6. Cranky

== Judy ==

After Chief Bogo had left us, Nick and I made our way to the group of officers that had gathered at the scene. The first I recognized was Lionel Johnson, a lion with a confident, slightly arrogant attitude. He was vigorously writing down details of the case, provided to him by two younger officers. The second was Paul Trunkaby; a jocular, male elephant, with an enormous appetite and husband to Francine Trunkaby, whom, as fate would have it, was also employed at the ZPD. It got me wonder if they had met on the work floor. I had remember to ask it one day. The last was officer McHorn. Like Bogo, he had an intimidating posture, whilst actually being very friendly of nature. I felt a little ashamed that I didn't know his first name, yet I quickly shook that thought off of me.

We were greeted heartily by Paul as he caught sight of us. He was eating a sandwich, filled with lettuce, cheese and peanuts, completing his stereotype picture of the food-lover that he was.

"Hey guys!" I said loudly to make sure they heard me.

"Hey Judy, how are you? We heard you were here when the bomb went off!" McHorn asked.

"Yea, we heard you had a blast." Trunkaby said with a raised eyebrow.

I laughed shortly, feeling pain in my lungs.

"Peachy!"

I felt rather than saw Nick glaring at me.

"I only got a few contused ribs, but that's not so bad."

"Not so bad? Are you kidding? A friend of mine had it and he said it impaired him for weeks." McHorn said, turning to the other officer for support.

The elephant nodded learnedly.

"I've heard similar things from my mother-in-law when she had fallen down the stairs. It took her a month to fully convalesce."

"That's what I keep trying to tell her, thanks guys." Nick said suddenly.

Unintentionally, my right foot started tapping the ground rapidly. Were they seriously teaming up to convince me? I started to get fed up with everyone telling me to cash my sick days. I was fine! I didn't need to rest, I was perfectly able to perform my tasks without worsening my injury.

"Yea, well I'm not as old as her." I forced a smile, "Anyway, what I came to ask, do you guys know where the suspect went that I apprehended? A ferret, about my size, wearing a sand colored hoodie?"

A brief lull went by before the rhino spoke up.

"He-err, he's already at the station, Judy."

"Excellent. Then I'd better go there too."

I noticed that both mammals sought refuge in the other's eyes. I had a hunch as to what might have happened, a very unpleasant one.

"Is there something wrong?" I questioned.

"Well... the chief kinda gave that case to Delgato."

"What?!"

"Yea. He said you weren't able to cope because of your condition."

"Did he now? Well, I think it's about time I showed the chief just how bad my condition actually is." And I turned around and strode annoyed to where I had parked my car.

== Nick ==

Judy was moving at a considerable speed. I had to make a short sprint to keep up with her. Once I had caught up with her, I could read the anger on her face. If she talked to Bogo in this state, it would not end well. I had to snap her out of it before she did something she'd regret later on.

"Hey Jude."

Her left ear gave a twitch and she glanced at me from the corner of her eye. Every sign her body gave, hinted me not to proceed the conversation, yet I knew in the end she'd thank me. Or at least that's what I hoped.

"Quoting my dad now, are we?" She said cynically.

Despite the anger being written all over her, I still found her quite cuddly.

"Sure, why not? I mean, he's almost as good at nicknaming you as I am." I joked.

"Whatever."

Unfortunately my quip had even less impact than my lowest expectation. I had do bring in bigger guns.

"Hey, Jude. Have I ever told you abou-"

"No. And I don't care." She broke me short.

Or I had to keep quiet for a moment. Lay low. Let the storm pass by on its own. Hence I spoke not a single word until we reached the car. There I made the mistake of asking if perhaps she wanted me to drive, earning myself another sarcastic glare. In my opinion, it was unwise for her to drive, although she insisted, in a not so friendly manner if I might add, that she wasn't a disabled and was more than capable of operating the vehicle by herself. I thought of refreshing her memory by reading back the physician's advice to cut it down a notch, but I decided not to throw more oil on the fire. I sat down in the passenger seat and watched her as she ignited the engine, put the gear into one and drove away. All of these actions went completely untroubled, raising the belief with me that maybe the severity of her bruises was slightly exaggerated. I withdrew that conclusion almost as fast as I had drawn it. From there on, every time she accelerated or hit the brakes, she winced from the pressure of the seatbelt onto her sore chest. Subsequently, she'd unleash an ached cough.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked concerned, when it happened for the fifth time. "Shouldn't you–"

"Nick, I swear to God, if you ask me to take it easy one more time, I will kick you out of this car without a second's thought." She sparked, concluding her outburst with more coughing.

