Chapter 11. One of these days
Do you ever have one of these days? Days when you should have just cuddled up in the bed, switched your phone off and not stuck your nose outside the door? When you feel the axe of impending doom hanging right above your neck? It always starts with a gentle nudge. Like, when waking up, you realize it's Friday 13th. You also realize you weren't woken up by alarm, because you forgot to set it up last evening, so it's already 10 a.m. And at 10 a.m. you're already so late chief Bogo's going to make a neat rabbit fur scarf out of you when you finally come to Precinct 1 police station. So, you shoot out of bed cursing your sleepy head, rush to bathroom and slip on the tiles breaking a mirror with your face. You fall on the floor and sit, looking around, quite disoriented. When you realize there's bloody glass debris around you, comes a moment of reflection. You take a deep breath and stand up carefully, making sure not to stand on anything sharp. In what remained of mirror (you'll have to pay for it sooner or later and this money hurts more than your face at the moment) you check seriousness of wounds; enough to burn mercilessly, not enough to go to hospital and take a day off. You wash blood off your face, head to your first-aid kit only to realize you lost your last one when moving in here two weeks earlier and haven't bought a new one since. So, you pay a visit to your neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Davison, a pair of weasels who luckily happen to be having a day off. They carefully remove pieces of glass that went stuck and bandage your face making you look like a mummy from a cheap adventure movie. It's a good bandage though, as Mrs. Davison is a nurse, so you thank them as heartedly as you only can. But, it's time to come back to the flat and sweep the glass. That's when the phone calls for the first time. Well, the first you didn't sleep through. It's Clawhauser, asking if everything's fine and when you will come. You assure everything's just fine, you just have small technical problems and you should come before the noon. You quickly end the call and go to clean up the bathroom. Before you even start, you step on particularly big and sharp debris you've failed to notice, cutting your foot. Bravo for you, here's your dumb bunny medal. Cursing yourself, you limp back to weasel neighbors. They patiently take care of you, also offering you a coffee and some biscuits. Hearts of gold, both of them. That's the moment you recall yesterday you also forgot to do shopping, so you have nothing in the refrigerator for breakfast, so you eat eagerly. With dignity though, you can't let them see that you're starving. But of course they know. They know since the start. They see you carrying miserably empty shopping nets once a week. They heard gossips that your heat and warm water have been cut off on behalf of managing to pay only three quarters of the rent and it was your first month. The landlord, grumpy old horse, was merciful enough to not you her out; Kaylee would have to actually move in to the police station then or find herself some nice bridge in Savanna Central to sleep under.
After one of better breakfasts of last several months, actual hot coffee and not only edible, but delightful biscuits, you leave your neighbors thanking them from the bottom of this heart. In a moment of melancholic reflection you realize these two have done for you in last two months more than your parents probably did throughout your entire life. But no time for melancholy, time to sweep debris and wash blood off. Red is all over flat now. When you're done, that's when phone rings again. The second one to call is Judy Hopps. Actually, she was the first one, calling three times between 8.30 and 9.00 before Nick probably told her to stop freaking out. She's another angel you found in last few months; always there to help. You assure her you're fine, it's just one of these days and you'll be there before noon. When she says 'see you in half an hour', you realize you'll never make it and ask her to inform Clawhauser that you'll be there at 1 p.m. After the call, you wash the floor, make your bed, take a refreshing cold shower carefully not to wet the bandages, dress up and finally leave the flat. And then phone rings for the third time. Max Reynolds, wolf so rich that saving your financial situation would be like buying a can of soda to him, but you will never ask him for it. You still have some dignity left. The conversation is short, mostly because you're already tired of this day, even before leaving the flat. He's worried, you assure you're fine and you'll be at the place within half an hour. Since the opera night he was super aware of you and always worried about you. Maybe because you started crying like a kit in his car out of the blue just two days earlier? Yes, this could be it.
The bus ride is nothing worth mentioning, just half an hour standing still. You reach station right before 1 p.m. Sweet, only four and half hours late.
And that's how started probably the worst day of Kaylee Crane's life. And she was barely half-way through.
"O. M. Goodness. Kaylee, are you alright?" Clawhauser asked, terrified at sight of Crane. With forehead and left foot bandaged she probably looked like death. She did feel like death too, what a coincidence.
"Yeah, just a small accident," she muttered. "What missed me?"
