Chapter 3: Carrying on
"Carrots, are you really sure about this? I don't think he will let you stay." Nick told Judy, as he pulled out of their parking garage. They were both in their police uniforms, on their way to work, but Nick was concerned about Judy. Ever since they found out the news, Nick was trying to make the most of their time together, and Judy was trying to do the same, but she also wanted to try her hardest to make the world a better place in her final weeks, so she insisted that she go to work with Nick. As much as he wanted to spend as much time with her in their last weeks together, he knew Chief Bogo well, and he doubted that he would let Judy continue working. Nick dreaded this, because he also wanted her to be happy in her final months.
"I don't know… but I have to try. I want to do as much as I can before I… well, you know… " She admitted.
"What if there are rules against it? Do you really think he'll make an exception for you? Can he? You know Bogo, he's a stickler for the rules." Nick retorted.
"I've been one of the best officers the ZPD has ever had, even he admitted it. I think he'll at least give me a chance." she responded.
"I hope so, Carrots, I hope so… " Nick murmured. They spent the rest of the ride in silence.
When they got to the precinct, they immediately went to Chief Bogo's office. They didn't even stop to talk to Clawhauser, which seemed to irk him a little. He began texting Nick, wanting to know what was going on, because he claimed that he had a "feeling that something was very wrong". Nick didn't have the heart to tell Clawhauser, especially not over a text, so Nick texted Clawhauser to attend the morning briefing, where he will probably find out.
When they got to Bogo's office, he was surprised, and somewhat annoyed, to see them this early. Nevertheless, he let Judy in.
"So, what is so important that you have to interrupt my morning routine?" He asked her with an irritated tone.
"Well, sir… I… think you should read this." Judy said as she handed him the doctor's report.
"Fine." he grumbled, "Sit down." As Chief Bogo sat down to read the report, Judy sat down, obviously nervous. As Bogo read through the report, his expression changed from annoyance to shock. When he finished, he was silent for a moment, and when he did finally speak, there was a noticeably sad tone in his voice. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention… and… I'm sorry."
"Sir, I have to ask something from you." Judy told him.
"What is it?" Bogo inquired.
"I know that there may be rules against it, but… I just want to remain on the job as long as I can. Please sir, I want to spend what time I have left doing what I love, at least as long as my health allows it. Please sir… please!" She pleaded.
Bogo leaned back in his chair and sighed, and thought about it for a moment. "I can't have a sick officer on duty, and according to this report, your symptoms are very debilitating." he noted.
Tears started to form in Judy's eyes,
"Please sir, I'm going to get medication help with the symptoms, I will be able to at least work for another month! Just don't make me leave, please! I'm begging you!" She put her face into her paws and began to cry.
Bogo groaned and rubbed his face, and then addressed her again, "And have you been taking the medication?" He challenged.
"W-well… not yet. I don't have it yet, it's probably going to come in later today."
Bogo seemed to ponder this, and after what seemed like an eternity, he finally gave his decision:
"Alright, here's what's going to happen, until you get your medication, and prove to me that it's helping you with the symptoms, I'm putting you and your partner on parking duty. This isn't up for discussion, I can't have an officer with such serious ailments on full duty, it's too dangerous. Now, once your condition is under control, then I will let you resume your regular duties, as long as you are healthy enough to do so. Understood?"
Judy nodded, because as much as she hated parking duty, it was better than nothing. "Thank you, sir, thank you… " She breathed.
"You're welcome, lieutenant. And… if you need anything, the ZPD is here for you. We are all brothers and sisters here, one big family." Judy nodded, and turned to leave. "One more thing," Bogo called out to her, "Should I let everyone know?"
Judy stopped, and thought about it for a moment. "Yeah. Like you said, we're all one big family here. They deserve to know. I don't think I would be able to break it to them…"
"Alright, I'll tell them at the morning briefing today. Is that alright?"
Once again, Judy nodded.
