Chapter 20: Burn

A few hours later

It was a late, dark night as Nick sat outside the entrance to the operating theatre waiting for the moment when any doctor would come out of the room to talk about the course of the transplant that was being performed. In the empty, cold corridor sat only a fox who, having nothing to do, read the leaflets posted on the cork boards on the opposite side of the snowy white wall, he did this several times until he finally let go. The hospital at this hour was practically dead, the floor where the fox was was completely empty. The only sounds were the tapping of the clock hanging on the wall and the sounds from other floors where the patients were located. From there came the sounds of the hospital staff working all night. The only living being the fox saw was the janitor who was mopping the floor on the first floor. She didn't seem very talkative, when she saw Nick she lowered her head down avoiding eye contact with him. Nick made no secret of the fact that he was very stressed about how the operation was being conducted, his thoughts were violent, storming every time he thought that something could have gone wrong and Judy could have died. His last few days had been filled with stress that was wearing him out, but the thought that this could be the end gave him the strength to stay awake with fatigue and he sat intently in his chair resting his back against the cold tiled walls trying to calm himself down and occupy himself with something. At some point he decided to check what time it was, it was striking midnight. This worried him a little, it had been several hours since the procedure had started and no news further on how it went. He felt less and less confident with each passing minute, but he counted in the sincerity of Dr Adams' words, about the doctors being the best in town. He did not lose hope in them, all the time trying to think positively, although when he looked through the glass door on which there was a sign "Unauthorized access forbidden" and he did not see any surgeon and there was worry.

While in the corridor, Nick saw a familiar rabbit-like face on the other side of the floor heading towards him. He didn't have to watch the figure for long to see that it was Jack. Fox was surprised by the rabbit's visit, after signing the papers the man and his wife drove off to their home, after which Nick followed the doctor who led him under the operating theatre.

"Can I sit down?" Jack asked, to which the fox nodded modestly.

"What did you come back for? Weren't you supposed to go back to your wife?" Asked Nick curiously.

"You know...when we arrived home we talked and explained everything to each other so we wouldn't have problems later. I came because I knew you would be sitting here until the end of the procedure. I wanted to thank you in that way..." Jack replied.

"In theory I should be thanking..."

"For what? It's because of me that Judy is being operated on. I thank you for giving me and my friends a second chance. It means a lot to us, we didn't want to go to jail" replied the rabbit. Jack's words brought a small smile to Nick's lips, who was more than happy to listen to Jack's words, which, after all, were the truth.

"Thanks for letting the transplant happen, if it hadn't been for that, it would have been over Judy..."

"If I may ask...who is Judy to you?" Jack asked. Fox didn't answer. He straightened up in his chair and swallowed hard on his saliva and pondered for a few moments staring at the flyers that were posted on the cork boards. During this time Jack waited for a response even though it seemed the fox was ignoring him.

"Judy...is a friend to me. She's not just some colleague I met at work or something... I met her quite by accident, I remember when she wanted to arrest me hah"

"Arrest you?" Jack asked with exasperation.

"Yeah, she wanted to lock me up for illegally dealing in food, but I had documents. Which were fake"

"So you weren't a policeman when you met her?"

"Of course not! I'm a fox, believe me, it's hard to be one! Everyone distrusts you, everyone looks at you wrong. Judy is not like that. It's not the species that matters to her, it's what you have inside. Thanks to her, my life came out on top."

"What do you mean?"

"Thanks to her, I got hired at the police department. I got a contract from her to work with her, which got me into the academy... she has done so much for me, I hope I will still have a chance to do her a favour"

"Looking at where we are at you have done a lot." Jack remarked. The fox turned towards him with a questioning look, which forced the rabbit to explain.

"Think about it, if it wasn't for you she would most likely be dead by now. If it wasn't for you then most likely nothing would have gone forward. Thanks to you she has a chance to survive, she has a chance to live on" Jack replied. Nick couldn't say no, what the rabbit was saying was true, he was just quietly hiding it inside himself. Asking himself, Nick answered himself similarly, he knew what the situation was at the police station and he knew that the search was at a very early level...too early. He himself had risked everything on one card many times to uncover more clues, being tired and stressed he had uncovered more files and discovered their next meeting places to finally be able to meet the leader of the three, and Jack, who was to be the main target of this mission. Instead of revenge, an unexpected twist came out, with Jack turning out to be, in a sense, the fox's partner in helping to retrieve Judy from the clutches of death for him.

"When we spoke this evening you mentioned that the evidence on us might disappear and our case would be dismissed, how do you plan to do that?" Asked Jack after a moment's pause.

"Let's just say we have our ways. That's what you don't have to worry about, I keep the promises I make. You'll be safe," replied Nick calmly. At that moment an idea was born in the fox's mind. Taking advantage of the fact that nothing was happening in the corridor anyway and the only active people on the floor were them and the doctors wouldn't come out with information, the fox came up with an idea.

