Two Months Later...
A light exhalation from the fox escapes his snout. The first thought circling his mind is the discomfort around his weakened and fragile body. His muscles were tense, hindering him from moving the way he wanted as he lay uncomfortably on his back. The gleaming lights glistening above him hardly permit his eyes to assemble the strength to open, but he languidly blinks anyway. His pupils once dilated now shrink to a pulp.
Nick figured he'd been laying in this frozen position for hours with his back feeling completely stiff. A large cushioned pillow beneath his head curves his neck forward, allowing him to view most of everything ahead of him. A thin white sheet covers the lower half of his body with an IV cord sticking in his left arm. Nice. His head ascends to the television mounted on the right corner of the wall displaying ZNN at a reduced volume. Gauze, band-aids, cotton balls, and wrappers lay scattered across the counter-top several feet beyond his bed. He notices a few other medical instruments settled nearby and several posters displaying a vast selection of mammal compositions stapled across the four sections of the windowless walls. Yup, this is a hospital. It was apparent in his disoriented mind.
And if it wasn't for the heart monitor constantly beeping next to his lazed ears to his left, there wouldn't have been any reason to guess to begin with. The sour taste swamped inside his mouth wasn't the most pleasant way to wake. His throat sends frenzied signals for the demand of water, but there wasn't a nurse currently available. Some of his strength rouses as he attempts adjusting his back to straighten his posture with the use of his front limbs. His arms give in abruptly when an unexpected sharp pain discharges rom the middle of his right thigh to the lower end of his back, disrupting his effort.
"Gah!...ow..." Nick eases himself back to his previous ill-fitting bearing. "Ow, ow, ow..." The red-tailed fox grumbles, tightly clutching his balled up fists against the heavily padded mattress in excruciating pain.
Nick showed his confusion with a scowl. He never experienced this magnitude of pain before. No childhood memories to reflect on, nothing too agonizing for almost his entire body to feel affected. The feeling still persists; the excess energy binding in that particular region.
The uncertainty of his agony quickly troubles him. His heart races with questions and he determinedly swipes removes the thin blanket from his lower half...then pausing before shutting his eyes all over again in disappointment. While both hind legs remain in their respective positions, his right lies completely layered and covered with thick bandages from the hook of his leg to his upper thigh. There was no keen movement. No sensation. And as disturbing as this is for him, his mind eases when he manages to curl his toe. Adequately he wasn't fully broken. Thank goodness.
Nick rubs the middle of his indentation with his paw in frustration. His puzzled memories were starting to piece together. "Ugh..." He feebly murmurs beneath his breath.
"Good morning Mr. Wilde." A saintly voice speaks from the entrance of the door. His ears raise instantaneously after catching his full attention. Finally, someone who could give him answers. A young white tigress collectively makes her presence known in possession of a clipboard secured in her paws, typically appareled in a doctors gown overlapping a sea-blue undershirt. "Welcome back."
He slightly nods his head off to her. "Thanks." He responds as optimistic about his situation as possible. Still, she wasn't the voice he was expecting or wanting to hear. "And good morning to you"
His doctor pauses at the edge of his bed, switching between assessing his heart monitor and blood pressure rates. "How are you feeling this morning?" She asks politely following a sincere smile.
He softly chuckles. "I've had worse days."
She hums a delighted cheer in return. "Well then I'm sure you'll toughen through this one and get better in no time."
"Yea..." His glimmering emerald eyes fluster to his injured leg, then back to her as she caps the bottom of her pen. "So when am I gonna to get the details on what's going on here?"
Her lips depart to explain, but in unison their heads turn to the doorway. Chief Bogo abundantly enters the room with his large stature gaining most of the employee's attention outside the hallway. "I hope I'm not interrupting." His austere tone directive in regards to Nick's doctor. The buffalo nods his antlered head in respect to Nick. "Officer Wilde, it's good to see you're finally awake."
Nick skitters to Bogo, his doctor, then back to his boss. "Umm...and how long was I out?"
"Two days." She answers dismally. "You don't remember any of it, do you?"
"Bits and pieces." His answer was dispiriting, not wanting to remember anything and wishing that night never happen. Foolishness was the best word he could describe himself. He ignored his partner's commands when she knew how to execute a better plan of attack to the situation. He could only blame himself for the predicament he's in, for the danger he put them through, yet alone embarrassed in the result of the showdown. I don't want to talk about it. "Hey doc, you don't happen to you have any ice chips, do you?"