Nick paced nervously outside Bogo's office, waiting for Judy to come back out. He was preparing for the worst. He honestly believed that Bogo wouldn't let Judy continue working. He wasn't afraid that he wouldn't be able to spend time with her, as he could just take a paid leave for a "family emergency", but he knew Judy loved her job almost as much as she loved him. She had worked towards it since her childhood, it would only make sense that she would want to spend as much time that she had left doing what she enjoyed most. It would make her happy, and that is what Nick valued most. The door the Bogo's office opened, and Judy stepped out, misty-eye but smiling. "What happened!?" Nick inquired a little too intensely.
"He's going to let me stay, Nick! He's going to let me stay!" She embraced him and cried tears of joy. Nick returned her embrace and let out a sigh of relief. "Bogo's going to break the news to everyone at briefing…" she went on, "I don't know how they're going to take it."
"I don't know, either… " Nick admitted. "Come on, let's go and wait for the briefing." he proposed. Judy nodded, and took his paw in hers as they walked to briefing.
The Briefing room was buzzing as usual, but neither Nick nor Judy where in the mood to talk. They just quietly sat together, waiting for their assignment. They saw Clawhauser at the back of the room, but they didn't bother talking to him.
After a few minutes, a familiar mammal stepped in. Chief Bogo walked up to the podium and tapped his hoof on the podium to gain everyone's attention. "Attention everyone; Before we get started today, I have a rather sad announcement."
He motioned for Judy to come stand by him, which she did. He continued: "Unfortunately, I have just received word that one of our Officers, Lieutenant Judith Wilde-Hopps, has recently been diagnosed…" He sighed softly, almost like had had trouble getting it out, "... Has been diagnosed with Terminal Stomach cancer…" He finally managed to say.
The room fell completely silent. Judy could see the shocked look on her all coworkers' faces as she stood next to Chief Bogo's podium. At the back of the room, she saw Clawhauser cup his paws over his mouth in shock. He then burst into tears and ran out of the room. Almost no one seemed to notice, as all eyes were on Judy. She couldn't meet their shocked gazes.
Bogo tapped her on the shoulder, "Is there anything you'd like to say?"She thought about it for a moment, and nodded. He stepped aside and allowed her to stand on the podium, as she addressed her colleagues.
"I'm sorry that you all had to learn about it this way, I just didn't know how I could tell you all… But… I'm going to stay as long as I can. I want to be with you all, I want to do what I love, as long as my health allows. Again, I'm sorry that you all had to find out this way…" She looked around at her fellow officers, and was surprised by all the sad looks on their faces. She had a lot of friends at the ZPD, but even those that weren't looked upset. She let Bogo take over once more, and sat back down with Nick.
Bogo continued as usual, handing out each Officer got their assignment, before they left, most of them stopped to give Judy hugs and condolences. Bogo was right, she thought, the ZPD is just one big family… As usual, Nick and Judy were the last ones to receive their assignments. And just as Bogo had told Judy, he assigned them to Parking duty.
For the first time, Nick didn't complain. He was just happy that he got to spend time with his wife while she did what she loved. It wasn't the first time Bogo stuck his neck out for them. When they got married, Bogo was supposed to separate them, to prevent "fraternization", but he "Didn't have the heart" to do it. And now, he was letting a terminally ill Officer remain on the job, even if it only was as a Meter Maid for now. With no complaints, they both accepted it, and left the Room.
As they walked out to the main hall, they could hear someone crying. They saw it was Clawhauser, crying like a baby. Around him were Officers Fangmire, Wolfford, Snarlov, and Grizzoli attempting to comfort him, to no avail. Both of them knew all four of the officers very well, and considered them friends. Judy wanted to talk to them, and wanted to console Clawhauser.
"Hey guys…" She greeted them, and turned her attention to Clawhauser "Hey Ben..."
