WingedKatt here. I've updated this chapter, too, with some improved grammar and a few extra details. Enjoy.
While the EMTs worked at cleaning and bandaging her leg, Judy had watched Nick lean up against one of the massive cruisers that still sat outside the building. The ZPD was still scouring the Natural History Museum in search of any more psychotic sheep trying to escape justice. She hoped no one slipped through the cracks, but they weren't her concern right now—Nick was.
Although he still had his mask on, Judy could tell the impala's blatant disrespect and mistrust was getting to him. He hid it well, but Judy could tell. He didn't call her his best friend for nothing.
With a tired sigh, a small smile crept across her face, one that Nick returned when the impala turned her attention to Judy's leg while carefully wrapping a bandage around it. Ignoring the pain caused by the light pressure, she studied Nick's nonchalant expression. He seemed to be paying only half attention to her, and she assumed he was lost in thought, which made her wonder. What kind of thoughts would be running through a snarky fox's head while his best friend was receiving medical attention?
Well, she was about to find out. As the EMTs secured her bandage in place, Nick stepped back over to her, his smug grin held firmly in place. He remained silent, though, as the nicer of the two paramedics began to speak.
"Well, the wound is a little deep," the red panda explained, "and cut diagonally across several muscles, so we can't fix it up ourselves. We'll need to take you to the hospital and let a doctor look at it. He'll stitch it up and give you instructions for taking care of it."
Judy sighed at the thought of going to the hospital but nodded. "Can my friend come with me then?" she asked while indicating Nick.
The red panda, whose nametag read Jeff, opened his mouth to reply in the affirmative, when the impala suddenly spoke up. "Sorry, only family can ride with a patient." The smug look on her face told everyone her insistence was nothing more than a slight to the fox.
Jeff frowned at his partner but didn't push the issue. Judy, on the other paw, balled up her fists and opened her mouth to give the specist doe a piece of her mind when Nick placed a gentle paw on one of her fists. "It's okay, Fluff."
Judy turned her glare to Nick, but then her expression softened and seemed to ask, Why did you stop me?
Nick gave her a small smile. "We're both tired and hungry, so if you give me the truck keys, I can pick it up, grab some dinner, and meet you at the hospital later. How does that sound?"
Judy stared at him a moment longer, then suddenly deflated. As the anger evaporated, the tension left her body and her shoulders slumped. She felt so tired. And hungry. Nick's plan was sounding wonderful right now. Reaching into her pants pocket, she fished the keys out and dropped them into the vulpine's dark paw. "Yeah, I wouldn't want anything stolen from it." She emphasized stolen while glaring at Cindy. Turning her attention back to Nick as he pocketed her keys, she added, "And I am really hungry."
"Anything in particular you want?"
Judy shrugged. "Vegetables. Something with lots of vegetables." Nick's brows furrowed at her vague answer, but then her stomach growled loudly, and she quickly covered her belly with both arms, her ears turning a dark shade of pink.
"Sweet cheese and crackers, Carrots!" Nick exclaimed, taking a page from her book of colorful phrases. "When was the last time you ate?"
Judy couldn't meet his eyes as she murmured, "Sometime . . . last night . . . I think."
"What! Why!?" Before Judy could answer, the red panda coughed into his hand, and Nick stepped back so they could strap Judy in and hoist the gurney into the back of the ambulance. Not done with the conversation, he pointed a clawed finger at his furry, grey friend and said, "We'll finish this conversation later, young lady."
Judy giggled. "Yes, father."
Nick flashed her a genuine smile as the doors closed, and as Jeff made his way to the front of the ambulance, Nick asked, "Zootopia General, right?" After a quick nod in reply, the red panda disappeared within the ambulance's cab and was soon driving down the street. Which was perfect timing, as several news vans pulled up just as the ambulance disappeared around a corner.
Nick was already heading to an alley that led towards the street the truck was parked on, but at seeing the reporters piling out of the vans, he quickened his pace and vanished around the building and into the dark alleyway. He hated reporters. They didn't care about the truth, only what would sell to the masses.
Putting them out of his mind, Nick focused his attention back on Judy. Since she came from Bunnyburrow, she couldn't have any clothes to change into. At least he didn't see any suitcase in the truck, just crates of vegetables in the truck's bed.
So not only did he need to get her something to eat, and a lot of it if her stomach was anything to go by, he also needed to get her a couple of changes of clothes. And probably a toothbrush and toothpaste, and maybe some shampoo and conditioner. He imagined she would want a shower after the mad chase they'd had that day.
