First off, sorry to the AO3 users that are getting this on Saturday afternoon instead of Friday night. The site was down and I couldn't post the chapter.
DISCLAIMER: My wonderful editor, Daee17 (daee17 *dot* deviantart *dot* com) and I were sitting at my desk debating on a change to make to this chapter when Prince Eric walked in and told us our bid to purchase Zootopia had gotten lost in the mail. So we still don't own Zootopia.
The buzzing in Nick's head was the first thing he was aware of. The second was the beeping machines around him. His thoughts felt muddied and foggy. Groaning, he struggled to open his eyes and remember where he was.
What was the last thing I was doing? I remember falling asleep with Carrots. Is that where I am? The infernal rhythmic beeping and the scent of sterilizers told him otherwise. The fox managed to force one eye open, and immediately slammed it shut again, the bright white light sending a shot of pain piercing through his skull.
Slowly, more carefully this time, he cracked open the eye again, just enough to take in his surroundings. White painted walls, a curtain on one side, sunlight streaming through a window. Stands of medical equipment. That's what the beeping was.
Am I in a hospital? Why am I in a hospital? What happened? Did I have some sort of accident or something during the night?
The fox struggled to remember, but it was like wading through molasses. Today – if indeed it is "today" – was a work day…what were we doing? We were tracking down some mammal in the DMV database…Someone with… Spencer Callahan! That's it! The fox's memories slowly began trickling back to him as he opened his eyes slowly.
We went to his apartment…didn't find him…we were going for lunch and got a call… The Grand Palm… I was going…where was I going? I was going somewhere…
The memories became a red haze after that, punctuated only by brief images.
Down on all fours… hungry…Judy in front of me… Oh God, was I hunting Judy?! The heart monitor began beeping far more rapidly. Turning his head, the fox spied the buttons to his left, and, with an arm that felt like it was made of cement, he attempted to reach the call button. A tug on his wrist and a jangle of metal alerted him to that which he was not aware of before: He was cuffed to the bed. Trying the other arm produced the same result.
Panic began coursing through the fox's mind. His heart thundered at an out of control pace, and Nick felt his breathing start to accelerate. He tried calling for help.
"Nurse! Hey, can anyone hear me?!" His voice didn't even sound like his own, and came out as a scratchy, hoarse growl, not the shout he was going for. He jangled the cuffs as hard as he could. What if I hurt Judy? My God, what if I KILLED HER?! His panicked mind couldn't get off that thought. If Judy was lying in the ICU, or worse, in a morgue somewhere, he'd never forgive himself.
Nick pulled and tugged at his restraints, thrashing about, not even registering the moment that a mammal ran into the room, followed by a half dozen more. He barely cared, as most of them held him down, while another prepped a needle and injected a fluid into the IV he hadn't even noticed. He did take note when cold sensation began running up his arm, and a heaviness began to settle over him. Maybe I should just close my eyes for a moment…
…No! I need to find Judy! The fox's eyes snapped open again. The room was darker than before. Sunlight no longer shone through the window. Confusion reigned, and the fox was about to go into another panic when a voice spoke up.
"I'm sorry we had to sedate you again, Officer Wilde, but you were a risk to yourself. You woke up before the night howler toxin had been fully purged from your system." The fox looked to his side to see a male hyena in doctor's scrubs standing next to him. "In case you were wondering, you're in the Sahara Square Regional Medical Centre. You and your partner were brought here from the Grand Palm Hotel. I'm Doctor Kazadi."
"Where's…Judy?" The fox's voice was hoarse and scratchy, like he hadn't used it in a long while. It tasted like he'd just stuffed a steel scrub pad in his mouth, and he felt dizzy and tired.
"Hmm? Oh, Officer Hopps? She's on the other side of the curtain. We are keeping her sedated for another day." The hyena gestured to the curtain that separated him from the other side of the room.
"Is…she…hurt?" The fox dreaded the answer, but he had to know.
