To Save a Life
It was supposed to be the perfect night. He was supposed to go hang out with her and forget about the world. That was all Ethan Coufal could think as he lay in the darkness of death.
2 hours earlier
Ethan's P.O.V.
"Ethan come on the bus is leaving" my father yelled up to me from downstairs, "if you want me to take you to SK's I'm leaving right now!".
"I'm coming!" I said as I grabbed my phone, headphones, and wallet and ran down stairs closing my bedroom door. I went out to the garage and got in the car. I hope tonight will be perfect. I thought as my dad drove. I bet SK will look beautiful, who knows, maybe I'll finally work up the courage to ask her out tonight. I've known her for so long though I don't want to mess up our friendship. Before I knew it though we were at her house and as I waved bye to my dad an uneasy feeling came over me, I brushed the feeling off and went up to knock on SK's front door.
"Hey Ethan how are you doing," SK asked as she opened the door, "are you excited for tonight" she asked letting me in and walking back through her house.
"I'm so excited, this concert is going to be great, I love the Pentatonix" I said as I followed her to her kitchen. Her mom was cleaning some dishes and as I said hi to her, I noticed SK's dog trying to get my attention. I bent down to pet it and told SK that Sage her new puppy had grown so much in the past 2 weeks. SK laughed and told me how she was training Sage to sit and come. I wonder if SK would train my new puppy with me, it would be a fun way to get to hang out with her. I was about to ask her if she would be interested in helping me train my dog but before I could ask her brother came in and told SK and me it was time to go to the concert.
Once we got to the concert and got through security I asked SK if she wanted anything to eat or drink but she said no. As we made our way to the mosh-pit I thought about how she looked really nice in her flannel shirt and tight jeans. Once we got there she introduced me to her 2 other friends who were meeting us at the concert and we waited for the music to start.
The acapella group the Pentatonix came out and started to sing my favorite cover 'radioactive', SK and I were dancing next to each other when we heard a gun go off and someone scream. I turned and saw 4 security guards at the entrances to the concert pointing their guns at everyone in the mosh pit. Then the unthinkable happened. The opened fire at us.
"Everyone get down!" I screamed as I threw myself to the ground next to SK. "Are you alright!", I yelled over the gunfire. She nodded yes. I have to get her out of here, we have to run. I thought as I looked for an exit. But all the exits were covered by the fake security guards who were shooting at us. However, there was a door on the stage that no one was by and I thought I could make it to the door with SK. "Come on" I said as I grabbed SK and ran towards the stage door. I pushed her in front of me and realized that by standing SK and I were now the biggest targets in the room. I saw one of the shooters look over at us and start to raise his gun at SK. As she reached the door I saw him look down the sights and move his finger towards the trigger. The next 5 seconds happened in slow motion and as SK opened the door I tackled her to the ground but not before the shooter fired his weapon twice. The first shot hit me in my right leg. The second shot hit me square in the chest and severed my ventricular vain. We landed and SK got up and closed the door locking it before turning around while yelling "OH MY GOD, WHY ARE THEY SHOOTING EVERYONE, HOW DID THEY GET SECURITY GUARD UNIFORMS. HOW DID YOU KNOW IT WAS SAFE IN-", she stopped mid sentence when she looked up and saw me sitting against the wall slowly watching the blood oozing down my chest. "Ethan, oh my god your gonna be ok your gonna be ok you-" she stopped mid sentence again and started to sob as she ran over to me and tried to stop the bleeding, I pushed her away weekly, knowing she had to escape.
"You ha- have to, g- go" I finally said between coughing up blood and a few breaths."I n- need you o go" I wrasped out as she grabbed my hand and hugged it to her chest.
"No I c- can't leave you, your gonna be ok, OK", she said as she again tried to stop the bleeding. But the red liquid leaking from my chest refused to stop and she wailed in sorro as I again pushed her away.
"Shelby Kate" I said which got her attention, "they. will kill. y-you too if you st- stay. here".
