Author notes :
This chapter had been translated quite quickly. Galak0 was over-motivated. He had to boost himself with illegal substances, that's for sure. But thanks to his incredible efficiency (and the big help of our great friend and benefactor Cimar, who took charge of the English editing), I can offer you this chapter 7 fairly quickly.
I take advantage of these short author notes to thank all the people who follow this story, all followers, readers, and especially those who take a little of their time to leave a review (short or long, no importance ... it's always an EXTREME pleasure).
So thank you.
And I wish you a good reading of this chapter :)
Chapitre 7 : Parental Advisory : Explicit Content
After her first awakening in the ambulance leading her to hospital, Judy's memories were scattered and looked like a succession of vaguely animated slides. Each appeared as if she was walking in front of a video projector, the blinding light muddling her thoughts and vision into blurs at best, making perception almost impossible. A face turned towards her, unidentifiable, though assuring her that everything was fine. A spot which was blinding her, forcing her to close her eyes, and she would not have the strength to reopen them. A feeling of coldness, as what remained of the shirt that Karen made her wear for the press conference was ripped off her. A succession of tiled corridors in pastel colors. The impression of sliding onto an air cushion. An agitated room filled with mammals in long white coats wearing masks and gloves. A comforting paw resting on her shoulder. She had shivered at this contact and turned her head in the direction of this comforting gesture, expecting to see Nick. She had managed to murmur his name, a note of hope in the depths of her voice...but she hadn't had the time to put her eyes on the individual, as she was already sinking into a deep, completely dreamless sleep, obscure and out of time.
If it had lasted a long time, Judy couldn't know, but when she finally opened her eyes, her mind seemed clearer. Her thoughts more concrete and her discomfort more distant. She was lying in a room of spartan comfort, relatively small, despite the oversized bed she was occupying. She understood without hesitation that she was still in the hospital, and that whatever may have happened to her since her admission following the violent attack she had undergone, everything seemed to have happened for the best...at least she hoped so.
She turned her head to her chest, reassured not to see the knife's handle protruding from her torso dripping with blood. Instead of the blade, there was only the pale color of a medical gown with a greenish tint. Judy wanted to raise her left arm, but she felt great pain in the process, which was sufficient to convince her to stop the experiment immediately. She had the impression that her left breast was directly sewn to her shoulder, itself connected too close to her biceps. The slightest movement of the arm gave her the feeling of suffering from multiple cramps throughout this whole area. The rest of her body seemed to work correctly, and with the right arm she raised her hospitable tunic to see with her own eyes what the doctors had done to her. Of course, the sight was not particularly impressive, since she only saw an immense compress, covering her breast, and which was maintained by a mesh of bandages carefully tightened around her. She couldn't judge the severity of what was hidden below it.
The first disagreeable sensations of an awakening following a non-natural sleep began to arise. At first she realized that her mouth was dry. Limp. Invaded with a disgusting metallic taste, and that she was awfully thirsty. Very quickly, the needs of her body reactivated, she had a desire more than urgent to empty her bladder, which seemed about to explode. She tried to pull the sheets off the bed, but her body was not as awake as her mind, and she found herself tangled in the much too big blankets, unable to find the strength to free herself, and way too small to reach the nurse's call button from her position.
She frowned, cursing herself for being so tiny in a cosmopolitan society that welcomed animals from the smallest mouse to the most enormous elephants. She was probably too groggy to realize that a hospital as large as the Zootopia Central was designed to fulfill the needs of every species, and that a second call button was within her reach near the headboard, placed precisely there to be reachable for smaller mammals.
Since she was reduced to struggling against the sheets, she let out a weary sigh, hating to feel so weak and helpless. She decided to do the only thing that was still in her capacity to do...shout.
"Is there someone? Please? I...I need some help!"
She repeated the call two or three times before finally a nurse vivaciously burst into the room, a concerned expression on her face. The bear who had just arrived must have expected a situation much more serious than the following one, since she could not repress a slight chuckle which was marked by a touch of relief.
"Well, Miss Hopps? Already fine enough to roll yourself in the sheets, I see?" She froze for a moment, conscious of her own involuntary clumsy joke, before returning in a more confused tone. "If you forgive me this somewhat unwelcome choice of words…"
"I will forgive you all the imaginable wrongs if you pull me out from there before I wet myself..." Judy answered in a supplicating voice, her reply accompanied by a grimace of discomfort and a tinge of embarrassment.
The nurse hurried to help Judy, pulling her out of the sheets that had been wrapped around her lower limbs, then threw the blankets down the bed before taking her in her arms like a newborn to led her towards the bathroom. If Judy usually hated being infantilized in such a way, she did not take offense this time, due to the urgency of the situation.
Once she was placed on the floor and when the bear made sure she had a good grip on the handle support available to help patients stand on their paws when they were still unable to do so (usually because of the anesthesia), Judy climbed over the toilet. Adjusted her hospital gown to free the way, she was finally able to relieve the awful pressure that had been building in her lower abdomen. The nurse had turned away to respect the bunny's privacy, but she did not care at the moment. She was still too drugged by anesthesia and painkillers to feel the slightest inhibition, as her mind was only focusing on solving the primary needs that her body made her feel.
