Chapter 42: Results

Judy, due to fatigue and the temperature, was unable to think at night after the doctor who had been caring for her had left. It was late at night, everyone was practically asleep by now, the room was ravaged by darkness and the only sources of light were the lights coming through the glass walls of the building with the rays of lamps and other blocks coming through. The doe needed a few minutes of lying down at rest to then fall into a sleep that was interrupted several times by the fever. She woke up 4 times during the night, and when she lay with her eyes slightly open she stared at the view of the city, which was engulfed in darkness. It was an extreme contrast comparing it to the view in Zootopia. In Zootopia, everything in the evening is full of life, the city does not even sleep at night, the light of the skyscrapers made it seem from below that it was still daytime, only a little darker. In the Fox Quarter the night swallowed the whole city, single lamps illuminated the city, but it was still not enough to feel comfortable. For Judy it was even better, she was tired and every ray of light hurt her eyes. Finally, at about 3 a.m., Judy felt well enough to fall asleep and stay asleep until morning.

First thing in the morning, Judy woke up because of a noise that was disturbing her sensitive ears. Doctors had been attending to those affected by the restaurant incident since early morning, and it turns out that some reacted even worse than she did. There was no reason for her to be happy, but she recognised that she was lucky not to have been further harmed by the poisonous gas. She wanted to get back to the case as soon as possible so that she could unravel it and, most importantly, find Nick who was missing.

Although it was 8.00 a.m., due to the winter weather, the sun was just coming up on the horizon, the cold lamps had to illuminate the halls, sending out their cold rays, which still glaring at Judy's eyes, but with less effectiveness. There were more than a dozen doctors around the doe, tending to other patients, but nowhere did she see Alex, her doctor, who was about to give a decisive verdict on her condition. She hoped that the outcome would be good, if she was feeling well and certainly no longer had such a fever it couldn't be that bad right? At least that was what Judy thought as she waited impatiently for her doctor to arrive.

When finally Alex entered the room, the rabbit sat weakly on the bed straightening his back paying special attention to the folder the doctor was carrying with him. Fox knew that the doe was most likely waiting for the test results he carried under his arm.

"Good morning Mrs. Hopps. I see you are feeling better," the doctor said. He sat on the patient's bed watching the doe's eyes. Her eyes were definitely looking better, without examination he could see that her eyes were no longer as oversensitive as she had been last evening.

"How are you feeling? You definitely look better than yesterday," the doctor asked. He placed the folder beside him on the bed taking out a thermometer from his pocket. He put it to the doe's head then checked the temperature.

"37.1 is definitely better, you must have had a really good sleep" remarked the doctor.

"Yes, definitely doctor! I feel much better, my eyes don't hurt so much anymore, but let's get to the most important thing please. How are my test results? I waited quite a long time for them" Judy asked with determination in her voice.

"Some people wait a few months, believe me it wasn't a long wait" replied Alex ironically. The Doctor could see that the doe wanted to get out of hospital as soon as possible, seeing that she was a police officer (judging by her police uniform) he guessed that she was the rabbit who had been given a special pass to the Fox Quarter to investigate missing foxes. Everyone knew about it, the media are relentless with details. The doctor opened his briefcase, then took out a sheet of test results. His slight grimace on his face caused Judy to look at Alex with slight concern seeing that something was apparently wrong.

"Well...I have good news, but also unfortunately bad news" the doctor began while looking at the test results. Judy's ears immediately dropped, her face filled with hope and good humour quickly turning into a confused face of sadness. This bad news could rule Judy out of returning to the police force.

"Please tell me doctor, what is this bad news?" Judy asked.

"Maybe I'll start with the good news...your tests are good, or at least the best compared to the other victims in the incident you are from. You have a slightly elevated carboxyhemoglobin level, but it's not life threatening. "

"That's probably good right?" Judy asked. She was still hoping that she would be able to return to her work soon after all, but the doctor's face didn't offer much hope.

"Unfortunately no. You will need to rest so as not to put yourself in any additional danger, you will need a week's rest" Alex replied. This news destroyed Judy's hope and she became engulfed in sadness and despair. She sank inertly onto the bed and stared at the white ceiling of the room, wondering what she could do usefully for that time?

"Doctor I really can't..."

"Unfortunately no. A week of rest and not going out in the cold and you should be fine now. I'm sorry." Replied Alex seriously. He could see the disappointment and bitterness on the patient's face, it was possibly the worst view a doctor can get. The sight of a distraught patient. It was an uncomfortable sight, but there was nothing he could do about it. He had no control over it. He packed the documents into a folder and rose from the bed looking at the sad patient for a moment.

"I have contacted your family, they told me that your parents are coming to visit today"

"You called my parents!" Judy asked abruptly, raising her ears that were like radars. Alex confirmed with a movement of his head.

"That's my duty" replied the doctor.