Clawhauser suddenly grabbed her and hugged her tightly, sobbing incoherently. "B-Ben! I… c-can't… breathe…" She squeaked as he hugged her ever more tightly.
"Ben, you're hurting her! Put her down!" Fangmire urged him. He reluctantly complied.
As Judy caught her breath, Clawhauser tried to apologize, only to break down again. Grizzoli put his paw on Clawhauser's shoulder, and tried to comfort him. The polar bear spoke softly, as he tried to calm him down. Eventually, Judy jumped up onto Clawhauser's desk, trying to get on his level, and managed to get the cheetah to calm down.
"Ben, look at me. I'm not going to die tomorrow… I have a bit of time left." she consoled.
"How long?" Fangmire inquired. Judy hesitated, causing Nick to speak up.
"Three months." he blurted out. All five of the officers looked at Judy in shock, and Clawhauser began weeping again.
"My God…" Wolfford murmured.
Suddenly, a wave of nausea hit Judy. "Oh no… bathroom!" she exclaimed. She jumped down from Clawhauser's desk and ran towards the bathroom.
Nick and the other officers watched her go, and once she was was out of sight, Nick let a out a long, sad sigh.
"Hey, you okay, Nick? How have you been handling this?" Wolfford asked him. Nick simply shrugged, but didn't say a word.
"What about treatments? Is she going to get them?" Fangmire interjected.
"No…" Nick murmured quietly.
"Good..." Snarlov muttered. Everyone looked at the Arctic Wolf in shock.
"What!? What do you mean 'good'!?" Fangmire shrilled.
"It's good because I have seen what those treatments do personally. I had a sister that had to go through all that!" Snarlov shot back, "She was diagnosed with Stage 3 lung cancer, she never smoked a day in her life. The doctors said that there was not much to be done, but our family insisted that she get Chemo. It was awful… She lost all her fur, spent half her time hunched over a toilet puking her guts out, and the other half completely bedridden, too sick to move. And it's not like she could go anywhere if she could, the treatments destroyed her immune system, and that is what ended up killing her. She got a cold, a fucking cold, and it killed her. If she got any extra time out of it, she couldn't enjoy it. So yeah, Judy made the right choice."
Everyone was silent, they didn't know how to respond. But then Grizzoli piped up, "Well, it actually does work sometimes. I had an uncle that went through treatments, and it got rid of his cancer!"
"How early did they catch it?" Snarlov challenged.
"Um… well, p-pretty early…" The polar bear stammered.
"Exactly! They caught it early, but they found my Sister's cancer at it's late stages!" The Wolf spat back, "Nick, what stage is Judy at?"
"Three… it may move into four…" Nick said sadly.
Snarlov nodded, "Uh huh, and once it gets that far, there is no real hope for them. Even the doctors say that it won't really help. It's futile. It's better to have her enjoy what time she has left, than to torture her with treatments that won't really help."
Nick couldn't bear to listen to Snarlov's pessimistic attitude any longer, so he excused himself to go check on Judy, leaving his fellow officers to debate on whether or not Judy should get treatments. Nick knew that it didn't really matter, once Judy made up her mind, there was no changing it. He reached the bathroom just as she walking out, looking a little shaken, but resolute. "Hey, are you okay? Are you sure you're fit for duty?" He asked her. Judy simply nodded, and went to get their gear and uniforms for parking duty. Nick sighed, and followed.
Nick couldn't help but to chuckle when he saw the little three-wheeled cart the ZPD used for meter maids. He remembered it from the Nighthowler case. It has been seven years since he last saw it, yet he remembered it just like yesterday. He remembered when Judy had pulled up next to him in it, asking him for help with finding Emmitt Otterton. That's how it all started…
He snapped out of his reminiscing when Judy walked past him carrying their orange safety vests and various meter maid supplies. "Here, let me help you with that." He offered.
