Judy woke up with a start, immediately regretting doing so as she rubbed her head, as pain racked through it, like a rake shoveling the ground.
The doe looked around at her surroundings, and her paw dropped to her lap. She was in a hospital bed, with a hospital gown on her. She could hear the beeping of hospital equipment and the scurry of doctors and nurses around in the outside corridor. But how and why was she even here in the first place?
Then all the events of before came flashing in her mind, as she remembered Bellweather and the antidote and…
Nick.
He was injured.
Where was he?!
The bunny started to hyperventilate, as her head whipped around, trying to find where the fox was. But he wasn't there. Of course he wasn't, he would be in a separate room where he would being treated by himself. Judy stopped looking around, and settled on staring at the room door. A thought came to her, and it wasn't a bad one.
The rabbit didn't feel like she was injured, she was probably just there to see if there was any internal damage and such, but Judy felt perfectly fine. She just had to find Nick, so the cop got out of the bed, and raced toward the door, where light streamed in from.
She blinked as she adjusted to the light, and when she could see, raced to the right, trying to find someone that couldgive her directions, anyone who could tell her where her friend was.
"Hopps!"
Judy whirled around, looking for the source of the voice. Her eyes came to rest on a smal otter who was staring up at her in wonder. She wore a doctor's outfit, and was carrying a clipboard with some notes on it.
"Oh, thanks goodness! I need your help, Mam, I need to find my frie-"
"Oh no, I can't help you with that. You have to get back to your room! You aren't allowed out!" the small otter squeaked, looking at Judy with solemn eyes. The bunny met her gaze, desperately trying to find something to say to convince the doctor.
"Please, I need to find my friend! His name is Nick Wilde, and I really need to find him! Besides, I feel perfectly fine anyway, so I really don't need to stay in the room!" she said in a rush, eyes glacing to the corridor behind her, trying, hoping to see Nick walk in at any moment, all well and his usual charming self. The otter sighed, looking down at the papers on the clipboard, as if debating on letting Judy go.
"Well, I can show you where he is, on one condition. You have to stay with me, and be careful not to tear you stitches out," Judy started as she heard the word 'stitches'. How could she have had stitches?
"Ok, but, may I ask where I have them, because I don't remember-"
"You were shot. Don't you remember? The ewe, Bellweather, shot at you. Thankfully the police were there, or it could have been more serious, but surely you remember? Being shot in your shoulder?"
"No, I- I think I blacked out,"
"Well, you have three stitches in your left shoulder, so be careful. But, I guess you can see your friend,"
"Oh thank you, Ms-?"
"Slitson. Valerie Slitson. You can call me doctor Slitson, though," the brown otter said, gesturing for Judy to follow her.
"He is located in Ward 43, but unfortunately he is in quite a critical state, we are afraid he lost a lot more blood than the body can bear," Doctor Slitson said, as Judy walked beside her. The bunny sucked in a breath at the information, and started to shake a little.
"Is he going to be-?"
"Yes, he will be fine, but he has to have a lot of rest. He isn't doing so well at the moment, but we are ninety-seven percent sure he will make it. There is always a possibilty, though," Valerie sighed deeply, as they walked up to an elevator. The two walked in, as Doctor Slitson pressed number seven, and they waited in silence as it started to rise up. Judy was twitching as her itch to see her friend again increased, and she was nearly thumping her foor impatiently. The doctor seemed to sense this, and started up another conversation.
"He's very strong, you know,"
"Oh, I know he is. He has been so strong since I met him," Judy replied sadly, as she looked down at the otter, who tucked the clipboard under her arm.
"Mm, he wouldn't go down without a fight. Not to scare you, but when we finally got there, we feared we were going to loose him, as he was barely breathing, but oh how much fight he put up. He kept alive until we got him to the hospital, and from there we were able to save him. You have a briliant friend, there,"
"Yes, I know I do. He wasn't going to go without a fight after Bellweather,"
"Yes, that evil sheep, who would have thought?"
"Thought, what?" Judy asked absentmindedly, as she looked as the lift continued to rise ever upwards.
"That she was behind the savage attacks of Zootopia! You of all animals should know that, you solved the case!" Judy was on full alert, looking down at the expectant otter.
"But how did they find out?!"
"They caught her when she was saying that her plan was that prey fear predator and she stays in control! Also, when we they found you, your carrot pen had recorded her entire plan! You really don't remember?"
"They, found out, she's- where is she?!" Judy said, slightly swaying as the information hit her like a brick. They had actually found out without her telling them! But where was Bellweather now?
