Judy's eyes shot open. She was breathing hard and her fur was damp with a cold sweat. She seemed to be trying to get out of the bed. Nick stood from the chair he was sitting in and rushed over to Judy's bed as fast as his limp could carry him. He placed a paw on Judy's shoulder, trying to calm her down.

"Whoa, Carrots, calm down. Calm down. You're OK, you're in a hospital," Nick pleaded. Judy struggled for several more seconds before she seemed to slowly come to her senses.

"Nick?" Judy asked as her eyes seemed to focus on Nick's face.

"Yeah, I'm right here, Carrots. You just need to rest now," Nick answered while he slowly pushed Judy back onto the bed. "Do you remember what happened?"

"Yeah, but, how long have I been out?" Judy asked while rubbing her eyes. Nick also noted a look of sheer terror drain from her face as well.

"A few hours," Nick replied as he pulled a chair close to the bedside. He dropped his eyes. "Hey, Carrots, I'm sorry." Judy looked at him with a confused expression on her face.

"Sorry for what?" she asked. Nick let out a long sigh.

"You're my partner, Judy. I was told never to leave you, but I did. I'm sorry." Nick said quietly. Judy reached out her paw and took Nick's hand.

"Nick, you didn't leave me. There was nothing either of us could have done," Judy said. Nick lifted his eyes. "Also, you don't look so good."

"What do you expect, Carrots? We were just in a war zone." Nick smiled and let out a small laugh as he brushed bits of glass out of his fur. "The Chief's gonna be a little peeved about the car, though. You should've seen it. Looked more like Swiss Cheese than a car."

"Nick, I was there too. I saw it." Judy responded flatly.

"I know, just..." Nick's voice trailed off. He was about to speak again. A knock suddenly came from the door. Both Nick and Judy flinched and looked up at the door.

"Come in," Judy said. The door slowly opened and Chief Bogo stepped into the room.

"Ah, Chief, we were just talking about you!" Nick said with his usual bravado.

"I'm sure you were, Wilde," Bogo said. He turned his attention to Judy. "Well, Hopps, I just came to check in on you. Are you feeling OK?"

"Just fine," Judy said as she straightened the sheets with her paws. "Given the circumstances." Nick could hear a strange hollowness to her voice. Bogo stepped closer.

"It's actually good that you're here too, Wilde," he began. "After this morning's incident..."

"Well, that's the understatement of the decade," Nick whispered to Judy, who couldn't help but crack a smile. Bogo shot Nick a stern look but continued talking.

"...the ZBI are beginning an investigation to figure out what happened and how to avoid it in the future. All officers involved will be interviewed by detectives in the next few days. Just wanted to give you a heads up. For now, rest. You two earned it." With that Bogo turned and walked out of the room. Nick and Judy sat in silence. He leaned back in his chair.

"Argh, now the fun part begins. A bunch of uppity-ups in nice suits will spend hours scrutinizing decisions we had seconds to make." He leaned forward. "Yep, we're in for a good ol' time." Judy looked Nick in the eye.

"We didn't do anything wrong, Nick," Judy said. "We did everything we were supposed to."

"It only takes one guy to say we didn't do something right and everything falls apart, Carrots," Nick warned. "These guys will look for something wrong. It's like it validates their job or something."

"Well, we're going to tell them what happened," Judy said, "What else can we do?"

"You're right about that, Carrots," Nick said as he stood, wincing slightly at the pain in his leg. "I'm gonna head home and get cleaned up. Get some rest, OK?"

"I will," Judy said.

"I'm sure some nurses will be by soon, also you're parents are on their way. They'll be here in a few hours," Nick said as he left the room. He couldn't help but notice a subtle change in Judy's expression when he mentioned her parents. Nick strolled into the hallway and started making his way toward the exit. He saw Chief Bogo in the hall ahead of him.

"Hey, Chief, do we have any update on the condition of the suspect?" Bogo looked up from a file he was reading.

"Not the time, Wilde," Bogo answered, looking back at the file. "We have multiple officers in the hospital and I'm getting swarmed with calls from the mayor's office just wanting to know what in the world happened this morning." Bogo pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Just go home, Nick. Rest."

Nick nodded and walked down the hall and out the door to the parking lot. It wasn't until he was standing in the parking lot he realized a major problem: he didn't have a car. He reached for the phone in his pocket to call someone who could give him a ride when he felt the shattered screen.

Oh, great.

Nick pulled the phone from his pocket. It was so cracked and bent that Nick was shocked he hadn't felt it earlier. As he inspected his destroyed phone, Nick noticed a dark stain on the metal.

Lead.

Lead from a bullet that nearly struck him square in the hip, only to be seemingly deflected at the last second by his phone. Nick looked down and noticed the small entry and exits holes torn through his pocket by the bullet.

"Well, we're a luck one today, aren't we?"

Author's Note: Thank you so much for one hundred followers. Knowing people like the story make it worth writing!