"I got it, Nick!" She insisted. She glared at the little cart. "Heh, never thought I'd see this thing again." She scoffed. She began putting on her gear, and Nick followed suit. After they were done, Nick got in the driver's seat, and Judy in the passenger's. They pulled of the garage and got to work.
They were only a few minutes into their shift when Nick saw the first expired parking meter. He drove up to it, and the two of them stepped out. Nick went up to Judy and told her "This one's all yours Carrots."
She responded with "Alright Slick, whatever you say." She stepped up to it, and started printing the ticket. Just when she was about to put it on the offending car's windshield, she suddenly dropped the ticket, put her paw to her stomach, and dropped down on her knees, all with a look of pure agony on her face.
Nick was by her side almost immediately, and began helping her back to the car. "On second thought, I've got this, Carrots. You just relax, okay?" Judy began to protest, but another spasm of pain made her double over. Nick carried her back to the cart, and buckled her in for good measure. He returned to the meter and put the ticket under the windshield wiper of the car. Huh, that was easy! He thought. Just then, another meter dinged. And then another. And another. He then realized it was going to be a really long day…
Judy spend most of the day in the cart, her cramps and nausea preventing her from doing anything. And even when they subsided, Nick wouldn't let her do much, claiming that he didn't want her "Over-exert herself", it was frustrating for her. She just sat there, watching Nick work. She saw him write up the ticket, put it in the car's windshield and repeat the process to the next expired meter. She wished that she could do it too, at least it would be something, instead of nothing.
After hours of waiting and watching Nick do the work, she finally decided she would try it one last time. Near the end of their shift, as Nick pulled up to a meter, she unbuckled herself before he could react.
"Carrots, please let me do this, it's for your own good," she heard Nick plead, but she didn't listen. She went up to the meter, filled out the ticket, and placed it in the windshield of the parked car. That was easy... she thought to herself as Nick approached her. Maybe I'll be able to- Another sudden wave of nausea overcame her, as she ran up to the nearest trash can, and started puking.
"I told you this wasn't a good idea," Nick told her. Just then, he saw a couple coming down the street. It was a fox and bunny, just like him and Judy, but they looked different.
The fox was a red fox like Nick, but had sea-blue eyes instead of green ones and white fur on his lower muzzle and parts of his neck as opposed to the cream-colored fur Nick had. The tip of his tail was white, not brown, and he wore a ZYPD t-shirt from another Precinct, jeans and had a noticeable bump on his right side, which Nick assumed was a concealed firearm. The bunny, who looked like the fox's wife looked like Judy, but had brown eyes and black and white fur. She wore a simple tank top and sweatpants. As they got closer, Nick could hear their conversation.
"I told you we were lost, we'll never find our way back to the hotel at this point." the fox said, in a somewhat angered tone.
"We're not lost, we're just taking the long way. Besides, didn't you want to see as much of the city as possible?" the bunny asked, and the fox turned and smiled.
"You know me too well, don't you?" he said, looking at her.
"You know damn right I-" She couldn't finish her sentence, as she saw Nick staring at them, as well as Judy hunched over the trash can, vomiting violently.
Every time it looked like she finished, there was always a bit more. The two just stared in shock, as Nick stared back. A bit confused, they just walked by Nick and Judy, trying to act like nothing happened.
After they were out of sight, Judy finally stopped. She ran up to Nick, and started crying. "I'm a failure, I didn't get anything done!" she said in between sobs. Nick started gently stroking her fur with his paws. As she cried, he tried to comfort her.
"Judy, listen to me. This isn't your fault. Besides, I did all this work for you. You'll keep your job, I promise."
"That's what's wrong! You did everything! You could've done this without me! I'm worthless!" She wailed.
"No you aren't! I can't go on without you! I'll gladly do all the work as long as I have you!" Nick tried to console her. She kept crying, but Nick's efforts were eventually able to calm her down. "Shhhh, everything is going to be okay, Carrots." He spoke to her softly, "Come on, let's go home."