When Judy felt herself rising from the depths of sleep, the first thing she registered was her raging headache. Blood pounded in her ears, the only sound aside from the constant, high-pitched beeping – though she couldn't place where that was coming from. It echoed through her head, drawing her further from the comfort of unconsciousness, and she worked to suppress the sound and return to sleep until the faintest sounds of voices drifted to her ears. At first they were muffled sounds that only vaguelly resembled words, audible blobs of rising and falling sounds she could hardly identify. But with a little focus, the pounding in her ears faded, letting her hear what was being said more clearly.

"-promises of a full recovery. The other one will be fine, but shouldn't work within the next two weeks at least. As for her, we're working on exactly what medication to order. But they all will need rest."

"Thank you, doctor." That sounded like Chief Bogo. "Do you know when any of them will be awake?"

"Officer Hopps' anesthetic should be wearing off shortly. You can wait here in her room if you would like."

"Alright. Is there anything else I need to know?"

"No, but I will update you as I learn more on the other two."

A sigh. "Thank you, doctor."

Judy opened her eyes slightly as she heard the heavy thuds of Chief Bogo enter her room, hissing slightly as the light stung her eyes. She gave herself time to adjust to the light, slowly opening them as she felt comfortable. Chief Bogo was silent, sitting himself down in a nearby chair as he waited. When she turned to look at him, the Chief gave the rabbit a sad look. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I have the worst headache," she admitted, surprised to hear her voice sounding so raspy. The cape buffalo sighed and nodded.

"That's to be expected. Can you see alright? Do you hurt anywhere?"

Judy silently did a mental check of her body. Aside from the headache, she was really only sore, though she had a faint burning sensation on her left arm. "I'm sore, and my arm burns," she told him. The buffalo nodded again.

"The burning would be cuts from glass your cruiser. And you're probably sore because you've been laying in this bed for nearly a day." Chief Bogo rubbed the bridge of his nose between his hooves, giving a heavy sigh.

"A day?" Judy asked, sitting slightly upright. Her head began to swim as a result, making her let out a disoriented groan and lay back down. "What happened?"

"Do you want the full story, or just a summary?" Bogo asked. He sounded more hopeful when mentioning the summary, but it was clear he knew what Judy would ask for.

"The full thing," she stated with a nod.

Chief Bogo sighed again. "Alright. You were taking Viggo Capeli to the Downtown courthouse when you reached an intersection, where a SWAT van driven by a member of Phraxus rammed you. There was also a bus that was with it to block off the cruisers behind yours, and a pair of vans that cut off the cruisers from in front. You were rolled three times. According to the doctor and paramedics, you hit your head and almost suffered a concussion, but your partner managed to take the majority of the impact. Viggo Capeli was nowhere to be found, nor was the driver to the SWAT van. Everyone else was apprehended."

Judy felt her mouth go dry at the thought of Nick being injured in the crash, and her heart pick up its pace. "Is... Nick okay?" she asked, voice filled with tension.

"He dislocated his right arm, suffered a concussion, is missing the tip of an ear and was cut in too many places to count by the glass," the chief admitted. "But, he's going to be fine. Doctor Mossman, who has been overseeing all three of you, put his arm back into place and is patching Officer Wilde up as we speak." The Chief sat back in his chair, the slightly-too-small seat groaning as he did so. Judy sat in silence, drinking in what she was told. Nick was hurt, but he was okay. That was what mattered.

Then, something struck Judy. "Sir, you said the doctor was seeing three of us? But mister Capeli wasn't anywhere to be found?"

"That is correct, Hopps," the chief said with a nod. "Robin was put in the ICU last night. He was found in his house by a friend of his, as well as the body of Capeli."

"What?." Judy asked in slight bewilderment, frowning from the confusion. She couldn't think of a reason for him to be in the hospital – he had fought several mammals at once, and come out on top. Surely one couldn't hurt him that badly? "Why is he in the hospital?"

"He suffered a gunshot wound to the side, as well as significant blood loss," a new voice said, though it was quickly identified as the voice that Chief Bogo was speaking with earlier. Judy turned to see a gray-furred coyote in a doctor's outfit step into the room, clipboard held under his arm. The nametag he wore read as 'Doctor H. Mossman, WWD'. "Officer Hopps, I'm glad to see you're awake. How are you feeling?"

"I have a horrible headache," she repeated. The doctor nodded and leaned outside the room, calling over a nurse and asking her to bring some water for Judy. It took a moment, but the doctor leaned out of the room again, gently offering the rabbit a clear plastic cup of water. Never before had Judy been so thankful for a simple cup of water, and she gulped it down greedily, before turning to the doctor, voice no longer raspy. "How is Nick doing?"

