Chapter 15:Moment of Reflection

When Nick returned to his house, there was a darkness outside that made it impossible to see anything. The stars were mysteriously hidden behind layers of clouds, and there was hardly any light in the sky, so that the only light in the sky was the moon, which was peeking out from behind the dark clouds, showing only a sliver of itself.

The fox was very satisfied with what he had achieved so far on his own. He had devised his intriguing plan himself, he had pieced together the facts from the case files himself, he had discovered the whereabouts of James's base himself, he had managed to extract information about the whereabouts of Dominic and Jack on his own. He did all this on his own without the help of anyone, which gave him plenty of reason to build up his courage, which he now badly needed. The next day was to be the last part of the plan, which was to exact revenge on his enemy. As he sat in the car thinking about this, he wondered what would happen if something didn't work out for him, what if he made a stupid mistake and his efforts were in vain. Already that night he had made a mistake that had caused it to be close for his plan to fail. Nick was well aware of that, but he also knew that he couldn't worry about the mistakes he had made, he just needed to get on with making sure he didn't make them a second time. He was far too far gone now to back down from what he had come up with and had risked too much to just give up now. Everything now depended only on whether he would manage to use it as he had laid it out in his mind, or whether something would go wrong.

His thoughts were interrupted when an alarm sounded from his phone, informing him that someone was calling. Nick lazily took his phone out of his pocket and when he saw who was calling he was taken aback hard.

"Clawhauser? What could he want at this hour..." Nick thought. Nevertheless, he took the call from his friend.

"Hello, Clawhauser? Something wrong with you calling at this hour?"

"Hi Nick! Sorry to call at this hour, you must have been asleep..."

"I wish, heh"

"Ugh, I guess I know what's keeping you awake..."

"Yeah, you know how it is..." Replied Nick nodding at his friend's words. Even though he knew he was fooling him, he was glad in a way that he didn't have to make anything up, it was enough for him to nod at his words that sounded logical.

"It'll be fine, don't worry. I honestly don't want to hold you back from what you've been doing right now, so I'm just going to ask right away what I want."

"Ask boldly my friend."

"How much longer are you going to keep those files with you? You know the ones I mean, the ones from your bank case."

"Hm...in theory I could give them back already, why do you ask?" Asked the fox curiously.

"Today while I was on duty, the Commandant asked for documents...I said I didn't have them and as you can guess it wasn't my best day" complained Clawhauser. Fox knew that the Commandant could sometimes be overly loud and provocative when he got angry, so he was not particularly surprised when his friend recounted how the Commandant had chided him.

"You didn't tell him that I had the documents did you?"

"Of course not! After all, I promised not to tell anyone...but you know, it would be good if you brought those files as soon as possible" replied Clawhauser.

"Okay, no problem. How about tomorrow?"

"That would be very good! Try to arrive by 1.00 p.m., that's when the commandant arrives and it would be good if he didn't know about it"

"Great idea!"

"Great! Then we're agreed. In general, why did you need the file? Did you find anything interesting? Did you get any clues?" Clawhauser asked.

"Well...ugh, not very much to be honest. I sat on it for a bit, but not very much information I found if I'm being honest."

"Well, the important thing is that you tried. Turn in those documents tomorrow and you'll be fine. See you later"

"See you later" Nick replied, then hung up on his friend.

'Time to end this' thought Nick as he put his phone back in his pocket. As he thought about it, he was glad that soon his plan would be completed and he could enjoy what he had accomplished. Although he also knew that what he was about to do would change his attitude towards others.

When he came upon Jack, he guessed that he would have to overcome a barrier of sorts within himself. Would he be willing to break through it and do something that might drastically change him? Would he be able to risk that much? Sam wasn't sure, but when he remembered Judy, who might die because of what Jack had done, he knew he had to do it. Not because he has to, he just wants Jack to feel the same way his friend is feeling at this time.

"I'd better go to bed...3.a.m.! How time flies so fast..." Thought Nick when he saw the time on his smartphone. He hadn't expected to get home so late when he was in Sahara Square, it seemed to him that time was practically not flying, it seemed to him that time had stopped.

Before he got out of the car he unfastened his police badge from his chest, put it in the glove compartment of the car, which he did the same with the pistol that hung on his belt the whole time. He never knew when his gun would come in handy.

After stowing away his police gadgets, the fox headed home to get some respite from everything that was bothering him in his mind.

