Blake slowly came too, hearing a steady beeping noise in whatever room he was in.

Well...that means I'm not dead..but how?

With a soft groan, Blake opened his eyes to see a hospital room. Several monitors hung over his bed to his left, and he saw the IV tubing flow from a bag on a stand underneath his sheets. Lifting them slightly, he saw the IV in his arm.

So..how did I end up here? Thinking as hard as he could, Blake struggled to remember what had happened. He remembered sticking himself with the morphine, and then the police had shown up and arrested him.

I know I was arrested, but I had already taken the morphine. I should be dead. So how did I end up here?

Hearing the sound of an opening door, Blake looked over to see who was entering, and he saw a fox and a bunny, both dressed in police uniforms, entering his room.

"Finally awake, huh?" Nick asked with a small smile as the duo walked over and sat down in two chairs that were next to Blake's bed. "You've been out for a long time."

Swallowing slightly to try and help the dryness in his throat, Blake managed to get out a simple question. "How?"

Judy bounced up into her seat as Nick answered. "Well, after I found your note, we contacted dispatch and changed to call. We then ran you the three blocks needed to Zootopia Central Hospital, which is where you are right now." He sat back in his seat, his eyes locked on Blake's. "We read your note, Blake."

Looking down at the base of his bed, Blake said nothing. There was nothing to say; nothing he said could undo what had been done. "Blake." He heard off on his right, but he ignored it.

I can't even manage to kill myself properly. Wonderful.

"Blake, look at me." Nick said, and begrudging, Blake looked over at him. What he saw on the faces of Judy and Nick surprised him. They didn't appear angry, or disappointed, or frustrated. Instead, Blake saw concern and compassion from both of them.

"That talk we had?" Nick continued, leaning forward slightly. "You obviously didn't listen to my advice, because what happened means that it consumed you. Neither Judy nor I intend on letting that happen to you again." He looked down at his hands, then back up at Nick. "So, you have a choice, Blake. You can keep refusing to talk to us, you can keep it trapped inside you, and you will be admitted to the psychiatric ward here. You will get diagnoses and treatment, and it will all be inpatient. You will stay here as long as the doctors decide, and once they deem you ready, they will release you to go wherever you want."

Blake just shook his head. He wasn't going to be some admitted patient; he certainly wasn't going to talk to some random shrink who had no idea what he had done.

"Alternatively." Nick kept going, watching Blake's reaction. "The doctors can give you medication for depression. You then get released from the hospital, but you are released into the protective custody of myself and Officer Hopps. We will take you back with us to our place. There, you will stay with us, under observation. Each day, the three of us will go to the ZPD, where you will sit down with a group of officers from different backgrounds. You will be required to talk about what happened to you. Once everyone there is comfortable with your progress, you will do a single visit to a doctor, and if they clear you, you will be free to go." He kept his eyes locked on Blake's. "You have until the end of the day to decide, since the doctors will be able to release you now that you've woken up." Standing up, he headed for the door, Judy following behind. "I'll leave you be to think it over." Pausing in the doorway, he looked back. "And for what it's worth, I'm glad that you're awake and doing ok." With that, he and Judy left the room.

Blake sat there, stunned. Everything was moving far faster than he could process. Soon after they left, a nurse and doctor came in. Blake let them do their assessment and answered their questions, but he was only half paying attention. He spent most of his energy on trying to figure out how to respond to what Nick had said. One option was far better than the other, but he really wanted an option that would let him avoid either choice.

As the day went by, Blake continued to think over his options. He already knew which option he was going to take, and he could tell that the officers had stacked the odds in a way that would force his hand. He partially resented them for that, but since they had technically given him two options, he couldn't complain that much. It just irked him how they knew how to manipulate him into following a specific path, regardless if he really wanted to follow it or not.

"Well, you're clear for release." The doctor finally said on his last trip into the room. "I just...well...you know." He finished lamely, and Blake nodded that he understood as the doctor left the room, letting the door swing shut behind him. Sitting in the silence for a few minutes, Blake was along with his thoughts.

He wished he hadn't found that poster, or been saved by the hospital. Blake still wished he could be dead, and he knew that now that he had failed once, they wouldn't leave him alone enough for a second try. The sudden sound of a doorknob turning jarred into his thoughts.

Looking up, Blake watched as the door opened, and Nick, Judy, and Chief Bogo entered the room. The trio lined up along the side of the bed, all watching Blake. He shifted slightly, not liking all of the attention.

"You know why we're here." Chief Bogo said, and Blake nodded. "So since you've been cleared for release, we're going to need that answer."

"Like you really gave me any choice." He responded bitterly, already knowing which option he was going to take.

"We gave you the options we could." Nick said with a sign. "So give us an answer and we can get things rolling."

Blake looked over all of them, trying to read their faces for any hint of an out. He was met with stone-cold faces in response. "I'm not staying in the hospital."

"Alright. I'll go get your paperwork, and leave Officers Hopps and Wilde to go over the details." Bogo said, and he turned and walked out, closing the door behind him.

