Author's Note: Sorry to leave you all on a cliffhanger with that last chapter but it was way too tempting a chance to pass up on. Also I felt like I would just keep writing and writing and never end the chapter so I had to control myself. Please follow, favorite, and review! As always, enjoy!

***DISCLAIMER: I own no part of Zootopia***

Chapter 11: An Agonizing Wait

Judy and Nick sat in the living room staring at the TV as they changed the channel to ZNN. After a long day, the two of them loved to spend some time together unwinding with the news. It allowed them to catch up on the day's events after being preoccupied with their police work. As Nick put his arm around Judy and pulled her in close, Judy let out a long yawn as she glanced at the clock.

"Nick, it's 11:30. Didn't Luke say he would be back half an hour ago? I wonder what's holding him up." Judy said to her husband.

"Carrots, Luke seemed awfully smitten for Sarah. He's probably having a very good time right now." Nick winked at Judy who responded by hitting him square in the arm, which caused the smirk to grow even wider on his face.

"Seriously Nick? Don't be ridiculous. He certainly doesn't seem like the kind of person to do that on a first date with someone. Shouldn't he have left us a text saying he would be late?"

"Come on Carrots, you know how easy it is to get caught up in the moment. Remember our first date when you said you needed to be back home by midnight and when we looked the clock it was 2:00 AM?" Nick replied as he switched off the television.

"I guess that's fair" Judy replied. "But he always texts us to let us know where he's heading off to."

"Like I said Carrots, I bet he's having a good time and will show up later. He has a key to the apartment so he can always let himself in… unless he comes back really drunk and passes out on our doorstep" Nick chuckled.

"If he does, can we both agree that he's going to be in serious trouble?" Judy smiled.

"You know it Carrots" Nick replied as the two got up from the couch and got ready for bed. The two of them changed into their nightclothes and brushed their teeth before lying back down in bed. They shut off their lamps on their respective nightstands as they both closed their eyes. Just as the calming silence of room began to lull them to sleep, Judy's phone on the nightstand lit up and began to blare her ringtone.

"That must be Luke!" she said as she switched on the lamp and picked up her phone. She noticed that the number was one she didn't recognize.

"Hm. Maybe Luke's phone died and he had to borrow Sarah's." Judy thought as she answered her phone.

"Hello, this is Judy Hopps. Who is this?" She asked.

"Judy? It's me, James. James Wolford? Luke and my daughter Sarah went on a date tonight." He sounded very uneasy and worried over the phone.

"Oh, hi James! What can I do for you? Is everything alright?" Judy asked after hearing Wolford's tone. Something was definitely off.

"I'm fine Judy but I need you to get to the Zootopia Central Hospital right away. It's Luke. He- he's been in an accident. He was hit by a car. Judy, please hurry. Bring Nick too."

Judy felt as if the world stopped right there. She sat in her bed with her paw over in her mouth in shock. She felt as if she had been whacked with sledgehammer, all the liveliness in her was completely knocked out of her. She remained silent on her end of the line, unable to accept the horrific reality that had descended upon her.

"Judy?! Are you there! Hurry please!" Wolford was shouting through his phone as Judy snapped back to the conversation.

"Yes. I'll- I'm on my way" Judy choked out as she hung up the phone and bolted up from her bed. Tears were already welling in her amethyst eyes as she threw on a coat.

"Carrots-" Nick saw Judy's glassy eyes and he knew this was no time for nicknames. "Judy? What happened? Who was that on the phone?"

"Nick, get up and throw on some clothes. That was James Wolford, Sarah's dad. Luke is at Zootopia Central Hospital. He was hit by a car on the way back from the concert. We need to leave right now!" Judy stammered. Nick didn't waste any time as he leapt up and changed into some clothes while Judy grabbed the car keys. They raced out to the car where Nick floored the gas pedal as the two sped off towards the hospital. Neither of them had the strength to say a word as Judy broke down crying in the passenger seat. Nick had to fight off tears in his own eyes as they raced into the night.

Nick and Judy rushed through the hospital doors where they were hurriedly directed by a nurse to Luke's room in the Intensive Care Unit. As they turned the corner, no amount of preparation could brace them for what they saw next. Luke's broken figure was lying on the bed amidst a crowd of machines. Judy buried her face into Nick's chest while all he could do is stand there. It was like a nightmare that he couldn't wake up from.