"Officers Reynolds and Barnes wanted to take you for a small case they've been assigned, but you were out so they grabbed Cedric Tearson. Wilde asked you to come too, he has some technical issues and other technicians claimed they couldn't help him. Except for Cedric none of them like him, so… Oh, and chief said you stay late so often, he can shut an eye on you being late once. But he emphasized once," Clawhauser added.
"Thanks, Ben. See you around!" She ran, or rather limped, to Nick and Judy's box. Both of them were sitting there. She knocked at the wall, bringing their attention.
"Hi, Kay… Oh dear, are you alright?" Judy watched her with concern.
"I had a small accident in my flat. Crushed against mirror with head," Kaylee explained and she realized she didn't sound too convincing. Those bandages did not look like a small accident, but a bar brawl that went bad. "Anyway, how can I help you, guys? I heard you have some technical problems, Nick."
"Here it is," the fox grabbed his phone from desk and handed it to Kaylee. It was buzzing furiously. "It keeps ringing with notifications about the case updates all the time. And I'm probably the only one to get them, so if you could fix this, it would be nice."
"Alright, I'm on it. I'll take it down to my box and try to fix it, OK?"
"Sure, I don't need it now anyway," Nick just shrugged.
"Alright then, see you around!" The brown bunny took his phone and disappeared at the corridor. Judy watched Nick uncertainly.
"Do you think she really had an accident?" Judy asked suspiciously.
"What do you mean?" The fox watched her carefully.
"She looks like someone hit her in the head. How do you even crush mirror with your own forehead accidentally? And you know her, she probably wouldn't tell us, if she had this kind of troubles," the bunny suggested with concern.
"Go ask her, then," Nick suggested. As far as he knew Kaylee, he could hardly believe it was anything more than an accident, but he did know her for less than two weeks and he noticed she spent a lot more time in the station than required, as if not wanting to return home. It would be better to be safe than sorry.
"Yes. Yes, I will." Judy agreed and left the box, heading for Kaylee and other Technical Officers' bureau. Nick smiled slightly. You could say a lot of things about Judy Hopps, but you could not deny her protectiveness over everyone around her. Nick meant to get back to work on last report they had thus far about Donovan's case, when he heard knocking. It was Max this time.
"You're already back," the fox greeted him.
"Yeah, it was a piece of cake. We've got our culprit, he confessed and everything and I'll be sitting down to write the report in the moment. Barnes says it's good to learn doing those early."
"It is," Nick agreed. It was the very first thing Judy taught him and he really appreciated having the skill from the very start. Police paperwork was hell, especially if you didn't know how to do it.
"Have you seen Kaylee anywhere? I've been to Technical Officers' bureau, but she wasn't there and Clawhauser mentioned she looked like death, so I figured I'd see her and see what's going on," the wolf explained.
"She's on her way there," the fox told him. "That bunny did grow on you, didn't she, Max? How you treat her now, compared to your first meeting…"
"Ha, ha… Well, yes," wolf agreed shyly. "I mean… since I learnt about Autumn I… I thought that the littlest thing I could do to make up for it is looking after Kaylee. She's like a crystal cup, isn't she? Something small goes wrong and she's… gone," he explained. Something was troubling him.
"In grand scheme of things, aren't we all?" The fox noticed philosophically. He'd sound wise, were it not for that stupid grin of his.
"Yeah, right," Max sighed deeply, not amused at all. Nick had certainty now; something was wrong and he didn't even have to ask to learn what it was.
"I'll level with you, Nicky. I am starting to hate Zootopia," the wolf confessed.
"Why?" Nick asked with understanding. He could imagine a couple of reasons.
"I think… I was disillusioned. Even with all the money father has… Everything's so fragile, everyone corruptible. It's terrifying. I've never thought of it this way and now that I joined ZPD…"
"No one ever said Zootopia is a perfect place," Nick reminded him.
"Maybe to you. I am slowly realizing it, even if I should have long time ago," Max forced a smile and for a few seconds, they stared at each other in silence. "I'd better go. I don't have much time and I still want to see Kaylee. So, see you around!"
"Bye, Max. Do we go out to Tom's at the evening?" The fox offered.
"Sure! See ya! " Reynolds accepted the offer gladly and headed to the TOs' bureau.
Kaylee sat down by her desk in the TOs' bureau and grabbed Nick's phone. She unlocked it and started checking the application she had installed on his phone to find out what was wrong with it. She decided it would be easiest to simply reinstall it and see if the app would work properly then. If not, she'd start searching for the trouble. She entered the ZPD webpage and logged in Wilde's account; as a Technical Officer, she had been given access to almost everyone's accounts without much of a problem. And then, she heard someone sneaking up on her.