Judy still needed the help of the bear to hold her while she was washing her paws (and the bunny was happy to find out that her left arm was still working normally, though the slightest movement from it was accompanied by a more than unpleasant pain), and to bring her back to the relative comfort of her bed, where she begged the nurse to leave the sheets away from her for the moment, too afraid of being tangled again.
"You have a call button at your level, right there," the nurse pointed out, drawing Judy's attention to the headboard. "There's no need to try to reach the other one in your current condition, Miss Hopps. You would give yourself trouble over nothing."
Judy felt a bit embarrassed for having made all this mess when the solution to her problem was so simple, and apologized pitifully.
"Oh, do not worry about it!" the bear replied in a jovial voice. "We're here for that, so don't hesitate to call us if you ever need to."
"Did everything go well... I mean, during the surgery?" Judy finally asked, without real concern. She was not an expert in the medical field but it was clear that her condition didn't seem very serious. It was more her curiosity speaking.
"Oh, I can not exactly tell you, Miss Hopps. I wasn't there. But Dr. Barrare, who has taken care of you, will see you within the hour to explain everything you need to know. In the meantime, you should rest."
As she was about to leave the room, the nurse froze at the door, as if something suddenly came to her mind.
"Ah yes! There is this fox who claims to be one of your friends, who has questioned us about your condition every ten minutes for nearly four hours... If he's really a close friend, would you accept for him to come and see you so that he will stop harassing us?"
Judy could not suppress a laugh after hearing this last remark, though it hurt her chest to do so, and acquiesced spontaneously. "Yes, please. Let him in right away!"
This drew a happy smile from the bear that Judy had trouble interpreting. Did she understand the attachment there was between Nick and her, or was it just a relief for finally getting rid of this insistent fox? For now, it didn't matter to the bunny. She was just sincerely moved and touched, her already impressive emotion being still exacerbated by the relatively heavy medication that had been administered to her.
Nick had stayed in the hospital during all this time. He had waited for her, and he was still there, now that she was awake. Though, it did not surprise her. She had expected this from the fox, and would have been hurt if it were otherwise. But she could not repress a burst of happiness and joy when she learned that he had spent four hours worrying enough about her to harass the whole medical team, to the point that they were looking to get rid of him by all means necessary. She found it really adorable...and undoubtedly romantic.
This warm thought in mind, she allowed herself a few moments of rest and closed her eyes as an intense tiredness won out again. Even before she had time to realize, she fell asleep nearly instantly, defeated by the physical and emotional exhaustion of this eventful day.
It was the slight pressure of a paw on hers that pulled her out of her light sleep. She had in fact only slept for five minutes, but this natural rest had been much more effective than the four hours which had been imposed on her by anesthesia. Her blurred vision distinguished a vague form overhanging her, but it was above all the color of the vision standing above her, as well as the smell, which confirmed her that it was the mammal she most wanted to see at that moment. Nick was standing beside her, with his paw on hers. Her dear friend, the fox for whom she was sure of feeling deeper feelings for, and of whom she was no longer afraid of saying she was in love with, was standing by her side.
She had been so scared. Terrified of disappearing before being able to tell him everything she was feeling for him. Petrified of not being able to see him, to touch him. Frightened of never having the chance to put her lips on his, to feel his paws touch her where no other paws had touched her before. And finally, scared of not being able to live with him all these things that couples go through, things that until then seemed so unimportant for her, and of which she thought she could live without them just fine until the end of her days. Judy had always been pragmatic: she had a goal, a dream, had then accomplished it, and could be happy with it without ever expecting anything else from life. But love had passed through the aftermath of that dream, presenting a whole new goal to reach. And new obstacles had popped up, harsh and violent, unexpected...almost fatal. She could have died hours before, and she would have never felt Nick's paw on her again.
This revelation struck her like a surging wave, and she could not repress the instinctive tears that streamed from her eyes, making her vision even more hazy, while Nick asked if everything was okay. In all honesty, Judy could not have answered that question. She really didn't know. Joy, terror, happiness and panic were blending in her mind, and her body instinctively sought something to cling to. Her right paw grabbed Nick's tie, which she drew abruptly towards her…with an unsuspected force, given her condition. The fox fell in her direction, looking surprised, as he was clutching his paws around her body to not fall on her and crush her. But Judy didn't care. Her mind worked at full speed and was no longer run by rationality. A strong sense of emergency enveloped her, awakening a sort of preservation instinct, placing its priorities in strange and buried places. Judy's paw left the tie it was holding, before clinging the back of Nick's neck, which she could now reach, forcing him to lean closer, reducing the few centimeters which separated his muzzle from hers.
The bunny may not have been shot by Night Howlers, but the kiss was no less wild, powerful and deep. Judy pressed her lips against Nick's, and thought she was dying of pleasure at their hot, slightly damp contact. She had taken him by surprise, and was the only one to act, so she was at the height of ecstasy when she felt Nick's mouth answering her, for a second, before he get off a bit too abruptly of the embrace in which she had trapped him. He shook his head, as embarrassed as he was incredulous.
