The cool, bright atmosphere of the room complemented the long dreadful wait for news on their fallen officers. Still fresh from the scene with their SWAT gear, Wolford and Fangmeyer, along with the others sat together in silence in the waiting room. Clawhauser was present, the cheetah wiping his tears as he sat anxiously on the teal plastic chair. Some officers, like Delgato were praying while others decided to divert their attention to the muted documentary that was on the ceiling's television. Closest to the hallway was Chief Bogo, who despite all the waiting managed to focus his attention on a stack of paperwork that was brought to him not long ago. After the shootout, he was bombarded with requests upon requests of reports he decided to get out of the way whilst he waited.
Another hour passed by since their arrival, the waiting room maintaining
As the doe approached the room, Chief Bogo stood up, his large stature towering over her. His head turned towards the nurse, preparing for the confrontation.
"How are my officers doing?" he questioned her with a steady and professional tone, one that concealed his worrying inner self.
"Officer Hopps is stable and should be out of surgery in another hour." she greeted.
A sigh of relief came from the buffalo, who felt as if a weight was lifted off his horns.
"According to the surgeon, she suffered a punctured right lung, a broken rib, a torn left ear alongside minor blood loss and a bullet wound on her right side." the nurse recited after referring from the document attached on her clipboard.
"And Wilde?" he asked again, his thoughts clenched, reverting back to a tense, worrying state.
"I'm sorry sir, but I've not received any news from his surgery team." the doe responded with a sombre tone, an apologetic look slowly creeping onto her face.
Disappointed, Chief Bogo nodded, sending the nurse back to the other room. His frown slowly manifested as he turned to face the crowd. His officers shared his expression, with some, like Clawhauser handling the news worse than others. Not wanting to worsen their morale, the buffalo ordered them to return to the station.
"It's almost 2 a.m. Most of you have routine shifts tomorrow, especially Clawhauser. I'll let everyone know how they're doing in tomorrow's briefing."
"But Chief," the cheetah whined, holding back tears before getting interrupted.
"You all did great today. The gunmen we apprehended should get us closer to arresting Rackman. Get some rest. We'll focus our energy on bringing the raccoon to justice first thing in the morning."
With further nods and goodbyes, the officers left in packs following his instruction. Some were hesitant to leave the hospital but at the end the waiting room was vacant, aside from the buffalo himself. While watching the seconds tick by on his watch for the fifth time, the doe finally arrived back to the waiting room.
"Sir, Officer Hopps just came out of surgery." she said with an uplifting tone.
Keeping his relief to himself, Chief Bogo followed the nurse to the intensive care wards section of the hospital. Though he had gone through the corridor close to a dozen times, he despised that section of the hospital, as it had brought back distasteful memories from his career. After a few turns and different sets of green metal doors, the duo came to a glass lined room that read 'ICU 1'.
On the bed in the centre of the room laid the rabbit, who was tucked under a blanket up to her chest. Both her eyes were closed and her ear was bandaged tightly with gauze. Looking out of place on the ginormous bed, she was sedated, IV lines drawing morphine from a machine beside her. She wore a clear plastic mask over her face, its connecting pipe running over her blankets to a separate machine. There were a few nurses present, urgently carrying out their duties in administering doses and keeping track of their patient's vitals.
"A photocopy of her surgery report should already be faxed to your department. The nurses will supervise her 24/7 in case of any relapse. However, her vitals are strong at the moment."
"Any news on Wilde?" he asked.
"Last time I checked, the surgeons have just finished stitching up his wounds. I'll go ask for his report."
The doe left Bogo alone in the ICU lobby. Bogo stopped an inch from the glass, his eyes fixated on his fallen officer. Anxious, he feared for the lives of his officers, his quivering thoughts hid behind his neutral, frowning composure. He remembered back when his partner met the same fate. A cheetah. They were on their first major bust on a mammal trafficking gang, the leopard leapt in front of a hostage, practically taking two shots to his chest. Bad memories.
A fuzzy haze of light slowly crept into view as Judy slowly opened her eyes. Her entire body felt exhausted and drained of energy, synonymous to the few times she had woken up hungover. The rabbit was dazed with a tingling sensation in her head, adding to the discomfort of her situation. She noticed that she had no real feeling over her body, from the top of her head to her toes she felt blissfully numb. Sensing around her face, Judy realised that she was breathing though a mask; the steady flow of air making its contact with the tip of her nose.
Unable to stand the blurriness, the bunny tried her best to focus her senses while snapping herself awake. As she regained half of her senses, she was able to make out her surroundings better. Faint beeping of a heart rate monitor and the ambient sound of the machinery were audible, already giving her the description she needed. The distinct and chemical smell of the hospital flooded her nose as she took a larger breath. The rabbit also found herself staring blankly at the rough yet pristine white ceiling boards, reminding her of the few times she went into the infirmary. Tilting her head to the right, she found the source of light, a lone window with a half open blind. From the look of the calming hue of sunlight, it should be morning, Judy thought to herself. Turning her head to the other direction, she found that the wall was entirely transparent, its glass door leading to a hallway, with an identical ward just opposite. Focusing her view back to the room, she noticed furniture, a few cabinets and chairs, along with the machinery mentioned earlier. As her eyes darted to the far corner, there was a rabbit sitting on one of the visitor chairs, who donned a black dress and a pair of purple-rimmed glasses. A second of observation later, a sense of shock quickly engulfed her as she realised who it was.
"Judy?" said Violet after seeing her sister awake with her large lavender eyes fixated on her. She promptly manoeuvred off the large wooden chair and towards the hospital bed.
