CipherFiveZero- Very true :(

Zootopians- I would never do something like that! Or would I?

Goldyx- Yeah, he better be, lol! Can't have fluff with him gone.

FloppyIShipIt- It is sad. No denial there. :(

Vivanai- Brighter days will come!

just-a-guy-having-fun- Just kiss. I know, right. (lol)

JG Girl- Yep, they certainly are. (Especially when it's innocent Nick) :(

PointyHairedJedi- I just love 'em. Glad you're liking it! :)

HeyitsTwinDrake- Life certainly isn't easy on Nick, is it?

Crazyanimaltlou- Yes, really sad.

Jar3d-o3- That's what it's made to do. As it stands right now, children In many schools are absolutely brutal, and I'm sick of seeing kids sitting alone at lunch tables. The time for matters such as this to disappear was a LONG time ago, not during a time where we claim to be so much more accepting. It's very sad to me, and I want to make a change. (Sorry for mini-rant)

Flippindaku- ^^It is sad. It hurts me to see people having to go through hell in a place that's supposed to be a learning environment. And thanks!

Jar3d-o3- Thanks! That was a ton of fun to write!

Uboat4- Thank you! Glad you're looking forward to it! :)

Guest- Will do! Lol

ABikeCalledPike- Thanks!

hrg2damax- I understand. Due to today's society, it's no longer rare to have nightmarish experiences regarding bullying and such. And will do!

Alan- Indeed.

Guest- Hmm...guess we'll find out.

WingsOfBronze- I'd have no problem with a revolution, lol. (after all he's been through)

SoulMore- Yay!

Canecider- Honored to be a favorite!

Guest- I'm glad you're liking it!

Yay! Early update, huh?

So yeah, it was a brutal ending, wasn't it? Sad thing is, like I said in the reviews, this isn't a rare thing. Bullying can take place in multiple forms, including physical violence and verbal abuse, both of which Nick suffer in this story. If you don't think that words do hurt, I beg to differ 100%.

Anyways, please enjoy Chapter Nine!

Judy POV

"911! Someone call 911!" screams around me say.

I don't feel anything at this point in time, as I stare at Nick's unconscious body. I'm completely numb.

My breathing stops as I observe the horror before me.

Nick's nose is broken for sure, and his face is bloodied. Parts of his facial structure are damaged or broken, including one of his cheekbones. His lips are swollen, and his forehead blue because of the bruising that has already begun.

His eyes are closed in a peaceful sleep as the teachers attempt to restore his breathing, which isn't helping much at this point.

His head would be crushed into oblivion if it weren't for Violet. She jumped in with impressive speed, and knocked the buffalo off of Nick. She did exactly what she said she would do, too.

The buffalo's ear is quite literally cut in half, with it's missing portion lying on the ground.

It took quite some time to pry Violet off of the buffalo, but they eventually succeeded.

Here I am, a future police officer, unable to do a thing.

I want to leave Nick, run away, unable to comprehend the sight of his battered body, but I can't make myself move. I cannot leave his side, especially when he needs me.

I fall to my knees at Nick's side and the teachers attempt to push me away, but I scream something out of the very pits of my soul.

I can't hear anything. The world is silent.

Nothing else matters.

The teachers succeed in dragging me off as the ambulance arrives, and I desperately yell.

"No! No! Please! He's my friend! No!" I speak as they lift him onto a stretcher just after putting a neck brace on him.

The sight of him strikes deep inside of my like a blazing hot sledgehammer. I can't stand to see my best friend looking so beaten down, after all he's been through.

They lift him into the ambulance, and I rush towards it, convinced not to leave it.

"Let me ride with him! Please! I'm his best friend!" I beg, and they finally comply, allowing me to enter the vehicle with him.

The doors close behind us, and a scene of chaos ensues.

Two medics are in the back with me, rushing to get Nick's breaths back to normal. His breathing has improved from nothing at all to brief spurts, but he needs more air.

"Can you tell me what happened?" one of the medics asks me, and my mind races to recall the nightmarish scene.

"He...he...that buffalo attacked him and hit...hit him with his...hooves" I say, hyperventilating.

"It's okay, hun" the rabbit medic says, attempting to comfort me.

There's plenty of room in the back, seeing as it is built to accommodate even the largest of mammals. The atmosphere feels heavy as Nick's breathing sound hoarse, and I stare at his face.

You can't die, Nick. You won't. It's not possible.

"I'm going to call his mother" the medic tells me, looking over the emergency contact information.

This is about to be hell.

As he dials Nick's mother's number, I prepare for the inevitable onslaught about to unfold. I continue looking deep into his closed, bloody eyelids, wanting with all my being for him to wake up.