"Are you Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps?" They turned to see an elephant in scrubs and holding a clipboard standing in the doorway of Luke's room. The two of them nodded silently in response.

"I'm Doctor Trunkson. I was informed by Mr. Wolford that you two are Luke's guardians."

The two nodded silently again. Neither of them wanted to speak. They were stunned into silence from what they had just seen.

"He's lucky to be alive you know. We took him out of surgery just before you came so he's going to be unconscious for a while. He suffered a ruptured spleen, which we removed, in addition to several broken ribs and a pneumothorax; a collapsed lung." The doctor informed them. "The surgery went very well. He's quite the fighter. He managed to hold through the entire thing despite being in such a condition. We'll assess the situation when he wakes up but it looks as though he'll make it through."

"Thank you doctor." Nick finally spoke up as the elephant turned and left the room. As Nick and Judy simply stared at Luke, they heard a sniff from the corner of the room, which caused them to both sharply, turn their heads. Sarah was sitting hunched over in a chair, her eyes not leaving the sight of Luke's broken figure. Judy cautiously approached Sarah.

"Are you Sarah?" Judy asked weakly. She received a light nod as a response but nothing more as Sarah remained focused on Luke. "How did this happen Sarah?"

Judy was met with silence.

Judy turned back to the door to see Wolford standing at the threshold, walked up to Nick and gave him a hug, which he then did the same to Judy before he began to speak. His voice sounded weak.

"May I speak with you two out in the hall?"

Nick and Judy nodded as they walked out into the hallway and began to talk to Wolford in the dreary light of the hospital.

"I'm very sorry about Luke. I'm very thankful that he's alright." Wolford said as he followed up with a deep breath. "Sarah's been through a traumatic experience so I'm sorry if she doesn't talk. The best we can do is to give her time. However, I saw the situation unfold from my apartment. If you would like me to, I can tell you what happened but go with whatever you feel comfortable with."

Nick and Judy looked at each other before nodding. With that, Wolford took a deep breath and he began to speak.

"I was up in my apartment as I watched the end of their date. Both of them arrived at the corner of the opposite street where they said their goodbyes. The two exchanged a few words and hugged as Sarah began to cross the street. I heard a car's roar from up the street as I saw Luke jump forward and shove Sarah out of the way while taking the full force of the car himself. I immediately called 911 and rushed down to him. Nick, Judy, Luke's a hero. He saved Sarah's life despite the likelihood of him losing his own. I honestly can't imagine the kind of pain you two are going through right now. If it had been Sarah..." Wolford trailed off as his eyes welled up with tears. "...I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Luke. His blood runs with courage. You two have a great son in him." Wolford finally broke down into tears while Judy and Nick gave each other a tight hug while they processed what Wolford had just told them.

Judy and Nick were stunned. They had no idea Luke would do something like this. Luke was willing to put it all on the line for someone he had just met a couple days ago. They thanked Wolford for helping out Luke and they walked back into the room. Nick and Judy sat on the couch together at the side of Luke's bed while Sarah's dad pulled a chair next to his daughter, whose gaze still hadn't left Luke. The four sat in silence as the hours ticked by.

Judy jolted awake. Luke was still unconscious in his bed while Nick was asleep with his head slumped against the armrest of the couch. Judy checked the time on the clock above the doorframe. It read 5:30 AM.

"Guess I don't need an alarm to wake up for work" Judy thought as she went to the bathroom to wash her face off. James Wolford had already left to go to work but said he would tell Chief Bogo that Nick, Judy, and Sarah would need the next couple days off until Luke gets out of the hospital. She was thankful that James was there for them. Through her time as an officer she hadn't known much outside of who he was beyond his persona at work but Judy was glad she could count on him as he proved himself here.

As Judy returned to her chair, she looked over at Sarah who was still slumped over in her chair. Her gaze was unchanged from before; still focused on Luke.

"Sarah? You're still here?" Judy asked concerned. Sarah looked like she had not slept a wink all night. She had bags under her bloodshot eyes.

"Yeah" Sarah responded, speaking her first word since the accident.

"You should go home Sarah. Go home and get some sleep and we'll call you if anything happens."

"No." Sarah replied, her eyes still not moving off of Luke.

"Then at least sleep here in the hospital." Judy persisted.

"No." Sarah was unmoved by Judy's persuasion.

"Why not Sarah?"

"I was the last thing he saw when he was almost killed so I need to be here for him when he wakes up." Sarah said flatly. Judy knew there was no way she was going to win this argument.