Kazadi took a breath, while at the same time moving to undo the pawcuffs locking the fox's wrists to the bed. "I can't unfortunately comment on her condition. You'd need to be family, her emergency contact or her medical executor. Doctor-patient confidentiality, Officer."
"I think you'll find, if you look at her information, I AM her emergency contact," Nick said with a smirk. Judy had talked to him about that a couple days after he'd graduated. She'd been particularly tired of having her parents freak out every time she'd gotten a bump or a bruise at that point, and decided that her parents didn't need to worry more than they already did. She'd taken them off her emergency contacts list and put Nick and Chief Bogo on it, with the instructions that one of them contact her parents ONLY if the injury was life threatening. She'd felt a little bad about it, but she knew she'd never hear the end of it if they got a call because she'd had to go to the hospital for some stitches.
Kazadi regarded the fox for a moment, seemingly analyzing or assessing him, perhaps sizing him up. "Why would a rabbit have a fox as her emergency contact?"
The pawcuffs came off, and Nick massaged his wrists. Those things really were uncomfortable. He sighed. "Because she trusts me? Because she wanted to? Because I'm her partner in the police force, and I'm her friend? That's a question you'd have to ask her when she wakes up. Why shouldn't I be her emergency contact?"
"You're a fox," the hyena said, as if that explained everything.
Growing agitated, the fox skewered the larger predator with a glare. "Listen, go check her file if you don't believe me. Or call our boss. Actually, I'd love to see you do that. Have you met Chief Bogo? He's a really nice mammal. But he doesn't like it when people call him for stupid reasons. The last mammal that did that got a new one torn."
The doctor sighed, defeated. The massive police chief had been in here earlier, and just from that one meeting, Kazadi knew he was NOT one to be trifled with. "She has a laceration on her left arm. We're not sure what caused that, but we stitched it up." Nick remembered her having that when he found her…hunted her.
"The real injury is the moderate concussion she has."
Green eyes flew open. "How did that happen?"
"From what she said, it probably happened when she was knocked into something by the tiger she was engaged with. She'll recover, as long as she takes it easy for about a week, and stays off active duty for at least two."
"She's not going to like that."
"Not her call."
"What about the rest of the Grand Palm? What happened there?"
The doctor shook his head. "We aren't sure. We do know that a lot of mammals went savage, but all of you seem to be responding to the night howler antidote."
"But…?"
"But nothing, Officer Wilde. You don't need to stress yourself out on this. You shouldn't. For the next day or two, you need as much rest as possible, until the toxin is completely out of your system."
Letting out a sigh, Nick sensed he wouldn't be getting any more answers out of the white-clad hyena. He turned on his side and closed his eyes, pretending to go back to sleep.
After a while, the doctor left. Nick waited a few moments, then crawled out of bed. Grabbing his IV stand, and the heart monitor hanging from it, he made his way around the curtain. Judy was lying prone on the bed next to him, ears flat against the pillow, an IV and bandage on her left arm.
Nick knew she wouldn't want him to feel sorry for her – she knew what she was getting into when she became a cop, but he couldn't help but hurt at the sight of his bunny laying there on the bed, looking so helpless. Of course, he would never say that in front of her. Not if he wanted to live.
He reached out and smoothed down a patch of ruffled fur on her head. Judy didn't stir, the chemically induced sleep keeping her under. After a while, he moved back over to his side of the curtain, climbing back into the bed and making himself comfortable. Nick tuned out the beeping sounds of the medical equipment and closed his eyes, allowing sleep to slowly take him again.
"Top news today, the ZPD has confirmed that 24 mammals were killed, with an additional 32 missing and hundreds injured in yesterday's incident at the Grand Palm Hotel, an event that the department is calling an act of terror. No known terrorist groups have come forth to claim responsibility for the massacre, and no demands have been made. In a statement earlier today, Mayor Peter Clawheed had this to say."
The image on the television shifted from the snow leopard anchor to that of the large form of the brown bear mayor.
"Our hearts go out to the families of those lost so tragically yesterday in this senseless act of murder. Rest assured, my office will be working closely with the ZPD to ensure those responsible are caught and justice is served."