In spite of her still uncertain vision, Judy interpreted without difficulty the particularly embarrassed and uncomfortable expression of Nick, whose ears pinned back and the eyes wide open were telling much about the panic state in which the reckless action of the rabbit had just brought him. Judy thought she had done something wrong, and felt compelled to explain herself by pitifully gesticulating with her right paw.
"Oh, forgive me, Nick. I should not have... I know you wanted to wait to see where things were leading but with what happened, I thought...I thought I would never see you again, and I so wanted to kiss you, to tell you how much I lov..."
"Judy!" Nick said with vehemence, a touch of panic at the bottom of his voice, knowing fully well that using her first name was the best way to stun her, and therefore to silence her. "Before saying more things that you might regret, I must point out...we are not alone…"
Judy gave him an incredulous expression before focusing her blurred vision on Nick's finger, which was pointing to the other side of the bed. The rabbit slowly turned her head, feeling the fatality fall on her every inch she added to the rotating movement of her neck. Her eyes widened and her heart froze in her chest at the sight of her parents, who stared at her with an expression of surprise mixed with horror. In bonus, her father even had his jaw fully dropped in addition to his wide eyes as round as beads. Only Suzie, her adorable little sister, was smiling. With her arms behind her back, she was wobbling from one leg to the other, her head buried in the shoulders and a big amazed smile on her face. Obviously, seeing her sister testify her love to the fox in such an explicit manner delighted the little girl to the highest point. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be the case with Bonnie and Stu Hopps, who remained stunned and unable to articulate anything.
Judy's gaze turned back to Nick, who offered her nothing but a grimace full of discomfort, showing her all the embarrassment and panic that the situation inspired in him. The rabbit's face soon deformed into a fairly similar expression as she looked back at her parents again, while displaying an awkward smile, pretending to be surprised to see them standing there before her.
"Hey! It's my parents!"
"Judith Laverne Hopps!"
It was as if hearing the sound of her daughter's voice had succeeded in unlocking her father's word, and it had nothing comforting, in spite of the particular situation in which they were. Had Judy secretly hoped that her genitor would be understanding given the situation she had just gone through? She shook her head and told herself that it was hopeless: after what he had seen, it was certain that her father had totally forgotten that he was currently present in Zootopia Central to visit her daughter who had been savagely stabbed a few hours before. For now, what he only had in mind was the image of his own flesh and blood gripping a fox by the neck to kiss him so passionately that it seemed clear that her intentions towards him were anything but pure and chaste.
"Laverne?" Nick snickered reluctantly.
Oh no.
In his stupor, her father had revealed a compromising element to the only ear in the world that should never be granted by this kind of informative gift. Nick had just discovered her middle name, and despite the extremely tense situation, he couldn't help but delight himself by thinking of the use he might make of it to bother her in the future. His attitude was already particularly successful in doing just that, at the moment. Precisely when he should have faded into the background, to keep quiet, to be discreet (in short, to do everything in his might to make everyone forget that he was the fox she had just kissed in front of her parents), he only made himself more noticeable. It was undoubtedly too much to ask him to play the discretion card, and she merely turned toward him a furious glare, in which burned a muffled anger. Eventually, her father's exasperation broke out, and she was forced to turn her eyes back on him, freeing Nick from their infernal rage.
"I think this actually answers a lot of questions! We wondered why your smell was everywhere on this fox, and..."
"It's not 'this fox', Dad," Judy coldly corrected him. "It's Nick."
"Whatever the name! What difference does it make? Isn't it what he is?" Stu explained, alarmed and unable to remain coherent.
"It hurts me when you only refer to him by his species. Nick is my friend. And he deserves that you respect him, like everyone else."
"Oh, sweetheart..." her mother finally pronounced, making her voice heard for the first time. She bent over the oversized bed to reach her daughter's paw, which she grabbed fervently. "We were worried sick for you. Don't listen to your father. The only thing that matters for now is that you're okay."
The sincere affection she showed and the fact that she understood that the uncomfortable situation was doing more harm than good to Judy reassured the young bunny, who allowed herself to relax a little, tightening her paw around her mother's.
"I'm really sorry for making you so worried..." Judy answered with affection. "I feel sorry that you were forced to come here in the middle of the week because of me. I am aware of the organization that it requires, regarding the farm and the family. Thank you… Thank you for being here, both of you."
She turned a pleading look towards her father, which he couldn't resist. Both his anger and consternation quickly vanished, as he sat on the edge of the bed to take his daughter's paw in his own. Suzie quickly joined them, crawling up to her sister to grab her by the neck, while showing great delicacy as to not hurt the older doe. Judy pulled her paw out of her parents' embrace to put an arm around her little sister and hug her as hard as she could against herself.
"You're here too, sweetie?" Judy asked affectionately before kissing the little bunny on the cheek. "You didn't have school today?"
"Yes, but I wanted to come and see you."
"Sounds like a pretext for playing hooky..." Judy replied in a falsely reproving tone that made Suzie chuckle.
Bonnie looked up at Nick, who was contemplating the exchange between Judy and her sister, a slight smile at the corner of the muzzle. The fox seemed to notice that he was being watched, and his gaze turned to Judy's mother, who merely smiled at him enigmatically. He returned the politeness, before turning his eyes, visibly embarrassed.
