Chapter 7:

She couldn't sleep. It's not that the couch was uncomfortable, but she was just too much of an emotional wreck to sleep. She could only stare at the digital clock on the microwave in their kitchen as the hours went by. 10 O'clock. 11 O'clock. 12 O'clock midnight. At that time, she got up and checked their bedroom door, hoping that Nick would at least let her sleep with him. She found the door to be locked. She considered knocking, but decided against it. She didn't want to wake Nick up in the middle of the night and make him even angrier.

As she laid back down on the couch, she couldn't help but think about the look on his face when he discovered she was keeping her health a secret. She had only seen that look once before, eight years ago… the day of the press conference, after they had discovered all those savage mammals, and got Mayor Lionheart arrested. That look of pure hurt and betrayal was etched into her brain, and she never forgot it. And now, she had seen it once again. She had hurt and betrayed him once again, but over something even more serious… Slowly, she started to cry. She cried and cried, until she couldn't cry anymore. Finally, just as the clock struck 1:00 AM, she drifted off to sleep.

She awoke not to an alarm clock, or Nick's voice, but the screeching brakes of a train. She was confused, as she had no memory of getting on a train. After looking out the window, she realized she was in the place she spent her childhood, Bunnyburrow. She looked next to her and found Nick in the seat next to her. He was looking straight forward, not acknowledging her or anything else. She touched his arm gently. "Nick?"

He didn't reply. Instead, he took her suitcase out of the overhead compartment and began walking off of the train, since they had arrived at their destination.

"Nick, what's going on?"

Without turning his head, he gave a response. "You know exactly what's going on Judy. Now come. On." His tone was unusually harsh. In fact, Judy had never heard him be that harsh before. It was clear that he was still very angry at her. Not wanting to anger him even further, the got up and followed right behind him.

As she exited the train behind Nick, she saw some of her family, including her parents, waiting for her. She embraced them, and several of her siblings joined in, hugging her. When they finally let go, she turned around, expecting Nick to be next to her. Instead, he was walking away from her. "Wait, where are you going?"

He turned around and made eye contact with Judy."I'm leaving you here. Where you belong."

"What!?" She cried out, as tears began to form in her eyes.

"I'm going, Judy. And there is nothing you can do to stop me." He said darkly.

"Why?! What did I do!?"

Nick's face became visibly enraged. "You know exactly what you did! You lied to me."

"I'm sorry, Nick! Please, don't leave!" She begged him.

Nick simply shook his head. "'Sorry' isn't going to cut it this time. I accepted 'sorry' eight years ago under that bridge. I won't make that mistake a second time." He began walking back towards the train.

"Nick, please! Don't go!" Tears ran down her face as she ran towards Nick, trying to stop him from leaving. She tripped before she could make it to him though, and she looked up at Nick, standing in the doorway of the train.

"Goodbye, Judy." The door closed, and the train began on its way.

"Nick! Noooo!" Judy screamed, helpless to stop the train as it pulled away. She could only watch as it disappeared from view.

Judy gasped and bolted upright, tears streaming down her cheeks, and found herself on the couch. She realized it was just a dream. Or nightmare… she thought. It was still dark outside. She looked at the clock. It read 4:30 AM. She sighed and tried to go back to sleep, but no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't.

She thought about going to sleep with Nick. That might calm her nerves. She got up, and slowly approached the bedroom door, careful not to make too much noise. She tried the doorknob carefully, and felt that it was still locked. Disappointed, she began walking back when she felt a sharp pain in her stomach. Realizing what was about to happen, she ran over to the kitchen sink and started vomiting blood. It hurt like hell, like someone was pushing a knife into her belly, but she couldn't stop, no matter how hard she tried. After a few minutes, it stopped, and she started quietly sobbing to herself as she washed the blood down the sink. Slowly, she maneuvered her exhausted body back to the couch, and collapsed onto it. As exhausted as she was, she still couldn't sleep. She had never felt more miserable, both physically and emotionally, in her entire life. She didn't feel this bad even when Nick walked out on her all those years ago. She began to sob louder, until, mercifully, she passed out.

*The next morning…*

Nick woke to the distant rumble of thunder. He got out of bed and peeked out the window, and saw dark clouds in the distance. "Another one of those days…" He grumbled to himself. As he walked past the alarm clock, he saw it tick to 7:30 AM. The first thing he did once he left the bedroom was check on Judy, who was seemingly out cold. She looked awful; Her fur was matted, pajamas all wrinkled, and lying in an odd position. Nick felt a tinge of concern, and guilt. Maybe he had been too harsh on her. She obviously had spent most of the night upset. He gently placed a paw on her shoulder. "Judy? Carrots? You alright?"

She woke with a start. "Huh-? Wha-?" As soon as she saw it was only Nick, she relaxed slightly. "Oh… y-yeah… I'm okay."

Something was wrong. He could tell by she sound of her voice, and by the way her eyes were bloodshot, as if she had been crying.

"I can tell something's wrong Judy. What is it?"

