Chapter Seventy-Four
The Greatest Gift...

The great and noble Lord of Zistopia sat back contentedly at his dining table of black rock, stretching his arms above him and sighing deeply in morning sleepiness — pushing the tray of breakfast away as the tall, black door slid open behind him. "Sir." Appleby greeted, silently gliding into the room and taking up the empty tray.

The Lord said nothing as he looked out of the large windows, which spread upon the desert about. There was no glass in them, but they could be effectively shuttered and barred by panels of thick rock which, when closed, was designed with such expertise that there was not so much as a lick of light able to pass through.

The badger nodded respectfully, unoffended by his master's lack of response, and turned towards the door to leave. "What time will it be in Zootopia by now?" asked the Lord with a gaze up towards the rising sun.

"Four forty PM, Sir," Appleby replied, smartly pointing his eyes at the black panther.

"And Operation Mincemeat?"

"No word from Master Wulf as of yet, Sir."

"I have no doubts about his success. The situation was set up perfectly. The police were detained, the rabbit was lost, frightened, alone... there is nothing to have gone wrong."

"Indeed. Will that be all?"

"No. Speaking of Nyilas: his family."

"Sir?"

"Terminate them. Immediately."

"Sir." Appleby shifted efficiently and made silent egress from the room, the door swinging open and silently shutting behind him. The badger made down the first of a very long flight of stairs which sank deep beneath the sandy earth. He took up a lantern and a match, which sat in an enclave calved into the wall — at the top of a smaller staircase leading to the deepest basement — and lit it. He extinguished the match between thumb and finger, took up the lantern and made towards the visible door, pulling it smoothly open and stepping inside.

"Ser," greeted a burly feline, eying the badger carefully. He was hunched with a thin grin that had yellowed teeth and a line of scars across the front of his muzzle, while his ears were mottled and torn.

Appleby nodded at the mammle, stepping into the room and looking slowly about at the mess. "Such a state you keep this place in," he derisively disapproved.

"Garn— the Lord give you have run of the whole tower, you keep all'f it spick and sparn. Well th' torchure room's mine it is. I'll keep it how I wants."

The badger rubbed a finger along a piece of bent, rusted metal, which appeared to be some kind of head mask for holding people in place while 'performing' on their face. "You have the lamented Mister Nyilas' family?" The feline shuffled away towards a large metal chamber in the darkness. He pulled on a piece of thick, rough rope, and a number of loud clangs rang out from somewhere inside the polished, calved stone walls.

A sheet of thick metal moved upon the floor with a cage of iron that rose from beneath, the sound of chains clanking together, the smell of fear and then: three billy goats came into view. They were shackled inside the cage of iron, so they could not even reach out to one another for comfort.

"They bin in darkness they bin for weeks. Notain't seen no light 'til now. Garhne— Lord said I'd be havin' with the girlie when 'e'ws done with'm." The torturer cackled sharply, rushing to a very 'purpose-built' piece of equipment in the corner. "I got 'dis sized f'er size aready. Kep 'er legs open a treat!"

"They're not to be harmed," Appleby interjected without emotion. "Get in touch with the rivermammle and see them safely off the continent."

"Wha'? Buh 'e said when he'ws done withem I'd have me—"

"On the contrary, he said nothing at all to you. You think he wishes to speak with your class of character? No. Your orders come only from me. You speak only to me. My master has given instruction that Nyilas' family are to be safely delivered from here, and that is what you shall do."

"Gar— yes, Ser…"

...

Rain had just started falling in Zootopia: not a harsh or heavy rain, not an excitable storm with thunder and lightning, nothing worth sitting at the window and watching from inside. Merely the slow falling of large drops of rain. Merely dampness and cold.

Chief Bogo looked at the brooding scene — at the blood being washed into the lake surrounding the city — and back to the red fox stood beside him, who was staring blankly at the water, his fur slowly wetting as the rain blanketed the earth. Bogo watched the fox carefully, trying to find the appropriate cure for the infection of his body. Nick was motionless, apathetic and blank. A sound behind him caught the Chief's attention, and he turned to see Officer Snarlov marching close.

