It felt like being caught in an murky, unyielding machine. There was a sense of being trapped, and a complete lack of understanding.
Fleeting hints at sense, disconnected to the rational mind. Confusing, overwhelming bursts without meaning. Then long periods of silence. Moments recorded and discarded. But then one day, they stopped. Clarity began to return. One day, he could finally make out voices, though they seemed fuzzy and indistinct. Eventually, though, his senses started to return to him gradually and completely. He blinked and opened his eyes slowly, squinting and looking down at himself.
"Is it going to be all right to visit him?" a familiarly even, firm, though muffled voice said from behind the door.
"The antidote has proven to be effective in all cases," said another, completely unfamiliar female voice. "In fact, it looks like he's waking up right now. You can visit him if you'd like, Mr. Rain."
Andrew looked down at himself; his mind still hazy and failing to fully process everything, as if he had woken up from a very long sleep. His comprehension at what had occurred was especially low. He was in a hospital gown which covered his polar bear form. Andrew tried in vain to remember what had placed him in the hospital, but his memory had a huge void in it. The door to his hospital room opened and a caribou slowly entered.
"Cody!" Andrew yelped out. The caribou slowly made his way across the room, leaning on a cane. His steps were halting and awkward; the movements of his right leg very stiff. Cody's expression was, as usual, completely unreadable. A shot of panic burst into Andrew's gut; his breath catching on the intake. "Cody, what happened?"
Cody did not respond immediately. He sighed and carefully eased himself into a chair by the polar bear's bed. Andrew looked at him worriedly and waited for him to finally speak. Cody rubbed his forehead. "What do you remember, Andrew?"
Andrew thought, and then thought some more. He squinted as he willed his memory to work, but it failed. He was trying to remember any sort of event, but everything was an indistinct smear in his mind. "I don't remember anything from the last... I don't know how long. The last thing I remember is being at the gym. You stopped by to see me, and then... I feel like I had some sort of attack? It all gets blurry after that."
Cody nodded, looking away. He scratched at his white, fluffy neck and sighed. "I guess that's the best way this could have played out."
"What are you talking about, Cody?" Andrew felt a chill and subconsciously brought his covers on his bed up higher. He felt his pulse pick up at looking at the cane, which he knew Cody didn't use. "What happened to you?"
"...I was attacked, Andrew," Cody said flatly. "By a savage animal."
Andrew gasped, and then a look of mortification and terror flashed over the polar bear's muzzle. "No... me...?"
Cody said nothing, not meeting his eyes, staring beyond him. He nodded a single time, almost imperceptibly.
"No, God no..." Andrew began to sob, bringing his large bear paws over his eyes. He looked up at the ceiling as he cried. He balled his fists and placed them together, weeping. "Fortitude, give me strength..." He sniveled some more, and flinched at Cody drawing closer and placing his hand on his arm, rubbing it gently.
"Everything's done now, Andy, it's okay," Cody said softly.
"I promised I would never hurt you, Cody..." Andrew said morosely through his sobs, his muzzle rippling and his teeth bared as he tried to get control of himself. "And look what I did... I mauled you?"
"It wasn't you, Andy, you didn't hurt me," Cody insisted firmly, squeezing Andrew's arm.
"Hh- how can you say that?" Andrew looked down at his paws. "Wuh-was your blood on my paws? Did they wheel you away? Did I hurt anyone else before they stopped me?"
"Andrew, calm yourself," Cody sighed.
"How can you be so calm?" Andrew sneered as he was gripped in more sobs. "I maimed you!"
"I can still walk, Andy," Cody said gently. "I have a desk job. I'm fine."
"I don't know why you even came to see me..." Andrew's black lip wobbled. "You're the one who said we should have followed that bunny officer's advice. We should have stayed clear of each other until this whole crisis blew over. But no. I had to keep seeing you. Because I'm so needy and selfish. And for what? I went savage and hurt the person I care most about..." Andrew almost choked as his throat tightened. He cringed and more tears squeezed out.