"I DON'T CARE ETHAN" she yelled, "I can't lose you, I- I love you!". She, loves me? I thought as I felt my self slowly slipping away into a darkness I would not return from. I love you too SK, I do, and I've wanted to tell you since 4th grade. But now I'm dieing.
"I kn- know" I said, "I l- love u t-to". I could feel myself slipping, falling Into darkness. So this is what it's like to die, there is no light, there is a lot of pain, and all I can think about is that I don't want to die. I slipped into darkness. Somewhere above me SK screamed at me not to die. But the bullet had done fatal damage. The blood oozing from my chest slowed and then stopped as my heart beet for it's last time. My eyes unfocus but remained open and one last contraction of all my muscles caused a string of blood to run from the corner of my mouth. SK could do nothing and my last thought was of her, I don't want to die, I don't want to leave SK.
…
What, what is this, where am I
YOU ARE DEAD
but I can think I-
YOU ARE DEAD
Then explain this
YOU WERE KILLED
I kn-
YOU ARE GIVEN TWO CHOICES
who are you
YOU DO NOT ASK QUESTIONS YOU-
YOU OWE ME AN EXPLANATION
WHY
because like you said, I'm dead, I shouldn't be here
YOU WERE CHOSEN, YOU CAN BE TOLD NO MORE
you need to tell me
NO YOU NEED TO LISTEN. YOU ARE GIVEN TWO CHOICES!
what are the choices, what are they for
YOU ARE CHOSEN TO LIVE A LIFE OF LUXURY WITH NO WORRIES, OR YOU ARE CHOSEN TO LIVE A LIFE OF TRIAL WITH THE WORRY OF SAVING MILLIONS OF INNOCENT LIVES WITH IMPOSSIBLE ODDS
what's the catch
THERE IS NO CATCH, YOU ARE DEAD
what are the terms
YOU WILL PICK UP WHERE YOU LEFT OFF
A 16 YEAR OLD MALE
how, will I have a history
NO, AND AGAIN YOU CAN BE TOLD NO MORE
what happens to the millions of lives if I take the no worries choice
IT DOESN'T MATTER FOR YOU WILL HAVE NO WORRIES
that's not an answer
IT IS THE ANSWER THAT IS GIVEN
I know my choice then
YOU CHOOSE THE LIFE OF WORRY
I do.
November 4th
Zootopia central hospital
Ethans P.O.V.
Pain, pain is all I feel, in my chest, in my throat, my body hurts like Hell. I can feel myself coming out of the darkness, I can hear someone talking, to my left, but they sound far away. I want to see so I try to open my eyes but the effort drains me so I let out a small grown.
"HEY! He is waking up, we can finally figure out what happened to him" the voice says. I can hear someone walking towards me and try again to open my eyes and succeed for a few seconds before the light becomes to blinding and I have to close them again. Why is it so bright, what is going on with my body it feels different. I realize that whoever has noticed that I am awake is now standing next to me watching me, I can hear whoever it is turn around and say "I thought I saw him open his eyes but maybe I'm just seeing things" it is a female voice, the kind a nurse would have, I crack one eye open and see that I am in a hospital room with one chair, a T.V., and some medical instruments. But the light of the room is giving me a headache so I close them. Then I think about something. Why are these lights bothering me, and I can hear better, that lady sounded really far away but I could hear her just fine- I can hear her walking back right now, she must be wearing heels or something because she is walking really loud. She walks into the room and I decide that I need to figure out some things before I "wake up" so I even my breathing and look perfectly at rest while she checks some machines and takes my pulse. After she is finishes she walks out and I am alone again, I gather myself and wonder why my mother isn't sitting at my bed. Then I subconsciously sniff the air and realized that I can smell what my nurse has eaten for lunch, a salad with nuts and some type of fruity drink. Ok now this is weird, I am bothered by what seem to be normal lights, I can hear better than normal, and I can smell what a lady had for lunch and she barely even touched me. I remember then that I have basically been given a second chance and that I have millions of innocent lives to save. Well, guess it's time to "wake up". Look out world I'm back.