You can't even protect Nick. You're no future police officer, Judy.

"Ma'am, we need you to listen to us" he speaks into the phone, and I cringe, my heart about to break in two.

"Your son has been seriously injured".

The words are something straight out of a mother's worst scenario. By worst, I mean it literally, except perhaps a child's death.

I can hear her scream into the microphone desperately, and the medic tries to explain it all.

"It's blunt force...ma'am please, you have to be a bit more...quiet" he struggles to say as she weeps openly into the phone.

As we pull away, I glance out the back of the ambulance, noticing Violet and Melvin, standing, watching us move further and further away.

Maybe they do want to be our friends.

Now, time for the hard part.

We arrive at the hospital shortly, and I'm pressured to keep my distance as they roll Nick inside, his breathing sounding quick and close to failure.

I walk quickly behind the medics, still feeling quite numb inside. In fact, I can't even feel as distraught as I should be due to the suddenness of the whole thing.

"Wait here please" the medic says to me, "This isn't going to be easy".

I nod exasperatedly and sit down in a chair, watching the doors close as Nick is rolled away.

I'm alone in the waiting room now, except for one other animal.

An elderly deer sitting beside me notices my destroyed state of mind, and speaks to me gently.

"He's going to be fine, dear".

She's just trying to be nice.

The echo in her voice resembles the same emptiness inside of me right now, and it sends chills down my spine.

But what if he isn't?

Finally, the tears begin flooding from my eyes, and my stomach contracts as I openly bawl.

"He's...he's hurt...bad" I say in between the tears, and the deer places a hand on my shoulder.

"My husband is in there too. Had a heart attack last night, and they don't think he'll be waking up" she tells me, "But you can't think negatively in times like these".

She's absolutely right; I can't think negatively. For Nick's sake.

I nod and wipe my tears, pulling out my phone to call my parents.

There's a slight sense of dread considering I know they won't be happy with me, but I also imagine they will show some amount of sympathy.

I dial the number slowly as I sniff, and my mother almost answers immediately.

"Judy?" she asks, and I know she's nearly at the school, where she thinks I am.

"Mom, the fox I wasn't supposed to talk to, he..." I begin, and I hear her sigh as I talk, "I'm at the hospital".

"What?! Did he hurt you?! I swe-"

"No, mom! He's the one..." I say, tears rolling down my face again, "He's the one who's hurt".

She is silent for a moment, and then she speaks again, sounding a bit less livid.

"Judy, we told you not to talk to him".

"Mom, I'm sorry, but I'm never going to just...abandon Nick. He's my best friend, and you and dad have to accept that. But mom, he's hurt really bad..." I choke out, "Really, really bad...".

I wish that for one second, she would take the moment to understand my pain.

"How'd he get hurt?" she asks.

"Mom, everyone at school hates him except for a few! Everyone..." I begin, "And this buffalo thought he stole his money...and he...he..."

"Beat him up?" she attempts to finish for me.

"More than that. He was trying to...trying to kill...him" I struggle to say, and I think my mother now understands the severity of the situation.

"Is he breathing?" she asks me.

"He wasn't at first, but now...he's trying, mom" I manage to say before another wave of fresh tears hit, and I bury my face into my lap.

I hear her calling my name through the speaker, obviously sensing my deteriorating mental state as I weep.

The deer beside me rubs her hand down my back in a comforting manner, but I barely notice. I'm crying so hard that my lungs are quite sore now, and I finally lift my phone back to my ear.

"Mom, just...just get here fast.." I say through the hysterical emotions emitting from me, and I hear a quick "okay" in reply.

The next few minutes are awfully uneventful aside from my mental turmoil, and perhaps a few desperate encouraging words from the woman beside me. My heart is truly beginning to feel like it has died as each minute passes, waiting to hear news about Nick.

Eventually, the doors to lobby swing open and Nick's mother staggers in, yelling to see her son.

It takes a few of the hospital workers to hold her back, and even then it isn't easy.

"No! I have to see him!" she shrieks.

It's a horrific sound to hear.

"Ma'am, we can't let you back there yet!" they remind her, but she still is reluctant to back off.

Eventually she calms enough for them to explain the situation to her, as well as the nature of Nick's injuries.

Unable to listen anymore, she sits down beside me, breathing heavily, and even though I barely know the woman, I hug her. I can feel the emotional hurricane inside her resonating within the room, and I am washed with a wave of sympathy.

They've both been through so much. Why does this have to happen now?

Nick POV

A blur begins to fill my vision as my heart beats slowly.