"Hi." Said the voice right behind her back. It took Kaylee less than two seconds to lock Nick's phone, switch off the monitor and turn around on her rotary chair only to see Judy Hopps. She sighed with relief.
"Don't sneak up on me like that! You almost gave me a heart attack!" The brown bunny scolded her.
"The door was open so I didn't knock. You're fixing Nick's phone?" Judy asked curiously.
"Yes and I can't work with someone staring." Wow, that sounded bad. "Sorry, I just… It's one of those days when I shouldn't have even left my bed," she apologized.
"It's OK. So, what happened to you?" Judy asked with concern.
"I slipped on bathroom floor and hit the mirror with my head. When I was cleaning the pieces, I stepped at one, hence the foot," she explained.
"You know how it looks like, right?"
"No?" Kaylee watched her suspiciously. Judy sighed deeply. It would be best to just level with her, right?
"As if your boyfriend hit you a bit too hard and you were trying to hide it. I've been through several cases like that, Kaylee, and know that there's no shame in…" And then, she was interrupted by Kaylee's laughter.
"Judy, I…" She burst out with yet another laugh. "Oh, dear. I have never been in an actual, serious relationship. Especially not abusive, but thanks for care. Really, it was just a mirror," she added, because Judy still seemed concerned.
"Good to… hear it? Just know that if you need help with anything… we're here to help," she assured.
"I know, Judy. You won't mind if I get to fix Nick's phone now, will you? It might take a while," Kaylee suggested.
"Ah, of course. Bye!" Judy apologized a bit awkwardly, realizing that she made a fool out of herself.
"Bye, Judy." The brown bunny turned around on her chair, still chuckling. An abusive boyfriend, hah, good one! Kaylee unlocked Nick's phone. Where was she? Ah, right.
There appeared several issues like Nick's more, all at the same model of phone, and it took Kaylee whole afternoon to take care of them. It was around 5 pm when she had them all fixed and she returned them to their owners or, if they weren't at the station anymore, left them at the dispatch. She wanted to go back to her office when she fell at Max. As it appeared, he had declared to help Officer Audrey Thane with some job in the underground archives, called quite adequately 'The Dungeon'. She gladly accepted his offer to join him there. She hadn't much work at her place, neither did she hurry home and she really enjoyed time spent with the wolf. It would be a nice end to an awful day, she figured.
"It's about the aftermath of Hopps and Wilde's Nighthowler case. The one with Douglas Ramson, Bellweather's partner in crime and technician," Audrey, a young timber wolf, explained to them as she opened the door to Dungeon with magnetic card and they walked inside. "I was supposed to file it by tomorrow, but I have some places I need to be tonight and I desperately need someone's help. So, here are the already filled files, there are the proofs. I had all his devices already secured and disarmed, so nothing should fire back at you. Just catalogue it all and put it… right here, with the remaining ones." She handed Max a case file and paused for a moment. Both she and Reynolds were staring deeply into each other's eyes. For a few seconds two wolves remained silent, enjoying their little moment. Then Kaylee coughed meaningfully, interrupting them.
"OK, I've got it. I'll put it all here," Max assured awkwardly, forcing himself not to growl at the rabbit angrily for killing the magic.
"Thanks, Max. Bye," Audrey bided him farewell and, ignoring Crane, left the archives. When the door closed behind her, Max growled at the bunny.
"What was that?!"
"And what do you think? She wrapped you around your finger and now you're doing her job while she has some quality time with some other wolf. You deserve better than that," Crane explained, angry at her friend's blindness. Still, she immediately regretted her words.
"Are you jealous?" Max narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her.
"No!" She refused instinctively and then hesitated seeing the sight he was giving her. "I'm just worried about you, OK?! You deserve better than her!" The bunny explained awkwardly.
"And who do you mean, yourself?" Max asked mockingly. Although he meant no harm, she could feel the sneer in his tone, as if finding that thought so impossible it was almost amusing. Kaylee stared at him for a few seconds in silence. How could he have said it like that? No, it was only natural. Leave alone the fact that she was a bunny and he a wolf; he was Max Reynolds, the millionaire, a cool guy everyone was in awe of, the one who had world at his feet. Fast cars, luxurious mansions, pompous banquets with fancy food and drinks; that was his world. Part-time cop, part-time millionaire. She, on the other hand, was just a full-time reject, a trash not worth picking up, especially by a mammal like him. Max was way out of her league. Of course she realized that since the moment they met and she never really hoped to have a chance. Until a few days before she didn't even consider trying to fight for it. But the fact he mocked her about it instinctively was more than she could take.