I raised my hands apologetically. I might be attentive regarding her injury, that didn't mean I wasn't exasperated by her hot-headed replies. My kindness had its limits. If she wanted to continue prolong and greaten her own suffering, then that was up to her. I had done my best trying to help her. I leaned back and looked out the window. Finding nothing of interest on the streets, I turned my attention back indoors, scanning the vehicle for something other than Judy to amuse me for the remainder of our journey to the precinct. My eye rested eventually on a string with two tiny carrots that dangled on the rear-view mirror. Always those carrots. It had been Judy's father who had bought them for her on her birthday. I thought they looked kind of silly. She on the other hand had been overjoyed with them. I guessed it was a bunny thing. After the hangers, I found nothing more of interest, so the rest of the trip proceeded in absolute silence. Both of us sulked over the stubbornness of the other; Judy about me being too cautious with her, me about her not willing to let me be cautious with her.

She pulled over and installed the vehicle in her personal parking space. Neither her aggressive stance nor her taciturnity faltered for a second as she waited for me to get out to lock the door behind her. Now she headed for the door, still wearing the furious look with evident intention to objurgate her boss. I could only imagine what things she was going to say. What if she said something like 'if you don't let me work, I'll resign' or maybe worse, 'if you want me home so bad, how about I'll quit for good?'. I had to let her rethink her plans, fast. She was already nearing the entrance and I was still standing in the middle of the parking lot.

"Hey Carrots, wait up!" I cried, running across the tarmac plain.

I maned her to stop by stepping in front of her. Her grey ears sprang upright and she eyed me curiously, although I could see that she wasn't truly interested in what I had to say. She only meant to get past.

"Listen. I know you're a little mad right now..."

She scowled at me, tapping her foot again and I quickly rephrased.

"Okay, a lot mad, but are you sure you have thought this through?"

"Nick. I hav–"

"Because it appears to me like you're going to berate the chief for having taken you off that case, am I right?"

The amethysts were still burning like torches, doing their best to ignite me with their gaze. I assumed that to be a yes.

"Okay. Seems logical. However, from my perspective, it looks like you're going to scold him because he was worried about you."

Her fervent rage slipped into abrupt disarray, hinting me that I was on the right track towards getting to her sense of reason.

"First me, then the doctor, now Bogo? Who's next? Your parents? Why are you trying so hard to get rid of those that care about you?"

"That's not what I'm doing!"

"Then what were you doing when you were gonna kick me out of the car?"

Her ears dropped down and she looked away in embarrassment. She mumbled an apology, but I didn't care about that. I was glad I had finally broken through and I seized my chance to bring across my message.

"You have to understand that we just want to make sure you're alright, even if you don't want us to. And you heard the doctor. With a couple of bruised ribs, you're not alright. So, I see it as my duty to stay by your side until you are healed."

She stared blankly into the distance for a while as my words sank in.

"Maybe you're right."

I gave her a satisfied nod.

"I'm sorry Nick. For being mad at you. I had no right to."

"Ah, give me a hug and consider it forgotten."

The words had escaped my lips without notice. It wasn't until I received a firm and loving squeeze around my lowers arms and waist that I realized what had occurred. My cheeks caught fire and my heart raced like drum band. I was sure that Judy hugged me tight enough to feel it too. She didn't seem troubled by it. She was too busy pressing her fuzzy head onto my belly. It felt like the happiest moment of my life. I enjoyed the moment so much, that I completely forgot where we were: a few feet away from the backdoor. It wasn't until I looked up and my eyes crossed those of Clawhauser, who stared at us. Of all cops, why did he have to see me glow in Judy's embrace. He smiled mollified, pushing his front paws into his chubby chin. I could hear him think the word cute, just by reading his physiognomy. After giving me an excited wink, the cheetah disappeared inside.

"Thanks Nick." Judy said softly.

"No…" I cleared my dry throat to regain the original sound of my voice, "No problem, Carrots."

She let me go, and continued her walk towards the door. She no longer made angry strides. She now made cheerful skips and didn't even wait for me as she hopped through the door. She was a lot happier now, yet no matter how much she had liked hugging me, there was not a chance in the world that it had excited her more than me.