"Chief," she said, "the helicopter is en route. They'll be here in just a few minutes."

"Good. Good. I've sent out an order for the sea-bound police to intercept, this lot's been through enough today already..." Bogo glanced at Nick, and his concern just increased at the continuous apathy the fox was exhibiting. "Some more than others…"

"What about the assailants?" Snarlov asked. "Any sign of them?"

"We're not sure yet. We've found some blood samples and—"

"It wasn't a 'them'," Nick intervened in full bleakness, while Bogo and Snarlov focused on the red officer. Only now showing any signs he was still there, his gaze turned away from the lake and up towards the Chief — his expressive, emerald eyes pained and his cheeks wet with either rain or tears. "It was a him. One mammle. A white wolf. Massive. Snarling. Bloodied. It was—"

His voice failed him, and he snapped quickly back to stare at the dark waters below, his existence tightening and his shoulders raising and falling with every pained breath. He tried to force himself to speak again, but all that emerged was a choking gag, a whimper, a whine…

"Snarlov," Bogo said, "get in touch with the M.I.B. I realize this isn't a murder, but this is clearly a case of special significance. Think you can handle supervising?"

"Of course. Why, where're you—"

Bogo looked at her, sternly. "Wilde can't stay here." Nodding after a moment, Snarlov pulled out her radio and moved away from the two, making orders for further backup in the investigation of this attack.

Bogo turned at the fox once more. Leaning down, he placed his hoof reassuringly on his shoulder. "Come on, Wilde. You can't be on your own... you can't stay here... I guess I'd better keep an eye on you for tonight."

...

In a deeper part of the city, a pair of ambulances hastened through the streets — their lights flashing but their sirens silent as they pulled up into the hospital car park, where the streetlights glowered down with white, intense light.

The doors lowered on pistons and the paramedics rushed out, both teams pulling stretchers towards the building, the automatic doors opening before them. A team of white-coated staff was waiting just outside, where they were to take the rabbits inside and out of sight.

...

Nurse Flo sat quietly upon the white sheets and beside the grinning wolf. Raising her paw, she cleared her throat, quietly, for the sixth time that minute with a meaningless gaze ahead. Her ears twitched and her gaze flicked over towards him, as she felt something on her back, thus, she turned, as though startled, to see Wolfard sliding his paw across her back.

"Stop that," she said, her voice quiet and perhaps a little confused as to what he was doing. The wolf gave the hare a melancholy smile. He stopped stroking her back as she'd asked, but didn't take back his paw. She needed time to adjust to this sort of thing, and he accepted that, but he also knew he had to push her a little further each time towards being able to accept his and her own emotions.

"We have just kissed, y' know," he noted to her inexperience. "I thought that might've 'warmed you up' a little."

Flo's gaze flicked between the wolf and the nothing ahead. After a few false starts, she sat forwards, slipped her glasses off her face and rubbed her eyes with a paw. "I don't know what to say. I don't know how to act. You'd be surprised, but being in a relationship was never a part of my training… I guess people just expect you to 'figure it out' as you go."

Jim chuckled softly, leaning back against the head of the bed. "And I'm sure we will." Flo's brow raised sardonically, her glasses in her paw, as she got to look at him. "You know, Rose, you're even more attractive when you don't have your glasses on."

"Huh. So are you."

"Aww, tha— wait, what?" The crack of a thin smile grew on the hare's face, while a grin smuggled itself around Jim's as he figured out the joke. He closed towards her suddenly and put his arms around her shoulders, leaning to kiss the back of her neck.

"Enough!" she shot, leaping up from the closeness but making no effort to conceal her grin. "Mister Wolfard," she said, mock-scholastically, "I am a professional person— the most professional I know. I may be on standby for the moment, but at any time my phone could—"

Perfectly on cue, Nurse Flo's phone started to ring. She froze mid-sentence and pulled it out, pressing answer instantly and holding it to her ear. "Yes? Correct... understood, I'll be right there." She hung up the phone and stood swiftly, not saying a word to the wolf as she quickly adjusted her lab coat, slipped her phone back in her pocket and returned her glasses to her small nose.