Blake watched him leave, and then turned his attention back to the two officers, whose expressions hadn't changed. He shifted uncomfortably, his tail curling around his body, with the far to clean smell of the hospital making him uneasy. "Well?" He asked, his ear twitching slightly. "What about those details?"

Judy pulled up a chair and sat down, followed by Nick. "Well, for one, you're going to be living with us again." Nick said, pulling out his phone. "But this time, there are going to be some rules attached." Opening something on his phone, he turned it around, allowing Blake to see the screen.

Sitting up slightly, Blake began to read down the list of rules/ There were some general custody rules, like not being allowed out without a police escort. Others were house rules, such as maintaining some semblance of orders. The later parts of the list contained his mandates to attend the agreed upon therapy sessions, along with other requirements. The last rule caught his attention, and he knew that it wasn't going to work if this was going to be required.

Looking up, Blake shook his head. "I'm not giving up my bag."

"Blake, you do realize that you have to follow these rules." Judy began, "Otherwise you're going to end up back in here."

"Then I might as well stay put." He replied, his ear twitching again. "I'm not giving up my bag." As he said that, he looked around for it, and felt a wave of relief as he saw it leaning up against the wall by his bed. At least it was safe.

"Blake, be-"

"Look, as long as we can pull the drugs out, I'm sure that we can let him keep the bag." Nick interjected, cutting Judy off. She gave him a harsh glare as Blake gave Nick a look of thanks. "Nick, you know that we can't let him have the bag. It contains all the drugs and everything." She said matter-of-factly.

"I'm aware of that. I'm also aware that we can search the bag, take the drugs, and then let him keep what is safe for him to keep." Nick replied, shifting in his chair so that he was looking straight at Judy. "Besides, he's already stated that he won't leave without it, and you know that it's better for him to be with us than in a hospital."

Looking between the two of them, Blake couldn't tell what was going on between them, but he could tell that there was a lot of unspoken conversation. Judy tapped her foot impatiently, her mouth set and eyebrows furrowed slightly. With a sudden sigh, her foot stopped tapping and she relaxed her expression. "Fine. I'll search the bag." She turned around and walked over to it, beginning to unzip it and look around inside the bag.

Blake watched her search, slightly frustrated as she pulled out some of the drugs that weren't dangerous. He didn't argue out of fear of losing his bag. She dropped all the drugs into a bag and sealed it, placing it on the table next to the wall, and then turned around, also holding a picture in her hand. A cold feeling filled Blake's chest as she walked over and handed the picture to Blake. "Who's that?" She asked, jumping back up into her seat.

The coldness in Blake's chest got ice cold as he looked at the picture she had handed him. Staring back up at him, idiot grins on their faces, was himself and Finnaly. The two were wearing cold weather gear and had their weapons released, the one point slings holding them at the perfect position to grab them. Standing on side of a mountain, the duo had their climbing gear on, along with all of their tactical gear, with a bright yellow orange sunset in the background. Blake still remembered that climb; it had been his first climb with the team when he had joined them. SGT Finnaly had been the first member of the group to come talk to him, and the two had quickly hit it off as friends. Swallowing slightly, he looked up at the two officers, trying to keep his emotions off his face as they began to fill his chest.

"Just another soldier." He replied, curling his tail tighter around his body as his voice wavered slightly. "Why?"

"Doesn't sound like 'just another soldier.'" Judy said back, leaning forward slightly. "Who is he?"

The nervous feeling in Blake's chest grew. He didn't want to talk about this; not right now, not ever. They hadn't know Finnaly, and they never would because of his failure. Staring at the picture, Blake tried to sort through his emotions. He knew that she wouldn't let this go, but he wasn't willing to tell them about this just yet. Not with how much it hurt.

"Well?" She asked, her foot beginning to tap again. "Who is he?"

Blake's ear twitched as he looked from Judy to the picture and back again, still not answering. He began to try and formulate a way to answer without really answering, but he couldn't come up with anything.

"It's not that hard to do. Just give me a name." He heard her say, and he tensed up a bit. The bunny just didn't know when to quit.

"Judy." He heard Nick say, and the tone carried an unspoken order to drop the subject. Looking up, Blake watched the two of them have another staring contest, and it was yet another one that Nick seemed to win. With a sigh, Judy looked back over at Blake. "We'll talk about this later." She said, a slight tinge of anger in her voice as she stood up and walked over to the bag of drugs. "I'll go turn this into evidence." Nick nodded, and she walked out of the room.

Giving Nick a look of thanks, Blake relaxed back slightly, looking up at the ceiling. Even though he was being released, he felt like he wasn't going to be totally free just yet.

Well, this was another chapter that took some time. I was worried I wouldn't get it out on time, but apparently that's a great way to break though writers block, and establish things for following chapters. Hopefully everyone enjoyed this chapter, and the direction the story has taken.

Thank you to everyone who has read this story so far, and special thanks to those of you who have followed/faved/reviewed the story. I'm glad that everyone is enjoying the story. If you have any suggestions on how I can improve my writing, please leave a review so that I can note it down and try it out. With the next week or so being busy, if the chapters get shorter, I apologize in advance, and as always, happy reading!