"So, Judy..." resumed her mother, after uttering a slight sigh. "What happened? The news was talking about a terrorist act led by a group of extremist prey. Why have you been targeted? It doesn't make sense!"
"They are mad at me because we have managed to put an end to Bellwether's actions. Because ultimately we have proven that Zootopia's predators are no more dangerous than any other citizen of the city."
"And so what?" Stu asked stupidly. "Did they attack you because you told the truth?"
Judy just shrugged, but it was Nick who formulated the answer, drawing everyone's attention to him.
"Liars and manipulators are often less concerned about morals than those who are fighting for the truth, Mr. Hopps."
"In that case, you certainly don't have to worry about it!" the rabbit retorted with vehemence, which hit Nick. At his expression it was clear that the comment had hurt him. And so, Judy and her mother's reaction was one-sided.
"Dad!"
"Stu!"
"It's nothing," Nick said in a whisper, before rubbing his head, looking embarrassed. He finally turned away, implying that he was going to leave the room. "I'll give you your privacy. My presence here is unwelcome."
"No! You stay here!" Judy protested in an angered tone, clutching his wrist with her valid paw. "If your presence disturbs anyone in this room, it's up to that mammal to get out, not you!"
A deathly silence filled the confined space of the room after that statement, but Judy stood firm, even under the slightly wounded look her father gave her. Suzie had straightened up, not understanding very well the reasons why the tone had risen a notch all of a sudden. While Nick was going to protest, hoping to arrange things by insisting on leaving her alone with her parents, to dispel the uneasiness, Judy resumed speaking, not without letting her paw slip into Nick's half-open palm. All hope of escape faded away from the fox's mind as he felt the little fluffy fingers of the rabbit tighten firmly around his.
Judy hoped that her father had seen this gesture, and affirmed her determined gaze before saying: "Dad, if I have been assaulted today, it is precisely because I struggle with all my might against those who have such backwards attitudes against other species." She paused to notice the effect of her words on her interlocutor, and seemed satisfied. Stu looked down, and seemed particularly interested in the wool component of the bed cover. But Judy was not finished yet. "You can not treat Nick that way just because he's a fox!"
"I don't blame him for being a fox!" Stu defended himself, stretching out his arms as if to reject the accusation.
"In that case what's the problem?" his daughter replied in a stunned tone.
"You're asking me this? Seriously?" he replied in an incredulous voice. "Isn't it obvious?" He pointed his finger toward their tied paws, then resumed with more firmness: "You're going out with a fox, Judy! It's...it's wrong!"
At this statement, Bonnie put a paw against her eyes before shaking her head, visibly tired of this little game. She breathed a sigh before turning to her husband.
"Stu, can you spare me the shame of giving the impression that I married an extremely old-fashioned buck?"
Seeing Stu's distress, who seemed disappointed to not get the slightest support, Nick tried to behave with a less accusatory attitude in the hope of calming the preconceptions that Judy's father apparently had for him. The fox turned to Bonnie, before declaring: "I can understand his concerns, Mrs. Hopps. But I assure you that Judy and I are not together..."
"It's probably for this reason that the first thing she wished to do when she woke up was to kiss you!" Stu replied ironically. His mind could not chase away the image of his daughter kissing a fox with passion. Again and again, this scene came to his mind, taking each time a more concrete form, of which he would have hoped to have been the victim of a mere hallucination. His extremely protective paternalistic attitude warned him of what he considered to be a danger for his dear child.
Judy pulled him out of his torpor by confirming Nick's words, once again holding her own against her father.
"No it's the truth. We're not together," she declared, in a voice in which there was a hint of disappointment, and the fox didn't fail to notice it. "We're still trying to figure out what we feel for each other..." She lowered her head, a slight shame filling her as she remembered more accurately what she had done a few minutes ago. "I had never kissed Nick before, and I should not have done this... I don't say that because it happened in your presence. I acted impulsively." She then turned to the fox, offering him a look where a certain form of guilt could be seen. "Forgive me, Nick."
"There's nothing to forgive, Carrots..."
How could he be angry at such an adorable face? The mention of the kiss brought him back to what he had felt at that moment. Disbelief, surprise, emotion...then anxiety. An anxiety that was confirmed again, now that Stu, apparently out of himself, resumed his words with vehemence.
" 'Carrots? ' You accept him calling you that? And afterwards, it is I who makes prejudices?"
"Dad, it's just a nickname. Please just stop!" Judy replied in an exaggerated tone, which did not calm her father for a moment.
"Do not think you can get away with it, young girl! I want explanations."
The bunny was somewhat relieved when she saw her mother come to her rescue again. "She doesn't need to give you any, Stuwart!" Bonnie replied in an outraged tone. "It's her life and she lives it the way she wants! Would you have liked for my father to put his nose in our burrow at the slightest opportunity?"
"Oh! There was no need for him to worry!" Stu defended himself with a swagger, an expression of pride shining in the corner of his eyes. "You married a buck from a good family, well-to-do in every aspect!"
"Yes, and who made me pregnant at the end of one week! Don't think he was delighted when he had heard that!"
At this reflection, Stu shriveled a little, feeling embarrassed for being undermined in front of everyone. "It...it's not the same thing at all..." he finally mumbled, looking defeated.