"Well beautiful" sighed Judy heavily. This was even worse news than the fact that she couldn't go back to her job. Her parents are terribly overprotective, she didn't want to worry them and the news that she had been poisoned with gas was certainly not something that would reassure them. Judy expected that as soon as they arrived there would be questions to answer and then they would conclude that her job was too dangerous. As much as she loved and appreciated them, she preferred them not to know about the incident.

"I still have good news. If all goes well you will be able to leave the hospital tomorrow and you can rest at home."

"Does that mean..."

"No, Mrs. Hopps. You won't be able to go back to work. Your commandant already knows about everything, and he's supposed to be here for an interview today as well. I appreciate your determination by the way, I respect that we have police officers like that" Alex replied with a light laugh. He was amused by Judy's childish determination, who, like a small child, is trying to find several ways to get back into the police force.

"In general, What inspires you so much to return to the police? I don't mind, but I'd rather relax as a doctor..."

"When there was gas in the hall and everyone lost consciousness one person was wearing a mask...had to have. It was most likely the guy who threw the two grenades. Before I lost consciousness I saw someone being carried out of the hall, it was my boyfri...friend. I want to find him as soon as possible, I don't know where he is now or what is threatening him" Judy explained. Alex took a moment to understand what the doe must be feeling now that her friend had been abducted. It was nothing cool, it was a bad experience that no one wanted to live through. He looked at her pityingly wondering how he could make her feel better, but seeing her confused gaze stuck in the ceiling he realized that the better step would be if he let go of the futile attempts to make her feel better.

"Be of good cheer. Your colleagues are surely already looking for your friend, and by the time you have time to recover he will be waiting for you."

"I wish it were so," burbled Judy quietly. The doctor had nothing further to add. He nodded with a motion of his head and slowly backed away from the patient's bed area.

"Don't worry about it, you need to rest. I've arranged for your commander to arrive at noon. After him, your parents will arrive around evening."

"Thank you doctor," thanked Judy. Despite her despair, she forced a slight smile in acknowledgement of the doctor's care. Alex reciprocated the smile, then left the room.

Judy was left alone waiting for the Commandant to show up so she could talk to him. She was not worried about her health, the doctor had made it clear that she would be fine if she rested and avoided danger. She was more concerned about where Nick might be now and whether he was in any danger? After all, it was unknown for what purpose foxes were being kidnapped, it was possible that someone was doing it as a result of some research, or it was some sect that wanted to eradicate the species? These thoughts stimulated Judy's imagination, who could not just lie still doing nothing and relax. It was impossible having all the time in her mind the situation that now prevailed in her life. She waited impatiently for the commandant, hoping that at least he had some good news about the case. She hoped that they already had some clues that would lead to the kidnapper, or they had finally managed to catch this guy. All sorts of theories were forming in her head about things around her and she couldn't let it go. Looking at the others she saw that they were able to rest in peace, they were lying down talking to each other, those who were feeling well were even joking amongst themselves, the doe could hear quiet laughter on the other side of the room, which although quiet and interspersed with coughing was genuine. Judy tried not to worry so much, she wanted to ease her mind, but the thought that something might have happened to her boyfriend did not give her peace. She raised herself a little on the bed, then took her phone in her hand, which was lying next to hers on the coffee table.

'Maybe there are some new messages already' thought Judy. She unlocked her smartphone and went online to check the news, which for the last few days had been all about the Fox Quarter and the disappearances that had been happening. Soon the rabbit found the press news from last evening, which in part had again caused fresh outbreaks of protest that were just beginning to calm down.

"Last day there was a rather drastic event that caused a group of residents of our city to take to the streets again to start mass protests. Grenades with poisonous gas exploded in the restaurant 'Under the Fox Grove', which caused everyone present in the premises to lose consciousness and to be under poison gas. Around 40 people were taken to hospital to be tested for gas poisoning, this included Judy Hopps, a police officer who is investigating the disappearance of the foxes. It has been reported that one officer Nick Wilde was kidnapped by a poisoner who, wearing a gas mask, took out the officer for unknown reasons. Zootopia police are working all day to locate and thwart further attacks, but for now the villain is elusive and it is unknown when and where the next attack will occur."

After reading the article Judy put her smartphone down on the coffee table, one article was enough to make her sick of the media world.

"The media doesn't know what it's about, but they always interject themselves into the topic" Judy thought. Working with the media was very hard, she had experienced it more than once, so she wasn't too surprised by the nonsense that was written in the post. It was hard to agree with what was written, but one who has not been there, who does not know the truth will accept any stupidity as sacred truth.

With a slight difficulty Judy lay down on her side trying to sleep. She figured it was the only way to get at least some rest, she couldn't stop thinking about the case for even a moment. Although there was a rather loud noise in the room that spread throughout the hallway of the hall, it didn't bother the rabbit, who fell asleep a few minutes after closing her amethyst eyes.