"Nothing! Nothing's wrong…" Her eyes began to tear up.

"Judy, please, don't do this again. Please, tell me." Nick said, kneeling down and putting a paw on her shoulder.

She took a deep breath, and let it back out. "O-okay. Last night, I… couldn't sleep. I just cried… because I just felt so awful… awful for lying to you. For keeping secrets. For going behind your back. When I finally managed to get to sleep, I had this… awful dream. I… dreamt that you took me to Bunnyburrow and… and left me there…" She began choking up. "You… left me… alone… because of what I did…" She broke down sobbing, and buried her face in Nick's chest. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, please don't leave me! Please…"

Nick didn't know what to say. His feeling of guilt grew as he did his best to comfort her. "Judy… I would never leave you like that. You lied to me about your condition, but you're still my wife. Just because I'm mad at you, doesn't mean I don't love you." He grasped her paw gently. "I love you more than anything in the world. I will never leave you, I promise." Nick hugged her and sighed. "I guess I did overreact a little."

"No, you didn't. You were right to be mad. I shouldn't have lied. I'm sorry." She said, her voice still quivering.

"Shhhhh, it's okay. I forgive you." He said as he gently stroked the back of her head. "I love you, Judy, and I always will."

"I love you too… so much…" She said softly, her head still buried into his chest.

A loud crack of thunder made them both jump. They both sat in silence for a moment, waiting for the ringing in their ears to stop. Judy looked out the window, watching the rain fall down over the city, and sighed. "It looks like a good day to just stay inside and sleep in…"

"We can't." Nick said, shaking his head. "We've got to call Buffalo Butt and let him know that we're leaving in a couple days, and pack some of our things that we need to take."

Judy's heart sank. Nick hadn't changed his mind as she had fooled herself into hoping he did. When he said he would do something, he always meant it. She knew that, but she had hoped he had changed his mind. "Oh… yeah…" She said, doing her best to hide her disappointment.

Nick gave her a knowing look. "I promised your mom and dad I would take you back to Bunnyburrow, and I'm not going to break that promise."

Judy didn't reply, she just parted with him and sat down on the couch, her lack of sleep already getting to her.

Nick sighed, and walked into the kitchen to make breakfast. Just as he was about to make Judy's breakfast, he came to the realization that he had no idea what Judy could eat without vomiting blood later. "Judy!" He called out to her.

"What?" She asked.

"Did the Doctor say what you can eat?" He said, peering back into the living room.

She rubbed her eyes, trying to think. "Um… lots of milk, yogurt, and cheese, he said I need the protein. Cabbage, broccoli, pretty much any leafy green vegetable. Oh, but not too much of them. He said the fiber could be hard on me stomach. Erm… also, he said that most of my meals should be "bland foods", like… crackers and bread… oh, and oatmeal… and white pasta. That's all I can think of right now, I'm really tired."

Nick opened their pantry and looked to see if they had any of those things. They had oatmeal and some pasta, but that was pretty much it. "Is oatmeal alright?"

Judy could only muster a weak "Uh-huh", clearly about to doze off.

Nick shrugged, and begun boiling some water for the oatmeal. He was never really a fan of it, it was much too bland for his tastes, but he figured since Judy had to eat it, he would too. He added a pinch of sugar and cinnamon, to give it some flavor. Once it was done, he stuck a spoon in the pot and tried some. It's missing something… he thought. He looked over at a jar of blueberries on the countertop. Ah, of course! How could I forget those? He added a pawful to the pan and stirred until the oatmeal was a bluish-purple color. He tried another spoonful. Perfect!

He made a bowl for each of them and brought them into the living room. Nick sat them down on the coffee table and attempted to gently wake Judy up. She still was still startled, but relaxed quickly once she realized it was Nick. He gave her a bowl once she sat up, but instead of eating, she just stared at it, moving it around with her spoon.

"What's wrong Carrots? It's just oatmeal." Nick said.

"Why is it that color?" Judy asked, still hesitant to put some in her mouth.

"I added some blueberries to the mix, of that's okay with you."

"Well it's fine, I know you love them so much, but why?" She asked.

Nick shrugged. "Something just... told me to, I guess."

Judy hesitantly took a bite, and her face changed from reluctance to pleasant surprise. "Wow, this is really good!" She began to dig in, and finished the entire bowl before Nick was even halfway done with his. "Is there any more?"

Nick chuckled. Judy always had a really big appetite, especially for someone of her size. "There's more in the kitchen, help yourself."

She took her bowl with her into the kitchen and came back with it full to the brim, almost overflowing. As she began scarfing it down, Nick realized that this was unusual, even for her.

"Judy, please be honest with me. How much have you eaten in the past few days?" he asked.

Judy's spoon halted mid-scoop. She bowed her head, ears drooping. "Not much… some crackers… a few carrots here and there. Definitely not enough. I know, I know, I need much more now. But every time I eat something, it feels like someone is stabbing me in the gut, and I puke up blood a little while later. I figure that if I don't eat much, it won't be that much of a problem."