Once he was in his home retreat the first thing he did was decide to take a bath to relax and make himself feel better. He figured it was a good way to vent his anger and the stress he had been holding inside for the past few days, causing him to be unable to focus on anything other than this matter. He poured warm water into the tub, then removed his clothes. When he touched the surface of the heated wave of water a shiver ran through his body, causing him to feel relaxed and calm. The feeling of relaxation was so great that he let out a quiet moan. This was really something he needed. The feeling of the delicate foam that delicately surrounded his body caused a feeling of comfort and peace. Despite the fact that he was alone and still had a case on his mind, he didn't care so much, he wanted to have this moment all to himself. He hadn't felt this good, this calm in days. This level of equilibrium only brought him to the park he was in that day, where he met Commander Bogo. The thought that he was supposed to be looking for a new partner for himself then came to mind, making him lose his sense of calm rhythm again.

'I need to see this,' thought Nick. He opened his eyes, then wiped his hands so he could then power rummage through the pockets of his trousers.

"Got it!" Thought Nick when he felt a piece of paper. He took the document in his hands, then unfolded it, reading through its contents.

The contents of the deed literally indicated that it was a contract of sorts that confirmed working alongside Nick, which moved him once again when he saw it. It wasn't a good sign, apparently the police had already decided that Judy was going to die within a dozen days.

'It'll be good Judy... I promise," thought Nick. He put the document on the cupboard standing next to the bath, then continued to relax in the bath

After several minutes, Nick decided that it was a good time to finally go to bed. He had to get up a little earlier than the last day, due to the fact that he had to turn in papers for his friend Clawhauser. He rose lazily from the bath, then wiped his fur delicately with a towel. Once that was done he put on his nightwear, then headed towards his bedroom. He looked curiously into the kitchen, where a clock hung, it indicated 4.00 a.m.

'Ugh...it won't be a long sleep' thought Nick as he saw the time. A four or five hour sleep would not be a long rest.

He headed to his room where he immediately went to bed covering himself with a cold duvet, this was going to be an important day...

The next day, started very early for the fox, who as it seemed, had just gone to bed. The alarm clock started giving its annoying signal as early as 8.00 a.m., which made Nick get up actually half conscious. The first thing he did was to turn off his now redundant alarm, sit on his bed and watch the cloudy morning sky this time, which didn't look as energetic and cheerful as the day before. The weather was not the best, but the fox could not lose his already heavy head in it. He got out of bed and went to the kitchen to have breakfast. He turned on the radio and the first thing he did was to start boiling water for coffee. He didn't feel like eating anything at the moment, he just wanted to drink some vigorous coffee.

While Nick was listening to the music on the radio and waiting for the water to boil, his phone buzzed alerting him that someone was calling. Fox was surprised to see that it was the doctor. Unsure of what he wanted he picked up the signal.

"Hello?"

"Good morning Nick. It's just me,I wanted to ask how you were?"

"I'm fine...somehow things are going well...that's not why you called right?" Nick asked. The doctor didn't answer for a few moments. Fox seemed to have lost his range, but after a moment of waiting the doctor sighed heavily.

"Yes, that's not what I'm calling for...you haven't been with us lately, which surprised me a bit. Wouldn't you perhaps like to see Judy...one last time?"

"What do you mean last time?" Repeated a surprised Nick. This was not good news for him, also he didn't see what 'last time' really meant

"You see, time is passing, it's practically gone, and we haven't been able to find any donors...maybe it's time to accept what's about to happen and meet Judy...this one last time"

"After all, there is still..."

"A day, two at the most. It'll only get worse after that. Nick, we're doing what we can, but the liver can't regenerate from this state. Please come to our office if not today then tomorrow so that you can be seen. "

"Okay..." Nick nodded calmly.

"Okay, we'll be waiting for you, please turn up...see you later " replied the doctor hanging up on the fox. The doctor's words hurt Nick, even though he himself knew it wasn't over yet. It pained him that practically everyone with knowledge of Judy's condition was already crossing her off the list of the living, preparing for her fateful death. He didn't know why they were giving up so early, instead of believing that something would happen and that everything would be alright. As it was, he must have been the only person who still believed that Judy would survive. Soon the water was boiling for coffee, the electric kettle made its presence known.

'It's not over yet' thought Nick putting the phone down on the dresser.