Nick's bed was in a seated position and he was staring out the window when Judy came in. "You're looking better."
"I don't feel better," he whined. "I'm starving."
She went over to him. In the week since he had woken up, he had regained enough strength to get off IVs and onto solid food, but the object on the plate in front of him baffled her. "Is that what they gave you for lunch today?"
"No." Nick regarded it mournfully. "Clawhauser was here with his girlfriend Jenny. You remember she's a vegan, right? She took my lunch away and gave me that."
The bunny's nose twitched. "What is it?"
"It's a fat-free salt-free sugar-free gluten-free vegan protein cake."
"Did you try unwrapping it?"
"It's not wrapped." The fox shook a carton of juice next to the plate. "And this is pure brussel sprout juice."
Judy bit back a smile. "I'll get rid of it but you have to promise not to tell Jenny."
"You take it away and I'll promise whatever you want," said Nick fervently.
She carried the plate and juice over to the door and handed it to Danny Fleck, the leopard cop on duty, then came back and gave Nick a gentle nudge. "Scoot over."
He moved and she climbed up on the bed and settled herself next to him. "I thought you might be ready for something other than hospital food, so…" She had a small backpack and he watched eagerly as she opened it. "Blueberry pie from Angie, blueberry pudding from the juice bar, grilled veggies and tortillas, and iced chai tea."
Nick regarded the spread on his tray table with a beatific smile. "You know I love you, right?"
"Do I know that?" Judy smiled back. "Yes. Yes, I do." She handed him a fork and he started on the pie.
"Danny told me when his shift is up there won't be a guard on my door any more."
Judy wrapped a tortilla around grilled vegetables and took a bite. "You don't need a guard now. Jerry Jumbeaux III is on his way to the maximum security wing at Stormford for twenty-five years to life."
"No trial?" Nick washed the pie down with a gulp of tea and picked up a tortilla.
"Oh, his father wanted to get the best lawyers in Zootopia," said Judy disgustedly. "He taught his son to hate foxes his whole life, then when he goes out trying to kill foxes, Jerry Junior acted like he had no idea why his kid would be like that. You should have seen him, one minute saying foxes are nothing but trouble and the next that he had always taught his son to respect everyone and if Jerry III had done anything, it must be because he had some kind of mental problem so he shouldn't go to prison."
"So what happened?" Nick finished his tortilla and started on the vegetables.
"What happened was the district attorney showed Jerry all the evidence against his son." Judy took a sip of the tea. "You know you're not the only victim, right?" Nick nodded and dipped a spoon in the blueberry pudding. "Jerry III shot you, he ran over another fox, and he was going around beating up foxes in Fox Alley. There were over a dozen victims, plenty of witnesses, and he used his father's gun on you so Jerry Junior could have been charged as an accessory. I doubt that would have held up, Junior never went beyond spewing hate at foxes, he never actually did anything to a fox, but the district attorney threatened to charge him too, so Jerry III asked for a deal to keep his father out of trouble."
"Gotta give him props for that." Nick finished the blueberry pudding and drank some more tea.
Judy's eyes turned dark. "I don't have to give him anything but a promise he's going to live a very long time in prison."
Nick changed the subject. "How do you like the flowers?"
His room was filled with bouquets and baskets of flowers and Judy smiled. "Who are they from?
"Seems like everybody. ZPD, the Ottertons, Mayor Burney, Flash and Priscilla, even Yax sent a plant." Nick's eyes twinkled. "It's not exactly legal but so far nobody's thrown it out."
"I see Eddie's bear has company." There was a pile of stuffed animals on the table next to the bed.
"Yeah, every time Sister Margaret comes, she brings another toy from the kids. I guess they think I'm bored and I should have something to play with."
"Has Finnick been to see you?"
Nick shook his head. "Finn's not the visiting type." He went on hastily, "It's not that he doesn't care..."
Judy cut him off. "You don't have to explain Finnick to me. He had me stay at his place when you…" Her voice shook. "You know it was really bad, right? You almost didn't make it."
The fox put his arm around the bunny. "I'm a survivor. Always have been, Carrots."
"Just don't ever scare me like this again." Judy snuggled against Nick, then sat up and said briskly, "Finnick took me around Fox Alley until we found someone who could identify Jerry III." She paused, the little fox's voice in her head. "...you do this, you'll break Nick's heart...it'll change you...You'll be someone he wouldn't even recognize. You want that?" She smiled a little. "Finnick really cares about you, you know."
"I know you would have to torture him horribly to get him to admit it," chuckled Nick.
"I'm just glad he was with me," said Judy soberly. "Things wouldn't have turned out right if he hadn't been there." Nick looked at her curiously and she shook her head. "Did you have enough to eat?"
"Yes, but…" Nick looked sheepish. "Do you think you could bring something for supper? It's kind of hard to get better on hospital food."
Judy packed the remains of their lunch away and got down from the bed. "As long as you get better, I'll bring you whatever you want."