"Sarah, your house is not that far from here. You can go sleep for a couple hours and then come right back here." Judy begged.

"I can't leave"

"Why not Sarah?" Judy asked but she already knew the answer.

"I- I love him. I know it's soon but I can't stand to see him gone. I feel whole when he's around me. Everything just lights up. I can't just let him be alone after what happened, after something that was my fault. When our date ended everything felt fantastic. I thought about kissing him right then and there but I was just scared so all I did was hug him and say 'goodnight'. Next thing I know, I see Luke lying on the side of the road. I thought he was dead Mrs. Hopps! This is all my fault and I don't even know how I could look at myself in the mirror if he did really die" Sarah's eyes began to well with tears but her gaze upon Luke remained unchanged.

"I know he loves you to Sarah. He talked about you to us just. I remember overhearing Nick talking to his mom on the phone about me and he talked exactly the same way. You two are clearly in love and that's not a bad thing. And what happened last night is in no way your fault. Luke would never forgive himself if you were the one hit by that car so he did exactly what he knew he had to do to stop it, no matter the cost. If you were the one hit and he continuously blamed himself about it, how would you feel?"

Sarah shook her head, "I would feel awful."

"Exactly, I know he would feel the exact same way if he saw you treating yourself like this. This is no one's fault but the driver's." Judy assured Sarah.

Sarah's eyes perked up as she heard Luke stir in his bed. Judy and Sarah ran over to Luke's side while all the commotion caused Nick to wake up. Quickly realizing what was going on, Nick leapt up from the couch and joined them. Luke's eyes began flutter open while Nick, Judy, and Sarah waited nervously. As Luke opened his eyes the first thing he saw were three faces staring down at him.

"Wow, you guys just love to drive right through my personal-space bubble" Luke said weakly as he displayed that classic toothy grin.

"For Pete's sake Luke! Don't make freaking puns about your tragic accidents!" Nick said but he let out a slight chuckle. If Luke was joking around, he must be feeling alright given the extent of his injuries.

"Luke! You had us worried sick!" Judy said as she reached down to hug Luke.

"Ow! Ow Mom! Ribs!" Luke cried out as Judy immediately let go when she remembered Luke had broken ribs.

"Wait did you just call me 'Mom'?" Judy asked surprised.

"Yeah, I kind of consider us family. I hope that's okay." Luke responded.

"Of course it is Luke!" Judy responded. She had to resist to not hug Luke but after all they had been through it was not very easy. Judy turned and noticed Sarah was completely silent this whole time. Nick noticed Luke and Sarah staring at each other and quickly spoke up.

"Hey Carrots, maybe we should give these two a little privacy to talk". Judy nodded in agreement as the two walked out of the room. The two stood in silence for a while until Sarah sat down on Luke's bed and began to speak.

"I'm really glad you're okay Luke."

"Yeah, it's nice to not be… you know, dead." Luke gave a little grin but the room quickly returned to silence.

"Can I ask you something Luke? Why did you do that for me? Why did you chose me over you?"

Luke paused before speaking. "I don't know Sarah." But the truth was that he did know. He loved Sarah but he just wasn't sure that he could say it.

"Luke, I think you do know. Please don't be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you Luke." Sarah placed her paw on top of Luke's. Luke took a deep breath spoke.

"I love you Sarah" He finally let out. It felt good to say it out loud.

Sarah smiled back at him as her blue eyes lit up for the first time since Luke's accident. "I love you too Luke."

"Luke, you saved my life. Is there anything I can do to make you feel better? It's the least I can do." Sarah asked.

"I think I'm as good as I can be Sarah. I'm glad that you came to visit. I just have to wait for my injuries to heal." Luke replied.

"Well I think I know something that would help." Sarah answered.

"What's that?" Luke asked curiously. Sarah scooted closer as she leaned in and kissed Luke full on the lips. Luke was at first startled, it was his first kiss after all but he closed his eyes and enjoyed every bit of it until Sarah pulled away.

"You feeling better yet?" Sarah asked with a slight smile.

"I don't know…" Luke said with a hint of content. "I might need to double-check to see if that worked."

The two locked lips again as Sarah ran her paw through the fur on Luke's head. She enjoyed every bit of its softness as they concluded their kiss.

"Yeah, I am feeling better" Luke said as Sarah continued to run her paw through Luke's fur.

Luke and Sarah had gotten the kiss they never got a chance to get the night before.