Nick felt small, like he was powerless and dwarfed by the murky world around him. Walking around he noticed that his footsteps were soft and silent, and that he could not feel the seemingly crunchy gravel beneath his paws.

Am I dead?

He thought to himself, wandering around the cold environment he found himself to be in.

Get help Nicky.

Nick's ears perked up as he heard a sudden yet familiar voice. The voice was raspy and pained. As he paced towards the origin of the voice his noise picked up the repulsive stench of fresh blood. Beginning to worry, the young fox promptly picked up his pace and ran towards the source up ahead.

Don't come closer.

Ignoring the voice he kept going, before his eyes stumbled upon a gruesome sight. In front of him laid a body of a fox, lying in a pool of growing blood. The body was lifeless, its fur rugged and patchy with dark ash. Instinctively, Nick rushed to flip the body over but to no avail. Tears began to form from the end of his eyes as he fully exhausted what little strength his weak arms can endure in order to help the dying fox. The unsuccessful fox was now also drenched, his shirt and forearms covered in red.

Call for help Nicky.

Sirens from afar started to blare. Following the voice's command, Nick got up and rushed towards the lights, flaying his arms around to get their attention.

It's going to be fine.

Nick opened his mouth, only to find out that he was voiceless. He could not shout, nor yelp, nor scream as his throat felt constricted and blocked. He was forcing himself to make even a tiny cry but he could only make gasps and blows of air. His vocal cords were beginning to hurt, the pain radiating through his entire lower body. He could not swallow, leading him to choke on his saliva.

With a last relentless try, he gave it his all. A small pained yelp came with the taste of blood in his mouth.

Nick awoke lethargic and fatigued as he collected himself from the shock that came earlier; senses still feeling murky and dazed. As he tried once more to speak he found himself coughing and choking on the plastic stuck through his muzzle. Panicking to reach for his throat, Nick was attacked by the excruciating pain in his gut. Every single move he made felt like another glass shard moving through his intestines and so did every breath he took. Whilst he held back his tears from the immense pain he decided it was best if he had remained calm, hoping that this was all still a dream.

His ears perked up as he heard the opening of a sliding door. Carefully tilting his head he could finally make up the environment he was in.

"Mr Wilde?" the concerned doe asked as she approached him. "Remain calm. You're in the hospital right now."

Hearing the voice of the nurse, Nick's held back tears started to form as he felt the relive from being pulled out from his stressful thoughts. Things around him started to make sense; the plastic in his mouth, the constant background beeping of machinery and right now, the taste of blood in his mouth.

"The doctor should be in any moment now," the nurse assured as she cleaned the blood and droll from his muzzle with a towel. "There's an airway tube in your throat. It would be best if you kept calm and refrain from trying to talk."

Nick nodded gently, his eyes focused on the nurse as she helped him get comfortable. Immediately she left, Dr Capra entered, pulling a chair up to the exhausted fox. The goat looked relived, his caring eyes proceeding to meet his own.

"I'm Dr Capra." he introduced himself before taking out a pen and the sliding out clipboard from the side of the cot. "You have been in a comatose state for about 4 days now."

4 days. How much have I missed?

Nick thought to himself, worried about all that has happened since. He was stuck in endless dreams of despair, though he was unable to pin point any real occurrences since his wake.

"I'm very sorry about the tube. We can remove it latest by tomorrow, that is when your breathing improves. How are you feeling?" The doctor said as he pulled out a chart with a pain index.

He moved his hoof across the scale, Nick's eyes trailing closely whilst he focused on the static pain he was feeling. As he got to the end Nick gave a smirk and an affirmative nod before cringing from the stinging pain that came from it. Dr Capra smiled back, noting down his condition on the paper he held.

"Side effect of being in coma; we had to lower your morphine dose after the surgery," he explained, "The sedative effect might affect the length of your coma."

That explains it.

Nick thought, previously wondering if he could ask the doctor to dope him up. This wasn't the first time he visited the hospital; he had endured a couple of scratches and close calls, but he had never got in a coma.

"It is extremely good news that you are this aware after what you've sustained," the doctor added after observing the fox's subtle facial hints and expressions. "I'm sure you are curious of your condition. You have a punctured right lung and two broken ribs, several intestinal punctures and a damaged right kidney. I'm sorry Mr Wilde but we had to remove the kidney yesterday as your condition worsened. You also had a large abdominal gash and a severely wounded left thigh. I'm sure most of the pain you are feeling right now is from the massive stitches on your abdomen."

After hearing the rundown from the goat Nick felt uneasy and petrified as the events unravelled from his memory. Whilst he was occupied with his thoughts the doctor lifted his sheets, revealing to him his broken body. His fur was patchy and dry and most of his torso is covered in bandages, one of which was starting to bleed out. The once clustered pains across his system felt more sharp and distinct as he moved down to his leg, which looked and felt extremely terrible though covered in several thick bandages.

"Looks like you've popped a stitch." Dr Capra noted, reaching for a suture kit in a nearby hospital cart.