"No, of course I don't mean myself. You deserve better than me," the bunny refused, trying to keep her voice from shaking. She didn't quite succeed, as she realized bitterly. Max wanted to protest, but she didn't allow him. "I'm going home. Have a nice evening." She turned around and saw the magnetic lock. "Care to give me the card, Max?"
"You have awfully low self-esteem, don't you?" Wolf asked her. It did annoy Kaylee; she considered the conversation over.
"Took you a while to realize," she muttered.
"You really shouldn't. I know you for less than two weeks and I can see why you have such issues, but you really shouldn't," he advised her.
"Flattery will get you nowhere," she huffed.
"It's no flattery, I mean it. I barely know your story and I already know you've been through more than would be enough to break me and yet, here you are. Technical Officer of Zootopia Police Department, Precinct 1. Not everyone can reach that high. And trust me, one day some rabbit you find way out of your league will approach you and when you tell him he deserves better than that, he'll laugh. Why? Because you're far more than you think you are. So don't you dare saying it ever again," he told her. Kaylee stared at him for ten seconds in absolute silence. That confused her. If he respected her, why would he mock her? Did he even intend to, or did she simply get it wrong? Maybe he just laughed at an idea of a bunny and wolf together in general? The thought that it could be not just her fault, brought a smile to Kaylee's face.
"God, you suck at apologizing," she stated.
"I know, right? I'm a son of millionaire! I didn't have to apologize to anyone until I went to high school." He returned a toothy grin that made Kaylee's heart rate spike and certainly not out of fear. Thank God Max was the most oblivious wolf she ever met.
"Sounds cool."
"Until you start hurting everyone around because you're such a jerk. So, can we just… forget about this conversation? I mean, it never was my intent…" he pleased.
"No. You told me something very important and I'm certainly not forgetting it," Kaylee shook her head gently. "Alright, let's get to work. I want to leave the station before the midnight."
"Yeah. By the way, Barnes said he has to go home, but Nick and Judy are still at the station and they don't seem to hurry anywhere. So the four of us could stop at old good Tom's once we're done. Nick assured they'll wait for us, if there's need."
"A double date, you say? Sign me up!" Kaylee chuckled and her friend rolled his eyes. "Now, to the work."
"Sure," he muttered. Even though he pretended to Audrey he didn't mind doing it at all, he hated all the paperwork. It turned out to be quite a fun, though. All they had to do is describe the devices secured in at Douglas Ramson's house and since he was a tech savvy, there were a lot of really creative inventions. Kaylee was rapturous as they kept discovering new creations of the ram. The Nighthowler gun, pretty much homemade, was just the tip of iceberg. Sometimes both Kaylee and Max would be out of ideas what could that device serve and there were at least three of them they labeled as 'Thing #X' that 'does something'. No one would ever look at those files again, anyway. Shame, they were lots of fun to catalogue. The two of them were already nearing the end, when Max's phone rang. He picked it up and set at speaker mode, leaving it at the table.
"Max here. What's up, Nicky?"
"We're done here for today. How are you two doing?" The fox asked.
"Fifteen minutes more and we should be done too. If you don't mind."
"Sure. Judy tried calling Kaylee, but she couldn't get to her. Did she switch her phone off or something?" Nick wondered.
"Nah, we're in the Dungeon. Her old phone probably doesn't even have signal here," Max guessed while Kaylee picked her phone and noticed that indeed, they were too deep underground.
"OK then, we'll be waiting by the dispatch."
"See you," Max hung up and left his phone on the desk. Then, Kaylee got up from her chair and headed down the alley.
"I'll get remaining files of the case, so we can put them all together."
"Sure," Max muttered absent-mindedly, as he was toying with another of ram's inventions he couldn't even name. It was a huge, round box with kind of a press pad, some sort of trap, if he were to take a guess. Since Audrey assured she had did disarm everything, he put it gently on the table gently and pressed the pad. And then, the device spurted out rain of blue liquid, covering whole his face. Max coughed hardly, falling out of chair to leave the azure haze still floating in the air. He felt dizzy and then, he realized. It was Nighthowlers extract.
"Kaylee! Run! Call for…" He was drowning. His senses were being overwhelmed by hunger for blood. Despite best efforts Max could not withstand the wolf within, all his reason being pushed back deeper and deeper into the back of his mind. And after a short struggle, there was no more of Max Reynolds. There remained only the wolf. And the wolf could smell his prey.
