Author's Note:
This story is the product of random internet searches. (It's weird what ideas can form by looking up pictures of cool cars, right?) I somehow (no idea how) came across the Wiki page for out-of-body experiences (OBE), and suddenly, a story idea came about. Enjoy!
Chapter 1 – An Accident:
It was a sunny day in Zootopia, the city where "anyone could be anything," as the saying goes. Nothing much was happening. It seemed crime was taking a break. But that was soon to change for our dynamic duo—Nick and Judy.
In the four years since they had been partners, they had become two of the best the precinct had to offer. When they had gotten married two years ago, it brought controversy to the force—should they, as newly-weds, be allowed to continue to be partners on the force? They soon proved that they can keep separate their private lives from their professional lives. Bogo allowed them to stay partners as long as they continue to keep their two lives separate. They soon after adopted two kits—a vixen and a buck, named Nicole and Kenny likewise.
Right now, The two were in the cruiser they shared. It was the only one of its size, because the two were the smallest officers at the ZPD. Nick was in the passenger seat, playing with the radio. Currently, Sweet Calf O' Mine by Guns N' Rodents was playing. Nick was singing along in the crackling singing voice of his.
"Nick, your singing could use some work," Judy said, trying not to offend her husband.
"Ah, you're just jealous your voice isn't as sweet as salt," Nick said, beginning to sing along to the next song, Jump by Lamb Halen.
"Well, my voice is a—wait, did you say 'sweet as salt'?" Judy asked, confused.
"Well of course I did. My voice isn't smooth as butter like yours, but mine is sweet as salt," Nick said, smirking. "And everyone knows salted butter is way better than unsalted butter."
Judy had to admit, that was a good point. "So you want me to sing along?"
"Who wants to eat salt by itself?"
"I take that as a yes?"
"Yes."
So, the two began singing along together to Nick's favorite classic rock playlist.
Eventually the two stopped at a little sandwich shop for lunch.
The two ordered their sandwiches, sat down, and began eating. But Nick noticed something was off about Judy.
"Hey, Carrots? Are you gonna eat your sandwich?" Nick asked. Judy had only eaten half of her sandwich.
"I'm not very hungry," Judy said, avoiding Nick's gaze.
Nick knew something had to be bothering her if she wouldn't look him in the eye. "Judy, what's wrong?"
Judy knew when Nick used her first name instead of some cheesy nickname, he was serious. "Nothing's wrong," Judy said.
Nick raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"That's just it!" Judy said.
Nick took Judy's paws in his own. "Judy. I don't understand what you mean. Please explain."
Judy then looked into her husband's eyes and saw an unquenchable love for her. She knew she could tell Nick. "I'm seriously rethinking several of my life choices, Nick."
Nick pulled back slightly in shock. "What!? Like what?"
"Sometimes I think becoming a cop wasn't the right choice."
"What gave you such a horrid idea?" Nick said, feigning a hurt in his voice as he began acting like a hurt child.
"Cut the act, Slick. But I mean it. Did I really think I could change the world by getting a job? Or what about when I caused predators to be looked down upon, and even attacked because I came to a terrible conclusion?"
"But you are changing the world." Nick said. "The marriage vows include a line, 'for better or worse.' You made that same promise to yourself when you decided to become a cop. And I believe you've been doing it for the better."
"Well…"
"You changed my life for the better! That's something."
"What about this?" Judy said, taking hold of Nick's left paw, feeling the little motors whirring as he moved it around.
"Forget about that. It was just a paw. It could be replaced," Nick said. "Unlike you." Nick gave Judy a quick kiss on her cheek.
"I guess you're right. But I still want to think about it some more."
"I really don't see why you would think that. You've wanted to be a cop your entire life, and now you just want to throw it away?" Nick asked. "This seems like it's coming out of the blue."
"Not 'throw it away', but more like… I don't know. I haven't got a clue how to describe it," Judy said as she took a drink from the glass in front of her. "I've tried to bottle these feelings deep inside me for a few months, but they just got stronger."
"Maybe I could try to talk to Bogo about giving you some time off to think about it."
"Ok. Thank you, Nick. I love you."
"You're welcome, and I love you too." Nick took a sip of his own drink, and then looked at Judy's sandwich again. "So… are you gonna eat that now?"
"Oh, Nick," Judy said, handing the sandwich to him.
The two continued their patrol around the city. It still was very quiet. There was very little chatter on the radio, too.
"Slow day, isn't it?" Nick said, reclined in his seat, hat over his eyes.
"Yeah. I hate days like this," Judy said, ever alert.
"What do you mean, Carrots?"
"I always have this gut feeling something terrible will happen."
"Ah, something will happen eventually," Nick said, waving her off. "Now let me nap."
As if on cue, the radio beeped, alerting them to a call. "All units, possible 10-55, driver DUI. The car is driving erratically on North Calcutta Road, headed south. Any units in area, please respond."
Judy picked up the radio and responded, "This is Officers Hopps and Wilde. We are in range. Beginning pursuit."
"Acknowledged, Officer Hopps."
Nick flipped the switch to activate the lights and siren, while Judy slammed on the gas.
"I told you something would happen," Nick said.
"This'll be over in a few minutes," Judy said. A drunk driver was infrequent, but still common enough for the ZPD to know exactly how to handle them.
As they turned the corner onto Calcutta Road, the car in question sped by them.
"This is Officer Wilde. Suspect spotted. In pursuit," Nick said into the radio.
"Acknowledged, Officer Wilde."
The two cars started speeding up, the cruiser gaining on the perp's car. Both were weaving through traffic like it was a dance. Eventually, the perp drove onto the interstate headed west.