"We certainly do." She pleasantly answers as she sets her clipboard on the counter. "I'll be right back with your chips, Mr. Wilde."
"Thanks you madam." His eyes trail her as she exits the room. A sheer grin premises across his snout to Bogo who remains in his impassive manner. "Such a sweet lady, isn't she? You should consider asking for her number."
"I see your twisted sense of humor never left." Bogo flouts.
Nick amusingly relaxes his palms behind his head. "I gotta stay positive somehow, chief."
"That's an understatement." Bogo paces to the other side of the room to the visitor seat beefed against the wall. His bulky arms reach for the buttons, lowering the volume on the television furthermore. "We all thought we nearly lost you."
Nick's ears flatten after the reference of near death. It wasn't like he had a stab wound or was injured somewhere critical and death wasn't something that crossed his mind recently, even after completing the academy. His bandaged leg went numb with a sudden chill down his spine. He plays his poker face. "It couldn't have been that bad."
"You were shot during the robbery inside Bank of Zootopia. Luckily for you Officer Hopps stood by your side until the paramedics arrived." Bogo breaks for Nick to absorb the information and let it soak. Nick was impatient, motioning his paws for Bogo to continue, specifically more about Judy than the rest. "The criminals were smart enough to tamper with the security cameras. We never got the identities of the perpetrators. We do have some leads and we've been tipped-..."
"Umm, sir?" Nick intentionally cuts him off. There was all the time in the world to listen about what happened, what went wrong, and how he could've formulated the crime scene differently. The important piece left out was Judy's condition. That's what he wanted to hear. "None of that matters right now, sir...none of it."
Bogo's direful eyes cut to the side, relieving himself with an aggravating grunt. Nothing bothered him more than being interrupted, but because of Nick's condition he allows this one to slide. His tone grows stronger than before. "It should concern you. The dart that hit you lodged in your upper thigh. You two were fortunate enough. The criminals held responsible escaped through the back doors without taking your lives. Emergency surgery was performed when you were rushed and during the procedure the surgeons discovered the dart had poison blanketed on the tip. They removed as much as they could before it could intoxicate your bloodstream." Bogo turns his body, viewing the widened appalled sentiment of Nick. "Hear me when I say, you're very lucky.
Though his stomach went flat, Nick appreciated the details he was being provided. His main concern, nonetheless is Judy. There was a mental barrier he didn't want to cross to showcase himself as panicky or overly anxious, but he needed to know. He wanted an answer. She's incontestably his best friend and as cliché as it was, his partner in crime. He deserved the right to know. "How is she?" He swallows a dry clump down his throat. "Car-...Judy? Is she okay?"
"She's fine." Bogo replies, leading to Nick's heart skipping a beat. He watches the fox relieve himself with a swoon back to the comforting pillow, alleviating a contented sigh. "Came out with a few scratches, but all is well."
Nick couldn't express himself, the emotional combination of elation, bliss...and relief. He sounds off another short chuckle as he slides his paws to cover his eyes. The thought of her getting hurt because of his ignorance stays tightly bottled. He wouldn't allow himself to speak of the possibilities. I owe that bunny an apology. This was already a roller-coaster since he had woken.
"Your ice chips, Mr Wilde." The doctor returns holding a plastic cup full of his mouths desires.
"Thank you Doctooorrr…" He extends the 'ooorrrr' during his stint of viewing of her name tag. "Delor-...Delorious. Wow, such a nice name."
The second she hands him the chilling cup, he dispenses the ice in his mouth, mistakenly spilling a few on his gown in the process. There was nothing more he can enjoy on this very moment than this refreshing, chilling crystals adventuring under and surfacing his tongue. His eyelids dip into a slumber, supping the water that melts so quickly to cure his brief feeling of dehydration.
"You're very welcome." She grasps the clipboard she set aside earlier, listening him shuffle more into his captivity. "I overheard your boss informing you of the situation. If I may proceed where he ended off, despite some nerves being damaged in your leg I'm proud to inform you there's no paralysis. Withal, it will take some time for you to heal."
He pushes the remaining ice to the side of his cheek to speak, disturbing to Bogo. "You're giving me something to look forward to doc." Then crushing bits of the ice with his pointed teeth. "This is good news."