The frantic vocalizations around me push a feeling of discomfort within me, but it's nothing compared to the tortuous aching inside my head. I want to sit up, but my muscles burn too badly to even muster moving at all, really.

What's happening?

I remember being attacked by the buffalo, but what's going on now? Am I dead?

My eyes will not open more than a squint, and I can tell they are swollen beyond recognition. In fact, it feels like my entire head is swollen.

"He's waking up" I hear one of them say, and I move my arm in order to feel my surroundings.

It feels like...a bed.

"Hey, Nick, it's going to be okay, just relax. You're in the hospital" a calm voice speaks into my sore ear.

I try to move my leg, and I feel a tremendous pain in my upper leg. I forgot what exactly what it's called, but I learned it in anatomy class. A...a...femur? Something like that.

My other arm is numb and restricted by the doctors, and I suspect that perhaps it is broken as well.

With every breath I force myself to take the more my ribs throb in pain. I don't think they're broken, but perhaps bruised.

There's blood in my mouth; I can tell by the irony scent flowing throughout my throat, and my skull feels battered. To put it in perspective, I'm too disoriented to comprehend all of the pain, but what I feel right now is still quite grueling.

My heartbeat increases as the doctors work on getting the bleeding on my face to stop. I'm breathing better now, but it's still far from easy with the pain in my chest.

Man, that buffalo sure knew what he was doing...

I try to open my eyes wider, to no avail, and I finally give in and relax.

In a split second, my body is rocked as my lung suddenly shoots pain all the way across my body, and it's beyond hard to breathe again.

Breathe, Nick! Do it!

The pain is all consuming as I scream in pain, my chest feeling as though it is coming apart.

"Dave! Dave! Propofol! We need more!" he screams, and I feel them pressing gases into my mouth as I sputter.

I try my best to yell for them to make it stop, but there's not much they can do.

My vision begins to fade out again, and Judy crosses my mind again as I gasp, breathless.

This can't be it...

Judy POV

It's been a while since we've gotten an update on Nick.

Violet and Melvin along with a few other students arrived, some out of guilt a few minutes ago, so we aren't alone anymore.

Nick's mom is becoming impatient, desperate to hear news of her treasured son, as am I.

Never have I felt as sickeningly anxious as I feel right now.

I've discussed everything from home life to childhood experiences with Nick's mother, trying hard to keep her mind off of her son's risky predicament. I also convinced her that hurting Nick's attacker is not the best way to handle it. I told her that he's probably already been expelled, much like one of the other bullies Nick told me about.

My mother is still on her way, caught up in traffic. It doesn't matter to me that she's late, however. I'm just glad she cares enough about me to bother showing up.

"Judy" Nick's mom says flatly, and I turn to her, my eyes burning from the tears that have plagued me since we arrived.

"It's been too long" she says gravely.

"He's going to be okay. I know it" I try to persuade her for the hundredth time, my heart feeling cold and empty.

She holds her hand over her mouth in order to stop herself from crying again, and the doors to the lobby open, my mother entering.

"Judy!" she says, rushing over to me.

"Mom!" I say tiredly, hugging her, the tears forming in my eyes once again.

"Sorry about the traffic" she mutters glumly, and I nod into her shoulder.

"It's okay".

I see Violet looking quite down as she watches me embrace my mother, and I walk up to her after I release my mom.

"Thanks for...saving him. I didn't know what to do" I tell her honestly, and her expression stays the same.

"It's cool" she speaks, "But I really wanted to kill that guy".

I nod quickly.

"I did too" I say with a slight smile, and then I give a friendly nod to Melvin, as he forces a small smile as well.

I sit down between Nick's mother and my mother as they converse dramatically, trying my best to distract myself with my phone. I stare at my phone and remember what Nick told me about his phone, and how it saved him from so many situations. It distracted him even when times were toughest, like being constantly insulted on a bus ride, or berated by senseless, classless remarks during lunchtime.

I never imagined having a connection with someone so quickly over just a few days. And I have to be honest here:

I like him a lot. And by like, I don't mean just as my best friend. It's something closer to loving him.

I glance over at my mother after there is a pause in her conversation.

"I forgot to ask; how did everything go yesterday?" I ask her regarding my brother, and she sighs.

"It was rough" she mutters, and I fully understand her emotions.

Life is pretty tough right now.

There's brief pause before she speaks again.

"And I know this is rough for you" she adds, "I'm sorry for how we reacted yesterday. I should have thought about how tough people are on foxes".

I can't believe these words are coming from my mother's mouth.

"That's an understatement" I tell her, but I'm glad she's finally starting to get it.

