Even More Problems
Judy woke up with Nick curled around her as it is part of their new sleeping arrangements. Despite having no intention on going back to sleep, she stays in Nick's embrace. Thanks to the lack of loud noises as they are in a restricted part of the hospital, she began to listen to the sound of his heart beat every morning. Something about it soothes her. It reminds her that even though Nick isn't in the right state of mind, he is still alive and right here with her. It doesn't matter how long it takes for him to return to normal, because she will be there.
All this time with Nick, even if he wasn't really there, had given her more time on her hands that she knew what to do with. A lot of the time, she thought about their future together. She fantasized about all the adventures that they would go on once he got instated as an Officer of the law. She thought about when they would get married or if they were even allowed to. She wondered if they were able to have kits together (luckily both Fox and Rabbit young are called kits), and what they would look like.
And all that time also allowed her to learn some of his mannerisms pretty well. She saw how his tail twitched and how his eyes had a certain glint when he got into a mischievous mood. After she saw that for the first time, he took her change of clothes while she was showering (she still didn't know if she didn't close the door all the way or if he could open doors). She saw how his eyes light up as she returns from wherever she had to go. She learned that he can get really moody over some things, like if she was busy and didn't have the time to give him a good scratching. It was only one time and Nick was a total diva about it.
Nature's call demanded that she leave the bed in search of relief. Careful not to disturb him, she carefully untangles herself from Nick and heads to the bathroom. Once she finished, she checked her phone that was charging in the corner, she didn't see any messages or missed calls. It was seven in the morning but since she didn't have anything to do today, a warm bed and a warm blanket of a bushy tail is calling her name. She is every bit as careful getting back in bed as she was when she got out. She didn't even need to adjust as Nick shifted to accommodate her and his tail draped itself back over her. She waited to see if he was awake but the lack of any additional movements suggested otherwise. It was unbelievably cozy and didn't take long to fall back asleep.
Zzz... Zzz... Zzz...
It must be around noon with how bright it is and Nick's eyes don't appreciate the sunlight that bleeds through the blinds and lands on his face. He tries to preserve whatever sleep that still remains by burying his nose into Judy's neck and using her ears as an impromptu sleep mask. Her light flowery scent fills his head and is infinitely more relaxed.
He's in bed with Judy. Again.
He shifts a little and almost sighs in relief, this time he has clothes on. He cracks open one eye, and is glad to see that Judy is also wearing clothes. What he isn't happy to see is that he is not in a bedroom, hers or his, and instead sees a hospital room.
He can deal with that later. Right now he's too busy sleeping in with his Mate. He wrapped his arms around her waist and draws her closer, and focuses on her scent. It is not very strong, and he suspects that even her room wouldn't have a strong scent either. At least compared to a Foxes scent.
Warmth blooms in his chest as she snuggles deeper into his hold. This is something he could get used to.
He hears her sigh softly "Mornin' Slick."
Just thinking about waking up next to her more often puts a smile on his muzzle. His tail wags and thumps against the bed.
"Good morning to you too Super Cop."
He yelps as Judy shoots up out of his hold "NICK!"
"Do you need to yell? I'm right here and this is a hospital ya know, I don- what's wrong?" He raises his paw to the side of her muzzle to wipe away the tears that start to fall freely.
She leans into his paw, placing her own over his "You don't know how happy I am to hear you speak."
"That's funny, usually mammals are happy when I stop talking."
"It takes a special breed of mammals to put up with your sass, so I believe you."
"Not even gunna try and sugar coat it?"
"Nope, you need to be knocked down a peg or five."
Her smile widens and her tears flow even faster now as she pulls him into a hug "I've missed you"
"You make it seem like I died or something."
"You went savage again."
"oh." He was quiet, almost inaudible "How long?"
"Fifteen days."
It takes a second for Nick to register the reality of the situation. On the bright side? At least it wasn't as long as the first time. On the down side? He lost thirty eight days of his life, thirty nine if he includes the time when he last encountered Agnes, since Bellweather had shot him with the Night Howler serum. That's four and a half weeks! Little over a month! His hearing fades to white noise, his vision blurs with unshed tears. He tightens his hold on Judy as his anguish overwhelms him.
Judy for her part, was mostly silent. She just buries herself deeper into his hold as his shoulders begin to shake and he starts to sob. She never expected him to break down, she expected him to bottle everything in. She thought he could take whatever life threw at him and keep going, but this just serves as a reminder that he's just a mammal (no matter how great he is). She strokes the back of his head and his ears in an attempt to comfort him.
"So much time of our lives gone. Time that was taken from me, taken from you.