I open my eyes slowly to let them adjust to the light and it seems to work. I check my surroundings again and see that I am in fact in a hospital, the door to my room is open and outside I can see a huge desk and I wonder why it is so huge. But before I have time to call out, something brushes my right leg and I look down and see that there is a white poofy thing. But then it starts moving and I move away. I push myself to the side of the bed but the poofy white thing follows me and in my attempted escape I fall off the bed and grunt in pain. The nurse is alerted to me being awake and runs in to see me wrestling with the white poofy thing. She grabs me with a huge hard hand and flips me around to face her. I let go of the poofy thing to find myself staring straight into the eyes of a female deer standing on two legs wearing clothes and asking me why the Hell I am trying to strangle my tail. I faint and hit my head on the bed railing.
"Ohhh my head..." I stir and say, my throat is dry and I feel like I have been banging my head against the wall for 2 hours without stopping. I feel a presence next to me and look over to see the female deer and almost fall off the bed again as she grabs me and looks into my eyes with a flashlight as she checks my pulse.
"Your ok" she says, I read her name tag, Jessica Jones. "You gave us all quite a scare when you showed up here 3 days ago with a bullet hole in your chest mumbling something about a certain SK and millions of lives at risk. And Then just now fainting, on me, I almost thought this was the first time you've ever seen deer!". Recovering from the shock of seeing a talking deer in clothes for the first time, I nod and chuckle.
"No that would be silly Ms. Jones, of course I have seen a deer before, I've seen all types of animals, may I ask, where am I" I say with a feeling that my life has not at all picked where it left off.
"Of course, and please call me Jessica" Jessica says before continuing, "You are in the intensive care unit of zootopia's Savannah central hospital, you are here because of a nice otter named Mr. Otterton who found you in an alleyway bleeding out from your bullet wound, you sure are lucky, the bullet almost hit your heart"
"..." My mouth hangs open, I almost faint again but stop my self and as I regain my composure I say "About earlier I'm sorry, also do you think you could give me the number of the police department and a phone to call my parents. I think I know who shot me." I lie because, of course have no idea who shot me, Hell I don't even know what species of animal I am. I will have to look into that. I think, then I ask "Do you know if anyone has come in to see me or check on me do you"
Jessica shows a sad smile and says "Mr. Otterton and his family have come in twice to see you, but other than that, no. I should ask you though, what is your name". I pause in thought. I could tell her my real name but I don't even think that I will know anyone in this world. My mom would have found me if she was here so I think I really might be all alone here. Out of the corner of my eye I see a sign for a amusement park for "Wild Time's" and an advertisement for "Jack's Ice Cream Shop". "Jack Wilde" has a nice ring to it. I look at jessica who is watching me and say.
"Wilde, Jack Wilde." She looks at me surprised and I wonder for a moment if I should have just stuck with my real name. But then she smiles and walks out of the room thanking me, telling me to get some rest, and that she will get some police officers to come help figure out who shot me.
I need to figure out what is going on, I thought I would get to continue with my life, not start a new one. Also what type of animal am I. I wonder and set my mind to figuring it out. I look down at the white thing that is my tail and notice that it is perfectly white. Then I look at my hands, or paws, and notice that they are white as well, accept for the hard paw pads and my nails which are pitch black. I realise that I can control my nails and practice sheathing and unsheathing them a few times until I'm good at it. Ok so I'm a predator and I'm white, like all white. Then I reach up to feel my face and feel a long muzzle and two pointy ears that I can move to stand up or lay against my head. So I'm a canine because my muzzle, it is to long to be a felions. That pretty much leaves 2 options, because of my white fur I am either an Arctic wolf or an Arctic fox. I try to compare myself to different objects and realize that the desk was made for large animals. But that wont help me because both foxes and wolves are medium size animals and although a fox is a small medium animal and a wolf is a medium to medium large animal. Then I see a wolf dressed in a doctor's coat walking toward my room and realize. I am definitely an Arctic fox.
"Ahhh, I see that you are awake Jack, it's so good to see you well" the wolf states. I give him a questioning look. "Oh! where are my manners, I am Dr. David Allen Smith, I saved your life on the operating table 3 days ago".