"Where is she now?"
"Behind bars,"
"But what about a court case? I mean, shouldn't they at least have a trial?" Judy asked in surprise, making the otter stare at her in surprise, which unnerved the bunny.
"Sweetie, they already have. She was found guilty,"
"What!? How many days have I been-?"
"Three, honey. You were out three days," the otter replied soflty, as the bunny looked at the doctor in wonder. She had been out for three days?! How could she have?
"This is our stop," Doctor Slitson said, as the doors opened. Judy shook her head thoroughly, forgetting about the time she had been out and what she had just learnt, and ran after the otter who was already disappearing around the left corner.
"So, will he be awake when we get there?"
"Yes, he will. Surprisingly he has been awake for just a bit longer than you, but that is probably because of your size andtime capacity to heal," the otter rambled on, as they walked down. But Judy had stopped listening, as she looked at the ward numbers.
41, 42, 43!
They were here! The bunny sprinted in, and looked frantically around. And there he was, lying on th bed, boredly scrolling down on his phone, watching through lazy eyes. He was also dressed in a hospital gown, with his tail hanging off the edge of the bed. The TV was also on in front of him, but the fox paid no heed. Judy exhaled a strangled, relieved breath, as she just stopped herself from catapulting into her friend. She knew she could seriously injure him again, and it would knock him dead.
"Nick!" the fox looked up, alarmed at the sudden voice in the room. He searched around with alert eyes, until they rested on Judy, who was walking towards him, quite fast. A grin masked his muzzle as the bunny came to his side.
"Hey Carrots, what's up?" he joked, tucking his phone into an invisible pocket. Judy nearly burst into tears, as she bent down and tightly hugged her friend, as hard as she dared to.
"Oh, you stupid, dumb fox! I was so worried about you," she said, as Nick started. But without much time, Judy found him hugging back, nearly as tightly as she was.
"Really? For what?"
"Oh, I don't know, how about for nearly dying!"she cried, releasing the fox as he quietly chuckled.
"How is that so funny?" she asked, sitting down on the side of his bed.
"Nothing, nothing's funny," he replied innocently, looking up at her with bug eyes. Judy shook her head in wonder at the reaction.
"Oh, you dumb fox,"
"Ehm," Doctor Slitson coughed, as she stood in the doorway, "well now that I have caught your attention, I'll just say that I will be leaving now. Judy dear, you can stay here until I come with Nick's medication, if you like, so you don't get lost trying to find your ward,"
"Oh, thank you so much Doctor! I can't thank you enough," Judy said, as the otter happily nodded at her.
"Take care, Nick, I'll be back soon. And no scratching your stitches!" the doctor warned the fox, who's ear twitched back in embarrassment.
"Will do, doc, will do,"
"Take care, you two. I'll be back, and be careful!" Valerie shouted over her shoulder, and then, she was gone, leavin Judy and Nick alone together. The bunny sighed, as she looked back at her friend who was drumming his fingers on the metal bar beside his bed.
"What was that about scratching your stitches, Nick?" she asked, as the fox looked back at her with another burst of his innocent eyes.
"Whaddya mean, rabbit?"
"You know what I mean, slick,"
"Ok, it may, just get a teensie bit itchy, but come on, when you have to scratch you have to scratch?" he said, tail sweeping the floor as Judy raised an eyebrow.
"Wow Nick, just wow,"
"Aww, cut me some slack, Carrots, I got shot! I can have to freedom of scratching, can't I?" he cried, throwing his paws in the air.
"Not if it could kill you, Nick!"
"Nothing can kill me," he answered smugly, smirk back on his face, making the bunny chuckle.
"How many stitches did you get?"
"Umm… you don't want to know,"
"Nick, please tell me, and I'll tell you how many I got,"
"You had to get stitches?! Why?!" Nick cried in alarm.
"I'll tell you if you tell me," Judy relied calmly, making Nick's ears fall back as he whimpered in defeat, muttering something along the lines of 'sly bunny'.
"Ok, about, fifteen…"
"Fifteen?! Wow, Nick, I knew it was bad, but that bad?!" Judy cried in shock, covering her mouth at how loud it was.
"And that's why I didn't want to tell you," he murmured, looking down at his lap.
"Sorry," Judy said back, looking at the fox.
"So, why did you get stitches?" Nick asked, wasting no time with the question. Judy rolled her eyes, as she tried to remember exactly what Doctor Slitson had told her.