The feed switched back to the snow leopard at the anchor desk.
"ZNN attempted to reach out to the ZPD for comment, however we haven't received a response at this time. Citizen response has been mixed, with many voicing opinions that the perpetrator is an ally of former mayor Dawn Bellwether. Anti-predator groups have been using the event to stage more protests today, effectively shutting down vehicular travel in multiple locations across the city."
An amateur video was shown, recorded somewhere in the rainforest district. A crowd of prey mammals had blockaded a major road. Car horns blared over the shouts of angry mammals, and the signs clearly showed the group's dislike for predators.
"Predators aren't regressing! They never evolved!"
"Stop letting predators live off our hard work!"
"*BEEP*ing pred pieces of *BEEP*! Go back to the *BEEP*ing wild!"
The amateur video ended and a tapir, obviously the group's organizer, appeared on the screen, speaking to a reporter.
"Predators were built to maim and kill. They have no other purpose and need to be segregated. They need to be separated from civil mammals."
Back to the newsroom again. "Several of the protestors have quoted ZPD Officer Judith Hopps, stating that predators were just reverting to their primitive, savage ways, despite the retraction statements issued by the ZPD, and Ms. Hopps' own efforts to expose the Nigh Howler consp—"
Dade Walker clicked off the TV and turned back to the other two mammals in front of him, and the speakerphone sitting on the table. "It seems our first phase has been relatively successful. The civil unrest in the city will prove useful when we begin phase two."
"Our contact was able to retrieve the devices and dispose of them before the investigators were able to secure the scene. All of them performed flawlessly," a heavily modified and modulated voice from the speakerphone stated.
Dade Walker and the other two elders with him nodded. "And what of other physical evidence?"
"Our guys were wearing gloves, so forehoof-prints should be minimal. They couldn't do anything about the back hooves without looking suspicious. Unfortunately, our guy couldn't erase the security footage before the ZPD secured the building."
"We disabled the building alarm and we had the riot tying up the ZPD down the strip, but apparently they had other units in the area. They had officers on-site before the devices even went off."
Walker glared at the phone. "Do we know who these officers were?"
"The rabbit and the fox. They showed up about 10 minutes before showtime and were hauled off in an ambulance."
With a sigh, the deer sat down in the one vacant chair. "Any word on their condition?"
None of the elders, nor the caller on the phone spoke. Walker thought for a moment. "Well, we'll table that issue now. What of the effectiveness of the product?"
The beaver with him in the room spoke up. "The product affected all carnivores without fail. Most turned within seconds of inhaling the product, and results were as expected there. However, our mammals on the inside noticed an odd quirk in that predators of traditionally monogamous ancestry would not attack their mates, and pack animals like wolves would not attack each other."
The deer nodded. "Do we have any numbers on how many were affected?"
The voice on the phone answered that. "Nothing concrete, but our estimates put us at a little over 50 predators and over 500 prey animals at the time, just on the conference floors, casino floor, and lobby areas."
The pig, the third elder in the room, grinned. "Not bad for our first outing."
"Not bad at all. But we need to see if it's possible to remove these… shortcomings. I will contact our research cell and see what can be done there. In the meantime, Janus, dig up what you can on actual numbers, and how the ZPD was able to respond as fast as it did. For purity."
"Purity we shall have." The line disconnected.
Judy stirred, cracking open her eyes and seeing the dimly lit features of the ceiling tiles above her. The beeping of a heart monitor told her she was in the hospital. Her head was fuzzy and her mouth dry. She needed a drink.
She remembered the incident at the hotel, along with bits and pieces of the ambulance ride here. A doctor flashing his pen light in her eye. A concussion, the doctor had said. That confirmed her suspicions. The light snoring in the bed next to her, one that she recognized, told her that Nick was in the room with her, just on the other side of the curtain. She smiled, as best she could with her head throbbing. Him being here likely meant that whatever had caused him to go savage was cured.