Reaching the truck, he made a list of all the places he could get bunny supplies from that were still open this late. There was a thrift store he frequented that would still be open. It was run by a raccoon he knew, and he thought he remembered seeing a small section with bunny clothes in it. Over by the hospital there was a convenience store that supplied travel-sized hygiene kits to the patients who found themselves at the hospital with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
With a plan of action in place, Nick ginned as he started up the truck. He couldn't wait to see the look on Judy's face when he showed up with everything she would need for the next few days. She wouldn't have to worry about a thing.
-/-/-
As the ambulance doors closed, Judy leaned back on the gurney. They had left the back of it in the upright position so she could sit up which she felt grateful for it. She hated the idea of being flat on her back while rumbling down the city streets, especially when she was only lightly injured.
Thinking back to Nick's goofy face while demanding they finish the conversation about her eating habits—or lack thereof—she couldn't keep a smile off her face which quickly turned into a giggle. Nick was such a big goof.
At Judy's giggle, Cindy looked over and said, "You shouldn't have done that, you know. Foxes can't be trusted. He'll rob you blind and leave you with empty paws and emptier pockets."
Folding her arms across her chest, Judy glared at the bigoted impala. "Don't talk about Nick like that. You don't know anything about him. So what if he's a fox? He's proven himself to be more trustworthy than any mammal I've ever met."
Cindy scoffed. "You're such a dumb bunny."
Judy's paws closed into fists where she still had them folded across her chest and her teeth ground together. 'Only Nick is allowed to call me a dumb bunny,' she thought. "I'm not a dumb bunny," she stated out loud.
Scoffing again, Cindy sneered, "Handing your keys over to that filthy fox, letting him touch you—that right there is the very definition of a dumb bunny."
Judy stewed for a minute, hating the idea that the specist impala was calling Nick filthy. "Nick isn't filthy." With a smug smile, she added, "He showers every day." Judy wasn't sure he actually did, but each time she'd met him, it never smelled like he went days without washing.
"He's still a filthy fox and you're still a dumb bunny."
While thinking of a scathing response, her features suddenly brightened and she said, "Call me a dumb bunny all you want, but that doesn't change the fact that you're a dumb impala who can't see past the end of her nose." At the impala's outraged expression, Judy put a paw up to forestall the tirade she felt sure was coming. "This conversation is over. I don't want to listen to anything you have to say, and you obviously don't want to hear what I have to say, so let's not say anything. You keep your bigoted thoughts to yourself, and I'll keep mine. Deal."
"Fine," Cindy huffed. "But don't come crying to me when he takes everything from you."
"Don't worry, I won't," Judy stated confidently, but then thought, 'But I wouldn't mind if he did.' Her face and ears immediately flushed a deep red and Judy quickly looked at the opposite wall, not wanting the impala to see her embarrassment.
Gah! Where did that thought come from! She freaked out at the idea of Nick taking everything, even as her heartrate accelerated. Nick was her best friend. And she had only known him a total of about five days, including today. True, it was three months since they'd first met, but they hadn't spent any of that time together.
After Nick left, Judy had tried focusing on her duties while at work, but her joy and enthusiasm was gone, unable to be found as she couldn't get Nick's betrayed expression out of her head. And once home, she just moped around her family's burrow with guilt eating her from the inside out while missing him every waking moment. She couldn't even escape him in her dreams! Between the guilt and missing him she had completely lost her appetite.
As the implication of what her wayward thought meant started to sink in, she quickly pushed it aside. 'That's beside the point,' she told herself. 'The point is, is that he's my friend. And he's a fox. A fox who's sly. And funny. And thoughtful. And supportive. And handsome. And . . . and . . .' Was she developing feelings for the smug fox? No. Impossible. She was a bunny—he was a fox. It would never work out . . . would it?
Ah, what was she thinking!? If she was home, she would be curled up in her bed with a pillow over her head. As it were, she had an ignorant impala behind her who kept giving her this dumb bunny look that sometimes switched with this triumphantly smug look as if Cindy wanted Nick to rob her blind just so she could say, "I told you so!" Judy knew the EMT was giving her these dirty looks from her reflection in several of the glass doors that covered some of the cabinets and storage compartments that lined the ambulance's wall. Ignoring the snide female, Judy returned to her less than virtuous thoughts about Nick.
'Sweet cheese and crackers, I'm being a dumb bunny,' she thought glumly. 'Does Nick even feel the same way about me? Could he?' She was just a bunny that only reached his chest, not some tall, sexy vixen. What did she have that would make him think of her as anything more than a friend? Her fur color wasn't even that unique, just a plain grey. Gah! Now I'm sounding like my boy-crazy sisters! She had never felt this way before. She certainly never entertained any thoughts like this for any of the bucks back home, which meant she had no clue what to do about them.