"Oh, stop making such a fuss," Bonnie said, obviously eager to finish her husband when he was already down. No fair play, Mrs. Hopps, Nick had time to think ironically, who watched the scene with a slightly sparkling look. "And, it's not like you're discovering Judy's tastes on the matter!" The bunny went on, clutching her paws against her hips in order to give herself a little more constancy. "Remember the heartbreak she had when Bobby Catmull refused to go out with her..."
Golden information here! Nick thought, turning a more than interested look at Judy, before offering her a tendentious smile. "Bobby Catmull, huh?"
"Mom, please..." Judy pleaded, releasing Nick's paw to bring her own against her forehead. She really didn't need for her mother to openly share old compromising anecdotes of her life before her prospective future boyfriend. Not now, not when she had just woken up after a life-saving surgery, and had been caught kissing the said future boyfriend in front of her parents, who moreover was a fox. My life is really complicated...she complained inwardly.
It was at this point that Suzie straightened up before slipping between Nick and Judy, grabbing their respective paws in hers while offering them her most charming smile.
"I find you very beautiful together!" she said jovially and conclusively, as if her opinion would resolve the issue. "Kiss him again, Judy! Please!"
Bonnie could not repress a laugh at this little game, while Judy and Nick, terribly embarrassed, exchanged a confused and somewhat uneasy look. Stu sighed while shaking his head. He was getting tired fighting for a lost cause.
"Please, spare us that..." he grumbled nevertheless. "My poor heart would not recover from such a show, I think."
Humor, even that cynical, remained humor. And if her father was acting so, it proved that he didn't take things so badly, in the end. Undoubtedly she would still hear him talk about it quite often, but since the abscess was now broken, she finally felt herself able to face it. The worst was over.
It was at this moment that Dr. Barrare made his entrance, accompanied by the nurse on duty.
"Hello to all those I do not know, including my patient of the day, of course. I'm Doctor Barrare."
"If even I don't know you…then, they don't either, right?" Judy replied, amused by this introduction.
Nick cleared his throat, a little taken aback. "Hum...Dr. Barrare and I may have already... been in contact... before your surgery."
"Ah really?" Judy asked. "How come?"
"He was present when I made my preliminary report to Chief Bogo about your health condition. Besides, Mr. Wilde wanted to make me understand how necessary it was for me to do my job well."
The fox lowered his head, embarrassed for being depicted by an external intervener. Judy did not know if she should tease him for his overprotective behavior, or be flattered. Assuming that this revelation of Nick's actions was all in her honor and would make a good impression on her parents, she remained silent, but did a mental note to not forget to rib him with it as soon as they would be alone again.
"Good," the beaver finally resumed before approaching Judy. Nick stepped back to let him approach his patient, not without taking Suzie in his arms, in order to free enough necessary space for the doctor. The fox was relieved to realize that neither Bonnie nor Stu seemed to get wrong the fact that he was carrying their very young daughter. Suzie did not complain either, and she even put her arms around Nick's neck while smiling.
"You will be delighted to learn that the surgery went perfectly," Dr. Barrare explained to Judy, who merely smiled at him for his answer, letting her parents express their relief in her place.
"As I thought, the blade did not damage any vital organ, but it was necessary to extract it carefully, because it had nevertheless touched your lung. The lesion is minimal, but it's possible that you may feel some discomfort with any sort of physical activity over the next few weeks. This is completely normal."
Judy was relieved to know that she would not have any lasting consequences from the attack, because she would not have liked this to disrupt her eventual return to the police force.
"One could say I've been lucky..." she commented, making the doctor nod in agreement.
"Yes, it's true. But the hit was too clumsy to be truly dangerous, I think. Your aggressor was, fortunately, an unprepared individual for such actions. There is often a tendency to believe that it's easy to stab someone, but it takes a lot of strength, and some control. At least if the attacker wants the hits to be deadly. It's often for this reason that crimes involving this type of weapon give rise to real carnage, because it takes an impressive number of strokes to kill someone, when one doesn't know how or where to stab."
"Thank you for all these details, doctor..." Nick cynically replied. "I am sure Judy is very reassured to know that she would have needed to be stabbed seventy more times to finally let out her last breath..."
Judy gave him a disapproving look, but could not refrain a slight laugh, to which Bonnie joined willingly. Stu, for his part, remained dumbfounded by the terrifying words that the doctor had just pronounced, and was feeling on the verge of fainting.
"Please, forgive me," the beaver finally replied, shaking his head with an uneasy look, waving the enormous glasses resting on his mustached muzzle. "Since I work regularly with the police, I tend to deal with these kind of cases almost daily. I ended up losing the habit of announcing good news. But once in a while this alternative doesn't bother me, to be honest."
They all laughed cheerfully, before finally Judy decided to ask the fateful question: "So…when can I leave?"
"Oh hey! Don't be so hasty nonetheless, miss Hopps," Barrare replied while waving his paws. "We'll keep you under observation tonight, and hopefully, you can leave tomorrow in the early afternoon."
"Oh, that's not a problem." Stu replied. "Since we didn't know the gravity of the situation, we made our arrangements and booked a room in a small motel, not far from here. We can get you back when you leave tomorrow, and we'll all go back to Bunnyburrow."