Before she could answer the nagging call of nature, an antelope walked in carrying a clipboard, and humming to herself. She was just passing Judy's bed, heading toward Nick's when she glanced up to see Judy watching her.
"Oh! Miss Hopps! Good morning! Well, as morning as it is, anyway. It's 4 AM. How are you feeling?"
There need be no thought on that matter. "Headache ma'am. Head's fuzzy, dizzy, I'm thirsty, and I need to go to the bathroom."
The nurse nodded and moved to the side of Judy's bed. "You have a moderate concussion. You basically bruised your brain. The headache, fuzziness and dizziness are to be expected. As for the rest of it, well, we can take care of that." She reached out to help Judy down from her bed, and the two made their way slowly across the room with the rabbit doe's IV tree to the adjoining bathroom. Judy's legs felt weak, a sensation she immediately decided she despised. The nurse left her alone to do her business, and returned just as Judy was making her way back to the bed, using the IV stand to help her stay upright.
A quick lift back onto the bed, the rabbit doe settled back under the covers. She glanced over at the curtain separating her from Nick, before a cleared throat brought her attention back to the antelope, who was holding a pair of pills and a glass of water. At the doe's quizzical expression, the antelope explained. "Acetaminophen to help with the headache."
Judy frowned. "I was always told to take ibuprofen for headaches."
The nurse gave an adamant shake of her head. "Ibuprofen is a blood thinner. If you take that with a concussion, you run the risk of a brain hemorrhage."
The doe nodded, filing that information away for future use should it ever be needed. She took the tablets and swallowed them, chasing them down with the water. Thanking the nurse, she settled back into bed. She heard the door open and shut, and tried to go back to sleep, but she found it wouldn't come, her mind churning over the events of the day – wait, what day IS it? I forgot to ask.
A light snort from her right brought her attention to the curtain that separated her from Nick. She wondered if Nick was dreaming. What was he dreaming about? After a while, the rabbit decided she was tired of staring at the curtain and slowly wiggled out of bed and padded to the edge of it, grabbed it, and pulled it back, taking her IV stand with her.
Nick was lying on his side facing her bed, fast asleep, an occasional slight twitch of his nose, or flick of his ear giving no hints as to what was playing in his mindscape. Not wanting to get caught out of bed, she crawled back in and lay down, turning to face her fox.
She watched Nick for a while, her eyelids slowly growing heavier, and the throbbing in her head dulling slightly. As she slowly, finally succumbed to sleep again, one last though flitted through her mind, a stray scrap of paper caught in a wind.
If Nick did go savage, why didn't he attack me?
Hushed voices slowly brought the rabbit doe out of her slumber. She didn't even need to open her eyes to recognize the tones of her fox and his mother. Deciding to play the still-sleeping doe for a while, she took the opportunity to eavesdrop on the conversation.
"So, has she?"
"Mom!"
"Oh come on, you can't expect me to not notice! So, has she?"
"Yes, mom. She has. The night we went out for dinner with you, she asked me on the way back to the station."
There was a silence afterward
"Oh, come on, mom, I'm not going to give you the details!"
More silence.
"We went for dinner OK? She brought me flowers and we went for dinner."
"Flowers? She brought you flowers? What kind of flowers?" Marian's tone sounded teasing.
"…I should not have said that." A sigh. "Tulips, Carnations and violets."
There was a long silence.
"Have you asked her what that meant?"
"Uhhhh…no not really."
"Well, it looks like you're out of work for a couple weeks, so it's the perfect time to ask her. Her answer might surprise you."
Marian laughed lightly, just a little bit louder than they had been talking, and Judy decided it was time to "wake up". She shifted on the bed and yawned. The two other mammals quieted down for a moment, before Nick spoke up again.
"Carrots? You awake?"
Cracking an eye open, she nodded. Marian was sitting in the chair next to Nick's bed, sunlight streaming in through the window behind her. Nick was sitting up in his bed, having had it adjusted.
"Welcome back to the land of the living, Judy. How are you feeling?" The vixen inquired, genuine concern in her eyes.
