A/N:
Welcome to Chapter 3 of What Foxes May Come. It's been a Wilde ride so far (see what I did there?) and it's shaping up to be even wilder. This chapter was a bit difficult to write, not because I couldn't think of anything, but the content itself was hard to swallow. Muse decided he had just about enough of my talking smack about him, so I suffered his wrath. I hope you enjoy Chapter 3 called Of Foxes and Bunnies.
A special shout out to my buddy Blkdragon7 for the editing. Go check out his ongoing story called A Friendly Hustle and show him some love. You can also check out his original work and link to his writing Blog, Scribblings, where a lot of it lives by hopping over to ( Direct: dcballard (remove the spaces) and my own writing blog, BearSpace, at: bearspace … because the forwarding is misbehaving.)
****Also I should note that Zootopia, Judy Hopps, Nick Wilde, and other associated characters are the Sole property of Disney Inc. I do not own the rights, save a few of my own characters and those will be noted at the beginning of their respective chapters. ****
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Ch 3
Of Foxes and Bunnies
After Judy was rushed to the hospital, Nick finally allowed himself to be checked over. He looked over at the now totally mangled cruiser and winced. This day was a nightmare he would never forget. As he sat there he heard the voice of ZPD Police Chief Bogo inquire as to Judy and his own whereabouts.
Rounding the back of the ambulance, Chief Bogo saw a sight that almost made the seemingly permanent frown he wore disappear in momentary shock. Nick was banged up pretty good. Scrapes and cuts here and there, torn uniform and bare, raw skin where patches of fur used to be. But he was conscious and talking with the EMT (Emergency Medical Technician).
The concerning part was the fact that the snarky remarks were gone, along with the glib sense of humor. His eyes were haunted, his demeanor subdued. Bogo waited until the EMT was furnished with Nick, before approaching.
He looked around a moment before saying anything, taking in the entire scene in just a few short seconds. Then he looked over at Nick.
"How are you son," Bogo asked quietly, in one of his rare moments of consolation. He knew his usual gruffness would be over doing it in this instance.
"I'm mostly ok Chief, but Judy … ,' he gestured vaguely in the direction the ambulance with Judy had taken, seeming lost, and on the verge of a breakdown.
"Wilde, easy now, I got the report from Wolford. I'm here to take you to the hospital for a full workup. I'm sure you'll want to be there when Judy wakes up? "
Nick simply looked up at Bogo, nodded and then robotically followed him to the car. They rode in silence the whole way, with Nick lost in his own thoughts. Thoughts of the accident, reliving every moment from the second it began, to the time the ambulance left with his partner. Thirty minutes later, though it seemed a veritable eternity to Nick, they arrived at Zootopia General woodenly followed the Chief through the emergency doors, and waited while he talked with the staff for a moment. Glancing at Nick, a nurse rushed around the desk and had an orderly grab a wheelchair.
As Nick was wheeled into a triage room, he got up and tried to walk out, mumbling something about getting back to work. The nurse steered him back to the exam table and gave him something for the pain they said. He swallowed the medication down without thinking. Soon he began to feel light, almost like he was floating. Then a calm darkness took him and he slept. Nick woke up sometime later. He was sore and thirsty. He opened his eyes, the room he was in was dimly lit. 'It must still be early,' he thought. He tried to roll to his side to take the pressure off his back, but groaned in pain instead. He felt like he had been run over by a convoy. He caught sight of his wrapped paws and arms, suddenly realizing that he was in a hospital bed.
Laying there for a moment, he gathered his wits around him. He hated hospitals. The way foxes, not to mention other small 'preds' like weasels and minks were treated, really made his blood boil. Yet here he was. Right where he'd really rather not be. He found the call button and pressed it for a moment, then settled in for what he expected would be a long wait. It's just how things were for foxes. But to his surprise, less than a minute passed before there was a knock on his door. Then the door quietly and smoothly opened admitting, what to Nick's eyes, initially appeared to be a small fawn. In reality the nurse was a water deer, as evidenced by the elongated canines that her breed had.