Despite the sadness he feels, he relaxes as she strokes his ears "We have some of the best doctors helping us, I'm sure that it's only a matter of time before they figure out what's going on and fix it."
Her optimism makes him crack a smile. He leans down and licks away the trail of tears off of her muzzle.
"We should call the doctors now that you're awake." Judy didn't wait for him to respond and pressed the call nurse button.
Due to them being a special case, they had nurses dedicated to them and there was always one in the immediate vicinity alongside the hospital security should anything happen. It wasn't long until someone entered the room. He was a Red Fox todd who looked extremely similar to Nick with the exception of a white accents instead of black. Judy begins to speak but Nick isn't listening. His eyes are locked onto this new Fox in the room. He seemed surprised but he started to get excited and stepped toward them.
Nick grabs Judy around the waist and pulls her onto his lap and lets loose a low growl. She squeaks in surprise and her ears redden.
Judy was about turn to Nick and question him when she hears the Vet mumble to himself "Thesis on subject's mental state appears to be accurate. Further examination is needed to confirm."
She turns back to the other Fox and sees him jot down notes on a clipboard. When he looks up, he sees her questioning gaze and chuckles sheepishly.
"Sorry, it's a habit."
"What thesis are you talking about?" The Vet turned his attention back to Nick.
"We believe that due to your repeated turn to a savage state, you will be experiencing some behavioral changes, such as an increased connection to your baser emotions and instincts." He pockets the pen and gestures them to follow him "Now that your awake, we need to perform some tests."
He leads them out to the hall and toward the elevators.
"We have been monitoring the brain activity of all those affected by Night Howlers, and we have been noticing changes in everyone's behavior, and not everyone has been affected the same way. Normally I wouldn't be telling you this but since it's the same thing that's affecting you, you need to know this information. Nick has been the only one who has returned to a savage state after receiving the antidote. The others-"
"Actually" Judy and the Fox turn to Nick, who's ears are flat against his head. He is looking away away from the both of them and seems to be feeling guilty if the look on his face is to be believed.
"I remember some of the time that I was savage and this is not the second time, it's the third."
Judy takes a sharp inhale and they both freeze. They look at him with wide disbelieving eyes.
"You remember being savage?"
"Three times?!"
The Vet and Judy speak simultaneously. He had pulled out his pen once more and started to scribble down on the clipboard while Judy had started to panic. How could she miss something like that?
"I'm pretty sure that Judy went savage at the same time."
Maybe that's how.
"She did?"
"I did?! When?"
"Remember when you elbowed me after we had lunch with Agnes?"
That.. made a lot of sense actually. It as lead answered the question on how that happened.
"Could you describe the experience on the way to the examination room?" He motioned for them to continue walking.
Nick followed as he scrunched his face and concentrated as his mind tried to recall details "Everything was... simple. Like how I viewed the world and how i reacted to anything."
"Could you give an example?"
"Hmm... I remember my thought process was rudimentary at best. Hungry? Food. Tired? Nap. Mate? Scratches."
Despite the circumstances, Judy couldn't resist cracking a smile "Is that all you want me for? The scratches?"
"What can I say? Your fingers are magic." Nick waggled his eyebrows and Judy couldn't help but giggle. The levity was very welcomed by the two, they had enough seriousness for quite awhile.
*Ahem* "We're here."
Here being a simple examination room.
"You and the others have been regularly monitored to find any changes in your brain activity. And now that you have regained your sanity, we believe that now is the time that we're going to make bigger strides in finding the cause of what is causing your degradation."
"Degradation?"
The Vet turns to Judy, and now it's her turn to turn somber "I was waiting to tell him when we were alone."
"It'll be easier to show you."
The Vet goes to the desk in the room and pulls out a folder. He reaches inside and pulls out a image of what looks like a brain, but it's really colorful.
"This is the brain activity of a healthy Red Fox, me specifically since I can't show you anyone else's. See all these yellow lines? Those are the signals that the brain sends in between neurons. The more lines you see in one area of the brain means the more your using a specific section, like the frontal lobe which is responsible for things like personality, behavior, emotions,
judgment, planning, problem solving
speech, intelligence, concentration, self awareness, etcetera etcetera. And each of these can be narrowed down to specific sections of the frontal lobe like here, here and here." He points to various spots on the image where there are large groupings of the yellow lines. He then pulls out another image "This one is yours from yesterday, see the difference?"
"The yellow lines are in different places."
"Yes, more specifically there is less activity in the parts of the brain where self awareness and speech are, and more activity where emotions and behavior are. This has been consistent since you have been admitted here two weeks ago. However, now that may have changed so we are going to need to do some more tests to see if there are anymore changes."
"Ok then, when do we start?"
"Right now."