After snapping on some rubber gloves the doctor got to work, unwrapping the stained bandage across his torso with tools ready on the side. Nick winced in disgust as he saw the large horrific scar that lay on his pink shaved skin, dwelling underneath those bandages all this time. The scar spanned from the right side of his body to the bottom of his chest, held together by a whole lot of dark purple sutures. A small amount of bleeding came from the higher end of his wound, where a good amount of stiches seem to have come off from his struggle earlier.

"This might hurt less if you close your eyes."

Morbidly hesitant, Nick winced and cringed at every puncture and nick that the goat administered. The stitching process was arduous and painful, even slight stretching of the scar hurt like hell. Trying to distract himself his mind wondered to where this all began, before getting the sudden realisation about a certain bunny that he had thrived to save.

Judy?

Noticing his increase in heartrate Dr Capra knew something was on his mind.

"Your colleague, Ms Hopps?" he spoke with a muffled voice under his surgical mask, "She's recovering well. From where I've heard you saved her life."

The assurance made relieved his flustering heart. Nick was glad that she was actually okay, and was also slightly amazed that word got out about the incident.

"She's concerned you know; she has been asking every day to see you. Actually from what I noticed a lot of other people are too. Looks like your little friend is already waiting outside." The doctor said as he concluded the procedure.

Finnick?

Nick thought as he realised that he had put him as his emergency contact all those years ago.

After a quick check on the remaining bandages he adjusted a few dials and left Nick to his expecting guests. As his eyes pondered to the sliding door, Nick was happy to see his business partner enter. Though the fennec wore a tuff face, he could notice the subtle hints of relief and concern in his eyes.

"Glad you're still alive," he greeted with his satirical voice as he hopped onto the chair next to him. "The one day I stopped visiting was the one that you woke up eh,"

So he does care.

Nick rolled his eyes, smiling at the fennec's comment.

Guess he hasn't changed.

"First of all, what you get yourself into is usually not my business. Secondly, you are one big dumb, thick headed fox for doing what you did; but you're damn lucky to be alive right now."

Nick hesitated at first, but ultimately agreed. Though he had successfully saved a life that day he only realised the severity of the stunt he pulled. Maybe there was another way out that would have prevented his situation but he was too tired to recall any details. All he needed to know was that both of them got out safe, if not hospitalized gravely.

"I came after they called me about your condition, said it was an emergency. They had to ask me if you would want your kidney removed; something about being your medical proxy whatever that means. Now I don't know if I'm more surprised that you still kept me as your emergency contact or that you've not made better friends in the ZPD."

Ouch.

Nick frowned slightly at the thought. He also never realised how naïve he was; he had only ever truly trusted his business partner to that extent, though they have not talked at all since his graduation from the police academy. Perhaps it was his rough upbringing but he had never any intentions to form deeper relationships with any of his co-workers.

"Oh yea, that bunny cop, she's constantly asking about you. I was hoping that they'd remove the tube from your mouth so you can answer her yourself. Now I'd better get going, the van's parked in one of those illegal spots. Those other cops outside are really eager to get in."

Looking back at the corridor his mood changed suddenly as he saw the parade of his colleagues smiling back at him. Clawhauser and the chief were there along with other mammals that brought with them flowers and gift baskets.

The day ended shortly after their visit. Who would have known that underneath that rough stature deep down Chief Bogo actually had a heart. He also learnt that Wolford and Fangmeyer was now in charge of Judy and his paperwork, which was now long overdue. He was also relieved to know that the Rackman case was now in the hands of the ZBI, following the incident. Apparently they know had enough evidence to launch a full scale investigation on the drug dealing scum that got him in this mess.

He was glad to be able to finally rest his tired body. Battered with pain, Nick slowly shifted himself into a more comfortable position before slowly drifting into a sleep. The room was now silent; apart from the constant beeping of machines and the fox's pained breaths and occasional coughing.

Moments later the door was gently slid open, and Judy was wheeled in softly by her sister Violet. Judy's heart sank as she observed her bedbound partner. Though he looked like what she expected she felt heartbroken at the sight of his partner's rugged and broken exterior, his body hooked up with various tubing and wires keeping him stable and alive.

Nick…

The rabbit thought as she slowly teared up by his bedside. Reaching for his paws she noticed that it felt light and weak, unlike the paws she used to know. She caressed them gently with her own, holding his digits in her palm.

Thank you…

Judy kept her paws on Nick, feeling the fur on his shoulder, taking great care not to wake or hurt him. She felt a slight sense of guilt mixed with gratefulness as she leaned closer to the fox's face, the plastic apparatus now in front of her own.

Violet on the other hand felt a sense of joy, finally getting to see Judy's real feelings towards her partner. After learning about his role in her life she expected them to be more than just partners though Judy had denied all of it. It was clear that she cared deeply for him, as did Nick for her judging by the extent he went to save her. Although Judy was not supposed to move around the older bunny felt that it was important for her to finally get to see her partner, ultimately sneaking out her sister in the middle of the night. It was a calm and bittersweet scene.

Minutes turned to hours as Judy slept upright next to Nick, with Violet already deep asleep in the waiting benches outside. That night, Nick's dreams were different; his previously occurring nightmares were now replaced with a calm and relaxing moment between him and his partner months before all that.

Nick was in peace.