"You know, I need to go somewhere." He communicated to Nick. After straightening up briefly, Nick rose from his chair in a slow motion straightening his back. He looked out the glass door one last time, there was not a trace of a living organism.

"Where are you going?" Asked Jack as he saw Nick slowly move away from him towards the stairs.

"I have to do one thing. Wait here for me " called out Nick. A moment later the fox disappeared behind the railing of the stairs leading downstairs.

Half an hour later

It was a little over half an hour before Nick arrived at his chosen destination. He arrived at the place where all the criminal files and all the police officers' documents were located. As he approached the door of the police station he thought once more about whether he really wanted to clear the records of Jack and his friends who had robbed the bank. What if the transplant failed after all and Judy died? The doctors had been out for so long, something could have gone wrong after all and yet he still felt that everything would work out. On the other hand, Nick had promised that if the procedure went ahead, he would exonerate Jack and his friends who were involved. Admittedly he had said this so that he could persuade Rabbit to convince his partner to sign the documents, he had no intention of doing so, but he did not want to appear angry. He felt a kind of compulsion to do what he had sworn to do, even though he did not want to do it.

The door to the police station was open, his good friend Clawhauser was sitting at the reception desk, just typing out some kind of documents on the computer. His eyes fixed on the monitors beaming white light made it clear that he was busy. He didn't even pay attention to Nick, who was standing outside the door. When Fox stepped inside, he managed to see that most were gone or had left for their patrols. Some of the police officers were sitting unseen in the courtroom, Nick could see that by the shadows of the figures reflecting through the glass doors.

"Hello Nick! What brings you here this time?" Clawhauser asked when he spotted his friend. He set the keyboard aside and stared curiously at the fox who had come to his desk and with a patter reached behind the drawers that were behind him. He guessed that one of them held documents about Jack Dominic and James, which didn't surprise him too much. He noticed that a key was needed to open them, which must have been around Clawhauser somewhere.

"My leave is slowly coming to an end, I'd like to look in here, I've got nothing to do...where are the others?"

"Where do you think they are? They are playing cards as always in the courtroom..." Replied the cheetah accusingly, pointing to the courtroom door. Upon closer eavesdropping, the voices of the others could be heard coming from that very room.

"I have to sit here and write some stupid documents while they can party all night! Ekh, it's so unfair..." The cheetah sighed heavily. He leaned his furry head against his hands and stared at the unfinished document displayed on the screen.

"Ugh, I'm sorry. I wouldn't feel comfortable in this situation either. Is there a commander ?"

"He isn't. He left about half an hour early, finishing his shift. How's Judy doing? Because of my work I don't have a way to even come and see her..." Asked Clawhauser, once he had managed to straighten up in his chair by choosing a more comfortable position.

"Let's just say she's holding up somehow...she'll be fine."

"Hopefully, she's a great cop. She's supposedly a rabbit, but she can do more than some of the guys in our unit."

"Yeah, hard to disagree. She's done a lot for this town."

"Definitely," replied Clawhauser.

"You know what, this is probably going to be longer than it sounds, this documentary. I'm going to go make myself a coffee, do you want one?"

"No, you know, I'll just for a minute. I'll be going..."

"I see. Take care then," replied Clawhauser calmly. They shook hands, after which the cheetah headed for the policemen's room, where all sorts of treats or drinks could be made. Nick decided without delay to take advantage of the situation, another opportunity like this might not happen. He quickly sat down in the officer's seat and opened the desk drawer searching through it to find the key to the drawers behind it. Finally he succeeded, at the bottom of the drawer he found a small silver key that outlined what seemed to be the perfect size for the drawers. He turned around behind him and inserted the key into a random lock. It all fit.

Opening the drawers one by one and quickly rifling through them, the fox read the file headings to make sure he took the right file, what he needed. He was tormented by the pressure of time, not knowing when Clawhauser might leave the room, or if any other officer would leave the courtroom, for some need. As Nick searched for the relevant files he also tried to listen for the slightest sound indicating that someone might be coming. Finally, after opening 4 drawers, he managed to locate the relevant file, which held data on James, Jack and Dominic inside. Fox closed all the opened drawers again, threw the key into the bottom of the desk drawer, which, by the way, he covered with piles of papers, and then, with the documents in his hands, he left the police station in a hurry, hiding the files in front of him, so that no one from the establishment could notice the documents. He got into his car, leaving the briefcase on the other driver's seat so that he could look in his pocket for the lighter.

'Here I have you' thought the fox triumphantly as he felt a hard rectangle in his trouser pocket. He took it out of his pocket then fired it up a few times, a small red flame coming out of the lighter. He took in his right hand a cardboard folder with documents inside, then stepped over the smoking fire. Fox hung back for a moment, wondering if he really wanted to do this. He knew that if he did, his life would be changed and changes would be needed. He knew it would result in some pretty big changes over his life, but he remembered that Judy had done a lot for him. Too much. A moment later he made up his mind, the file began to burn slowly.