Author's Note:

Thank you GhostWolf88 for your review of chapter three, and Chlaco for your reviews of all three chapters so far.

Chapter 4 – A Reset:

(Nick's POV)

I wake up to see the back of Nicole's head in my face. I gently move her out of my way and get up out of bed. I slip the paw cover onto my left paw, so as to cover up the prosthetic one. Medical science has given mammal-kind some amazing inventions, hasn't it?

Anyway, I got up and went into the kitchen to start making some breakfast for myself and Nicole.

Once the blueberry pancakes were done, I sat down at the table and began to think about what had happened yesterday.

It all happened so fast, I couldn't comprehend what had actually happened.

A door opening broke me out of my thoughts.

YAWN! Nicole walked out of my bedroom, her blanket dragging on the floor behind her.

"Morning, Sunshine!" I said, setting the plate of blueberry pancakes in front of Nicole as she sat on her chair.

"Good morning, Daddy," Nicole said, rubbing her eyes.

"How'd you sleep last night?"

"Ok, I guess," Nicole said, spearing a piece of a pancake with her fork.

"That's good," I said, eating my own pancakes.

I walked to work so I could think hard about what I was to do. It was starting to get harder to accept the fact that Judy was no longer Judy. I wasn't paying any attention to anything around me until I got to the Watering Hole, where Precinct One was located. The building was swamped with media cars and vans.

"Oh, no," I said as I wandered my way through the cars. I peeked into the door to see Chief Bogo giving a press conference. I knew it had to have had some connection to Judy, and they would want to interview me, and I didn't want them to. I snuck around the building towards the side entrance near the cruiser lot. I opened the door and went upstairs to the offices. I sat down at my desk and let out a sigh of relief.

"Wilde?" came the voice of Chief Bogo. "Come with me."

Ugh! I thought. What does he need now? He led me downstairs and to the press conference. Great! The last place I wanted to be right now.

Media reporters were calling for me to answer their questions.

"Officer Wilde!"

"Officer! Over here!"

"Wilde!"

"Yes?" I asked, pointing to a pig reporter.

"Is it true that Jerrod Lynch acquired the assault weapon he used to shoot Officer Hopps illegally?"

"'Assault weapon' is a scare term used by the media. It has no relevance in this case—or any case," I said, letting them know the truth. "No matter how he had acquired the gun, he was under the influence of hallucinating drugs. Next?"

A leopard went next. "What is the condition of Officer Hopps?"

"She is currently stable, and is under constant observation. Next?"

A ewe asked her question. "What do you propose to stop shootings?"

I was sick of the media making everything about unrelated and controversial topics. "Can I ask you a question? When will you stop making everything about your views and ratings?" I started to raise my voice and lose my temper. "Can a guy not be forced to ask questions he doesn't want to answer? Can a guy just have some time alone? Can a guy just live his life without the media telling him what is acceptable? Can I? Can I!?"

Chief Bogo started to push me off the stage. "That'll be all," he said as the camera flashes and journalists' questions began to get more intense.

Bogo shuffled me into his office and set me down on a chair across from his desk.

"What is your problem, Wilde?" Bogo asked, visibly irritated. "Do you know what they are going to say about the ZPD now?"

"I don't care what the media says! I want my wife back!" I said, slamming my fists onto Bogo's desk.

"Wilde! Get out!" Bogo said, pointing out the door. "Go home and don't come back until I say you can!"

"Fine! I don't need this!" I said, storming out of his office and down the stairs. The reporters began to surround me as I walked out the front door.

"Were you just fired?"

"Why was the conference cut short?"

"When will Officer Hopps return to the ZPD?"

I shoved them out of my way. "No questions." I quickly walked down the steps and onto the sidewalk, then around the corner of the building to hide from the reporters. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed the hospital. "Can I get a hold of Dr. Sabouri?" After a few minutes, I was talking to the mammal I needed to hear. "Please tell me something good, Doctor."

"Well, it seems as if a 'reset button' of sorts has been triggered in Mrs. Wilde."

"And that means…"

"We have been running as many tests as we could, and it seems as if she has lost all of her memory, except for basic things like vocabulary, mathematics, science…"

"So she really is a new person?"

"You could put it that way."

"Is it ok to visit today? I need to hear her voice. Even if it is her yelling for me to get out, at least it's her voice."

"I suppose it'd be ok to visit sooner than I had planned."

(Judy's POV)

The doctors have been running test after test on me—and they all said it was to make sure I was "ok" or something like that—all day. I was tired of it. But around noon, they finally stopped. As I was eating lunch, there was a knock on the door. "Come in!" I said.

"Judy?"

It was that fox from yesterday again. "You? What do you want?"

He sighed, then pulled out a book he had with him. "Look through this and tell me you don't remember any of it." He handed it to me and I took it.

The cover was simple faux leather with the word "memories" in cursive stamped across the front. I opened the cover and the first page was a short handwritten note.

Dear Nick,

We have known each other for almost two years, and each day is a new adventure. I will look at these pictures and forever think of you, and I hope these pictures forever remind you of me. One of us without the other is like a plant without sunlight—it couldn't survive. I love you more than I could ever tell you.

Love,

Judy

When I read that, it triggered some faint, distant memory—as if it was done in a previous life. But since I didn't believe in reincarnation, I dismissed that notion immediately.

I turned the nest page and was greeted with a dozen or so photos of me and the fox together. Most were selfies, but a few were professionally taken. There were a few silly photos that made me laugh. Some had the two of us in police uniforms. As I continued flipping through the book, several photos triggered something deep inside me, giving me a feeling that something was missing from me. It was as if something from me was lost, and it was trying to come back, but was suppressed by something dark.

The whole time, the fox was watching me intently. It was a little creepy, but if this isn't just some sick and elaborate joke, I would understand why he was.

"You're Nick, right?" I asked.

"Yes," he replied. "Nicolas Piberius Wilde."

I looked back to the book and turned another page to see a page filled completely with wedding photos. It looked like it was a wonderful wedding. I turned the page once more to see a single picture; me and Nick kissing while standing in front of a red barn in the countryside. On the other side was another handwritten note. This one read:

Where we go next is not up to fate—but us. We choose where we go, and we choose what we do. Together.

After that, it was the end of the book. I closed it and handed it back to Nick.

"No. you keep it. It's yours anyway."

"Oh, ok." I set it on the table beside my bed.

"Do you remember anything from it?" Nick asked.

"It seems as though it happened in a dream that has been clouded by time, or a previous life. It's all so dark and distant."

Nick was silent for a while, then he took a deep breath. "Do you remember our kits?" he asked.

I though long and hard about it. "No, I can't say that I can."

"We adopted them six months after we were married."

"Then why aren't there any pictures of them in this book," I asked as I flipped through the pages again quickly.

"That one was of us up till we got married. I can bring another the next time I come if you want," Nick said as he got up out of the chair.

"Sure. I—wait, where're you going?" I asked.

"Home. I've had enough for one day," Nick said as he left the hospital room. When he closed the door, the room became quiet and still once again.