"If I may ask a question doctor..." Bogo rests his hooves behind his back. "In regards to work he will be mandated to take a leave of absence until he's able to get back on his feet, for I have no use for him patrolling the streets or working back office."
"C'mon chief, you can do better than that." Nick cuts him off again, short to setting the fuse off Bogo's patience. "How about I take your job? You know, sit in the office all day...assign the guys their posts...demand the world out of everyone."
Dr. Delorious hiding her smile beneath her board wasn't helping Bogo resist himself from wanting to chew his serviceman out. He collects whatever patience inside him to maintain his professional composure, though glaring at Nick dead in his eyes. "Shut it Wilde." He groans heavily, then turning back to Delorious frustratingly. "May I speak with you outside for a moment?"
Nick had to entertain himself somehow to keep his spirits high and pestering Bogo somewhat did the trick. He watches the two leave for their conversation to take place elsewhere, bringing out comical grin although he had forgotten to ask for a refill of ice chips. He settles his empty cup aside on the trey linked to his bed beside the heart monitor. Then his ears elevate as a pair of recognizably sounding footsteps halt from the entrance.
There she stood
His most favorable bunny, wearing her farmer clothes with shock glamoring every spec of fur across her face. Judy's quivering paws cup her chin, her ears droop past her shoulders inactively as she's drawn to him with her enlarged amethyst eyes in sullenness. Her dotted nose continuously twitches uncontrollably. Nick watches them commence with tears.
Neither of the two could hear the other breathe, only footsteps down the hallway from other mammals echo in the stillness. Judy's mind was stripped away from her. Everything had been rehearsed the night before and the night prior to that…even going over everything in the waiting room, but her train of thought was astray. There was no abstraction to begin with nor did she know where to start. Her emotions rampage through her veins. Sorrow, helpless, small...she couldn't help but feel all three. She knew Nick was okay. It was evident as he lay right there staring at her with the same startling look she exchanges with him. Guilt consumes her bit-by-bit and Judy holds herself back because of this.
"Nick." She whispers his name softly, following a tenuous sniffle and blinking excessively to fight back the tears.
And again he finds himself grinning. Not because she's in her emotional and sensitive state, but because he's actually happy she's here with him. This was enough for to forget about the pain firing up and down his leg. "Are you going to keep staring at me Carrots, or are you going to come over here and give me a hug?"
The rabbit remains repelled, hesitating to move her feet. "Oh my crackers, ohmygosh, ohmygosh..." She mutters in disbelief underneath her cupped paws, sounding almost horrified. Her paces were small, but she stops herself overly cautious at the edged corner of his bed.
Nick causally opens his arms for a much needed embrace from his partner. "Come on, bring it in." He had to remember, she hasn't seen him for two full days since he was comatose. At first she glimpses to him with uncertainty, raising her eyebrows. He waits, looking deep in her eyes as hers cling to his emeralds. She forces herself to his side, throwing her body forward and wrapping her fury little arms around his neck. He wasn't expecting the suddenness, but he follows to collapse his right paw right on the back of her head and her shoulder blades with the other. Judy's embrace brought warmth, comfort, and he listens to her throbbing heart pound against his chest. He was eager just as equally as she was. "You see what I mean now? So emotional...so sensitive."
Judy entombs her nose face deeper in his neck. "Nick, I'm so, so sorry." She utters heavily.
He chuckles daintily, enjoying this moment. The tension in her back muscles loosens while he gently pats her backside and brushes his paw against her folded ears. "Hey, look at me...look at me." She effortlessly uncovers her face with his guidance, ignoring eye contact from the embarrassment of her breaking down. She had forgotten this happened before, though the circumstance was different. He never forgot. His digit gently wipes away another tear dampening her fur as it plummets mid-way down her cheek. "It's not as bad as you think."
She sniffles repeatedly, shifting to his motionless limb. "Almost your entire leg is bandaged. If only I…-"
"Wait..." He destines to ease her guilt trip.
"No. I…-"
He smoothly displays his paws his front of his chest. "Wait a minute..."
She refuses to let him continue. "NO!"
"If you came in there you'd be in the hospital bed right next to me." His finger presses firmly against the blanket. Nick shrugs his shoulders, then another grin partially forms on his face, but she continues to gaze upon him with her tear-filled eyes flooding with regret. "Face it, you saved my life Fluff." His eyes stem past her when those words register his brain. His eyebrows raise remarkably so, ushering a silent exhale out his nostrils. "Well how about that." His voice full of impression. Nick reunites to Judy. "You actually saved my life, twice."
