As dusk approached the city, Judy decided it was time to pay her visit to the hospital. If she waited too much longer, they might not let her in. After all, no one ever shows up and asks to see someone in the middle of the night. She had put on a dark red sweatshirt and dark jeans, nothing that would draw attention to herself nor make her appear suspicious.

Her stomach was twisting and turning as she was getting ready to leave. She hated the thought of stealing and lying. More importantly, she feared what would happen if she was caught. She was breaking all kinds of rules and the consequences could be dire. But on the incredibly slim chance she was able to succeed, then her partner would be back to normal. That was what mattered most right now.

She tucked the "get well soon" card into her pocket to give to Wolfard, then grabbed her keys and made her way down the hall. But as she walked to the door, she saw Nick sitting right in front of it, as if blocking her path somehow. Right away she could tell he was doing this on purpose. The look on his face said it all.

Judy sighed wearily, shaking her head. "Come on, Nick. I don't have time for this. I need to go while I still can."

But the fox didn't care. He stood up to get a bit closer, nudging his head against her. It was like he was trying to tell her something, but she couldn't understand it.

"Seriously, whatever you're doing isn't gonna work." She said, annoyed.

Nick huffed, deciding to try a different way of telling her what he wanted. He stepped over to the door, scratching at it to indicate his point. It became a little clearer to Judy that he wanted to come with her and not stay behind.

She scoffed, "Okay, yeah, that's not happening. It's too dangerous for you to be seen in public. I can't let you come."

He gave her a look, resuming his sitting position from a minute ago. Judy took it as his way of saying that if he couldn't join her, then he wouldn't let her leave. Did he actually think she would agree to this? Didn't he know it was too big a risk to bring him along?

"Nick, I'm not joking. You're not coming and that's that." She stated firmly. "Now move over."

Nick closed his eyes, refusing to move even an inch. There was no way he was letting her leave, not even after she put her foot down. Like he decided earlier, he wasn't going to give her any choice.

Judy raised a brow, putting her paw on her hip. "Oh, so that's how you wanna play it, huh?" She asked, somewhat amused by his antics. "Well, two can play that game, slick."

She cracked her knuckles, then moved right up beside Nick in attempts to shove him down. She used most of her strength, trying to push him with her shoulder, hoping it would at least distract him so she could have a chance to get to the door. But the fox didn't budge, not even a little bit.

"Alright, come on!" She said, somewhat strained as she tried to push him with her paws. But still, he didn't move. "Just give it up, Nick! You're not going!"

Nick remained still and unfazed while she continuously attempted to move him out of her way. But none of her tactics worked, much to her surprise.

"Do you know what'll happen if someone sees you?" Judy asked, somewhat stressed. "They're going to take you away, do you really want that?"

He just grumbled in response.

Eventually Judy gave up, as she had quickly run out of energy to keep trying. And it was clear he wasn't moving from this spot no matter what she tried. Hell, a meteor could crash into the earth and he still wouldn't stir.

She groaned in frustration, remaining leaned up against him as she caught a breath. "Okay, fine. We'll do it your way." She said defeatedly.

Nick's mood changed instantly. His tail wagged happily as he stood up and nuzzled his head against her (which was his way of thanking her). Judy wanted to find his behavior adorable, but at the moment she was still annoyed with him. Now he just made her plan ten times harder.

"But you have to stay hidden and do exactly as I say." She said firmly, "Got it?"

He yapped and stepped away from the door to allow her some space to open it. Judy assumed it was a "yes".

"Great. Let's get going already." She said, pushing herself up off the floor—which took a little more effort than usual.

She opened the door and peeked outside in the hall to make sure no one was around. Once the coast was clear, she gestured for Nick to follow her outside. He trotted out the door not a second later, obviously excited and eager to assist the bunny on her mission. Too bad he wasn't aware of how much more difficult it was going to be.

—

Once they arrived at the hospital downtown, Judy took her partner into the alleyway right next to it so he wouldn't be seen by anyone. At least it was dark, and no one in their right mind would be walking around a suspicious alley at night. Or so Judy hoped.

She checked around the street a couple times just to be sure it was safe. Then she looked back at Nick, who was standing next to the dumpster, waiting for a command of some sort.

"Look, in order for this to work, I need you to stay out of sight." She said, walking over to him. "Absolutely no one can see you, not even a glimpse. If they do then we'll both be in a lot of trouble. Can you promise me you'll stay here and not cause a scene?"

Nick stared at her for a moment, trying to comprehend what she was asking. He had an idea as to what it was, though. So he agreed by licking her paw.

Judy chuckled and rubbed his head. "I'm taking that as a yes." She said, giving him a little pat before she started to walk away. "Okay, I'll be back as soon as I get the antidote."

He tilted her head as he watched her walk around the corner and disappear from sight. His worries from before were starting to rise up again, making his entire body tense up. All he hoped was that she'd stay safe.

Judy entered the hospital as calmly and casually as she could. There was hardly anyone in the main lobby, except for some employees and two other mammals sitting in the waiting area who were fast asleep. Now to see if she would even be able to follow through with the plan.

She walked up to the front desk asking to see Wolfard. At first the lady told her that visiting hours were over, but Judy didn't give up so easily. She made a pretty convincing lie that she was close to her co-worker and only wished to see him for a few minutes. The lady eventually gave in. Fortunately, she had enough empathy to understand the situation.

Judy made her way to the floor he was on and soon spotted him in one of the rooms, laying in the bed unconscious, wrapped in bandages and a neck brace. For a second she had forgotten why else she was here. The sight of someone she knew in this much pain made her heart lurch.

She stepped into the room, slowly approaching the bed while pulling the card from her pocket. "Hey, Wolfard." She spoke in a whispered tone. But it wouldn't disturb him anyway, since apparently he was stuck in a coma. "I'm sorry to hear about what happened. I wish there was something I could do to fix this."