She ran her paws down her face and then rubbed her eyes. Calm down, Judy, don't overthink it. It's just Nick. Nothing to stress over. You're just being a dumb bunny again. Deep breaths. After her little pep talk and several long, slow breaths she felt her heartrate return to normal. She finally decided that whether she was developing feelings for the smug todd or not didn't matter. Nick was Nick, and he hadn't changed and so she didn't need to change, either. She enjoyed being with him, and so that's what she'd do—enjoy every minute she could with him.
With her mind at ease and a plan in place, Judy relaxed back into the gurney and closed her eyes. She couldn't wait to see Nick again. It wasn't long before Jeff announced their arrival from the driver's seat, and Judy opened her eyes and grinned. She was counting down the minutes until she could see her fox again.
-/-/-
Nick stood in the bunny section of the thrift store, trying to decide which clothes to pick for Judy. He didn't really know her size, so he was guesstimating by how small she felt when he held her. So far, he had a couple of pairs of soft, comfortable sweatpants—a black pair and a dark navy-blue pair that reminded him of her ZPD blues.
To go with them, he had found a loose sky-blue t-shirt with a metallic gold, blue, and purple butterfly on the front, and a baggy, dark-purple sweatshirt with a picture of a cottage at the edge of a forest, which opened up to a field of wildflowers and the setting sun. Home Sweet Home was written in flowing black script across the brightly colored clouds. With Judy being from Bunnyburrow, he figured it would be a good reminder of home.
After picking the comfy, lounge-around-the-house outfits, Nick found a pair of black spandex workout shorts and a black workout tanktop with a forest green stripe down each side. Although Judy wouldn't be able to actually "workout" until her leg healed, he couldn't see her just sitting around the house doing absolutely nothing for several days. Her tight, toned body told him she worked out frequently, not to mention, she had way too much energy to burn off. They didn't use a rabbit as the mascot for Energizer Batteries for nothing.
Thinking about some activities Judy could do to burn her energy off that didn't require her legs, Nick continued down the clothes rack. Maybe he could pick up some hand weights or something Judy could use while she was sitting. He did have some weights of his own back home (not that he had used them in the last year or two) but they were fox sized, not bunny sized.
Picking through the clothes, Nick hunted for an outfit Judy could wear around town. They still had to meet with Bogo on Thursday, and he didn't think Judy would want to show up wearing sweats—even if they were ZPD blue. Running across a pair of blue jean shorts, he paused. They looked to be about the right size, with little pink and purple flowers stitched around the hem of each leg, and a large pink and purple flower stitched into each back pocket. He could see Judy wearing the shorts with the pink button-up shirt she was wearing today. Cocking his head slightly with his ears pricked forward, he pictured her wearing them and a wide grin spread across his face. Yep, I can definitely see Judy wearing these.
Setting them aside, he put his paws close together, thumbs and his fingers curled towards each other, then moved them apart to about as wide as he remembered holding Judy's waist—which left his claws nearly touching. Picking the shorts back up, he compared them to the width he had made with his paws, then grinned. They should be a perfect fit. He hoped.
Moving down the rack of pants and shorts, Nick lucked out when he found a pair of loose-fitting navy-blue slacks Judy could wear to her meeting with Bogo. They were loose enough that they shouldn't rub against her bandages—which was important. Satisfied with his selections, he moved back down the rack looking for a shirt to match it. It took some time as most of the nicer, dressier shirts either had a weird design or were the wrong color. He finally found a nice, dark-blue button-up shirt that was a few shades lighter than the slacks.
Holding the shirt against the pants, he was grateful the colors didn't clash, but complemented one another. That was one of his older sister's biggest pet peeves back in high school—girls showing up at school with clothes that clashed. She had drilled it into him on what colors matched and which colors were never to be seen together. The one time he had complained, she'd told him that foxes were criticized enough for merely existing, so they shouldn't add fuel to the fire by wearing clothes that didn't match.
He'd shrugged it off at the time, not caring much about it himself, but these clothes were for Judy. She was a girl and so would notice if her clothes didn't match. And heaven help him if he ever bought mismatched clothes for his best friend and his sister ever found out. He winced just thinking about the ear-wringing she would give him.
Putting the shirt in the cart with the rest of the clothes, he wandered the store looking for some exercise equipment. He finally found a few, but there wasn't much to choose from. An exercise band went into the cart, along with a small punching bag attached to a metal rod that could be extended to fit tightly between a door frame. Not only could Judy sit on a chair and punch the dumb thing to burn off excess energy, but it would make a handy stress reliever. That idea made him smile. He could snap some really cute pictures of her and she would be too focused on the punching bag to notice!
Chuckling, he moved his gaze over to a few dumbbells sitting on the shelf. After looking them over, he scowled. There was a set of 3-pound weights, a set of 5-pound weights, and a single 10-pound weight. Remembering how hard Judy punched, he knew a 10-pound weight would be nothing to her.