Judy takes a moment of silence, then shakes her head otherwise. "Actually Nick, you saved me this time."
He plausibly crosses his arms over his chest. "That's not what the chief said."
Judy begins with resting herself on the edge of his bed. "When you got hit, you grabbed the back of my collar and pulled me down with you." She pauses, her thoughts going elsewhere. Those mystical plum eyes stare into space, recollecting her memories like the scenario happened only minutes ago. "When I landed on my back, I looked up. I looked up and I saw..." Her voice weakens, "I watched a dart fly over my head. For a second there I thought, 'oh my crackers'. Nick, if I was standing there I would've been down with you."
Eventually their eyes meet again. His smile had was long gone. Nick wasn't aware of pulling her down and had to admit he would've never guessed that had taken place.
Judy gently settles her paw on his wrist. The level of belonging had risen this time. "Thank you." She expresses sincerely, graciously. "You have no idea how long that's been bothering me for the past two days."
"Aww, so you really do think about me." He teases.
She rolls her eyes off to the corner, finally managing to break a smile after his witticism. The two simultaneously ponder to his wrist where her hand resides. She peeps at him, biting her bottom lip as he continues his grimace. Judy jolts her arm back in a hurry, folding her paws together, but was unknown to the complacence he had with her touching him in the beginning.
She sighs profoundly and urges her inner-self to decompress knowing everything is mostly normal between them. "Look, I um...well I know you don't think I owe you anything. I feel more at fault about this than...well, anything. I owe it to you."
"Carrots, you don't have to do anything."
"I know I don't have to." She gestures her paws against her chest. "But I feel like I should."
"Okay and I'm telling you there's nothing you can…-"
Their attention shifts to Bogo re-entering their room, oblivious of Judy's arrival. He takes notice of the closeness between the two positioned on the bed and suspense was on the horizon. Judy realized her disposition as well and favorably scoots a few inches down from her partner.
Dr. Delirious straggles behind the massive mammal. She gleefully acknowledges Judy's presence. "I see you already have a visitor."
Nick nods his head to Judy after looking to him when mentioned as the 'visitor'. She pushes herself off the bed, her hands clogged together behind her back. "Good morning. My name is Judy."
"It's a pleasure to meet you Judy." Delorious responds courteously.
The bunny knew the doctor was genuinely nice just by her comforting presence and display of hospitality toward Nick, however she didn't forget about Bogo and his skepticism. "Sir."
"Hopps." He grunts.
Nick gags on a fake cough, forcing everyone's attention on him to lesson the suspicion coursing from his boss. It worked. "Well uh...what do you have for me doc?"
"The process of your healing will take up from two to four weeks. In given time, you should consider professional care to routinely help you with your everyday activities." Delorious then uncovers a list beneath his medicals records on the clipboard.
Nick analyzes the sheet with the lists of agency names and contact numbers billeted in a cataloged format. In spite of professional care, an idea triggers in Judy's head. Her ears sprout profusely, quick enough for Nick to detect. "May I please see one of those?"
"Certainly. I'll get another."
Her brainstorming leads to Nick's confusion. Judy was up to something and he wanted to find out what without tipping off Bogo. There wasn't much he could do, so he brooms his paw against her elbow, prodding her arm against her lap. He does gain her attention, but her mindset still scrambles the pieces of her idea together. He knew she wasn't fully focused on him. "Hey..." He whispers. "What are you thinking?"
Her contagious smile spreads from cheek to cheek. The power lit the bulb. "I'm thinking of the best idea yet." She answers confidently. He follows her fluffy tail proceed to Bogo, stepping into the shadow of his giant build. "Chief, I'll be looking forward to taking some time off to get myself together."
His arms cross over his brute chest. "As the regulation authorizes, you will be granted your request. Fill out your paperwork tomorrow morning so it can be filed."
"Actually sir..." She calls to him, unfinished with her appeal. Her turns back to her, distressing an exhibited grumble. "I know the regulations state I'm granted a week until I'm stated back on patrol, but I was hoping you'd make an exception. You see, until what happened to my partner a few days ago I realized nothing is more important in life than family and I was hoping you'd give me this opportunity to give me an extension."