Kaylee was grabbing the case file when she heard his shouts. She left it at the place and, sensing trouble, ran for her friend. If he was in any kind of danger… She hesitated though, when she made it to their alley. Max was there, down on all fours, snarling at her furiously, his black eyes set on her throat from the moment she appeared. Blue stains on his fur and the haze still floating behind him left her no room for doubts.
"Max?" She called him. Her ears dropped down as he snarled and started approaching her. Slowly, but with intent to kill so palpable it made her tremble. She still managed to smile. "Max? It's me, Kaylee. Don't worry, it's all right. I'm no…" she squeaked, as the wolf lunged for her. The rabbit turned away and rushed forward despite wounded foot. She soon reached the wall, made a U-turn and ran alley parallel to wolf's. Reynolds, trying to make it into her alley slipped on the floor and fell, buying her few seconds more. She could already see the door. She could just lock him inside…
"Key! Max has the key!" She cursed, realizing she was trapped. The savage wolf was already catching up with her, in his blind fury ready to maul her to death. Kaylee, despite being just by the door, was forced to rush into another alley, getting further and further away from salvation. She checked her belt. She had no tranquilizer, only handcuffs. She could try locking him to some furniture, but the thing was when she'd be in reach to handcuff him, his jaws would be in reach of her throat. She obviously couldn't afford that.
The wolf made another U-turn much quicker and was slowly catching up with her. She had to figure something out and she needed to do it fast. And then, she slipped and fell on her face. Cursed slippery tiles and her wounded leg. Not thinking much, she rolled aside; the bookstands had a gap just enough for her to get to neighboring alley. Wolf tried reaching for her with claws and managed to slash her forearm. The rabbit groaned but kept rolling away into safety. She could actually keep away from wolf this way. He couldn't go under the bookcases and she'd just keep rolling, forcing him to rush into an alley just to escape him in the last moment. But it wasn't solving anything, only prolonging her struggle.
"The phone." Having bought herself some time again, she grabbed her phone, but of course, it had no signal in the Dungeon. She tried calling Judy nonetheless. Nothing. She dropped her mobile and rolled away again, this time avoiding Max by skin of her teeth.
"Max's phone still on the desk!" She realized. She rolled into the alley with desk, got to her feet and, with the wolf behind her, rushed for it. She grabbed the phone jumping over the puddle of blue liquid, while Max slipped on it, falling into the heavy door. Kaylee rushed into another alley and, somewhere in its halfway, back to rolling. Thanking Max in mind for having told her his password, she unlocked his black iCarrot and entered list of contacts, finding Judy right away. Before dialing her, she stopped to hear out for the wolf. The Dungeon was complete silence. Maybe he hit it really hard on that puddle? She was sure Max actually crushed into the wall. Didn't matter though. She called Judy. Mercifully, she picked up right away.
"Max, are you…"
"Max went savage! Send help to the Dunge…" And then, Kaylee shrieked painfully, as Max jumped down from the bookcase she was hiding under and bit into her left leg with his sharp teeth. Phone slipped out of her paw, as Crane kicked Reynolds powerfully in the nose forcing to drop her. She crawled under bookcases as far from him as she could, but wolf simply climbed up and followed her jumping between bookcases so fast that when he got back down at the third one, he nearly got her again. She crawled away just in time only to realize that she was under the wall. Back to her feet, ignoring the burning pain of leg, she ran. Wolf jumped down to her aisle and was chasing after her, howling madly. Kaylee barely made it through the turn, ran perpendicularly to all the aisles, and with wolf almost grabbing her tail, deciding to turn into the one with desk. It was a fatal mistake, but she realized it no earlier than when she was already there, slipping on the puddle of Nighthowler extract and falling on her belly. She tried to roll away, but barely had she turned on her back, the wolf was already jumping for her throat. She managed to kick him back with both legs, but after a painful scowl, he bit her left leg again and dragged her closer in. Kaylee shielded her throat. And then, wolf's jaws closed on her chest. Kaylee shrieked in the agony. A few seconds later, there was only darkness.
Nick and Judy were waiting by the desk of night shift dispatch officer; it wasn't Clawhauser, but a hippo named Tuskard. Even though he had worked in Precinct 1 for over five years, neither of them really knew him and so, the opportunity for a bit of socializing was perfect.
"How can you tell me you don't like it at Tom's?" Nick asked Tuskard, this fact being apparently beyond his comprehension. Even he, although wary of a cop-occupied place at first, learnt to appreciate its atmosphere.