"This guy is going at least 150 miles per hour!" Judy commented.
"Well, a Porsche can do that," Nick said, as he finally got a good look at the car.
"Look! He's pulling over up there. We can get him!" Judy said, slowing down.
Nick put his paw on his gun as he jumped out of the cruiser and approached the car. Judy got out as soon as she stopped the cruiser. Before they could reach the perp's car, he burst out of the driver's door with an MP5 pistol and ran down into the ditch. The suspect was a lynx.
"Stop in the name of the law!" Nick said, drawing his pistol.
"This guy seems high on something," Judy said to Nick.
"Yeah," Nick said as they advanced into the ditch.
"Drop the gun!" Judy demanded.
"Come and make me!" the lynx shouted.
"Don't make this more difficult than it has to be!" Judy shouted back.
The lynx then shot one bullet into the power transformer above the cops, making sparks shower upon them. When they ducked down to cover themselves, they slipped and fell into the ditch on top of each other. The lynx used the distraction to run up to the top of the ditch. Once the two got their limbs untangled and stood back up, the lynx had his gun aimed at the cops.
"It's over, Coppers. I have the high ground!" the lynx yelled.
"This guy thinks he's Obi-Wan Barkobi!" Nick whispered to Judy.
Judy ignored him. "Sir! Please put the gun on the ground and surrender. We don't want to hurt you if we don't have to!"
"I'm never going to surrender!" the lynx said.
"Please, Sir!" Judy pleaded. She took one step towards him. That was the fatal mistake. The lynx fired one round, hitting Judy square on the chest. She fell onto the ground, blood pooling around her.
"No!" Nick yelled. He fired one round at the lynx, only hitting his gun. The perp turned around and ran onto the highway. "Officer down! Send an ambulance, stat!" Nick yelled into his radio.
Nick ran over to Judy and knelt beside her.
"No! Don't die! Judy! Can you hear me?" Nick held his wife's paw. "Speak to me!"
Judy coughed. "Nick?" she said weakly.
"Yes?" Nick said, tears streaming down his face.
"If I die, at least it would be in the line of duty," Judy said, before closing her eyes.
"No! Don't say things like that, Judy! Keep fighting to breathe!"
Suddenly, there was a loud air horn honk, a tire screech, a horrified scream, and the sound of shattering glass. Nick run up the embankment and saw a semi-trailer truck on the shoulder several meters away. There was a bloody streak under the truck.
"He deserved worse," Nick mumbled to himself, knowing the blood was that of the lynx.
Nick ran over to the truck to see if the driver was hurt. The driver was a caribou, who was standing in front of the truck, looking at the damage done to his truck.
"Howdy, cop! I seem to have hit someone," the driver said in an oddly cheerful voice.
Nick looked at the corpse, still stuck to the bumper. He confirmed it was the lynx.
"We have bigger problems," Nick said. "My partner was shot, and I don't know if she can make it."
"Well, I was a paramedic for three years," the driver said.
"Let's get her!" Nick said, running back over to the ditch, the truck driver following.
The driver got on his knees and looked Judy over.
"How bad is it?" Nick asked.
"I don't see an exit would, so the bullet is still in there."
"What do you propose?"
"Let's get her into the sleeper in my truck. It's cleaner in there than out here."
Nick went and got the emergency folding stretcher from the cruiser, and they put Judy on it. When they picked up the stretcher, she mumbled something unintelligible.
"Hang on, Judy!" Nick said as they rushed her into the truck.
Once they got her on the bed, the driver then began bandaging her wound.
After what seemed like an eternity, while in reality about fifteen minutes, the ambulance arrived. They loaded Judy into the ambulance, Nick drove the cruiser behind it, and the truck driver waited in his truck for the wrecker.
When the ambulance arrived at the hospital, Nick followed the doctors into the emergency room lobby.
"We need Dr. Williams here, stat!"
"More plasma!"
"We're going to have to go into emergency surgery!"
"Start CPR, now!"
Nick was getting lost in all the hustle and bustle of the lobby, but they were mostly focusing on getting Judy taken care of. As Nick was entering the operating room, a hoof blocked him as the door was closing.
"Sorry. But OR is for doctors only," the male wildebeest nurse said. "Wait for them in the waiting room."
Nick nodded in acknowledgment as he turned around and went back to the waiting room. As he sat down, he looked about the room. He saw many different species, all with different ailments. He tried to keep a strong face up. He didn't want these strangers see him sobbing. He had to be strong. For Judy's sake.
I don't know what I'd do if I lost her, Nick thought. What about the kids? Will I have to raise them all alone? I don't want that to happen. She has to survive!
Nick covered his face with his paws and used all his strength to not start crying.
In the operating room, the doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists, and assistants all were working hard on Judy. The doctor, Dr. Sabouri, was currently working to remove the bullet. All was going well so far.
"Scalpel… Gauze… More suction."
"Doctor," one nurse said. "Her oxygen is dropping."
"Open the valve more," the doctor responded.
That stabilized her for a while, but soon her heart rate began dropping.
"We need to defibrillate!" yelled the doctor.
The nurses handed him the defibrillator pads.
"Clear!" ZAP! Nothing. "Clear!" ZAP! Still nothing.
"We're losing her!" yelled the doctor.
Author's Note:
Cliffhanger! Stay tuned for more! And sorry if any of the terminology or anything else I used are wrong. I'm not a doctor, so I don't know a whole lot about that stuff.
Guns N' Rodents were actually in the movie. It was one of the bands that Judy had on her, uh, iPod? iPaw? Generic MP3 Player? Whatever it is.