Judy had had a brilliant night full of rest, and woke up extra enthusiastic for a full days of work. So as soon as her eyes popped open, she whipped the covers off of her, and jumped out of bed, sprinting for her wardrobe.
She threw on her police uniform, but pulling her pants up with one paw, and brushing her fur with the other. Then, she shined her badge, which had become a little habit accustomed over time every morning.
Judy sprinted over to the kitchen when she was done, and as she arrived, the buny had expected to find her partner there. He may not be an early bird (or fox, either way you put it), but the noise she made in the morning always woke him up anyway. But Nick wasn't there, and she was starting to worry why.
So, she made her way to his room, and knocked. A groan and mutter met her, and a murmered 'come in' was mentioned at some point.
She shoved the door open, walking in to start scolding her fox friend about being lazy and being late to work, when she noticed two things that were different.
One, all of the blankets were tangled up around Nick, and two, he looked bad. Really bad. Really really bad.
His eyes were a little red, and he seemed to sniffle every minute. He also looked like he had been sweating all night, and barely got any sleep whatsoever. At least to Judy, he looked so tired, and sick.
So she rushed over, feeling his forehead.
Hot.
"Oh man, Nick, what have you gotten yourself into this time?" she inquired jokingly.
"Nothing. Just under the weather," he grumbled back, wrapping his tail around himself like a blanket.
"Ok then get up," she replied, knowing he woouldn't be able to.
"Mph," he grunted, trying to get up, rubbing his eyes and temples tiredly, "give me a minute,"
"Umm, we have to get going ASAP, Bogo will have our neck if we don't. So hurry, your moving no faster than Flash!" Judy cried, clapping her hands in anticipation as he dragged himself to his cupboard, grumbling and muttering under his breath, making Judy laugh.
But then he tripped over, banging his head against the closet.
"Nick! Are you alright!" she cried, immediately running over to check him.
"Great, feeling better than ever," came a muffled reply. Probably because his muzzle was half shoved into the ground, but maybe that was just jumping to conclusions.
"Nick, you can't go to work today. Your too sick," she said softer than efore helping him back up.
"You don't say," he replied sarcastically, which received a grim look from Judy. She knew how nasty Nick could get when he was hurt or feeling unwell. It was only to cover up for his pain, and she couldn't let that happen, or else she would never know how he was actually feeling.
"And since you aren't feeling well, I won't go to work either. I am going to stay here to look after you,"
"What?! No, you are going! I can handle myself just fine!" he shot back, in mock horror.
"Oh no, slick Nick, not this time. You need someone to look after you, and I am the only one who you listen to" she said, pulling out her phone.
"That's the problem…" he muttered, eyeing the phone as she dialed the number for the ZPD reception. Then an idea popped, and as she turned her back on him, an evil smirk spread on his face. At least the best smirk you could do when your sick.
As the phone rang quietly, waiting for a pick, Nick stalked over to the unsuspecting bunny, crouching down low so she couldn't see him in the mirror, careful not to look at her directly so as not to give her the feeling she was being watched, therefore making her less cautious. A little trick the fox had learnt over the years.
Then he leapt, pushing her to the ground whilst grabbing the phone, reaching up high with his paw so the surprised bunny couldn't get it back, with Clawhauser's voice starting to sound from the speaker. Judy squeaked, immediatley trying to claw at the phone and get it, jumping up a little, going on to her tip toes as Nick reached higher, laughing a little which turned into a strong cough, making him drop the now-on-speaker phone, to cough into his fist.
Judy looked at him in dismay, picking the phone up after patting her fox friend on the back, and only after he stopped, talked into the phone to comfort the now frantic cheetah on the other end of the line.
"Don't worry, Clawhauser, I'm fine," Judy replied to the crazy cheetah after he had asked if she was in trouble "I am only calling in to say that Nick is sick, so we are taking the day off so we can be at our best on Monday,"
"Hmph, I'm not that sick," Nick mumbled, starting to cough a little more as the vibration of his voice vibrated throat, making it ichtier.
Judy raised an eyebrow, and went back to listening to Clawhauser, who confirmed what she had said, saying he would take care of everything and tell Chief Bogo about Nick, and not to worry. Then, the line went dead as Clawhauser hung up, going off to ring his chief. Judy turned around with a victorious smile, looking over at Nick who was still sitting on the floor, his arms on his knees and his cheeks in his palm, ears back as his tail twitched in annyoance, making Judy laugh.
"Well, Wilde, looks like I've won. You are staying home today in bed whether you like it or not," Judy said, helping her friend up.
"I hate you," he replied jokingly, a slight smile lighting his face. Judy giggled, and pushed him back to bed.