"Thank you so much for that" I say, I'm about to ask him how close I was to death when an alarm goes off on the hospital's loudspeaker.
"Ohh, that's for me, sorry Jack, I have to go" he says before running off down the hall before I can ask what's going on. An Arctic fox huh, this is nuts, when I get out of this hospital I am going to need to sort a few things out. I feel the need of sleep and shut my eyes and fall asleep.
"Hey. Hey, Jack you awake buddy" Jessica asks waking me from my sleep, I look over at the clock, I've been asleep for about 3 hours, "The police officers you asked for earlier are here to see you if your ready" she tells me.
"Ya, I'm ready, I need to talk with them" I reply wondering who the officers are and what species they are.
"Alright" Jessica says, "I'll go get them for you" and with that she walks out of the room closing the door.
Earlier that day
Judy and Nick
Nicks pov
"Come on Carrots," I say to judy who simply shrugs, "it will be fun to go ice skating, I can teach you to skate. The city is always so pretty in the winter, especially on the ice." We are enjoying a beautiful and crisp winter morning in one of the non-climate controlled parks near our home.
"No Nick." Judy says, "I am not going to let you make a fool out of myself like you did last night at the bar, you tricked me!". With that judy stomps off still mad about how I got her to table top dance last night at the bar.
"Carrots, you know YOU love me" I call to her witch makes her stop and turn to face me. "Carrots?" I ask seeing the devious look she is giving me. Judy Then sprints at me, jumps and lands a kick square in my chest, "Oooof" I grunt as I fall backwards into a large snow drift.
"Do I love you, yes, yes I do, it might be why I married you" Judy chides as I climb out of the snow drift and shake the snow off my fur. I turn towards her only to see a snowball flying right at my face, I duck but not fast enough and the snow ball hits me square on the nose. "Dumb fox" Judy yells running off as I throw some snow at her.
"Sly bunny" I say under my breath. I love that bunny so much. I never thought anyone could see me as more than a fox. But Judy does, she sees me as her fox, her husband, and I wouldn't change it for the world. Judy runs up to me suddenly with her c-phone in her hand with a worried look in her eyes. "What is it Judy, did one of your siblings threaten to kill me" I say jokingly but then think better of it and move around behind her to see the text on her phone. The text is from Chief Bogo:
Wilde get your and Wilde's tails into the Savannah central hospital, Nick's son is in there with a bullet wound. I will meet you there.
Judy looks up at me and I know what's on her mind, "I don't have a son, I have never mated with anyone accept you Judy, you are my sole and only mate" I say and see Judy relax a little.
"But why does Bogo believe it, and how." Judy pauses lost in thought, "Either way I think we need to go to the hospital".
"I agree Judy let's go find out what this is all about" I say as we turn towards our car to drive to Savannah hospital.
Ethan/Jack's point of view present
The door opens and to my amazement a huge cape buffalo walks in followed by a rabbit and a fox, they all look worried about something. "So you are Jack Wilde, is that correct" the big buffalo states, his name plate says Bogo, I assume that he is the leader or chief of police.
"Yes, I am Jack Wilde, is something wrong?" I say a little weary, I am starting to think I should have gone with my real name.
"Not unless this fox means anything to you" the buffalo says pointing at the fox cop. I look at the fox who is watching me with the fiercest emerald green eyes I have ever seen. I wonder what color my eyes are, what if I'm related to this fox, why does it seem like he can hear my thoughts. The fox is larger than me and although I am still growing I can tell that he will always be a bit larger than me, he is also very fit and looks like he could take on most mammals in a fight.
"No, he doesn't mean anything to me, should he" I say, hoping to find out more about the fox.
"No, I should not mean anything to you." the fox says and starts to walk out of the room.
"Wait" I call, he stops and looks at me with a slightly annoyed look, "don't you want to help figure out who shot me".
"And why should I do that, I have no relation to you, like you said, we mean nothing to each other" the fox says. What is his problem, I haven't done anything to him. I am about to ask him why he is being such a jerk but the bunny cop beats me to it.