"Ughm... Flo?"

"I'm needed. Emergency examination and medical care." Hastening to the large sink, she applied soap, rolled up her sleeves and proceeded to heavy scrub on her paws and arms. "A ZPD officer. In a pretty bad way. Head injuries, multiple lacerations, possible spinal injury—"

"ZPD? Who!?"

"Rabbit."

"Wh— J... Judy Hopps?"

Flo glanced to the wolf, holding his gaze as she dried herself. "I have to go."

"W— sure, yeah… take care of her; is it bad?"

Pausing for one final, brief moment at the door, she looked to Jim over her shoulder. "That's what we'll find out."

In all the time of forty seconds, the two of them had gone from warmly chatting to parting in haste. Wolfard thumped back in the bed, sifting at the shut door and wondering what had happened to the rabbit, with surprise at how quickly the hare had readied and gone.

...

The door to the emergency examination room burst open and a small hare stepped inside. Her fur was covered by a large medical outfit, and upon her paws were long rubber gloves. "I'm here," she said brusquely to her colleagues. The doctor turned and nodded towards her, the badger's paws gloved and his body covered by a plastic apron — the same outfit Flo and everyone else in the room were wearing.

The hare joined them in the white examination room, looking up at the doctor as he started speaking with the deep, reassuring voice so many doctors possessed, "Is this everyone? Yes, good. Our patient is a twenty-five-year-old rabbit, one year ZPD experience, full training, excellent physical condition. Assaulted on duty and requires an emergency examination. Ambulance en route. ETA one minute. Paramedics controlling blood loss. No sign of consciousness, level three concussion, acute bleeding around the head, broken wrist, suspected damage to the ribs and upper neck, multiple lacerations about the face and scalp."

"Itinerary: set carpal bones in the wrist, disinfect and close facial wounds; investigate state of consciousness, trauma to neck and check for any other symptoms. Check breathing, blood pressure and heart rate. Prepare patient for CT scan and X-ray."

Nurse Flo turned about as she heard the door sliding open behind her, looking over the body of the rabbit pushed inside. She stepped back as the table was wheeled over — the team of medical staff circling around the mobile examination table. The patient was bloodied and battered, naked beneath the thin sheet the paramedics had put over her — a sheet which was promptly removed by one of the other nurses for examination of her body. Her wrist was supported with a tight splint — her neck with a cervical collar.

Pulling her gloves tight, the hare took up position around the table, standing on the rabbit's right side of her head, while the doctor reached up to the medical light and lowered it towards her. "Antibacterial," the badger said, reaching out a paw and taking the proffered wipe. "I am now cleaning the wounds off and around the face. Nurse Flo, check the damage to the patient's paw."

"Yes, Doctor," she said, touching her paw upon the rabbit's arm, very carefully checking the bones in her wrist. "Dislocated carpal bones. The splint is holding it in place."

The badger nodded. "We'll need to X-ray before correcting the bones. Heavy swelling around the back of the neck," the doctor continued, "with definite damage to the skull showing signs of a suspected fracture. Breathing appears to be stable. Nurse Perry, put her on the heart monitor."

"Yes, Doctor."

After the device was attached to the end of her finger, the badger took up a small torch and leaned in close to the rabbit's eye — the eyelid of which he opened with a delicate finger. "Pupil reacts positively to light: signs of bleeding into the eye, however, and also... yes... blood leaking from the ear: consistent with signs of skull damage."

"I am now moving to examine the neck," he reported, leaning down towards the rabbit's head, moving aside the supporting collar and pressing his paws onto both sides of her neck with medical precision. "Definite trauma to the spinal column. Heavy bruising. Could be a fracture… can't feel a breakage, though. I think a cranial tomography scan would be wise before acting further on the spine. Nurse Flo, support her heard while I re-apply the brace."