"Officer Wilde is fine; we've just finished checking his cuts, and he should be back to a hundred percent in no time," the coyote reassured her. "The real problem here is mister Wick. Chief Bogo, if I may have a word with you?"

"Of course," The Chief muttered, rising from his seat with a small grunt and walking after the doctor outside of the room. Neither of them shut the door, however, letting Judy and her sharp hearing overhear the conversation.

"I'm sorry to bother you so soon, but this is a very troubling situation. Few doctors these days are trained to work with gunshot wounds, but even those of us who have experience have limits. I'm not entirely sure we can remove the bullet while he has so little blood. As it is, we're having a hard time keeping him stable." Doctor Mossman sounded remorseful and hesitant as he spoke, clearly apprehensive.

"Are there any donors who could help keep him stable?" The Chief asked, his voice low.

"Finding a red fox donor with this little time is an unlikely; I would request Officer Wilde, but he suffered some blood loss as well. I'm not entirely comfortable with asking him to donate."

"Well you don't have to ask him," came a voice – Nick's. Judy's heart leaped in joy at hearing him – he was up and about surprisingly quickly. "If Robin needs blood, and I can spare some, then do it."

"Officer Wilde, you shouldn't be up yet," Doctor Mossman said sternly.

"And I also shouldn't be in two wrecks in under a month, but here I am," Nick replied. Judy could practically see the smirk forming on his muzzle.

The doctor let out a sigh. "Chief Bogo, what do you recommend?"

"Wilde, are you sure you're okay to do this?" The Chief asked.

"If I wasn't, would I be offering? No, no I wouldn't." Nick's response came without hesitation. "But I want to see Judy first."

Doctor Mossman made a noise like clicking his tongue, before letting out a soft sigh. "Very well. She's inside here; I'll go prepare."

Judy pushed herself upright as the sound of movement came from outside. She felt an uncontrollable smile appear on her on her face as she spotted Nick – his left ear had the tip missing and was bandaged, as was the base of his head and his left arm. The fox held out his arms in greeting as he made his way over to a chair, dragging it over to Judy's bed and climbing atop it. The bunny, unable to leave the bed yet (she was still somewhat dizzy), waited until the fox was within her grasp, before throwing her arms around him and holding him close. The Chief exited the room a moment later, the ringing of his phone leading him to give the officers some privacy.

Nick let out a chuckle as he returned the hug, his breaths tickling the top of the rabbit's head. "If I didn't know any better, Carrots, I'd say you were worried about me."

"I was more concerned about your tail," Judy replied. "I still haven't found a pillow as soft as it."

"Carrots, I am offended," Nick joked back. "I am more than just my tail, you know."

"Maybe, but it's the only part that matters," Judy countered.

"Am I officially being replaced by my own tail? What is this betrayal?" Nick took hold of his tail and held it before him, staring down at it in false shock. "How could you?" he asked the fluffy appendage, Judy letting out a giggle as it just flicked in response, before Nick let go and rolled his eyes, giving Judy a smirk as he turned his attention back to her. "I'm going to assume that you heard our conversation with those radar dishes you call ears?"

"I did," Judy nodded, a little bothered by the change of topics. "Just don't overdo it, okay? I'd like my fox back sometime soon."

Nick's smirk wavered slightly at her sentence, and it took Judy a moment to process why. She had called him her fox – without thinking about it, no less. Before she had any time to think on it further, though, the Chief stepped into the room. His expression was one of frustration and, at the same time, determination.

"Wilde, I need you to move things along. I have to return to the Precinct as soon as possible." The cape buffalo was slipping his phone back into his pocket, staring down at the officers.

"What happened, did Clawhauser run out of jelly donuts?" Nick asked, offering a slight chuckle. It fell silent from the sharp glare the Chief gave him, making the fox take on a more nervous expression.

"Now isn't the time, Wilde. And even I don't think you can make a joke about this." Bogo took a breath, gritting his teeth in frustration at whatever had happened. Nick took the oportunity to shoot Judy a look that said 'challenge accepted'. But it was wiped away by the next set of words that came from the buffalo's mouth.

"The Tundratown branch for the University of Zootopia was just attacked."

There you have it – the ending to A New Face In Town.

I'm going to take a break from this particular story and, for a little while at least, be working on 'The Money Shot' and 'Cloak and Dagger' – both of those stories seem fairly neglected as of late.

I'll include an update in both stories for when I begin the next part of this story – keep your eyes out for the sequel if you're interested! I want to thank everyone who has followed, favorited, left feedback, and even just taken the time to read this story. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

A quick shoutout to the authors I referenced throughout the series:
Cimar of Turalis WildeHopps
Blenderguy15
Sophie Ripley
PyreFerret
Leenden
TatorTotTottish
14sleepyhead09
SweetUnknown

Until next time,

~ óÓÒò ~
-N'yrthghar