"Nick, be nice, he was just shot in the chest with a gun, he needs to talk with someone to figure out what happened." she says then turning and addressing me, "Of course I'd like to help you figure out who did this to you Jack".
Nick, the fox, just grunts and says "I'm going to go get some crummy coffee carrots, you want anything?". The bunny cop turns to Nick and shakes her head no. Nick leaves with Bogo to go get coffee and the bunny cop and I are left alone in my room.
"Carrots?" I ask to which the bunny chuckles making me even more curious about the name.
"That is the nickname my husband Nick Wilde, the fox, gave to me the first day we met, and yes I'm married to a fox. You probably think that's gross or weird but it works really well for the two of us" the bunny states, " Ohh, and by the way my really name is Judy Wilde but you can call me Judy or officer Wilde".
"That's a nice name, both of them. And no I don't think it's gross that you are married to Nick, a little different but not weird" I say. I see Judy relax a little bit and notice some of her features more closely. She has beautiful amethyst eyes and a cute pink nose, she is just as fit as Nick and she radiates energy like a nuclear reactor. So that's why there worried, I accidentally chose the same last name as Nick, I bet there aren't to many Wildes out there, why did he get so mad though, it doesn't make any sense. "Is it alright if I ask you a question Officer Wilde" I ask to witch she nods yes, " why did Officer Wilde seem to hold something against me earlier?".
"Well... It's kind of a long story but we were supposed to have the day off and then we were called in because Chief Bogo heard that you were a fox and thought that you were Nick's son" Judy looks at me and watches to see my reaction. I don't give her one because I am thinking about why Nick's actions earlier make sense now. He was worried that he had had a fox child he did not know of, that's why he was analysing me. He gave me the cold shoulder when he realised I wasnt his son. Nick comes back into the room shutting the door and leaning against the wall.
"So what's your story kid?" Nick asks, "How did you end up here in the hospital with a bullet hole in your chest?" he then walks over and sits on the chair next to Judy and waits expectantly for an answer.
"I really don't know to tell you the honest truth" I start, witch is half true, I only know half of why and how I got to this hospital in this world, "I was at a concert with a friend then I woke up here" I say which again, is mostly true.
"Do you have parents" Nick asks me. I shake my head no. I tried to call both my mom and dad earlier and one of the lines just kept ringing busy and the other was a grumpy old fart of a pig. My parents names were nowhere to be found in the phone book. None of my friends names were there either, it seems like I really am alone here in this world. I bring my attention back to Nick who is still talking, "... Do you have any contacts or friends". Again I shake my head. No. Nick asks "Do you have a job or an occupation" I think about my answer, Jessica brought what was left of my stuff in earlier and my wallet has 20 z-bucks and a debit card in it, I assume I have some way of making money so I shrug.
"I had a job about 2 months ago, but I don't currently have one, although I do photography for realtors" which isn't a lie because that was true in my old life.
Nick asks one final question witch I have been dreading, "Where do you live and who do you live with?". The question blind sides me and I stumble for words.
"I- I umm, I don't live with anyone or anywhere. I choose to be homeless." Judy gasps, I wonder if all bunnies are as bad at hiding emotions as this one. Nick chuckles though and I feel a pang of worry run through my mind.
"You know kid" Nick says, "you remind me a lot of my younger self, accept for one thing, you can't hide a lie from someone like me, an x-con, and you are lying about three things. Your name isn't Jack Wilde, you don't have a job, you don't live anywhere, but your not homeless. You are running, hiding from something, or someone". How, how did he figure out that I am lying so quickly. Judy is staring at me with a content look on her face, she knew too, how, I thought my mask could have fooled anyone.
"H-how" I ask at a loss for words.
