Chapter 22: Excerpt

It had been two weeks since Judy had been woken up and everything seemed to be coming back together. She was feeling better and better every day and it was actually showing. Her face was flushing, her eyes were giving off more energy and she was feeling better in herself. The doctor explained to her what had happened. He had, in fact, passed on to her the knowledge he had gained from Nick, but that was enough for her to put everything together on her own. At first, she felt uncomfortable about it, but soon, she realized that if it had not been for this move, she would probably, or rather certainly, not have been able to enjoy the sun and other wonders of nature anymore. She felt a bit different, she felt that something inside her did not belong to her, but with time she got used to it. Nick helped her a lot, who came to her for the first week practically every day several times without leaving her room for several hours. They could talk to each other constantly for up to several hours having a great time. Fox only left when he had to, because the doctor had to examine the rabbit, take the required samples, or when he had to run private errands. Nick helped mentally recover for Judy, she needed it. Fox saw moments when she felt lost, her blank expression betrayed everything. Her facial expressions to her unhappiness were such that any emotion could be read from the movement of her lips.

On the 2nd day after waking up, Chief Bogo came to the hospital and decided to visit his best police officer who was performing the best of all. The conversation with the commandant was very solemn, haughty which did not surprise Judy too much and even made her laugh a little. Even at a time like this, Bogo had to remain serious and give motivational speeches interspersed with translations from the police when you have to fight. She couldn't blame Bogo directly for it though, he'd been working as a commander for several decades, she wasn't surprised that he was used to that style of speech. It was already part of him. On the other hand she was glad to hear him speak, she missed it as well as many other things.

As time passed, however, Nick began to visit the rabbit relatively less, which didn't bother the rabbit very much at first. She understood that he might have some private matters that needed more attention. She was given information not to fret, she now needed a lot of rest and peace to be fully recovered. During this time she also spoke to her doctor, Adams, who gradually revealed more pages of the story behind her transplant. She was positively surprised when she heard from the doctor that Nick had found the husband of the woman, Emily's mother, from whom the transplant had been successful.

"My school," thought Judy. However, after talking for an hour, the doctor had to go back to work.

It was sunset when Judy was left alone in her room. She could admire the view through the glass walls of the building, which revealed a panorama of the city, which looked insane being bathed in the glow of the setting sun. In the streets, individual lamps had already been switched on to light up the roadway, for safety reasons. In the blocks of flats, the house lights had begun to come on. Judy felt a little sad to see this sight, she remembered her family, who don't even know what is happening to her. They hadn't been in contact with each other lately, mostly because of work, which forced Judy to patrol most of the day, and when she got home she would either do something with Nick, or be too tired to look at her phone and lie inertly in bed so she could rest.

The room around her began to fade slowly into darkness. Judy looked around at the patients lying next to her, everyone was practically asleep, or at least falling asleep. She was the only one who didn't look like she was going to fall asleep any time soon. She didn't feel like it, to be honest. Despite the transplant, and the passage of so much time, her primal energy remained, and even that didn't take away the childlike strength and energy that gives her an edge in perseverance.

She turned to the other side out of curiosity, Nick had brought her phone for Judy during some visits so that she could keep in touch with her family in case they called. When she took the smartphone in her paws, it was a little bloody, which disgusted Judy a little, but she couldn't help it. The main thing was that at least it worked. As she activated the phone a bright light came into her eyes coming from the smartphone. She giggled when she saw her wallpaper where she was with a fox. The photograph showed them on one of their walks together, during sunset. The fox seemed to be a cold-hearted old grump in the photograph, which unsettled the rabbit, but at the same time she found it cute. After unlocking her phone, she noticed that she had 6 missed calls from her mum, which moved her. Without a second thought, she decided to call and Communicate that she was okay.

"Cmon, Mum pick up," Judy said quietly as she heard the signal sound. She expected she might have to wait a bit, it was a bit late, and knowing her parents there was a chance they had already gone to bed to sleep. However, after a few seconds on the phone receiver, Judy heard her mother's voice sounding thoughtful.

"You finally picked up! What's been happening to you Judy? Are you all right? We haven't been able to reach you the last few days!"