"Bunnyburrow?" The doctor exclaimed with concern. "Once again, sorry, but I must break your plans. Your daughter needs to rest a lot over the next few days. She should solicit as little as possible the injuring of the extraction area that we have treated. It's a very active part of the body, usually, even if one tends to not realize it. It would be dangerous for her to make such a long travel, even by train. Moreover, she will have to come back here every day for a while, so that her bandage can be re-wrapped and changed. It requires some manipulations that we cannot allow her to do by herself, nor any other uninitiated mammal instead of us."
"It's annoying, doctor..." Judy explained, confused by these last revelations. "I don't have any lodgings anymore in Zootopia. I was only passing through here."
"Oh...oh, yes I understand that this could be a problem," Barrare replied, rubbing his head, as if trying to look for a solution. "I guess I could transfer your file to the Three Communes Hospital so that you could be treated there in Bunnyburrow...but I would have liked to be able to monitor the treatment of your wound myself, for more precautions..."
"Hum... In the worst case scenarios, my door is wide open for you, Carrots..." Nick said in a neutral tone, avoiding crossing anyone's gaze while he proposed this solution, knowing full well that it would raise a bout of protests.
"What?! She'd sleep in your home?" Stu exclaimed, wide-eyed. "After what happened? No...no! Not in my lifetime, my friend!"
"Dad, stop!" Judy replied, tired of her father's scandalized refrain. Even though she was a little bewildered, she seriously considered Nick's proposal, trying to focus on the practical aspect more than what would mean spending more time with the fox. The two of them. All alone. For an undetermined time. No. She should not let these kinds of thoughts take over her logical reason. Above all, she had to think about the best way to deal with the logistical problems associated with her injury.
"It's extremely nice of you to offer me your hospitality again, Nick," Judy replied. "But unfortunately I don't have anything here with me. No spare clothes, no toiletries... As I said, I left my parents home in haste without bringing anything with me."
"Um...about that..." Bonnie answered in an uncertain voice, before lifting a traveling bag she had brought with her, depositing it on the bed right next to Judy. "Since we didn't know for how long you would be hospitalized, or the seriousness of your injuries, I took the initiative to prepare you a bag, with all your toiletries, and spare clothes..."
"Bonnie! What are you playing?" Stu exclaimed impetuously, gesticulating his paws before his wife, hoping to hide the bag from Judy's sight.
"I try to help..." the bunny replied, obviously not understanding what her husband was reproaching her for.
"You fool! Now she has no reason to go back with us!"
"Oh..." Bonnie answered, suddenly understanding what her husband was implying. "And is that a problem?"
"Of course, that's a problem! If she doesn't come with us, it means she'll stay with the fox!"
"His name is Nick," Judy said in an exaggerated tone, without even succeeding in attracting her father's attention.
"She's old enough to know what she's doing, Stu. Judy is in the police, I think she's able to defend herself..."
"That's it!" Stu replied, obviously besides himself. "Why do you have to be so tolerant and open-minded when it comes to your children?"
"These are our children, Stu. We educated them together, I remind you. And I don't think Nick will do anything bad to her."
"Oh, I don't disagree with this... It is precisely the opposite that make me worried!"
To this idea, so openly expressed, Judy and Nick could not help blushing in embarrassment. They both knew that nothing would happen, of course. Certainly. Likely. Probably. Perhaps... The bunny finally uttered a sigh of weariness, before grabbing the handle of the travel bag with her right paw to pull it toward her.
"I'll stay with Nick," she answered firmly, bringing everyone's attention back to her.
As she suspected, her father displayed a horrified expression, while Nick...Nick's expression was indescribable. But it went beyond happiness and surprise.
"I should be back to work in the precinct soon enough," Judy continued, feeling the need to justify her decision. "I'm going to have to find a new place in Zootopia. If I can stay with Nick during my convalescent period, it will be more convenient for me to look for something suitable. It will prevent me from finding myself again in the kind of hutch where I lived until now..."
"You...you mean that you intend to ask to be reinstated, despite what happened?" Stu asked, visibly incredulous.
"Of course, Dad. You didn't think that a mere assault would stop me? They would have won if I gave up like that. Quite the opposite, it only reinforced my convictions."
"Oh...oh yes...I should have known, you've always been a fighter." And in the tone he used, it was rather Stu Hopps who was apparently beaten. "Still, it doesn't reassure me to know that you are going to stay with the fox for an indefinite period."
"His name is Nick, for the twentieth time."
"Yes, whatever. You know what I mean."
"No, Dad. I don't know."
"Don't play the ignorant, young girl!"
This was the moment chosen by Dr. Barrare to remind everyone of his presence by clearing his throat before declaring: "Hum...if you may excuse me, even if I admit that the show is very entertaining, I still have other patients to visit. I'll see you tomorrow when you leave, Judy. But if you have any questions by then, don't hesitate to call me."
All thanked him before he quickly left the room with the nurse. No one unheard the sneers that the two practitioners exchanged when they crossed the door, letting it close behind them. It was a perfect excuse for Judy to make her father feel guilty. "Do you see where this lead us? We are the laughing stock of Central Zootopia, now!"
