Half awake, Judy felt in heaven as she caught the scent of a particular fox. She had not gotten a good sleep until last night; it had been rough nights and stressful thoughts since she was admitted to the hospital. The bunny had found herself snuggled up comfortably against his orange fur like a warm and blissful pillow. It felt like heaven. She could feel the subtle warmth from Nick that contrasted with the cool hospital air, making for a restful and cosy nestle.
Running her digits through his chest, she stumbled upon his patchy fur and dried up bandages which made her feel a sense of sorrow for Nick. She noticed that though his breaths were lively, they were haphazard and rough. The fox's body twitched and shifted occasionally, which was assuring for the worried bunny.
"Judy," Violet called, disturbing her train of moody thoughts.
The older bunny politely rubbed her shoulders, expecting her to wake.
"Another minute," whined the younger bunny as she cuddled up to Nick, trying her best to ignore her sister's wake up calls.
"Judy, the nurses are here,"
Snapping out of her sleepy mood she sprang up immediately; ears erect and face flushed pink with utter embarrassment as she turned to face the trio of mammals in the room.
"Uh, morning," the bunny replied, greeting the doe and the sheep with an awkward smile as she hurriedly got back on her wheelchair, "Sorry for sneaking out last night,"
The nurses giggled in response before getting ready to do their jobs. Taking note, Violet promptly wheeled Judy away from the bed, letting the nurses move the hospital cart closer to their patient.
"Mr Wilde?" said the doe as she placed her hoof on the sleeping fox.
Judy kept her eyes on Nick the entire time as they woke him up. Though it took a few tries, Nick finally awoke; the fox greeted his nurses with half open eyes. Darting his eyes around his surroundings, his pupils widened quickly after noticing his partner's presence.
As she met gazes with his shining emerald eyes a cocktail of emotions rushed through her system. Nick felt the same as he forced his joy out through a bright lit smile, though he followed it with a pained cough.
"Nick!" exclaimed Judy as she rolled herself towards him.
Both Violet and the nurses smiled in delight as they saw the happy bunny leaning into her partner for a long and heart-warming hug. The nurses were surprised to see Nick making an effort to hug back despite being restricted by previous painful motion attempts. The fox's happiness was also expressed externally by the increased beeping of the machinery as his heart raced. Judy kept him in a loving embrace as she teared up; her tears dripping onto Nick's shoulder.
Although he was saddened when noticed the bandages across her ear, Nick was extremely relieved to see her so lively.
"You've looked better," the bunny joked, her voice wet and slobbery as she locked gazes with her partner again.
Nick gave his signature smile; eager to get back at her once the tube was removed for good.
"I'm sorry to interrupt but I think you have a routine to attend to," said Violet, "We'll get to visit later right?"
"Miss Hopps sure looks better than before," replied the doe as she pulled out a washcloth from the cart, "You can consult with Dr Capra later."
After saying their goodbyes Judy left her partner to the nurses' care, the bunny feeling sad to leave him so quickly after they've reunited properly. Nick's eyes showed that he felt the same, his eyebrows retraced as he saw her exit through the sliding door.
"Guess she was really happy to see you," the sheep commented cheekily as he took the sheets of Nick's bedbound body.
You don't say.
Nick thought to himself.
The nurses did their routines, cleaning his skin and fur with washcloths and wipes.
Showers, I miss them.
Nick winced as his limbs and body were moved about, the pain coming back as the dopamine from his encounter with Judy slowly subsided. The fox was cleaned head to toe. Though the process was tedious and painful, Nick was grateful for being able to have his fur cleaned from the stench of blood and antiseptic.
"Sorry but this will hurt a lot," warned the doe as she prepared an alcohol wipe after unwrapping the large bandage on his torso.
Nick took hard and heavy breaths as the nurse pressed the cloth against his stiches. The process hurt more than he could imagine; the pain felt as if a heated iron was pressed against his skin. Nick screamed internally, tears running down his face as the nurse continued to disinfect the horrendous scarring following the popped stitch yesterday.
After a change of fresh bandages and an awkward diaper change; which was a first for Nick, the nurses finished up the routine with a new IV bag. Promptly leaving, Dr Capra entered suit, the goat wearing his signature half-smile as if he was bearing good news.