"I know mum I know...I'm...fine. I've just been busy with work," Judy replied. She didn't want to worry Mum about her health. Knowing her, if she found out that she had recently undergone a heart transplant, she herself would need more help than Judy.

"Ekh...well, the main thing is that you're okay. How are you holding up? Maybe you should maybe take some time off since you don't even have time to talk to your family..."

"Well, you know, maybe it's a choice, but I don't know if I need to rest..."

"Everyone needs a rest Judy. The police can manage without you too, you don't have to do everything for them."

"That's not the point! I just don't know if I'll be able to get used to it..."

"Hm... come visit us at least okay? The whole family misses you"

"Okay, I'll visit, I promise..." Judy replied. She couldn't say no, a humble smile appeared on her face as she talked to her mum, it was because of the simple conversation with her mum. During the conversation she had to be quiet so as not to wake anyone up. She didn't want to cause anyone any problems.

"Alright, I'll be off now, as you know farm work is not that pleasant... visit us as soon as possible...we love you"

"I love you too, bye" replied Judy, then hung up.

She was glad that she had spoken to her mother, but at the same time she began to miss her family. She began to really wonder if she should take a real holiday? Since she had solved the case together with Nick she hadn't had any time off but had been working non-stop. Maybe this was the right time to say "stop" to herself and take care of herself?

Finally, the day came. More than two weeks after being awakened, Judy was in very good condition. Her last tests had shown no abnormalities or indications that she should stay in hospital, so first thing in the morning, when the sun was just rising and the floor was coming to life, a doctor came into the room where Judy lay, looking very excited. Judy looked at him very closely, although her sleepy eyes were still closing, she could see that he was probably enjoying the fact that he was about to leave Judy's hospital room more than the patient.

"Good morning Hopps. The day has finally come!"

"Is it already..."

"You'll be discharged at noon today and you can go home! You don't even know how glad I am that it's over. The sight when I spotted you in a pool of blood..." The doctor sighed heavily. The sight of the injured Judy made the doctor shake himself off, because of the shivers that went through his body.

"Hm...that's good," sighed Judy sending a brief smile towards the doctor. Adams felt a little surprised to see that Judy was not in the best of moods, he had expected a different reaction. He was hoping for some sort of outburst of joy or at least a brief, sincere smile.

"I know it's none of my business, but is something wrong? You don't look like you're enjoying yourself too much," the doctor asked. With a calm motion, he put the file folder on the bedside table and sat down on Judy's bed. Her droopy ears indicated that something was wrong, though she was initially afraid to confess it. After a brief hesitation, her crocus eyes fixed on the doctor's chocolate eyes.

"I'm glad to get out of here, I really feel like I've been here too long and I want to leave this place, but it's been a long time since Nick has visited, which kind of depresses..."

"What do you mean?"

"Nick is my friend, a close friend. It surprises me that he's suddenly stopped speaking to me..." Judy replied. The Doctor sat on the bed with great composure and listened to Judy's words, which seemed intensely emotional. He could see in her eyes that she missed her friend who had left her in the last days.

"He told me something recently, but he asked me not to tell anyone, especially you," replied the Doctor after a moment's thought.

"Why? Please tell me it's very important to me" replied Judy with determination. Instinctively she grabbed the doctor's hand and squeezed it drawing the attention of the man who laughed briefly. Despite the fox asking him not to say anything for the rabbit, he decided he had to do it. He saw a determination in Judy's eyes that was too strong not to answer her question.

"Well, I'll say, but only on account of the fact that you miss him. He mentioned something to me about leaving, he didn't want to say too many details, he just talked about it and some letter."

"What departure? What letter?" Judy inquired. Her curiosity wouldn't let go, but the doctor had nothing to do in this situation because he didn't know more himself.

"The only thing he told me was that you will find out everything yourself in your own time. Nothing else I don't know," Adams replied.

"Now get ready for discharge Hopps, I'll have your discharge ready soon and you can leave here" the doctor replied. He took his papers from the table and was about to go when he was stopped by Judy who held his hand.

"If you contact Nick, can you tell him that I miss him?" Judy asked. The doctor was surprised by the question. He hadn't encountered such requests, but he didn't really mind.

"Yes, I'll pass it on to him. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go," replied the doctor. A moment later he left the room