"That's what happens when we play indoor games with a fox!"
"Oh! I can't believe it! Will you ever stop with your delusions?"
Nick and Bonnie shared a knowing glance: if they didn't intervene quickly, this ridiculous and unproductive exchange would be endless. Nick undertook to calm Judy, while Bonnie did the same with Stu. It took a few minutes for the room to regain a relative calm, but both father and daughter seemed somewhat distant, refusing to turn their heads toward each other, or to speak.
"It will fade away," Bonnie commented to the fox. The two were seated near the room's window, as if to get away from the cold war-like atmosphere which had been settled between Stu and Judy. Suzie had fallen asleep in Nick's arms, who was gently rocking her against him, obviously at ease with the maneuver. Bonnie continued: "It's happened countless times in the past. Stu is overprotective, which irritates Judy and pushes her to do whatever it takes to make him even more annoyed. But in the end, they always end up making up. They like each other too much for it to last."
"It seems like it's a healthy relationship between a father and a daughter." Nick commented in a tone slightly saddened. "I can not pretend to have experienced anything similar with my own father, unfortunately."
"I'm sorry to hear it, Nick."
Nick gently shook his head, meaning that there was no harm done by her words. However, he didn't open up more on the subject. He greatly enjoyed Bonnie's very open and tolerant temper, who obviously had great trust in her children. Surely because she knew that the education she had provided on them was blameless. Judy told him about her mother's ability to recognize her mistakes and move on. She had been the first to support her in her desire to become a police officer, even though she had first proclaimed for a while that it was impossible for a rabbit to achieve this goal. Also, her opinion regarding predators had always been open and tolerant, though she had been mistrusting foxes, due to the unfortunate experience Judy went through in her childhood, but she had not hesitated to acknowledge her wrongs and change her mind when her daughter opened her eyes. These great warm-hearted qualities, this peculiar sweetness, and her sincerity, kinda rural-like, had earned Nick's affection. And it looked like she seemed to relatively like him, which was well with him.
"I'm also sorry for what Judy did..." the rabbit finally said. "I should not interfere, of course. But as a mother, I think she shouldn't have done this. And of course, I feel compelled to apologize for it..."
"What are you talking about, Bonnie?" Nick asked, not knowing what she was implying.
"Judy shouldn't have marked you. I explained to her the importance of this gesture in love relationships, long ago...as I did with each of my children, for that matter. You know, with us rabbits, sex education and everything that comes with it is something to take very seriously if you don't want to be a young grandmother early on in your life."
Nick couldn't help but share her laughter, then reassured her by softly shaking his head. "You should not apologize for that, Bonnie. Sincerely, there is no harm..."
"Oh, I know, since you're obviously very close to each other. In a deeper way than a simple friendship, I can tell. Even if she wouldn't have kissed you, I wouldn't have thought differently. But still...she shouldn't have. Not as long as you weren't really engaged to each other. I've told her that, but I think that in a moment of distraction, she must have forgotten it."
"Honestly Bonnie, I'm not going to complain..." admitted the fox.
This confession left the rabbit speechless for a few seconds, then she merely smiled enigmatically before reaching out her arms to get back Suzie, the young rabbit still asleep, who was gently resting on Nick's shoulder.
"Looks like you've done this all your life," she said, now holding Suzie in her arms.
"I have a godson that I love," Nick said without any explanation. At the new smile Bonnie offered him, Nick no longer held any doubt concerning the genuine affection the mother of the bunny he loved, had for him. Already one parent of the two approved. Not that bad.
Stu and Bonnie left nearly twenty minutes later. Judy and her father had finally spoken again, carefully avoiding any unpleasant subjects. As Stu had kissed his daughter before leaving, and since she had hugged him, it seemed obvious to Nick that the tensions had subsided, at least for the moment, and it was enough to bring solace to his heart. Among all the things he wanted to avoid in his special relationship with Judy, the most important thing was to not be the cause of possible tensions between her and her parents.
The Hopps promised that they would return the next morning to visit Judy before she would be allowed to leave the hospital. Then, they would have to meet in the afternoon so she could bring them to the place where she had parked the family's farm truck. They would need it to get back to Bunnyburrow. Thus, all the obligations attaching Judy to a forced return to her hometown would be settled, and she would have the peace of mind to take the necessary rest for her convalescence, while having time to find a new home before her re-installment into the force.
As they finally found themselves alone, Nick sat on the edge of the bed, turning a glance at Judy before sighing deeply. "That was... quite intense," he said to comment on this first live meeting with her parents.
"I wouldn't have the will to hide from them what there is between us anyway," answered Judy, before sighing. "I suppose I have what I deserve for having acting inconsiderately again."
"What did you expect? You're a reckless bunny, Carrots. You should think twice before acting."
"I suppose, yes... But then, I wouldn't be able to make such beautiful mistakes…"
Nick looked at her with a concerned look, and she offered him an absolutely charming smile. This bunny really had the power to disarm him completely, whether by a gesture, a look, an attitude, or a mere little sentence like the one she had just uttered. All seemingly insignificant facts, but filled with a deeper meaning, which made him feel things that he had never experienced until then. He remembered what he had understood about himself earlier in the afternoon, and how deeply he cared for Judy. A shiver ran through his spine when he thought about the events of the morning. Everything seemed so distant now, but the veracity of the facts was not less chilling: he had almost lost her.