"From the looks of your improvement since yesterday, we can remove the intubation this afternoon," he said as he snapped the clipboard off the cot as usual.
Nick's mood flipped immediately after receiving the news.
"And from what I've heard Miss Hopps was here?"
A smile grew on his flushed face.
"Anyways," he continued, "Everything looks good so far; your vitals are significantly healthier and so is your brain activity."
Nick gave a sigh of relief.
"Your kidney function however," his smile dropped as he took out a file full of test results, "Urine testing shows that the kidney you had left may be slightly compromised. In my medical opinion this may just be a benign anomaly, a side effect of removing the other kidney in such a small span of time. In most cases the kidney can recover, but I still suggest looking for donors. You should contact any immediate family or relatives if you have any. Worse comes to worse you'll be needing dialysis."
Though the news was unfortunate the doctor's last line hit Nick like a truck. He was reminded again of how alone he was, and that his loneliness had actually made his life worse. Nick felt uneasy as the thought lingered, leaving his emotions in a stir.
Judy inched her way towards the shower, her paws gripped tightly around the handlebars as she did so. Scooting against the glass divider, the bunny turned the handle on the bathroom wall, the cold water from the shower hitting her toes. After retracting from the icy shock on her digits she immediately reached for the knob, her free paw alternating between adjusting the knob and feeling the temperature of the water. As the water slowly got lukewarm she finally dared to step into the shower, the pitter-patter of the water grew louder as it hit the plastic bag over her bandaged ear.
So far so good,
Judy thought to herself as she held onto the scar on her sides. Though it stung when the water contacted her wound, she powered through the pain and scrubbed her grey fur with a tiny bar of soap. The bunny was determined to clean herself without any help this time, despite the exhausting pain that came from the scrubbing motion. Moving down below she managed to clean her knees before she met her first challenge. Giving up on bending down due to how much it hurt she decided to try lifting up her right leg.
"Cheese and crackers!" Judy exclaimed as she slipped, the unfortunate bunny now on the wet and slippery bathroom floor.
"Are you okay?" a concerned Violet asked as she entered the bathroom.
Seeing her sister's dilemma she rushed to assist her.
"I'm fine Vi," Judy assured as she got back on her feet, lucky that she caught herself at the final moment.
"I'm helping," the older bunny commanded, unwilling to let her sister injure herself anymore.
Violet unhooked the showerhead, proceeding to shower her sister who she commanded to sit still on a bathroom stool. She proceeded to clean her sister starting from the tip of her toes, Judy feeling gracious as she would not have been able to reach there by herself.
"We've done this before right?" Violet commented as she reminisced babysitting her sister as a kit.
Judy was as stubborn as before, she'd always refuse any help request either it was grabbing stuff from the top shelf to three days ago when she persisted on walking to the bathroom by herself, though it ended much worse than before.
"I'm just tired of being rolled around," the younger bunny spoke, her fur now completely wet and slippery with soap.
"The faster you let your body recover the faster you get to leave all this," advised Violet as she hosed down her sister.
"You know, Nick will be feeling even worse about this," she spoke as she caught the towel thrown at her. "He never liked hospitals. He'd always leave earlier than expected. Now I'm not so sure he can do that,"
Violet noticed her sister starting to worry, her expressions moody and grave. Helping her stand up she walked her out of the bathroom and sat her down on her bed.
"From what I've heard he's a real fighter," she said cheeringly as she assisted Judy into her clothes. "The boys told me he was hit by a car before,"
Judy smiled as she recalled about their second ever case together. She remembered how Nick was still able to pursue Weaselton though he was unfortunate enough to get knocked over by the passing traffic without missing a beat. He suffered a few broken ribs that day, though his recovery only lasted a few agonizing days.
"Who knows he'll surprise you again this time."
Finnick sat on the waiting bench outside, his tiny body covered fully by the newspaper he was holding. Skimming through articles upon articles he was surprised to see a follow up interview with Chief Bogo regarding the incident in one of the sections.
Hero my ass, that was still dumb.
Thought Finnick as he read on, surprised to see his friend being honoured in the article. Not long after, Dr Capra came out of the ward followed by one of the nurses with a cart.
"So he can talk now?" the fennec asked, stopping the goat as he walked by.
"We've removed the tube," Dr Capra replied taking off his surgical mask, "Just make sure he takes it easy."