"It's been three months, Andy," Cody said evenly. "I've had a lot of time to think about what I needed to say to you, and who I needed to blame. But we can't blame the bunny for this. You can't blame yourself, either."
"Who gets the blame, then?" Andrew grumbled, sitting up in his bed. Cody looked at him unflinchingly. "Who pays for hurting you?"
"That demon sheep, Bellwether," Cody looked up at him and sneered.
"The assistant mayor?" Andrew tilted his head.
"She was behind it," Cody said, gritting his teeth. "She's the one that made you raise your paw against me. It was a serum that caused the effects, Andy. Not a virus, not some biological reason."
Andrew sat there, processing this. He couldn't think of anything to say.
"Believe me, I've been through all the stages of grief over this," Cody looked up at him. "I will admit: there was a time I blamed you. There was a time I blamed Officer Hopps. I don't know how long it will take me to get the memory of you going savage out of my head. Perhaps it won't. There might be some... complications from this, emotionally." Andy's head slowly turned away in shame, and it seemed like he would cry again. "But here I am, Andy. They're going to do some tests on you and likely release you later today, if the other cured predators are anything to go by."
"Really?" Andrew sighed.
"Mm," Cody nodded. "You can go home. With me."
"Is that where I deserve to go, Cody?" Andrew looked blank, his paws together in his lap. Cody struggled to his hooves, leaning hard on his cane. He pat Andrew on the shoulder.
"You think I'd abandon you now, when you need me?" Cody asked lowly. "You think I'd betray your trust because of something you couldn't control? I'd be no better than that demon. I knew you'd be upset about this. We'll get through it."
"Cody..." Andrew hesitated, but slowly moved to hug Cody, moving toward the caribou with halting motions. Cody closed the rest of the distance and carefully hugged him with one arm, the other still supporting himself on his cane. The somewhat awkward hug ended and the polar bear let out a huge sigh.
"You're still just a big teddy bear, Andy," Cody finally betrayed a hint of a smile, giving him a gentle flick on the shoulder.
"Guilty," Andy chuckled bashfully.
The door to the hospital room opened. Andy looked and Cody turned his head; they expected to see a nurse, but it was a small gray bunny in a police uniform.
"Ah, Officer Hopps, I presume," Cody said, turning around to look at her, balancing with both hands on the cane. If he was honest with himself, he thought the cane actually made him look more dignified.
"Hi...!" the bunny greeted with a small wince, but then straightened up. She nodded. "Officer Judy Hopps, ZPD. Is this a bad time?"
"It could be better," Cody noted honestly. "What can we do for you?" Judy drew a bit closer meekly.
"Just got to the Tundratown hospital," Judy said. "I had heard more predators here were being given the antidote. How are you feeling, Mr. Arctic?"
"Physically, I feel fine," Andrew smiled sadly.
"Yeah..." Judy looked away for a second before returning her gaze to the bear. "I'd like to apologize sincerely for any... unpleasantness you may have experienced from the press conference about the savage incident. Especially what I said."
"Just saying 'sorry' doesn't fix everything, Officer Hopps," Cody said in a low voice. Judy flinched away from him but turned to him and firmly nodded.
"I understand that," Judy said resolutely. "I'm not asking for your forgiveness; just telling you I was wrong."
"You also caged that demon, didn't you?" Cody narrowed his eyes.
"Bellwether? With some help from a fox," Judy smiled bashfully, but nodded once.
"Then without your help I don't know what would have become of my bear," Cody said, his voice still firm and nearly unreadable. "So, thank you for that." Andrew smiled.
"I'll let you two go, I think a nurse is on her way," Judy waved. She headed toward the door, but looked back. "You two sure you're okay?"
Cody looked at Andrew, barely smiling. Andrew's smile was large, and a strange mixture of both happy and worried. "Yeah, we're okay."