Bogo's deadpan expression doesn't change, even when glancing to Nick who questions himself to where this was leading. The buffalo peers back down to Judy, attempting to sight any hints on a potential bluff. His nostrils expand greatly and he points his hooves directly to her forehead. "I'll give you two weeks."
It's almost impossible for Judy to hold her bearings, stiffening her arms to her sides from pumping her fists above her head. Her teeth pinch her tongue to prevent herself from exploding with joy as her plan promptly unfolds without a struggle to reason or argument. Nick, on the other hand, in disbelief of Bogo's probable gullibility. "Thank you sir."
"Good day to you both."
Judy watches until the last hair attached to his short tail disappears around the corner of the hall. She jumps around to Nick, revealing all of her pearly whites shining with enthusiasm. She joyously pumps her paws in the air. "Yes!"
Nick's eyebrows arch to his forehead. "Umm...so what just happened here?"
"I'm doing you a favor." She answers with excitement.
"But you don't owe me anything."
She nods her head. "But I do."
He shakes. "No you don't."
She scurries herself closer to the bed. "Yes I do."
He didn't understand why she wouldn't give this up. She was always determined about anything, but he didn't want any favors from anyone. It already killed him being here in the first place. He had already felt enough like a burden. "Will you stop?" He rarely frowns.
She wouldn't take no for an answer however, seeing him glower wasn't something she was used to seeing. "You need to let me make this up to you somehow."
"That's what we do as police officers, remember?" He refers to the first time when she rescued him from Mr. Manchas during his savage state.
Judy pulls herself sideways on his bed once again. The passion in her eyes somehow convinces Nick to continue their bickering conversation, though he personally wanted it to end as it was hard to look away from the elegance she dispels. "This stretches far beyond us just being co-workers. You saved my life Nick. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you."
And strangely enough, he found her strategy working. He knew he was slipping mentally. The word 'no' was nowhere to be found in his vocabulary. There weren't many opportunities that passed by into doing so. He gives her offer another second to contemplate, burping air from his stomach forces her to giggle in effect. He smiles from her contagiousness, as usual. "What are we talking?"
"Hear me out. Instead of spending money on a caregiver, why don't I…-?"
"No." He cuts her off, splitting his paws across his neck in their opposite directions.
"What?" She asks, confused.
"Are you really going to make me repeat myself, Carrots?"
"Nick..." She pleads his name as her ears slowly drop to her backside.
He pushes his paws outward in front of his chest. "You're not taking care of me for the next two weeks."
"And why not?"
He hesitates to answer her question. He never had an actual reason not have her around, but he needed to cover himself so her reasoning wouldn't build up. "Becau-...because I said so. That's why."
Though she felt rejected, her smirk reappears much to his discretion. Her ears reach back for the ceiling "How are you going to stop me on crutches with an injured leg?"
Nick confidently rests his paws behind his head, comfortably leaning back on the pillow. He slyly grins, "I'll just lock you out of my apartment. Badaboom, badabing."
"With what keys?" She asks, following a shingle sounding from her front pocket.
Nick's grin vanishes, eyes widening and he pushes himself back from the cushion. "Huh?"
"With. What. Keys?" She repeats tauntingly, dangling his two keys entrapped in a chain in her right paw furthest from his reach.
She was good. Heck, she was getting better each day. His keys grants her access to his apartment against his will. Assumption was made that she placed them in her possession after he was sent into surgery. She had him in checkmate, pushing him to reconsider. There was nothing to be done about this and there was no reason to fight and make this a bigger deal than what he needed to be. How bad could it be to have her help me for one day? "Okay, okay. Here's a deal. You have one night to help me out around my place. No perks, no strings. That's it."
Judy blinks so heavenly. "Sounds like a plan."
He chortles after her quick agreement. "You know I said one day, right? You're not going to argue with me?"
Judy fishily tilts her head to the side, continuing her almost seemingly everlasting smile. "No, I'll just have to convince you."
"Convince me? And how are you going to that, fluff?"
"You'll see." Judy then reaches for his empty cup that was once filled with frozen ice. She eyes him throughout her movements, her smile leaving him infatuated and mixed with whatever she was plotting ahead for them. She heads toward doorway, pausing before her cotton tail makes it's turn. "I'll be back with your ice chips."
What is she up to?