"We'll be back at HQ soon, Nick." Judy told her fox-partner beside her. Of course he knew how close they were; Judy just couldn't help but fill in the silence left by Nicholas' vandalized mouth. She missed him.
Nick patted her arm and pointed skyward.
"What is it?" Judy leaned forward and saw a large helicopter was following close behind them. "What the cuss-"
Judy had to slam on her brakes to avoid colliding with a bus, lurching herself and Nick forward. They rotated their bodies, twisting the seatbelts as they craned their heads up.
It was only a news chopper; it flew past them, oblivious to the officers' perils.
Judy burst out: "We need that chopper, Nick; the public needs to know-" she turned and faced her fox partner, remembering that he had been mutilated. "...but first we need to get you to the hospital."
All at once, Judy's face began to sting. Keeping one paw on the steering wheel, Judy lifted a paw and cringed, fingers feeling the bloody cut across her cheek. Her wound was festering... If she didn't receive treatment soon, she could get a bad infection.
Without a word, Judy put her foot down on the gas pedal and sped on.
They arrived at the hospital twenty minutes after their encounter with the slaughterhouse; by this time, Nick had become feverish from his wounds.
As soon as Judy parked the car she shot out of her seatbelt and ran to the passenger side of the vehicle. Nick laid back in his seat and moaned, his eyes large and blood-shot.
"Oh, gingersnap!" Judy turned and looked towards the automatic doors of the emergency entrance. Right outside, by an ash tray, a lone wheelchair sat perched on the lawn. "Stay here, Nick!" The rabbit ran over to the wheelchair and wheeled it back to the police car. Speaking soft words of guidance, Judy eased Nick into the chair and started pushing him up the road.
"We've made it, Nicholas. Everything is going to be okay." Judy whispered to her partner.
"Uuugh...nnh..." Nick babbled.
"I know," Judy lowered her head and planted a kiss on the fox's scalp. "I love you too."
"Urnnn..!" Nick pressed something into her paw.
It was her carrot pen; he had been using it to write with during the investigation.
"Thank you," Judy said, attaching the pen to her vest.
The moment the two law officers stepped into the hospital they were swarmed with nurses of every shape and size. Judy was escorted to the waiting area, having no severe wounds, while Nick was wheeled away behind double doors and out of sight.
"Wait! Nick!" Cried Judy. She turned and gazed with moist eyes at the elephant nurse who held onto her arm. "Where are they taking him?"
But the elephant stayed quiet, only giving her arm a reassure pat.
"Judy Hopps?" Called a hippo from the receptionist desk.
Judy rotated her ears. "How do you know my name...?"
The elephant nurse let Judy go, and the rabbit went to the desk obediently.
"Everybeast knows about you, Miss Hopps." The hippo slid a clipboard towards her. "Fill this form out for me, honey. Complete both sides, and sign your name here at the bottom, okay?"
Judy nodded mutely and sat down in the waiting room, taking out her orange carrot pen.
Nearby, tumbling in the floor were a pair of wolves. They were young; a boy and a girl wearing green overalls and pink ones, respectfully. Their mother sat in a wheelchair, tap-tapping away at her iPad, her leg propped up in a cast.
The mother, it seemed to Judy, was bored. Suddenly, the boy wolf bit his sister, who started howling at once.
Their mother lifted her eyes, growling. "Hush up!" She barked.
Judy felt stricken. Why was the mother so cross? Was it the atmosphere that made these people so unhappy, or their condition? Their ailments?
The rabbit looked around the room. Nearly all the chairs in the waiting room was filled with animals coughing into handkerchiefs or their sleeves; the kind of dry, wet cough that made you want to clear your throat. Llamas, coyotes, kangaroos- it didn't matter what species the animal was; they all wore the same haggard look of sickness in their face.
"Mommy...?"
Judy turned her head and watched a black panther child tug at his mother's dress.
"Mommy, I'm huuuuuungry...I'm hungry Mama...Mommy...?"
Judy searched her pockets, finding four quarters and a handful of pennies. She sifted through the change and walked over to the panther family. She extended her paw, showing the boy the four shiny quarters. "Here you go. There's a vending machine over by the restroom." Judy pointed.
"Thank you, miss." The mother took the coins then slid the change into her son's paw. "Go on, get yourself a snack."
Judy smiled and watched as the boy trotted over to the machine.
"Oh, miss, your poor face!" The mother panther exclaimed. "Are you all right?"
"It's... Just part of the job, ma'm." Judy shrugged, trying to smile.
"Well quit." The panther said sternly. "I mean it."
Judy hesitated. For some reason, she was inclined to be honest to the mother. Her concern was not for herself, but for her partner. "I... I'll think about it..."
"Good."
By this time, the panther's son returned, waving a chocolate candy bar in the air. "Look mommy! Look!"
"Here, let me open it for you." The mother took away the candy and opened it, tearing off the wrapper with practiced ease.
When Judy returned to her seat, she wore a frown on her face, like so many others in the hospital. It was the first time since coming to Zootopia that she questioned her own happiness. With a sigh, she picked back up her clipboard and resumed filling out the form.
As she wrote, her thumb slid and bumped into the recording device. At once, screaming could be heard from the tiny speakers; the screaming paused, then words were hurriedly spoken into the device:
"Nick Wilde reporting; I have been kidnapped by grizzly bears in a slaughterhouse. And the rumors are true: they are butchering real animals!"
Everyone's eyes were upon Judy now; jaws dropped open, pencils fell out of useless paws. The hippo at the receptionist desk was the first to speak; she picked up a phone and began to dial a three-digit number as she spoke:
"Miss Hopps, come see me in my office, please."
The small grey rabbit followed the large hippo into the office, which had nothing but a bench lined with thin paper and a computer chair.
"Judy have a seat, dear, and give me a minute to get off the phone." The hippo told Judy kindly. "Did you finish filling out your form?"
"Yes, I-"
The hippo put a finger to her lips. "Hello?" She spoke to the phone. "Yes, hello Mister Bogo how are you? Mmhmm... Great... I'm here with Judy Hopps, sir, and she-" the hippo waved and gestured for Judy to pass off the clipboard; the rabbit obeyed, then stood up from her seat.
"May I go use the bathroom?" Judy asked shyly.
"Go ahead, honey." The hippo sunk down into the computer chair, which groaned under her weight.
Judy slipped out of the office and ran over to the first nurse she spotted. "Excuse me, can you tell me what room Nicholas Wilde is in?" She asked.
The animal shook his head. "He's still in surgery."
"Still?" Judy bit her lip.
"The doctors are doing everything they can," the doctor added softly. "I'm sure he-"
"Okay, thanks." Judy turned and ran down the hallway, hunting down someone else to ask.
But right outside the front entrance of the hospital, something caught her eye. A young lion cub was pushing his father in a wheelchair, but was struggling. The father himself wore bandages on his arms, making it impossible for him to assist. Kicking herself mentally for her compassionate nature, Judy ran outside to help.
"Are you trying to get inside?" She asked the lions.
The lions gave her a very blank look, staring at her with almost a hateful expression.
"Um... Are you okay?" Judy asked.
All at once, a pair of thick arms wrapped around her and forced her into the back of a truck, the doors of which slammed and locked shut immediately.
"What the...?" Judy gasped, running against the closed doors. "No! No!" She cried. "Let me out of here!"
All around her, Judy felt the momentum of the truck as it gained speed and turned sharp corners. She was frightened; the stress of the entire day began to tear her to pieces. What hurt her the most was that she would not be at Nick's side when he woke up from surgery.
"Oh, Nick..." Judy slumped to her knees and cried.