With nothing else of interest on the shelves, Nick made his way towards the checkout stand. While walking by a rack loaded with fox clothes, he glanced over and saw a shirt he just had to get for his furry, little friend. Carrots will get a kick out of this! With a wide grin plastered across his face, he reached the cash register.
Ricky, the raccoon who owned the place, kept giving him curious glances while ringing up his order, but didn't immediately comment. He knew Nick well enough to know he wasn't planning anything sinister for the bunny he was obviously buying all this stuff for, but he was curious. "Did you make a new friend?" he asked while fishing for information.
"As a matter of fact, I did. The best friend a fox could ever have." Still grinning, he added, "You'll be seeing her on the news in a few days, I'm sure, but for now, she's waiting for me to pick her up at the hospital."
"Really!? What happened?" Ricky asked. The fact Nick had made friends with a rabbit was shocking (and a female one to boot!), so Ricky was worried to hear she was also in the hospital.
"We had a run in with a couple of psychotic sheep and her leg was injured." Nick answered. "Nothing serious, thankfully, but she will need to rest up for a few days."
"Well, I'm glad to hear she'll be okay." Nick merely nodded as he paid for the items, and Ricky then asked, "What's her name?"
Picking up his purchases, Nick turned towards the door, but said nothing. Waving his hand in a goodbye gesture, he spoke over his shoulder. "Watch the news. Right now, I have a very hungry bunny I need to rescue from the hospital."
Ricky could only shake his head as the todd disappeared through the door. He didn't know what Nick was up to, but if it made the news, then it had to be something interesting.
Driving down the road, Nick tried to figure out what to buy for dinner. Vegetables, she says. With a scowl, he continued his frustrating thoughts. Something with lots of vegetables, she says. Glowering at her vague answer he tried to figure out something. There's like a million dishes you can make with vegetables! Does she want something spicy? Something Italian? Soup? Stew? Noodles? What!?
He finally settled on a roasted-Italian veggie wrap for Judy and a spicy cicada wrap for himself. He went ahead and bought four each, two for now and two for later. There wasn't much food at his place, and he wanted to make sure they had something to eat later. He'll restock the fridge and cupboards sometime tomorrow.
Weaving through traffic, Nick stopped at the convenience store across the street from the hospital and darted in. It had been over an hour and a half since they'd parted, and he needed to make this trip quick. Finding the bunny section fairly quickly, he grabbed the toiletry items he thought Judy would need, then made a beeline for the checkout line. While waiting his turn, he spied a rack with phone chargers on it.
"Oh, right," he muttered under his breath, "she'll need one of those, too." Remembering the type of phone she used from their time at the asylum, he hunted around until he found the correct charger, then added it to his cart.
It wasn't long afterwards that he found himself standing outside the Emergency Room doors. The only three times he'd been through these doors were complete nightmares for him, though the first two were the ones that had the worst impact on him. He hoped never to walk through them again, as nothing good ever came of it.
Taking a deep breath, he reminded himself that Judy wasn't a fox, but a prey mammal, and that she would be treated much better than his family had. She also wasn't in a life-threatening situation. He had stayed with her and prevented that from happening.
Taking a deep breath, he squared his shoulders and tightly gripped the bag in his paws. It was a cloth bag he'd found stuffed under the small packages of blueberries and carrots sitting on the seat of the truck. In it, he'd placed the plastic sack that contained their dinner along with the black sweatpants and purple sweatshirt. With the sun having set, it was getting chilly outside and Judy's fur was short and not well insulated—unlike his own fur.
With another deep breath, he muttered, "Judy's in there waiting for you." Thinking of her gave him the courage to walk through the doors and over to the registration desk. A white ewe with a black face and black arms glanced up as he sauntered over. Her bored expression quickly turned wary, but he ignored it. She wasn't important right now.
He inquired after Judy and was surprised to hear she was still with the doctor and couldn't receive visitors yet. After being asked (told) to take a seat, Nick found a corner of the large waiting room with few visitors and immediately begin pacing. It had been nearly 2 hours since he'd last seen his bunny and the worry was getting to him.
Hopefully, her being late was simply because the doctors were being doctors and making her wait before they saw her, and not because her leg was worse than the paramedics had said. Running a paw through the vermilion fur on his head, he turned around and continued pacing. With thoughts of Judy consuming his mind, they thankfully left no room for the nightmares just lurking out of sight.
WingedKatt again. For my new and old readers, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Next time, we'll see what Judy has been up to while Nick was shopping and then we'll see what the doctor says about Judy's injury.
I hope you all have a great week. If you have any thoughts or questions, let me know. Be safe.