"No wonder you're eating like you haven't seen food in months." Nick shook his head. "You should've told me sooner, I would've bought you some food that wouldn't have given you problems, you know that-!" Nick caught himself, and took a deep breath. "Nevertheless, now that I know, I'm going to make sure you eat as much as you can. You can't afford to neglect your nutrition, especially now. I'll talk to the doctor to see if there's anything he can do."

Judy simply nodded, and went back to eating, albeit with much less enthusiasm.

Once they were finished, Nick took their bowls back to the kitchen, and came back holding his cellphone. Judy's heart sank, as she knew what was going to happen next.

Nick seemed to notice. "I have to do this, Judy. I'm sorry." He pressed call, and it began ringing. It rang and rang for what seemed like ages. Judy hoped that the it would go to voicemail, or drop out, or something, anything. Much to her dismay, Bogo's voice came through on the other end.

"Hello?"

"Chief, it's Wilde. I'm afraid I have some bad news." Nick said, a serious tone in his voice.

"What is it?" Bogo asked, sounding concerned.

"It's about Judy's condition. Last night, I found her vomiting blood last night-"

"Good God, is she alright!? And how long has this been happening!?" Bogo interrupted.

"Yes, she's been to the doctor, and it's just a symptom of the cancer progressing. It's not... immediately life threatening. And…" Nick hesitated. He gave Judy a brief look, before continuing. "...It just started last night."

Judy looked up at Nick, shocked.

"I see... thank you for informing me of this, Wilde. But I'm afraid that I'm going to have to get an official statement from your doctor to confirm that she can't report for duty if you want paid leave." Bogo explained. "Sorry, it's protocol."

"I figured as much." Nick grumbled. "I'll call our doctor and see if he can send me the documents you need, and give it to you tomorrow. Judy's family wants me to take her home to them, and I have to respect their wishes."

"I understand. Thank you for letting me know. And… I'm sorry that this is happening to you both." He said, with an emotional tone in his voice.

Nick smiled a little. "Thanks Chief." After he hung up, he noticed that Judy was still looking at him in shock. "What?"

"You said you weren't going to lie to him…"

A sly smile appeared on Nick's muzzle. "Technically Carrots, I didn't. I still told him, didn't I? It wouldn't change anything, anyway." He said matter-of-factly.

Judy began to smile as well. "Sly fox…" She yawned loudly, exhaustion taking hold once more.

Nick sat down beside her. "Tired?"

She nodded, rubbing her eyes.

"Alright, come here." Nick said, patting his lap.

Judy crawled into his lap, and laid her head on his chest. Outside, it began to rain. The sound, mixed with the steady beating of Nick's heart, and his slow breathing, was incredibly relaxing to Judy. Nick wrapped his arms around her and started rubbing the back of her head with with one paw. Her eyelids felt heavy. The last thing she heard before the tug of sleep pulled her under was Nick whispering in her ear.

"I love you, my sweet. I will never, ever, leave you…"

A strange sound woke her up from her deep, dreamless sleep. The sound of a… Printer? She opened her eyes and saw Nick on their PC, printing out something. "Hey, what are you doing?"

Nick glanced behind him. "Just printing out the paperwork we need. I called the doctor while you were sleeping, and he was about to email me the things we need to give to Bogo."

"Wow. I was expecting us having to go to his office and pick it up the old-fashioned way." Judy said.

"God bless technology." Nick said with a chuckle.

Judy sat up and stretched. "How long was I out for?"

"Over three hours." Nick answered. "It's a little after noon."

There was a distant rumble of thunder, and only then Judy became aware that it was still raining, based of the sound of it hitting the apartment window. "Jeez, it's still raining out there?"

"Yeah… It's expected to pass in a few hours though." Nick replied.

Judy sighed. "So… what now?"

"We've got to start packing soon. Not right at this very moment, but soon."

Another confirmation that Nick hadn't changed his mind. Judy knew she was foolish for continuing to hope that he would just change his mind. And she knew that trying to talk to him about it would be futile. A look of visible disappointment formed on her face. Nick noticed this look, and quickly tried to find out a solution.

"Judy, what's wrong? he asked.

"Nick… It's just that…" She began to tear up again. "I'm not ready to leave…"

"I'm so sorry Judy, but your parents have been wanting you home for a while now, and I need to listen to them. You need to go home."

"Just a little longer, please!" She begged, dropping on her knees. "Please, please!"

Nick groaned, clearly breaking under her pitiful pleading, along with the guilt of his behavior the night before. "Alright!" he burst out. "Alright… I guess… I can tell your parents that we're going to take a day around the city to see the sights one last time, and say goodbye to our friends. We've got to go and give that paperwork to Bogo tomorrow, anyway. Maybe this will work out, after all."

Judy jumped up and embraced Nick. "Thank you so much!" she cried.

Nick returned the embrace. "You're welcome, Carrots. I love you, don't you ever forget that…"