"Yes, Doctor Dasse." Delicately slipping her fingers beneath Judy's head, the hare held her neck completely still, while the badger fitted the brace back to its original form. But when Flo drew her paw away again, Judy began to murmur groggily and her eyelids started to twitch.

"Doctor?" the hare prompted with patience, searching into the calm eyes of the badger.

"She's regaining consciousness. Flo, comfort her and find out what you can. As a similar species, she'll respond better to you."

"Shouldn't we give her an analgesic?"

"She may need surgery. I don't want to give her something that'll cause a problem with the anesthetic." His thick brow furrowing, the badger sighed as his glance traced over Judy, adding resolutely, "You're right though, Nurse. We must give her something. Nurse White, a sedative; something mild. Don't knock her out." Nurse White moved away from the table and fetched a needle and a small, glass jar with a hermetic seal, which she punctured with the tip of the needle, before, drawing the drug into the syringe.

Judy's eyes slowly drew open, and Nurse Flo leaned close towards her, speaking to her in a calm and soothing voice, "You're in hospital," she said, in tones so earnest and sincere that Wolfard wouldn't have believed that they were hers. "We're here to help you. Can you hear me?" The rabbit tried to nod in response. Still hardly conscious, she reacted badly when she realized she couldn't move her head, and began squirming in the brace.

"Please— calm, calm down— Please relax and breathe deeply, can you do that? Slow your breaths down; breathe with me, okay?" The hare kept her gaze deep on the rabbit, keeping Judy's attention from looking at the needle the doctor was putting in her arm, and Nurse Flo took in a slow lungful of air and let it out gradually.

Judy watched silently, still panicked and frightened, but drawn deep into the hare's eyes and nectaric voice. She worked to slow her breathing down to match Flo's, listening to the calming sound of her slowness.

Rose glanced up at the badger as he moved to the heart rate and blood pressure machine Nurse Perry had put her on. He was taking down notes and talking quietly with the other nurses. Sometimes, relaxing the patient was more important than rushing to fix them. Nurse Flo turned back to Judy and ushered, "You are in Saint Bernard's Hospital. You've been brought here by paramedics after an attack at the harbor. My name is Nurse Flo, and your doctor is Doctor Martin Dasse: one of our most experienced doctors. Can you tell me your name?"

"I—"

"Your name, do you know your name?"

"It... it's c— Carrots…"

"Good. I'm going to put my paw in yours now, don't be alarmed." Reaching across, the hare slipped her gloved fingers into Judy's left paw. "I'd like you to squeeze my paw, please. Can you do that, 'Carrots'?" Hopps half-consciously did as she was asked, and Flo made a note of the amount of pressure she was able to exert before taking her fingers away again. "Thank you. You're doing extremely well," she soothed, softly. "Can you tell me what hurts the most?"

"H-head… m-my h-head."

"Where on your head? Is it the—" Nurse Flo paused as she watched the rabbit. Judy's eyes fell closed and a number of small coughs started rising from her. Judy tried to say something to the hare, but each time she opened her mouth another gag would overtake her. Flo turned up towards the others. "Perry, assistance please. Carrots, do you want to be sick?"

Hopps weakly nodded once, and Flo inched forwards and placed her paws on the rabbit's shoulder, carefully helping her to sit up a little with the aid of the nurse opposite her, while the third nurse reached over with a bucket. "Don't try and hold it in. If your body wants it out of you, it's far better to comply."

Rose placed her paw on the rabbit's back, while Judy opened her mouth, hence, Rose rubbed the spot in a soothing motion as the gags increased in intensity, until the vile extrusion was sucked up from her. Judy then cleared her sour mouth and mumbled, "C-could I— w-water?"

The hare considered for a moment, and then sought for the doctor, who had given them some space but was listening to every word. He said nothing at her silent inquiry, but did shake his head in opposition. "Doctor, please, she's just been sick. Let her wash her mouth out at least."