"Our witness, Mr. Otterton saw and heard everything that got you to this hospital, he saw you get shot by a creature of darkness that had 5 digits and who was about the size of a large wolf minus the snout, it had a flat face. Whatever it was threatened to shoot you and you gave no fight, so it shot you in the chest and you fell. Then the creature disappeared and you were left on the ground bleeding out, when Mr. Otterton got to you, you told him you had saved SK's life but that you had millions more to save and that you needed Judy and I to help." Nick says, pausing for a brief moment before continuing, "At that point you went unconscious and Mr. Otterton rushed you to the hospital, you died 3 times while they were operating on you, every time you died Dr. David Allen Smith brought you back, somehow." Nick says finishing and letting the news sink in so that I can realize how lucky I really am to be here right now.
"But how do you know about my name and where I'm from and that I don't have a job?" I ask puzzled by how Nick and Judy know so much about me.
"Simple" says judy, "we checked the bank account your debit card is linked to, we found out it has an 8 figure sum of money and that it is under the name Ethan Eugene Coufal, a 16 year old Arctic fox. However there was and still is something we can't understand, the account was made at the exact same time that you were shot. Also before 3 days ago, there was no trace of you existing, ever, anywhere at all."
"There is NO way I get get out of hear unless I tell you everything, right." I say, realising that I need to come clean. A nod from both Nick and Judy prompt me to continue. " I hate to tell you but the truth is harder to believe then my first story"
"Try me" Nick says.
" Ok. I am from another universe, my name is Ethan Eugene Coufal, and I was killed at a concert saving someone's life, but then I was given a second chance by some miracle, and chosen to save millions of lives, I accepted but when I woke up as an Arctic fox in Zootopia and not a human from America. And apparently I have a bank account with over 10 million dollars in it." I finish and watch the two officers. Nick's expression is blank and I can't tell what he is thinking, but Judy looks like although she is surprised, she seems to believe me.
"What is a human" Nick asks, "is it a type of mammal or are you an alien".
"An alien!?" I burst out laughing, "Haha no, a human is a mammal, about the size of a big wolf or a small deer, Ohh and in my world, you animals have not evolved yet and humans are the only civilized beings". I can see Nick wants to ask more but nurse Jessica walks into the room.
"As much as I'd like to let you three talk all day, Jack is still recovering and needs rest, so I'm going to have to ask you to leave" she says before leaving the room walking off down the hall.
"Can I keep the name Nick" I ask.
"What?" he says, confused.
"Jack Wilde, can I keep it" I say trying not to sound needy.
"..." Nick looks like he is thinking about it hard then says, "You can keep the first name but keep your original last name, just for now. Also if it's alright with you, I'm gonna come back and visit you in a few days so don't go anywhere".
I smile and wave as Nick and Judy leave. So this is my new life, an Arctic fox of Zootopia, and my name is Jack Coufal.
Two weeks later
Jack's P.O.V.
"Do you have anywhere to go?" Nick asks as we exit the hospital. There is a brisk breeze and there is about 3 inches of snow on the ground.
"Not that I know of, but I'm sure I can figure something out with all the money I have in my bank account." I reply trying to think if there was anywhere I really want to go in the city of Zootopia. I can't think of anywhere so I ask, "Do you know anywhere I would like to go?". I trust Nick, I think to myself, in the past 2 weeks we have really grown a strong bond and Nick gave me his personal phone number and came in every day to help me get better. And Judy has been super great too, they are a really nice couple and they have told me so much about zootopia.
"You know, if you wanted to, Judy and I have an extra guest room at our house you could stay in while you get yourself situated" Nick suggests.
"Really!? You would let me stay at your place, I would be honored" I say surprised. I can't believe Nick asked me to stay at his and Judy's house, this is going to be great.
"Sure, Judy and I were talking about it and we thought that because you have no parents or guardians we thought we would look after you, if that is alright with you of course." Nick says a little timedly. I smile and nod my head yes.
"That is perfectly alright, and I'm sure I can pay you for any of my expenses" I state glad that I now have a temporary home.
"Oh that won't be necessary, you won't cost us to much more than some new clothes and some more food, speaking of witch, I could go for some lunch, what about you?" Nick asks. Food does sound good, especially since it won't be that hospital trash. I think.
"I am starved, where are we gonna go?" I say as I follow Nick out to his car...