Judy groaned, her head expressing its displeasure "My head hurts. And I feel like I'm gonna puke."
Marian nodded. "When Nick's dad had a concussion in high school, he had the same problems. Nausea, headaches, confusion. He couldn't even remember how he got the concussion. I had to remind him that he'd hit his head falling off a desk chair trying to impress me."
Judy giggled. "And? Did he impress you?"
"Watching him get injured wasn't really my definition of impressive. It gave me great teasing material for later though."
"I bet." Judy sat up slowly and raised the back of her bed, so she could lie back facing the two vulpines.
"So, sleeping beauty, how was it being asleep for almost two days?" Nick piped up.
Judy, who had just managed to get herself comfortable, dropped her ears. "It's been that long?"
"Yeah. We clocked out at about noon on Saturday. It's Monday morning. Just about breakfast time, actually. Oh, and Bogo said he'd be coming by to debrief us."
"…and I need to be headed to work. My boss has a meeting with the executives, and I need to be there for that," Marian commented. She leaned down to give Nick a peck on the top of the head. The tod's ears folded back in embarrassment. "I'll see you two lovebirds after work." Now, Nick's ears shot up, before folding back again. Judy stifled a giggle and bade Marian goodbye.
Silence reigned after the vixen left the room.
"Ummm…So… I kind of told her about us… Or rather, she hustled it out of me."
Judy gave Nick a sly look. "Did she actually hustle it out of you, or did you just cave under pressure?"
"Nope. She didn't get it out of me willingly."
Judy just gave him a look.
"And, she may have asked if you'd asked me out. And I may have answered yes."
The rabbit grinned. "And she's OK with that?"
Two nurses entered the room carrying trays of food, quickly excusing themselves when they realized the two were having a private conversation. Nick nodded.
"More than OK, Carrots. I may have neglected to mention this, but she's been rooting for us for a long time."
Judy dug into her breakfast of cereal and muffin, while Nick began with his. The two glanced at each other with the same mildly disgusted look. No matter where you went, hospital food was only marginally better than airline food. Just this side of baked cardboard.
As they continued gnawing on their cardboard…or rather, eating their breakfast, a knock on the door drew their attention. They looked up to see the massive form of their boss entering the room.
"Hopps. Wilde. How are we today?"
Before Judy could answer, Nick decided to take the initiative.
"Well, you know boss, I could get used to days off like this. No work, full pay, room service… of course the food could use some improvement, but hey, nothing's perfect, right?"
Bogo groaned and ran a hoof down his face. "Wilde, I swear if you don't kill those smarmy remarks, you'll spend the last 30 years of your career sorting the cold case evidence room. By paw."
Nick's expression took on a slightly horrified look.
"We're doing better, sir," Judy summed up for them, hoping to avoid having Nick rile the chief up even more.
"Better is subjective, Hopps. You're on paid medical leave for the next two weeks, and after that, you'll be sticking to lighter duty, for at least another two. Your current task should do just fine."
Judy wasn't too happy about taking forced time off, but she knew better than to argue the point with the cape buffalo.
"Yes, sir." Judy slumped back in her bed for a moment, perking up again when two more mammals walked in. She recognized them as the two Sahara Square precinct detectives assigned to Wolford's case and idly wondered what they were doing here.
"Hopps, Wilde, you both know Detectives Rivers and Longtooth."
Before Nick could jump in with a quip about "knowing" someone, the rabbit doe stepped in. "Yes, sir, we know them, but why are they here? We haven't found anything new for their case."
"Actually, officer, that case is being backburnered. We're here to ask you some questions about the Sahara Square attack, if you're feeling up to it," the lioness explained.
"Well, detective, I'm not sure about that. I mean I am lying here on this bed eating cardboard. Not sure what's up with that," Nick said. Judy let out an exasperated sigh.
"What my partner MEANS to say is, yes, we're alright with answering questions. Though why was Eric's case backburnered?"