"Mr. Wilde you're awake, how are you feeling this morning?" she asked with a chipper, but soft voice, and a warm smile.
"Officer Wilde, and I feel like I was repeatedly run over by a Yak Truck. How long was I out," he asked, struggling to sit up.
Looking briefly at his chart, she gave a low whistle. "Well Officer Wilde," she replied with just a hint of sarcasm, making Nick smile, "It looks like you were asleep for almost three days."
His smile instantly faded when the accident from three days ago suddenly flooded his memory.
"T-t-t-three day!" he spluttered in disbelief. "I-I need to get back to wor … Wait .. where's Judy?! .. where's my partner‽" he almost yelled.
Taken aback by the sudden forcefulness of his question the nurse stammered a bit,
"Y-your partner? Im sorry, I don't know abo-"
Nick cut her off, "Her name is Officer Hopps, she would have been admitted roughly and hour before me, brought in on a *bus "
"L-let me go see who is handling her case a-and I'll be back as soon as I-I can," she stammered with fear.
With that she spun and almost ran out the door. Nick mentally kicked himself for scaring the poor nurse, 'Good job Wilde,' She really was doing her best. About 20 or so minutes later there was another knock on the door, and this time an older looking Cheetah, with streaks of silver shot through his spotted tawny fur just under his ears, stepped through the door.
"Officer Wilde, pleased to meet you, I'm Doctor Emelio Fast, and I am in charge of handling your partner Judys case. Now as I'm sure that you are aware, I'm not really able to discuss her condition with you as it falls under patient confidentiality laws. But I can tell you that she is in critical but stable condition," said the doctor as he looked at her paperwork.
At this Nick frowned, glaring into the blanket covering his legs.
'Hmm, interesting," Dr Fast said as he said as he leafed through Judy's file. "It seems she made you her emergency contact. That changes things some, I think."
It took a moment for what the doctor had said to register in Nick's brain His thoughts both scattered and chaotic, while simultaneously being laser focused on his bunny's well being
"Wait, what," started Nick, "She made me her emerge-," he trailed off.
Thinking a second, "please tell me she's alright."
"She is in critical but stable condition, as i mentioned. There is significant soft tissue damage to her midsection, and a strong possibility of a crushed spine. It's lucky she survived." the doctor began.
"We won't know for sure until the swelling goes down enough to allow for proper x-rays and imaging, as the severe edema she currently has wreaks havoc on our imaging devices. I assure you Officer Wilde, we are doing everything we can to help her, but it will undoubtedly be some time before we really know anything for certain. We have her in a chemically induced coma to help with healing and to limit the pain she would otherwise feel."
Nick frowned down at the blanket covering his legs, not sure whether to be mad or relieved. The Doctor gave Nick a wane smile, and an understanding squeeze to Nick's leg, then stepped out of the room.
Chief Bogo stopped by later in the day, as did Wolford and Fangmeyer, but Nick wasn't really in the mood for visitors. He was glad they cared enough to show up however. Clawhauser even visited at one point. bringing doughnuts, of course. Nick had only one thing on his mind, and that was his partner, his bunny. His feelings for her had made themselves fully manifest in just the last few days, and his heart already hurt, more than it ever had, 'Why a rabbit, and more specifically why her of all mammals,' he asked himself.
Nick thought of many things. Foremost was his love for her, her smile and spunky attitude about life. He was happy to see her so .. so vibrant, so full of life. Now, because of one drunk driver, she lay in a hospital bed, in what sounded like an induced coma. He vividly remembered seeing her hips and legs pinned inside the cruiser, as the roof collapsed and crushed her. As it looked, her career as an officer was over. It was likely she would never walk again. He called the nurse and asked for something to help him sleep.
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Judy in a coma? How will Nick react to seeing her later on? He surely blames himself for not getting her out in time. But how will he help Judy now? Stay tuned to this channel for more as we follow this breaking news story.
*Bus .. not a school bus mind you. Bus is a common term referring to an ambulance in many places in the USA.