The badger nodded, gesturing to one of the nurses who fetched a plastic cup and filled it with water. "You're not allowed to drink this," Flo ordered considerably into the rabbit's ear. "Just swirl it around your mouth and spit. Like at a dentist, yes?"

Judy made a small nod, and again the two nurses helped her to sit up just a little, supporting her back as Flo helped her to take a small mouthful, which Judy used to rinse her mouth out before spitting it back in. "Antibacterial wipe," Flo called, glancing to Perry. She took a wipe and pawed it to the hare, who dabbed it against the rabbit's lips and mouth to clear up the worst of what was left.

"Your head: does it hurt around the front: where the cut marks are? Or is it more central?"

"Th— b-b-back…"

"Thank you, Carrots. You've been enormously helpful. Is there anything else we should know about?"

"Carh— c-can't… b-breathe…"

Flo glanced across Judy's body. The rabbit was breathing, she could see her chest rising and falling… but... "Is it like a pressure? Like something pressing against your lungs?"

"Uh... h-huh…"

"Don't worry, Carrots, it's nothing to worry about now. It's just a bit if inflammation of the muscles that control the breathing. It's not life threatening. Just try to stay relaxed and breathe deep and slow, okay?"

"Miss... N-Nurse…"

"I'm here," Flo whispered.

"Is N-Nick...? Does N-Nick know?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know. Chief Bogo knows, but I wasn't at the scene. Do you remember much of what happened?"

"No, I... I-is i-it... b-bad?"

"We're still finding that out. We need to run a CT scan on your head to check for spinal damage or skull fracture. But it seems to me your spine is only bruised, given your ability to press against my paw." Judy's eyes drifted shut as she listened, the blur of activates, the light, the noise, the smells... The only comforting thing she had was the soothing sound of the hare's voice.

"Your wrist appears to be broken and you may have bruised or fractured ribs. But the main... Carrots? Miss Hopps?"

The hare looked down with concern, drawing the doctor and nurses back around the table, as Judy's face tightened and her eyes shut sealed, her voice a thin rasp as it escaped her, "H-herh... m-my head! I…"

"Nurse Flo, what happened?"

"She's unconscious, Doctor."

"Heart rate is rising, Doctor," Nurse White noted.

"She seemed very weak," Flo added, "and her speech was highly impaired."

"It could be internal bleeding," rationalized Dasse. "It may just be shock and concussion, but let's not underestimate. She's as stable as we can make her for now. It's imperative we get her to the CT scanner immediately."

"Agreed." The nurses gathering around, they assisted wheeling the rabbit safely towards the door out of the room. Between them, two nurses helped to pull a thin blanket over the rabbit's dignity; before, the team pushed her out of the door and down the corridor.

"She did mention difficulty breathing," the hare added, walking beside the doctor as she helped push the gurney. "If she's bleeding into the respiratory system, that could be the cause. She wasn't coughing up blood though, so I believe her lungs are fully intact."

"How did she respond to the consciousness test?" Dasse asked as they forged on.

"She told me her name was 'Carrots'."

"Carrots?"

"I assumed it to be a childhood nickname or somesuch. Perhaps something more familiar to her or something she feels more comfortable being called than her actual name."

"So it appears her brain is still able to correctly function and remember things?"

"But with an affected capacity for reasoning, yes."

...

Not far from the premises of Saint Bernard's Hospital, a black police car pulled up in the large, concrete car park of the ZPD. Its driver looked up to the rear view mirror and turned it down towards the silent fox sitting in the back.

"How are you feeling?" Bogo asked without any danger in his voice. Nick aimed his eyes at the mirror wordlessly, and Bogo grunted, pulling away his seat belt and rising from the car. He reached the back and encored the crestfallen fox to get out, yet Nick was still in shock and it took him a bit to react and follow the Chief's instructions. Bogo wasn't surprised about Wilde's mental state... but he knew it wouldn't last. He knew he had to get him somewhere safe, somewhere he couldn't run off and do something 'reckless'. He knew it wouldn't be long before his emotions burst.