"Vi…" Judy responded gladly, a genuine smile painted across her face.
The older rabbit immediately embraced her after she got on the bed. She gave a gentle yet warming hug, expressing her joy in tears. Instinctively, Judy leaned into her.
It had been too long since the two had spoken, the last time being a lengthy conversation about her apartment when she moved into Zootopia. Violet was one of the first of her siblings to move into the city. Just like herself, Violet migrated to pursue her career in helping others. Though they both lived in the city, Judy had found it hard to reconnect due to her tight schedule and shifts working at ZPD. But to her surprise, there she was, the fluff of her shoulder pressed against her face after waking up from what felt like an eternal sleep.
"I was so worried," she explained, "They scared me with that call last night. They told me that you were involved in a shootout, and so I rushed here as fast as I could."
"Sorry about all of this," the rabbit replied with a sombre tone, her ears dipped as they retracted from the hug, "I can't believe that you stayed all night here…"
"Don't do that Judy," Violet responded in a petty rage, her anger reminded Judy about how she used to scold their siblings every time they did something stupid. "You're better now. That's all that matters. I'll call mom and dad, can't leave them hanging with the bad news."
"They called mom and dad too?" the bedded bunny queried, cringing at how she had hurt them emotionally with her stunt.
"Actually the police called them first. Expect them to come by when they've got the time." she explained whilst tapping away on her phone, "Cheese and crackers, the shootout is all over the news. Good thing you got away before everything…"
Before everything. What happened, before everything? Last thing she remembered, she was shot twice. One flew through her ear, another somewhere below her vest. Judy reached down to her covers, her paw gliding over the bandages that stood out from under her hospital gown. She recalled her paw tightening against her wound, her fur entirely stained in red. It wasn't just her fur, blood was on her uniform, her vest, the floor, Nick…
Nick. He was the last thing she saw before everything went dark. She remembered him picking her off the floor, his tear stained face uttering a few words before a loud bang and nothing. Nick saved her life, and now guilt and anxiety were consuming her as she pondered with fear about his situation.
"Where's Nick?" yelled Judy as she started to shake.
"Judy?" Violet replied, her eyebrows tilted, "Who's Nick?"
A split second later a doctor came through the glass door, the goat surprised to see her patient responsive and awake.
"Miss Hopps…" he inquired before being interrupted by the distressed bunny.
"Where is Nick? How is he?" she asked, the rabbit starting to hyperventilate.
The constant beeping of the machinery amplified as her heart rate followed suit. It was evident to the other two mammals in the room that she was having a panic attack.
"Mr Wilde is safe. He's currently here in the ICU. Please calm down Miss Hopps," the doctor replied in his composed voice, trying his best to soothe his patient. "Right now, it is important for you to control your breathing."
"He's here? Is he okay?" the bunny asked again, her breathing showing no signs of slowing down.
"Judy please…" Violet spoke as the goat promptly cut her off.
"Mr Wilde is currently in a coma, but he is stable at the moment." he explained.
Stable. Judy thought to herself, finally collecting herself.
"I'm Dr Capra, Mr Wilde's and your physician. I promise I'll give you details of his injuries after I've run a few tests and check-ups over you. Is that fine Miss Hopps?"
Finally snapping back to her senses, the bunny complied with a subtle nod. Her heart rate slowed with her breathing, indicating that she had calmed for the moment.
"Sorry…" she apologized for startling them with her unexpected frenzy.
"You don't have to apologize," the doctor replied as he brought out a flashlight in front of her. He shone the cone of light briefly on both her eyes, taking note on how her pupils moved. "What was the last thing you recall?"
"Nick lifted me up. He wanted to save me," she explained as more tears began to stain her cheek fur. "What happened to him?"
"From my understanding, he lifted you and ran, sustaining a few gunshots, before exiting the building through a window." said Dr Capra, "From a scale of 1 to 10, how much pain are you feeling right now?"
"I don't feel anything right now..."
"Guess the morphine is still in your system," the goat replied, checking the administered fluids documentation at the side of her bed. "If you feel any pain later I'll need you to call a nurse okay?"
"So about Nick…"
"As I've said before, he is currently in a coma. We've recorded 4 bullet impacts, 3 of which entered from his back and one on his right thigh. His right lung was punctured by two of the bullets, and he broke 2 ribs from it. The third bullet went through his gut, and the fourth in his thigh. However, due to the intense muscle struggle from running and his final leap, he managed to rip his abdomen open from the third gunshot wound, and his thigh muscle was ripped almost entirely from the last gunshot wound. He has lost over a third of his blood, leading to the coma. Currently, his vitals are stable, but it is still too early to tell if he will recover easily."
Her heart sank, hearing about the injuries his partner sustained whilst trying to save her. Though he was the one who willingly sacrificed himself, she felt guilty as she was the one who had put him in that situation. The least she could do was thank him…
"Can I see him?" Judy asked, eagerly trying to get herself off the bed.
"Unfortunately no," the doctor replied with a solemn tone. "Both of you are in no condition to move or be moved efficiently at the moment."
After the heart-breaking and grim conversation with her doctor, the bunny gave up trying to think, sinking back into the pillow. He left after a minute, leaving the two siblings alone in the ward.
"Mom and dad texted they're trying their best to get here." Violet spoke, trying to cheer up her sister, "Hope we'll meet them soon."
"Mom and dad's gonna be disappointed…"
"No they won't. They're just going to be worried, and in a few seconds they're gonna be glad to see you awake and moving."
"That does make sense," Judy replied, a small smile wiping her frown away. "You're the expert."
"Anything you want to tell me about Nick?" she inquired, doing her job as a psychologist.