"Leads have run cold for now. Until we get new evidence in, we won't be able to move forward," Rivers spoke up, an unhappy look on his face. Judy could only imagine that her own face mirrored his. The elk shook his head. "I don't like it either. Something will come up though."
"So, what do you want to know?"
The two small officers spent the next hour relaying the experience at the Grand Palm Hotel, or what they could remember of it. Both of their memories weren't complete, but they filled in for each other nicely.
Rivers looked down at his notepad with a puzzled look. "There are a couple things I don't understand here." He shifted the page back and forth, his other hoof scratching his chin.
"Firstly, none of the victims of the Night Howler attacks remember anything about their time being savage. One minute they were going about their day, and the next, they were waking up in a hospital bed. Some of them were even convinced they were abducted by aliens or the government. Well, actually, that last one was true, so forget I said that. We know that whatever it was, was a Night Howler derivative. So why is Wilde able to remember?"
"For that matter, why didn't it affect Hopps? If this is Night Howler we're dealing with, it should have affected everyone, yet the only savage animals were predators."
"And why didn't Wilde attack Hopps? In the previous cases, the afflicted mammals attacked anyone in range, and Hopps was even injured. You mentioned hunting her, Wilde. Why didn't you attack?"
Nick's face was a mask of confusion. "I don't know. I just…didn't. There was a larger threat in the room, so I guess I was focussed on that."
"But you let her take you to an office, and you didn't attack her then. Why not?"
The confused look turned into a frown. "I don't know, Detective."
Judy could tell that Nick was hiding something, though she wasn't sure what. She'd have to ask him later. The doe glanced at Bogo, and noticed he was eyeing the two with an unreadable expression on his muzzle.
"And you, Officer Hopps. Why did you not subdue Nick first?"
Judy turned back to the Elk detective.
"He wasn't acting threatening towards me. If anything, he was curious and confused. I had my paw on my tranquilizer just in case, though. In any event, Officer Wilde DID buy me time to make sure we took down that tigress." The doe thought for a moment. "Sirs, what happened to that mammal? And the camel security guard?"
"The tigress is recovering, but we can't say anything more that that. The security guard…it wasn't pretty. He's alive, but he might never wake up again. That's assuming he lives in the first place."
Thunderstruck, Judy's ears fell flat against her back, and her expression turned downcast. "I should have stopped to help him. I should have stayed, not run and locked myself in some office."
Bogo's expression softened.
"Hopps, you were injured, and your partner was savage. You know that an injured combatant is more a liability than an asset. If you had stayed there, it's more than likely I would be having to convince the city to pay for ANOTHER funeral of an officer. And the budget is too tight for more funerals right now."
"Awww, it's good to know you care about us, sir!"
Judy facepawed.
"Although for you, Wilde, I am willing to make an exception."
Rivers and Longtooth snickered.
Once Chief Bogo left, the two settled in for what they were told would be their last day in the hospital. The steady stream of visitors, mostly members of precinct one, provided them with ample conversation. Finnick dropped by in the early afternoon, mostly to make sure the red fox hadn't died yet and to let him know that he wasn't too happy with Nick's mom calling him trying to figure out what had happened to "her baby".
Nick's academy dorm mate also dropped by, the loud foul-mouthed cheetah complaining about being assigned to parking duty for the last month in the rainforest district, envying the fact that Nick got to skip straight to "the good stuff", and even Judy only had a few days of parking duty at the beginning.
The doe had to explain that she'd almost gotten herself fired, with only Bellwether's intervention, and later Nick's, that saved her career. Arnie gave her a sour look at the mention of the former mayor, and Judy felt a little dirty for implying that she had the ewe's help.
At one point, Judy was taken for a final round of tests and x-rays, leaving the fox alone with his friend. A silence extended between the fox and the cheetah, before the latter cleared his throat.
"Yes?" The red fox had an idea of what was coming next.
"So…"
"…buttons on ice cream, see if they stick." The fox was quick to respond.
"What?" The cheetah gave a confused look.
"Sew buttons on ice cream, see if they stick."
Arnie blinked, then shrugged it off. "So…have you?"