"Well, I got about three, just because the bullet grazed my shoulder, nothing big," she said, patting her left shoulder. Nick breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness,"
"Aww, was Nick scared?"
"A little, but I knew you could handle yourself," he teased back, as he shoved Judy's face away playfully, making the bunny laugh.
"Wow, I feel flattered the great Nick Wilde worries about me," she giggled, as Nick smirked at her.
"Yeah, feel very lucky!" he chuckled, as the news on the television came on.
Former Mayor Bellweather is behind bars today, guilty of masterminding the savage attacks that have plagued Zootopia of late.
"Oh, yeah Bellweather is behind bars," Nick said to Judy, who nodded at him.
"Yeah, I heard,"
Her predecessor, Leodore Lionheart, denies any knowledge of her plot, claiming he was just trying to help protect the city.
"Did I falsely imprison those animals? Well yes, yes I did. It was just the classic doing to wrong thing for the right reason kind of a deal," the former mayor said.
In related news, doctors say that the night howler antivenom is proving effective in rehabilitating the afflicted predators.
"Wow, so they actually found out about Bellweather being behind the attacks, then," Judy said quietly, as Nick looked over to her from the TV.
"Yep," he replied, popping the p as he leaned back against his pillow.
"But, how?"
"Turns out your carrot pen was left on during the whole time, and recorded everything Bellweather said. They used it in the court case, and then she was throw behind bars," he said casually, as Judy sat there on the bed, quietly contemplating on all of the events.
"Hey, Nick?"
"Hmm,"
"I'm, so so sorry for all this happening to you," she apologized, as the bunny remembered that she hadn't said sorry after the press conference. The fox looked up at her in genuine surprise, which hurt Judy even more than it should have.
"For, what?"
"For being a complete jerk," Judy choked, as her ears drooped back, tears coming to her eyes. The fox looked on, startled, unsure of what to do.
"You aren't a jerk, Carrots,"
"Yes I am! I should have thought about what I said in the press conference, and if it weren't for me you wouldn't be injured!" she said, as a tear fell on her cheek. Nick's ear fell back as he looked at his friend, and then without thinking pulled her into a tight hug, as the bunny finally broke down after all of those days of keeping it in.
"That's not true, fluff,"
"It is! If I hadn't dragged you into the case, you wouldn't have had to go along, and Bellweather wouldn't have found out how close we were, so she wouldn't have shot you, and you w-would be safe and it's all my fault!" Judy wailed, clucthing at Nick's shirt as the fox looked down at her, smirking a little.
"Well, it wasn't completely your fault. It wasn't your choice that you had to find me to crack your case," he said, hestitantly stroking her between the ears, which calmed her down.
"Oh, I am so sorry, Nick!"
"I know you are,"
"No, really I am!"
"Rabbit, I am pretty sure you are sorry,"
"You wouldn't know how guilty I feel!"
"Fluff…"
"Seriously, I don't know how I can show you how much I am sorry,"
"I understand-"
"No you don't!"
"Judy!" Nick said, making the bunny look up abruptly at a freaked out Nick. By him using her real name, he actually finally got her attention. The bunny sniffed as she waited for him to continue.
"I understand, ok? You don't have to repeat it so many times, and it is quite clear how sorry you are because you are literatly crying down my shirt!"
"Oh I am so sorry!" she said, pushing away from him as he chuckled softly.
"I know,"
"I hate you,"
"I know that too,"
"Oh yeah, how?"
"I know everything,"
"Sly fox,"
"Dumb bunny," he answered smugly, as Judy laughed and shook her head in amazement.
"Welp, now that you have finally finished crying, what should we do?"
"Sorry," she murmured, making Nick frown.
"Carrots, I get it,"
"Ok, just making sure," she sniffed, wiping her cheeks. Nick raised his eyes to the heavens.
"You bunnies, so emotional!"
"Hey!" she cried, lightly punching his shoulder, making the fox cry out in fake pain, as he rubbed his shoulder and pouted.
"What medication have they given you, rabbit?! You're ten times stronger than last time," he laughed along with Judy, as the two stayed like that.
It was a tough case, but they would get out of it, and Judy was sure of it. She just couldn't wait, and then, maybe Nick would become her partner. He was probably the most trustworthy partner she could ever have, and honestly Judy wasn't surprised.
They would get through this.
Together.
Yus, the angst is over people, it is over! However, just a heads up, there is ONE more chapter coming, so yes, do not worry, it isn't over yet. I hope you liked this, and that this update was quick enough for you.
Until next time, Carrots!