"Don't ever give me such a scare, Carrots..." he mumbled while looking away.
"I didn't ask for this zebra to attack me, you know? I had other plans in mind for my day to go in the first place."
She hoped that a bit of humor would make the fox's mood less glum, but it didn't seem to work. Nick was sitting on the side of the bed, his head turned towards the door. His gaze was lost in the void, and he seemed thoughtful. She stretched out her arm to reach him, but only managed to touch his shirt with her fingertips.
"Now comes the time to assume the consequences of our success, I guess..." the fox finally declared.
"It was an isolated act, Nick... An extremist mad mammal, distraught by the revelations we made, and who turned his anger and despair on me. But it will not happen again."
"He's not alone, Carrots. There are plenty of others mammals like him out there. You don't know what they're going to do."
"That is true. We'd never know. But I don't feel in danger, okay? These mammals do not deserve the honor knowing that their actions have influenced our daily lives, even if they try to cause us as much harm as possible. They'll succeed in doing so, if you let this affect you."
Nick remained pensive for a few moments, seeming to digest these words. Finally, he sighed and murmured for himself: "I should have been the one to take the blow…".
He probably thought that Judy wouldn't hear him, but it was without taking into account the exceptional perceptive hearing of the rabbit. She straightened up at once, attracting his attention by the vivacity of her movement. Nick perceived the glow of flaming anger burning in Judy's eyes, and pulled away by reflex, narrowly avoiding the punch that was aimed at his shoulder. The fact of having missed her assault hadn't calmed Judy's rage, which she let out by words: "I forbid you to say that! I forbid you to insinuate it! I forbid you even to think it!"
"Calm down, Carrots! It's the truth! I was the predator who helped to knock down Bellwether! This stabbing should not have hit you, if the mammal who handled it had been logical!"
"You'd have felt better, if the roles had been reversed, maybe? You would have shown your triumphant smile and thought you had the right role? What do you think I would have felt, if things had happened like that, huh? It would have annihilated me. Never say anything like that again, Nick..."
And now she became emotional again. The medication she had been given, which was relatively strong, was no help. Nevertheless, Nick didn't like seeing her this upset when she had to take care of her wound as best as possible, so he didn't try to insist and used a more gentle tone, stretching his paws in front of her to catch her wrists, showing himself as delicate as possible in order to calm her.
"There, there..." he whispered as she relaxed a bit at his touch. "I didn't think so, as you can guess. You still think I'm trying to make you feel guilty for something, right?"
"You idiot..." she stammered, laughing softly.
He had managed to compel her to lie down again. The moment he let go of her, she grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him towards her without virulence. He thought at first that she was trying to kiss him again, and thought of defending himself, before giving up (a little too easily to his liking). But she had no such intentions. She simply brought him closer to her, inviting him to lie down beside her. Nick nodded. The bed was large enough so they could have enough room for two. But Judy didn't just want Nick to lie next to her. Judy wanted him to lie down against her. She made him understand that by passing her valid paw behind his neck and pulling him in her direction. The fox hesitated for a second, before giving in to the invitation, finding himself a little clumsy until finding a comfortable position. Judy took care of the rest by snuggling into his arms, pressing her face into the corner of his neck. It's her recognized place, now, Nick thought while smiling. He tightened his embrace against her small body, showing himself extremely cautious to avoid agitating her wound.
They remained silent for several minutes, until Nick finally believed that her friend had fallen asleep again. But finally, she slightly moved, and murmured in a gentle and sincere tone: "I'm sorry I kissed you, Nick. Forgive me…"
"I've already told you that you didn't have to apologize for that. If your parents hadn't of been there, I would have been the one to kiss you."
"Really?" She asked, raising her head with a small smile on the corner of her lips. She wasn't that tired, after all.
"Yes. And it would have been a foolishness that I would not have regretted. But a foolishness nevertheless. I suppose…"
"Would you get upset if I confess that I don't feel it as a mistake?"
"I think I used the term, 'foolishness', Carrots... I didn't talk about mistake." Nick corrected her.
Judy shook her head, a little disconcerted by her friend's apparently ironic remark. "I don't really get the difference, Nick..."
"Yet it's obvious, a mistake can't be changed."
Judy seemed to reflect on what he meant by that, but soon understood the subtlety of his sharp minded reflection, and laughed a bit before slipping her paw along his muzzle, appreciating the softness of the light curve of it.
"Should I take that as an invitation to start over?" she asked.
"I don't know..." he replied seriously after a few seconds of reflection. "What would still differentiate us from a real couple, then?"
"Not much, I guess... But would that be a bad thing?"
"Wait a few days living with me before answering this question..."
The good old Nick, with his personal wall of jokes, provocations and flirts, was back. It didn't bother Judy, in the end. She knew in which situation she was in, and she knew well what she wanted. If it should take more time for Nick to do the same, she would get along with it. As her parents had told her, she was a fighter. She would go all the way to reach the new goal she had set for herself. And that goal was not that far away either.
She was laying between his paws, at that very moment.