After a brief conversation, I type out a very long, descriptive post on one of my social media accounts, trying to at least reach out to some animals regarding discrimination. I describe the current situation with Nick and how deeply it hurts, and I post it without a second thought.

You can't judge someone before you really know what they're made of; and Nick, he's something amazing. Somewhere deep inside of me, I know that the spark inside him isn't going to die this easily.

8:27 PM

It's been five hours since we arrived, and at last, one of the doctors has emerged from behind the closed doors.

Nick's mother and I jump to our feet, anticipating what hopefully will be positive news; but as usual, there's that small presence deep inside, nagging my thoughts with negative possibilities.

"How is he?" his mother asks the doctor with more than a small hint of fear, and my breaths become faster and shorter, although quiet enough to blend in with the silence.

"We had to open up his chest" he begins, and immediately I feel light-headed, "He had a punctured lung caused by a break in his ribs, but it's not a serious puncture. We performed surgery on that and stitched it back up, so we've taken care of it. He has a few breaks in his arm, which we took care of. His face is still a bit swollen, but we've managed to get it down. His nose is fractured and so is one of his cheekbones, but it's not too bad of a break. It's only a hairline fracture" he explains to us, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

"So he's going to be okay?" his mother asks in a begging voice.

"The main concern is his lung, but yes, he's going to make it" the doctor tells us, "But he also has a few cuts and bruises we can get patched up, so give us a bit longer". Nick's mom nods as he speaks, relieved that her son will live to see the next day; as am I.

"We've already got a cast on his arm, so that's also taken care of. He'll be in the hospital for a week at least, however, so be prepared for that".

His mom nods and thanks the doctor, and he returns to the operating room.

I could jump for joy right now, but I manage to contain myself.

The entire lobby claps at the news, and I smile at the sight.

For once, a room clapping over a fox's well-being. It's truly a sight I never imagined seeing even in my deepest fantasies.

Even with Nick crippled, I see the change he has already helped to create that will hopefully continue to spread.

We can make the world a better place.

Nick POV- Four days later

The world comes back into color, and this time I can open my eyes.

I see the world, all the sights I've become accustomed to; except, well, I'm in a hospital bed.

The outside is dark, and I realize I haven't been in the hospital for just a few minutes.

"Don't move, honey. You're going to be okay" the nurse beside me informs me kindly, and I take a deep breath.

My face is still numb, but I do notice two things right off the bat: I have a cast on my left arm, and I have a tube heading into the side of my ribcage.

I guess the nurse sees my eyes widen at the sight, so she places her hand on my shoulder to calm me down.

"It's okay! Your lung was hurt pretty bad, so you'll need that for a few days so you can breathe" she informs me.

I continue staring at it with wide eyes, and I feel my face with my hand, only now feeling the bandages covering parts of my face.

"I wouldn't recommend toying around with that" she advises me, and I drop my hand back down beside me.

"How...how long have I been out?" I ask, taking into account the darkness outside the window.

"Four days or so".

What?! Four days?!

I shake it off, and a new question comes to my mind.

"Is anyone here to see me?" I ask curiously, my speech a bit slurred due to my still slightly swollen lips along with the numbness that still lingers.

She smiles brightly, and I know the answer before she speaks it.

"Yep! And actually, you had one friend who won't stop asking about you" she speaks as she fills up a needle with some sort of medicine.

I grin the best I can when I realize who she's speaking of.

"Um...is the buffalo okay?" I ask, "I kinda messed him up".

She chuckles.

"Oh, he's going to need quite a few stitches. One of your other friends sliced his ear off, actually. They think they'll get it sowed back on, but I'm not sure" she tells me nonchalantly.

"His ear came off?!" I ask incredulously.

No way Judy did that.

"Yep! Well, your fox friend. She didn't seem to want to talk about it" she tells me, and I know she's speaking of Violet.

Now, it's not so hard to believe she tore someone's ear off.

I hear a knock on my door as the nurse injects me with the needle, and my eyes dart to the doorknob.

"Oh, look who's here to see you!"

I may be broken, crippled, damaged and degraded, but I stare into the one face that makes me feel like I'm on top of the world no matter what. All the pain, disorientation, confusion, humiliation, everything; it all fades away when I look into her eyes as she stands beside my mother.

For once I can say that it's good to be alive.

What now? What happens next? There's so many different places to go with this...

This is actually a VERY fun story to write, although it hurts me to hurt Nick. I hope you'll forgive me! Anyways, please leave any thoughts in the reviews, and I hope everyone is enjoying the story as it unfolds! Until next time!