but Dr. Wilson says you still gotta eat."
"I know..." Reluctantly, the tween took another slurp of soup. "Where are Papà and Babbo?"
"They're downstairs, working", Flo replied.
"Speaking of work", Finn piped up, "we came over to say goodbye. We have another mission and, as much as we would like to stay with you, we can't afford any more time off."
"Yeah. Siddeley's outside, waiting", Sammy chimed in. "He said he's ready when we are."
"Okay... Where are you off to?"
"We can't say", Finn responded.
"Well, good luck."
"Thank you, Fudge", all three chorused. "Take care of yourself, all right? Get well soon."
"I'll try!" she chuckled.
"Oh, and before we go, I wanted to give you something." Sammy hoisted a cardboard box from the floor to the bed. "Most of this is some of my old clothes. I've been told you were going through clothes a lot lately, so I figured some of these might fit you."
Fudge smiled weakly and nodded. "Thanks."
"There's something else in here too. Something besides clothes." The human spy dug through the box before pulling out a DVD box set. It was a vaguely familiar sounding TV show called Friends. "This show always makes me feel better whenever I've had a s**tty day. And I think you've had a lot of those lately."
"I have!" Fudge agreed, making a pathetic face. She looked at the box set sceptically. It didn't look like the type of show she'd normally watch. "Thanks."
"No problem... What are friends for?"
"Boy, am I lucky to have a friend like you!" Fudge proclaimed.
"And we're lucky to have a friend like you!" Sammy added. "Now, get well soon."
Fudge smiled. "Roger that!"
"You okay, sweetie?" Lightning questioned once they, along with Flo, were gone and he had given her the medication she required, which was two pills after each meal.
"I don't know... I'm just tired."
"Yeah."
"I wanna sleep!"
McQueen chuckled. "Well, you gotta stay awake for a couple hours now. You can go to sleep at four until Flo comes back with your dinner at six-thirty."
"Okay", Fudge agreed reluctantly.
"All right... What do you say we keep going with these thank-you letters?" While she'd been in the hospital, Fudge had been dictating thank-you letters for everyone who sent flowers, cards and presents while she was in the hospital. It was taking a long time because there were so many.
"Good idea."
"All right..." Lightning pulled out the list of people to send thank-you letters to. "We were up to Miss Fritter, weren't we?"
"I think so..."
"Wow!" Fudge exclaimed, eyeing all of the presents she'd received again. I just can't believe how many people sent stuff! I never realised how popular I was with your fans!"
"Well, it turns out you're very!"
"Yeah..." Fudge agreed, thinking that it was such a great feeling to be loved.
Doc does make several appearances in Fudge's dreams throughout this story. You know, because I mentioned he's often there when Fudge is sick or hurt.
Don't worry. Luigi and Guido aren't going to abandon Fudge. They do help to look after her, but it doesn't come up that much in the story because it focuses on Fudge and Lightning's relationship. I just felt like it was important to clarify that now.