"Will do doc," he replied as she slid open the door.
On the other side a blissful Nick laid peacefully, the enjoying the numbing effect of the painkillers that he requested immediately after he was able to talk. The fox hummed softly in a discontinuous note as smacked his mouth, relieved to have regained the full movements of his jaw. As he shifted around he finally caught view of Finnick who wore a joyous mood; happy to see his partner regaining his personality.
"Can you guess… what's changed?" Nick asked satirically, his new voice raspy and weak in tone.
Finnick could tell that his throat was suffering from every word that came out. He moved towards his bed, the fennec climbing onto the nightstand to pour his friend a drink.
"Yeah, yeah," Finnick mocked as he held a fresh up of water on his paw, "And to think a day ago I wished you stayed a mute,"
Gently, he offered the drink up to his partner's muzzle. Nick took tiny sips as he slowly angled the cup towards his face, stopping after the fox tilted his head away. As he swallowed the liquid the red fox cringed, feeling as if razor blades had gone down his throat. Nick let out a loud and forceful cough after the drink, forcing any phlegm and excess fluid stuck in his battered throat. Finnick looked in pity as he did so.
"Thanks…" he replied.
"Doc says to take it easy," the fennec responded as he jumped down the nightstand. "So how long you gonna be here?"
Nick wasn't sure, after the shattering news from before he was pessimistic about his recovery, the fox feeling at his lowest.
"I don't…" he spoke softly before trailing off, "Doctor said… he said I may need a new kidney…"
The fennec shared his partner's sorrow look, both knowing that there was nothing really much any of them could do.
"Don't tell her…" he followed quickly as he noticed the two bunnies through the blinds.
The foxes turned to the door as they entered. Judy's smile was brighter than usual, prompting Nick to do the same to hide their discussion earlier.
"Your ear looked… better before…" he greeted as his eyes lay on her bandaged ear.
Though not as charming or quippy, Nick's raspy voice was assuring to her as she realised how much she'd missed chatting with him; from his witty one-liners to his casual yet interesting conversations.
"I'll leave you guys to it," Finnick left as he left the room.
"I haven't really thanked you," Judy replied, her paws moving to grab onto his; the fox's paw meeting her in between. "Guess I owe you."
"Were partners… right..." Nick blushing as he savoured the moment, his digits closing over her warm grey paw. "That's… what partners do…"
"Did the doctor say anything?" she inquired, her large purple eyes catching sight of his dreamy face.
"Things are… looking fine at the moment-" the fox ended his line with another painful cough.
The worried bunny moved to gently rub the back of his neck, trying to alleviate the situation. His fit lasted a while; the hurt fox wincing in pain after he coughed up a storm. Violet stood by with another fresh cup of water as Judy wiped the drool off the corner of his mouth with her thumb.
"Sorry…" Nick apologized after a few sips from the cup, feeling embarrassed; his saddened eyes moving away from his caretakers.
"So, it's been a long time since I saw Finnick," the bunny asked, trying to change the topic. "Guess he's the only one around town huh,"
"Yeah... he's… Finnick's…" he replied with a slight slur, trailing off at the end.
"Nick, are you okay?" Violet promptly asked, realising that something was off.
Nick's expression began to muddle as if his face was melting. Rushing next to his bedside Violet gave gentle smacks on the side of his face. Judy began to panic as she realised what was going on. Though he was still conscious, the fox whined and whimpered as he was trying to keep himself awake. Unable to speak correctly Nick breathed heavily as he mumbled gibberish.
"Call the nurse," Violet commanded her hands busy in keeping him awake. "He's stroking."
Wasting no time Judy pressed on the emergency button on the bed panel.
"Nick, please talk to me," the petrified bunny called, her eyes stricken with panic and fear.
Within a few seconds Dr Capra and the two other nurses rushed in after receiving the alert. Violet quickly wheeled Judy away from the bed, creating a path for the staff to proceed to him.
"Code blue, he's having a stroke," shouted the doctor after a quick assessment of his patient. "Get him to the OR."
The nurses followed his orders, both of them detaching all the wires from his body as they rolled the bed out and the IV stand out of the room as fast as they could. Within a minute Judy and Violet were alone in the room, the sliding door wide open as Judy shook from the terror that she had just gone through.