"Well, I don't." Hippo shrugged helplessly and fox shook his head, still denying to accept it.
"It's calm in the night, isn't it?" Judy changed the subject before they'd dwell on that for too long.
"Oh, I don't know, this city rarely sleeps. Especially burglars. Most of their work comes up in the morning, though. And there are no real car chases in the night. You'd never flee police cars on the empty streets and hardly anyone tries," Tuskard said.
"You don't sound like it's boring, though." Judy noticed.
"It isn't. To me, that is. Dispatch… It's an acquired taste. You are not on the line, but still take lots of responsibility. There are nights when Hell breaks loose and you have to make a lot of choices. That means lots of possible mistakes. Some of them could be fatal to both officers and citizens. So while you don't have actual thrill like when going into the action, you're still responsible for the guys out there. And while unless you really rut up, no one blames you whatever happens, you can imagine how it works." The hippo explained and both of them nodded.
"Yeah, I can…" Judy wanted to say something, when her phone started ringing. She apologized and picked it up right away. She didn't like leaving people hanging.
"Max, are you…" She tried to ask, but she was interrupted.
"Max went savage! Send help to the Dunge…" A sudden shriek of bunny made Judy almost drop her phone. After that, there came no more words, only angry wolf howls and rabbit's squeaks, but they needed no more. Before Nick even said a word, Tuskard was already handing him magnetic key to Dungeon and his own tranquilizer; both Nick and Judy had already left their equipment in their lockers. Without a word more they rushed for the Dungeon, while Tuskard was making a call for ambulance.
"I guess we'll need it." Nick muttered gloomily and Judy felt shivering across her spine. A bunny closed with savage predator. And this time, however it happened, those weren't blueberries. They made it through the stairs practically jumping down. And then, at the door to the Dungeon, they heard Kaylee's blood freezing shriek. Judy opened the door with magnetic key, Nick pressed on it with whole weight of body and, falling inside, he aimed for the wolf and pressed the trigger thrice. All three darts ended up in wolf's back. When Judy jumped into the room right behind Nick, she gasped in horror. Max was on his fours, turned with his back at them and holding in his jaws Kaylee's torso. She was all covered in blood and her police uniform was in shreds. Tranquilized, the canine whimpered pathetically and, dropping the rabbit, fell on the side. Before Max hit the floor though, Judy was already by Kaylee, trying to help her. First, she pressed a paw against her neck and felt for pulse.
"Still alive," she mumbled, realizing her eyes were getting all watery.
"Keep it together, Judy," Nick pleased, managing to keep his voice from shaking. He was handcuffing Max's paws with his own handcuffs to leg of a nearby furniture and legs with Kaylee's ones and then, he joined his partner by wounded rabbit. Nick shred his T-shirt and bandaged with it rabbit's left thigh and forearm to stop the biggest bleedings, but it was all they could really do. Most of her damage was mauled torso; however badly her internals were crushed they couldn't do a thing about it. They sat by Kaylee, watching her struggling for every next breath, not saying word. After what seemed eternity, three medics ran inside. Carefully avoiding puddle of blue liquid they kneeled before Crane and one checked Reynolds' state. Nick gently led Judy outside. She didn't protest at all. Passing by dispatch, they met Tuskard's asking sight.
"Good job on calling them. Kaylee's still alive," Nick forced a smile and hippo bobbed his head once, but not saying anything. Nick and Judy walked out and sat on the stairs to police station. The fox disappeared for a minute and came back with two coffees from automat. He handed her one.
"Not too late for a coffee?" She noticed, as grabbing it with paw stained by Kaylee's blood. It was shaking gently.
"We're not going to sleep tonight early." He responded sipping his coffee. Judy sighed deeply and, failing to even force a smile took a big gulp. Nick's arm spread around her shoulder and hers grabbed his side. Feeling each other's warmth at their sides was the minimum of comfort both of them needed right now.
"It's one of these days." Judy muttered after a few minutes of silence.
"Huh?" Nick watched her curiously.
"It's one of these days when from the very beginning you knew you should have just stayed in the bed. That's what Kaylee said on the phone when she finally picked up this morning," Judy explained, her eyes all watery again.
"I wish so badly she actually did stay in her bed," Nick muttered, taking another sip of coffee. And then, Judy lost it completely. Dropping her cup, she cried aloud and hugged Nick, pressing her cheek against his chest. Nick put coffee aside carefully and without a word, hugged her back. Yes, it was one of these days.