"Have I…worked as a police officer? Yes, yes I have."
"You know what I mean dude! Have you asked her out yet?"
Nick frowned. "Have I told you that it's the vixen that leads for foxes? Yes, yes I have. Is it really any of your business? No, no it's not. Do you have a one-track mind? Absolutely."
"Come on, dude! OK, I'll rephrase that. Has SHE asked YOU out?"
"And this is your business…how exactly?"
Arnie stared. "Should I just ask her?"
"The bunny has taken down rhinos, and has more pictures on the academy records wall than everyone else combined. Do you really want to risk her wrath?"
"No, not really." The cheetah looked deflated.
"Look, if that ever happens, AND SHE AGREES TO LET ME, I'll tell you. But don't hold your breath dude."
"I still don't understand you. Dormies at the academy for 6 months and I still don't understand you foxes…"
"Don't understand what?" The two mammals looked up to see Judy being wheeled back into the room by a nurse, the deer doe doctor following with a folder in paw.
"Foxes. Arnie here doesn't understand foxes, even though he roomed with one for six months."
"Ah. Well, don't feel too bad, Arnie. I've known this fox for almost a year now, and if you try to understand him, you're just asking for time with the department psychiatrist."
Arnie burst out laughing, while Nick held a paw to his chest. "Ouch. You wound me, Fluff."
"Looks like you got someone to match your wit, Red." The cheetah looked at his watch. "I gotta go. I'm on break right now and just dropped in to see you guys. Later, Wilde."
After the cheetah left, the doctor looked to the rabbit. "Ms. Hopps, we need to discuss your injuries. Would it be possible for your partner to wait outside?"
Judy waved the doctor off. "It's OK, I want him here for this. He's my partner."
The doctor gave them a critical look and was quiet for a moment, before moving to a light panel on the wall. Flipping it on, she hung a pair of X-ray negatives. "Very well, then. Your x-rays show no skull fractures or cracks, but your concussion is going to take time to heal. Your boss already knows to keep you on med leave for another week and a half, and on lighter duties for another two."
Judy frowned. "He mentioned that." She still wasn't thrilled with the idea of being forced to take another medical leave, especially after what happened at the hotel.
"You'll also need to stay with friends or family, someone who can keep an eye on you. A concussion can easily get worse without warning."
"My family's in Bunnyburrow…"
"No, no extra travel, at least not for the rest of this week. It might aggravate your injury. Do you have anyone in the city you can stay with?"
The fox and rabbit looked at each other. "I have a friend I can stay with."
"Good. I'll get your release forms ready. If you need to call your friend, you can do so from the lobby phone." With that, the doctor and nurse left the room.
Judy's ears dropped low down her back, and she stared at her lap. "I'm sorry, Nick. I kind of just invited myself over for the rest of the week. If it's too much of a hassle, I can—"
"Don't worry about it, Carrots," the fox said with a gentle smile. "I told you you're always welcome at my place. Mom'll probably be by every day to check on me, and I'm sure she'll want to check on you as well."
Judy looked up and grinned at her fox.
"You ready to get out of here, Officer Fluff?"
The rabbit's grin grew. "You know it, Slick."
A/N
Ouch. If you've had one, concussions like the one Judy has are not fun. I've had one. And to top matters off, it seems Wolford's case might have officially gone cold. Whatever do they do now, for their fallen mammal in blue?
Finally, the references are back! Somewhere in here is a reference to a TV Show. Can you find it?
Also, I'll be posting an "Ask the author" on my DeviantArt on Monday, May 21. If you have a question about the story that you want me to answer (No spoilers) or just me in general (Nothing too personal please), watch my DeviantArt (camossdarkfly *dot* deviantart *dot* com) and comment on the journal entry I post there on Monday! This is just an experiment at this point, so it will be interesting to see how it turns out!
Coming up on June 1: Out of Town!
I reply to all comments, except guest comments on FFN! Questions? Critiques? Want to rage at me for my impossible to find references? Leave a comment!