He led Nick in through the back doors — his guiding arm still about his shoulders — and towards the bullpen. The place was dark and had been partly locked up, but there was still light and noise coming from the reception area down the hall, as the cleanup crew 'dealt' with the incident of earlier. Bogo withdrew his guiding arm from the fox's shoulder, as he reached for the door of the bullpen and began unlocking it, while the fox paced away, inadvertently, up the corridor.

Distracted only for a moment by the door, the Chief turned suddenly with a hushed but urgent voice, as he noticed the fox getting away. "Hey, Wilde!"

Nick carried on, unaware Bogo had even spoken. The Chief hurried to twist the key on the lock and pushed the door open, turning quickly and making up the corridor towards the fox, hoping to reach him before—

Rounding the corner, Nick's eyes fell upon the bloodied body on the floor. The people around saw him and their expression slackened due to his bloodied uniform and clenched fists. The fox glowered down at the sight — at the pool of blood and the scent of death — and the image of his broken lover filled his mind again.

Bogo grabbed him sternly by the arm and steered him back towards the bullpen, away from the sight of the brownish-gray goat and his head that was scattered around the reception. Feeling the fox's body contorting, his muscles straining beneath his arm, the Chief pushed Wilde into the bullpen, tugging the door shut and locking it with a click behind him. He put the fox down in the center of the room and hurried to move the chairs and tables away, while the fox's breaths grew into deep growls, with his body shaking and his eyes trying to shut themselves for eternity.

Nick opened his muzzle and screamed, his voice dry and cracked. He screamed again and his claws flicked out from his paws, his vision blurred by tears as he turned and tore viciously at the wall, lining it with scars of his misery.

Bogo backed to behind his lectern. He had dealt with situations such as this before, but never, never had he seen such agony, such pain or grief on the face of one person. The fox threw himself onto all fours, leaping into a table several times his size and grappling with it into a ferocious toss onto the floor. With another bellow and eyes which were fierce and slit with emotion, he grabbed a chair and smashed it against the wall, breaking the plastic back and bending the legs.

The fox rounded on the door and glared at his reflection in the glass. His brow tightened as he took in his expression — his cheeks stained dark, his eyes slit, his blue uniform tarnished and spattered with blood. Raising a fist, the fox smashed it into his face's reflection. The glass cracked. Drawing his fist back, he smashed at it again, the glass breaking away and cutting into his paw in the last mote of defense it could provide itself.

Bogo stepped in and caught the fox by the arm, as Nick had drawn his fist back for a third pummel with his bloodied knuckles. Nick struggled violently and twisted himself around in the buffalo's grip, but then his fury subsided to exhaustion and his fist became limp — his tight, snarling expression draining into the pits of hopelessness.

...

Pushing open the double doors into another room, the team of nurses leveled the platform Judy was lying upon with a large piece of medical machinery — the doctor moving ahead of the others to talk with the CV operatives, while the rest prepared Judy for her scan.

Judy's eyes parted during the process of her transportation — her breaths short with rapid eyes darting everywhere. Her voice rose into the start of a small wail, but Nurse Flo moved quickly to her and took her left paw in hers.

"Breathe, Carrots; remember, slow and calm, slow and calm. We need to take a scan of you. It's important you remain completely still. Do you think you can handle that?"

The rabbit managed a small sound in agreement, and the hare slipped her paw back out of Judy's as she smiled at her, comfortingly. The large machine came looming over her an inch at a time, the bed she was lying upon moving slowly beneath it as it click-click-clicked slowly above her.

On the rendering screen behind the console, the image of the top few inches of Judy's skull came into the view.

Nurse Flo and Doctor Dasse shared a troubled glance. The badger sighed grimly, "Get in touch with the anesthetist. Put her in for emergency surgery."

Author's notes:

Hesitance jumps around your mind,

Grooms decision thus chosen blind.

Your thoughts most succulent of snack,

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