Chapter 2: Blood

"Judy!" Cried Nick when he noticed his seriously injured partner. Judy was lying in a pool of blood, being leaned head down on a bench that had been knocked over during the shooting. Her expression was cold, her crocus usually warm eyes were cold, her eyes were almost closed, Nick almost couldn't see her eyes which were normally wide open showing their beauty. In her left hand she held a pistol which was slowly falling out of her bloodied hand which was inexorably letting go of the gun which was sliding into a puddle of plasma. Nick stood for a few seconds shocked by what surely seemed to him to be the horrific sight of his friend being shot.

Fox heard several voices at the entrance. They were probably police officers who were about to intercede as reinforcements. He immediately ran towards them being careful not to trip over any obstacle. When he ran out of the scene, he noticed 3 police cars standing by the stairs and next to them 4 policemen writing a report of what had happened.

"Call an ambulance! Judy's in there...all bloody...she must have been hit by a bullet...something must have happened there..." Nick started to call out as he managed to spot them. Unfortunately his cries appeared in vain as his requests were so chaotically said that no one understood any of it.

"Hola, Mr Wilde! Calm down, take a deep breath and say calmly, what has happened?" Asked one of the officers upon seeing Nick, who looked as if she had seen some kind of carnage.

"Judy, she's seriously injured, lying there in the bank in a pool of blood. Call an ambulance!" Nick called out. The group of officers cast a look of horror at each other.

"Call, now!" Shouted Nick. That was enough for the officer to take his phone out of his pocket and call 911 to get an ambulance to the scene. Nick ran back into the bank, but this time he entered the counter where the bank employees were standing.

"There's got to be a first aid kit in here somewhere" thought Nick as he looked around looking for some sort of box that would signify first aid. Eventually he found one small green case with a white cross on it. Nick took it and jumped over the counter heading among the benches to find Judy. The rest of the police officers meanwhile were securing the area and bringing out witnesses to the incident, who fortunately were not seriously hurt. At worst they had a few bruises on their bodies, nothing more.

When Nick reached Judy he could see that she was getting worse. He quickly opened the first aid kit and with trembling paws tried to find a bandage with which he could treat Judy's wound, or at least stop the stroke. The sight and stress of the situation made Nick's hands tremble as if they were made of jelly. When he looked at Judy he was getting weak, but he had to fight it to help for Judy.

"Judy, it's going to be okay...you just have to hold on...the ambulance is coming for you now...do you hear me? It's going to be okay, you just have to hold on!" Said Nick trying to keep Judy's spirits up. By this time he had located the spot from which the blood was flowing. He yanked her uniform down over her stomach and saw the bullet was still inside her causing her to hemorrhage.

"Yeez...I'll never forget this..." Nick thought. The disgust was so great that with his eyes closed, Nick tied a bandage on her wounded body. His trembling paws were not helping him at all with this, there were a few times when the bandage slipped from his paws, but he was already trying to finish it. His hands were turning red from Judy's blood, but he didn't care, he had to help at all costs for his partner. Once he had tied the bandage, he squeezed the bandage placed on her body gently and found the gauze.

"I'll go soak the gauze Judy, it will give you relief...I'll be there in a minute" Nick said. Running as fast as he could, he ran into the men's bathroom where he first washed his hands of his friend's blood at the tap, then rehydrated the gauze a little with cold water so as to give relief to Judy.

"That should be enough," thought Nick. He ran out of the bathroom then dropped to his knees again beside Judy placing the gauze on her covered wound. Judy groaned quietly at the sensation, but it was a sign that she felt relieved which calmed Nick down a little.

"I only saw one..." Said Judy quietly which got Nick's attention. He looked at her, although she was looking in the same place, with her dead eyes watching the wall opposite.

"I thought it was just him...when I felt something pierce my stomach...and I fell" Judy added quietly closing her eyes even further.

"Judy, open your eyes...please..." Said Nick, putting his hand under Judy's head, which was already sagging slowly against his arm.

"Where's the bloody ambulance!" Shouted Nick. But no one answered him. He sat by Judy in a pool of her blood until the very end, even though he still hoped she would be okay.

The ambulance arrived five minutes later while Nick was still sitting by her side. Her condition was critical, her breathing was small, short, almost undetectable. Her pulse was faint, but Nick was mostly happy that she was alive. He didn't mind that his uniform was soaked in Judy's blood, he knelt by her until the very end, keeping her company until the ambulance arrived. Soon, the sound of ambulance sirens came from the exit and the ambulance finally arrived. Moments later, a group of paramedics approached Nick, who moved him away from Judy so they could do their jobs. They took her to the bed and gently transported her to the ambulance.

"You can't go, your outfit doesn't allow it. We will contact you when you can visit the patient" communicated one of the officers blocking the way for the fox to enter the ambulance. They closed the door in front of his door and then drove off with the signal on. Nick stood motionless for a few more moments watching as the vehicle that had taken Judy drove off towards the hospital disappearing behind more towering buildings.

"What happened out there Nick?" The voice of Commander Bogo came from behind the fox as he watched from a distance as Judy was carried on a bed to the ambulance. He waited for the right moment to ask about the account of events in this situation.

"Ugh... you know...it was horrible...I can't, I won't be able to tell you...I'm sorry" Nick replied in a trembling voice. He still had the sight of the injured Judy in front of him as she lay barely alive on the floor. The Commander wanted to ask again, but seeing the state Nick was in he decided to let it go for his sake.

"Ekh...you know what Mr Wilde, go home, get cleaned up and calm down... you look really bad" replied the commandant seeing Nick's uniform which was half covered in blood.

"I think you're right..."

"We'll contact you as soon as something is known about Judy. You'll be the first to know," Bogo added as he escorted the fox to the police car he and Judy had arrived in at the scene. Nick got into the police car and stood in the car park for a while longer.

"Go home, you need to sort out the thoughts in your head" said Bogo bending down to the level of the window. Nick nodded affirmatively, then started the car. Although he didn't want to, he drove home.