"You better get some rest, while I go get changed again," she said as Nick stifled a yawn, stretching his paws over his head and plopping back down on to his bed.
"You sure, Carrots? I really can look after myself, so you can go to work. I'm not defenceless ya know," he said, after hearing what his friend said.
"Mhmm," was all the fox got in reply, making him sigh. That rabbit was stubborn when she wanted to be, he thought as he watched her exit the room.
As Judy arrived to her bedroom after a few short steps, she started thinking about how Nick could have possibly gotten sick overnight, so quickly.
As she quickly threw on some casual clothes, quickly making her way back to her sick companion, sho seemed to have attained a coughing fit in the short time she was gone. Judy sighed as she arrived at the doorway, watching the lump roll on the bed.
This was going to be a long day. Nick always got really grumpy when it came to being hurt or sick, escpecially when he felt useless and unale to protect himself, even though he would never admit it to anyone, escpecially Judy herself.
Dumb fox.
A groan drew the rabbit out of her thoughts, as a soft sneeze caught her attention. She walked over as Nick peeked out of the blankets again, looking up at her with half closed eyes, sniffing more than ever, which received another giggle from his rabbit companion.
"It's not funny,"
"Yes it is. You said you could look after yourself even if you can't you dumb fox," she said, patting him on the head playfully, making his ears push back in annoyance. Nick snorted at her comment.
"Uh huh?," he sneezed.
"Uh huh," she replied, "now I am going to get the tissue box and some breakfast. Stay here, or else I'll lock you in," Judy continued, walking yet again out of the room.
"You can't lock it from the outside,"
"But you can bar it in with a wardrobe or couch," she replied over her shoulder, making Nick groan in frustration, falling on to his back on the bed in over exerted drama.
Judy – 1, Nick – 0.
Judy grabbed the tissue box off of the coffee table as soon as she entered the room, and suddenly had a thought. Maybe soup would help him. She knew that back at Bunny Burrows it always cured her and her 275 other siblings, so why not a fox?
She would have to make it with other vegetables, not just carrots, or else Nick would…
Well, we all know what Nick would do.
So she quickly grabbed the cereal box, milk a bowl and a spoon so Nick could have breakfast, and then they would have soup for lunch. She quickly slammed the cupboard and fridge doors shut, and with her arms full, walked back to Nick's room. The more she thought about it, the more fun it would be to look after him.
It would be just like when she was little and pretended to be a doctor, looking after her younger siblings, except, well, with a fox. And an angry one at that, she added, as she heard more grumbles coming from his room.
"Alright grumpy fox, here's breakfast. Since you can do everything yourself you can make it. I'm gonna go and get started on lunch and dinner, ok?" she said setting the bowl in front of him on his bedside table, pushing a couple of books out of the way.
When she looked up, she saw Nick give her a questioning look, but soon settling on a shrug, as he reached over to start pouring the cereal.
Judy quickly exited (again) man, she was going to be doing this all day, and sprinted over to the kitchen, pulling out all the utensils she would need to make the soup. Then, she got to work.
Nick wasn't having a fun time being sick. Yet he could bet that Judy was having fun looking after him. Why else would she be so enthuasiastic about him dying? Well, the only reason he could think off in his delerious state was that she wanted him to die, but then why was she staying home to look after him? That was the only thing he could think that proved the theory wrong, and so the red fox just settled on saying that the rabbit just loved to play doctor and loved to look after animals.
All of this was going through his mind as he ate his cereal, and as he finished it, he started wondering how he had gotten so sick, so quickly, overnight.
His mind briefly wandered to Delgato, who had taken leave after getting the flu. However, he did seem to be perfectly fine when her arrived, but still, that cat could have still had germs. Nick decided to drop the subject, as he couldn't think straight with this foggy mind, so he decided to have a nap after he finished breakfast.
So that's what he did, going into a light slumber, lying on his side with his back facing the wall, as the clatters and murmuring of the dishes in the kitchen sang him to sleep.
As he slept, he started to dream. However, they made no sense whatsoever, not to him at least, not in the slightest.
At one point he had dreamt that he was randomly walking a a park, which seemed to be located in the middle of nowhere, and then he ended up being chased by a giant pawpsicle. At another point he seemed to be falling down into a blackhole, and everything went weird, like the world was collapsing around him and being sucked into the black hole until there was… nothing.
There was no black, no white, no colour, and it freaked the fox out so badly, that he woke up with a gasp, his fur slightly sticky with sweat.
As he calmed down a little, Judy came in rushing. At first Nick didn't know why, after all, he gasped, not screamed, but as the fox looked down he realised that the lamp that was on the bedside table was lying on the ground. Broken.
His ears went flat against his head in embarrasment.
"Oops," he murmered as Judy started tapping her foot on the ground in impatience.