She stared down at the card before setting it on the table next to the bed. "Honestly, I haven't had much luck fixing anything these days." She said in shame, folding her paws together. "And now I'm here on an insane mission to fix something that I never thought I'd have to. I just hope it'll all work out in the end."

Her eyes watched the wolf's chest rise up and down every few seconds, her ears listening to the sound of his heartbeat on the monitor beside him. She sighed, gently touching his arm. A part of her felt guilty for using him as a way to sneak into a hospital. But she wasn't doing it for herself, she was doing it for the well-being of her partner. Someone like Wolfard would understand that.

"Take care, Wolfard." She said with a sad smile, "We'll be waiting for you at the ZPD."

And with that she left the room, leaving the wolf to rest in silence. Now came to tricky part of the plan; finding the antidote. Judy wasn't a doctor so she had no clue where they kept their equipment. Not only did she have to find it, but she had to do it quickly. She wasn't even supposed to be there and she was lucky she got in at all.

Okay, if I were a Night Howler antidote, where would I be? She asked herself before starting her search.

It took quite a bit of exploring, and many instances where she had to hide from a bypassing nurse, but soon Judy found a whole set of antidotes in the emergency department. She managed to find the one for Night Howlers that happened to already be in a syringe prepped for use.

There was no time to waste now. She tucked the syringe in her sweatshirt and hurriedly made way back downstairs into the lobby. Her heart was pounding rapidly in her chest, so much that she feared someone could hear it. Yet no one even batted an eye at her. It was like she wasn't even there. But of course, she was, since she had just stolen medical property.

She swallowed hard as she exited through the doors, yet at the same time felt a huge wave of relief. At least she didn't get caught and no one had suspected a thing. Not yet, anyway. Now all she had to do was give it to Nick and everything would fall back into place.

Judy quickly walked into the alley, where she spotted the fox sitting in the exact spot she left him, mindlessly licking his paws. Upon hearing footsteps he raised his head, and even smiled once he realized who it was.

She looked around the area to once again make sure no one was secretly watching them, before pulling the syringe out from her shirt. "Alright, let's get this done before anyone realizes this is missing."

The fox remained still—aside from his tail wagging in anticipation—as Judy prepared the syringe. She removed the cap, examining to make sure none of the liquid had leaked. She then lifted up Nick's sleeve to expose more of his upper arm. "Here goes something."

Nick closed his eyes as she injected the needle into his arm, piercing right through the skin under his fur. She released it from the syringe and took a step back, somewhat surprised she was actually able to pull all of this off so easily. Maybe she had worried for nothing. And now all she had to do was wait for the antidote to kick in, which thankfully shouldn't take long.

...

Not yet.

...

Still not yet.

...

Any second now.

...

"Nick?" She asked, "Do you feel any different?"

The fox glanced at her, then back down at himself. Judy would've thought by now he'd at least start to behave like his old self. But he was still sitting like a wild animal, saying nothing.

"Do you feel..anything? At all?" She asked, now beginning to feel anxious.

Still, he said nothing. He hardly even moved. That was odd. Judy had seen mammals being given the antidote and changing back almost right away. Why was it taking so long to work on Nick? Did she not get a high enough dosage? No, she was sure she got the right amount.

"Nick? Can you at least talk to me?" She asked, "Come on, say something."

Nick gave her a quiet bark as a reply. Now she knew for sure he wasn't back to normal. He was still the tamed feral animal that he had been for days.

Judy let out a distressed groan, holding the sides of her head while sitting down on an empty box. "Great, just great. Now what am I supposed to do?" She asked aloud, despite having no answers. Even after pulling off an insanely illegal idea, she still didn't know how to fix this.

At this point she was out of options. What else could she do without turning him in to the proper authorities? How was he ever supposed to heal without an actual doctor to help him? She should have just reported it in the first place, even if it meant there would be a possibility of muzzling.

Nick sensed her stress and carefully approached her. Resting his chin on her lap, he gazed up at her in wonder of what was going through her mind. It must've been a hell storm, by the expression on her face. But when realizing what he was doing, she seemed to calm down just a little bit.

She sighed heavily, unconsciously rubbing her paw along the top of his head. "I don't know what to do anymore, slick." She said in defeat, shaking her head. Nick whimpered and frowned sympathetically, brushing his head up against her leg as some sort of comfort.

However, as a minute went by, Nick's attitude changed in a snap. He lifted his head off of her and let out a deep, disturbed growl as he focused his attention elsewhere. Judy became alarmed by this, at first assuming there was a threat nearby and that they needed to leave immediately.

Then she noticed something in the corner of the alley, right next to the broken fence behind the buildings. She stood up off the box and slowly walked toward it, with Nick in pursuit not far behind.

As she crouched down, she got a better look at what this peculiar item was. A bright violet flower petal, something that Judy was familiar with, not only from growing up on a farm (thank goodness she didn't touch it). That must've been what Nick was growling at.

"There's no way this was left here by accident." She said, narrowing her eyes. Night Howlers had been banned from the city ever since the missing mammal cases last year. No one was allowed to have them unless it was for special circumstances. There had to be a reason this petal happened to be here.

Nick sniffed a couple times, trying to detect the scent of the flower. It didn't take long to find it, though. Right away he stepped in front of the fence and spotted another petal. He scratched at the wood to get Judy's attention, to which she followed his gaze. She bent down to look through the large hole in the fence, finding not just another petal, but several of them, all creating a path of some kind.

Should we follow it? Was the question they mentally asked each other. It seemed sketchy and it definitely wouldn't lead to anything good. But it could also take them to the answers they were searching for.

They shared a quick glance before squeezing through the hole and following the trail of petals.