"Sorry?" Nick offered, as Judy rolled her eyes, walking over from the doorway to pick the lamp up, although she had started giggling.
"What's so funny?"
"It's just, you look like a kid caught with his paw in the cookie jar," she replied, standing up with arms stuffed with broken lamp.
"I do not. It's just, I'm saying sorry for scaring you, that's all," Nick replied indignantly, sitting up. However, a wave of nauseous took over him, making him clucth his head in pain. The fox hoped his partner hadn't heard, but unfortunatly for him she had, and as the bunny looked up she gasped, throwing the pieces of lamp in the bin and rushing over to her friend.
"Are you alright, Nick?"
"Fine," he replied through gritted teeth, as the word spun around him. He started to loose all focus, and Judy seemed to be a swirling ballof grey fluff. Oh no, that was bad. Really bad. Maybe he should lie down. And as if Judy read his mind she said.
"You should lie down, Nick, or else you might pass out," she said gently, holding his shoulder lightly so he had some balance.
"Yeah, g-good idea," he said, slowly pushing back until he felt his head hit soft pillow, which made him sigh lightly in bliss, making Judy chuckle.
"I'll go finish our lunch, ok? I won't be long" the bunny said, walking out of the room after Nick responded with a short but brisk nod, his eyes closed as if already sleeping.
And so Judy made her way out, making her way to the kicthen, where the soup was almost done boiling. Then, the rabbit started getting ready for their lunch, an idea coming to her mind, and then, she set to work, grinning lightly.
Nick was going to love this.
Everything was blurry when Nick got his bearings, and he quickly panicked that they were late for work, when he realized where he was, and remembered what happened.
Right, being sick, Judy taking day off, staying home, nearly dying.
Well, nearly dying was an exaggeration, but he felt like it.
So he sat up, a slight groan escaping his lips as he rubbed his temples. His headache had decreased, and he didn't feel as nauseous as before, so there was a bonus. Also, he didn't have sniffles anymore, and his eyes didn't sting as much, so at least he was recovering. At least. He still had the sore throat and cough, so the fox didn't get his hopes up.
Just as he swung his legs over the side of the bed, Judy came in, much to his surprise.
"Glad to see your awake sleeping beauty. I have a surprise for you," Judy said, wasting no time to rush over and grab his paw, dragging Nick out of the bedroom before he could ask what did she mean, or what was the surprise.
It better be worth getting out of bed for.
And boy wasn't it.
Judy had brought him to the living room, where the lights were off. Nick's eyes took time to get used to the lighting, but when they did, he gave a little gasp.
"Do you like it?" Judy asked, letting go of his paw and bouncing up and down a little.
"Wow, you did all this for me, Carrots?" Nick asked, his eyes scanning over the decorated living room, all dressed up in a movie/cinematic theme, the couch draped with red cloths, and the television even set up with it's own curtains, which were drawn. Judy had also created little cup holders, where she had some milkshakes set out, and then boxes of popcorn on the coffee table.
She had also placed boxes around the TV and couch, making it seem like a little room, and there, next to the popcorn, was the soup, which smelt delicious to Nick as the scent wafted over to him.
"Mhmm! And I even have your favourite movie set out! Here, sit down. This is going to be so fun!" the rabbit pulled him to the couch so quick Nick didn't even remember the trip over to it, and found himself sitting there with a spoon in his hand and a bowl of soup on his lap.
"Try some soup! It's bound to help you recover, and don't worry, I didn't put any carrots in yours," Judy said, adding the last bit as she caught sight of Nick poking the soup, inspecting for any orange foreign pieces.
But with that being said, he dug in, making Judy smile, as she turned the television on, and selected the DVD player, starting their movie.
The following day, Nick woke up better, in tip top notch for another day of solving crime, which made Judy so happy. The soup had worked! Well, to be truthful he wasn't completely cured, he still had a light cough, but that was all.
So the duo made their way to work, enjoying the sunshine.
Everyone they met was great, all enthusiastic for another day on the job.
Well, all except one doughnut loving cheetah who had reported in sick with the flu, which made Nick and Judy look at each other and smile.
Not everyone was spick and spam like them after all.
Hello I updated! *CHEERING IN THE BACKGROUND!* WOO LETS PARTY!
Ok, sorry, lets not. I took WAY to long to update, I am sorry, but school just knocked me out as soon as I got to it, but I had been updating on this one-shot every night to keep it going, which, by the way, was requested by Bgnsteal. Thanks for the support, and sorry for not getting to it that quick!
Alright, so let me just say that I AM CONSIDERING you requests, and I will try to do as many as I can as quick as I can as fast as I can. Oh, same thing... anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this, because I enjoyed writing it, but until next time, Carrots!
