A bright flash pierced its way through Judy's tightly shut eyelids. The rabbit slowly came to, not knowing what to expect this time. She was greeted by only a deep blackness. Judy could feel her head moving as she attempted to lift it from where it lay, disorientation quickly took over and she placed it back down again. All of a sudden, a booming clap of thunder assaulted the rabbit's ears. All of her senses were gradually returning to the hurting bunny, one by one the world was making itself known again. The feeling of the rain came next. All at once she could feel it, the cold, wet sensation rapidly overloading her perception. It wasn't the gentle, soothing rain from earlier, but a full on downpour, unrelentingly pelting her fur. Every drop like a tiny bullet. The intense barrage against her senses caused Judy to violently regain consciousness. Her eyes opened once again and the world faded into view.
She wasn't tied up in a bathroom this time, or in a hospital bed, or back home with her partners in her own room, instead Judy was still laying on the cold hard pavement of the docks. Slowly, she propped herself up against a piece of concrete that once made up the sprawling shipping complex. Her strength not yet all there and her vision hazy, drifting in and out of reality. A fuzzy blur was darting around about 30 feet away from where she was. The blue tinge gave away the identity of the figure, it was Sly. Adrenaline ran through Judy's veins as she processed the sight. The raccoon was still there. The aching rabbit blinked, or at least that's what it felt like to her, it could have been minutes before she opened her eyes again. A flash of red was now moving around Sly. This one was instantly recognizable, Nick.
Judy watched in hazy spurts of awareness the two figures moving about.
The second Nick saw his partner lying motionless on the ground at Sly's hand, an unstoppable forced moved him. Without thinking he immediately lunged at the raccoon, his whole body connected, knocking an unsuspecting Sly sideways and throwing his golden cane out of his hands. The two made eye contact, Nick's initial rush rage quickly draining from his body, Sly's face showing a strange mixture of sadness and determination, their expressions were clearly distinct, yet oddly similar. They both looked to the cane sliding to a stop a few feet away. Nick knew he could not beat Sly hand to hand, the raccoon was simply too agile, but he was a cunning fox, and he quickly put together a plan.
As a bolt of lightning dazzled the sky, Sly dove for his cane, snatching it up without any resistance. He looked up to see the fox had disappeared. Next thing he knew the lights from the van shut off, casting most of the area into a thick darkness as the thunder cracked ominously.
Nick killed the lights, hoping to take advantage of his natural night vision. Even though raccoons could see in the dark as well, their range was limited, as long as he kept his distance before making a move he would be good. Nick was surprised, something he had learned from the academy was actually useful. He could see Sly, low to the ground, listening, slowly moving in the open. He moved in, carefully avoiding the polar bears littering the ground between him and his target. Nick crept up behind one of their vehicles and peeked over the top, Sly was nowhere to be found. It was now one big game of cat and mouse.
Nick was shaking as he darted between what little concealment there was in the immediate area of the shipyards. The now pouring rain was messing with his senses. A splash here, a drip there, everything was heightened to a level of insanity. Two minutes. It took Nick two minutes before he noticed Sly crawling underneath the van. Those two minutes were the most intense he had ever experienced.
Sly slowly rolled out from under the van. Reaching carefully through the window, he flicked on the lights. As the switch clicked into place, he quickly climbed to the van's roof. He stood just behind the rack of lights, such that even if Nick looked his way he would be invisible behind the blinding brightness. As expected, the fox was hiding, the game continued. Sly hopped down from the van, as he landed a punch came at him from the left. The surprise hit threw him off balance. Sly stepped backwards to keep himself upright, his foot landed in a puddle and he slipped, sending the raccoon to the ground.
Nick stood over his downed adversary, ready to hold him there as he reached for his cuffs. The fox froze however, much to Sly's confusion. His nose twitched as he identified the smell lurking in the air. It was the unmistakable scent of blood. The cuffs fell to the ground as Nick looked up to see Judy propped against a piece of concrete, a stream of red running off her with the rain. Sly was gone by the time he started running for his partner but it didn't matter. He came up to her side, looking over the wounded bunny.
"Judy!? Can you hear me carrots? Say something!"
"I think I missed." Judy laughed as she pushed herself into a sitting position. Nick was relieved to hear her speak but overly concerned about her physical state.
"You took a pretty good hit, you know that." He grabbed the flashlight sitting next to the bleeding rabbit. "Hey, look at me." He quickly checked her for a concussion while putting some pressure on where it looked like she was bleeding from.
"Don't worry, I'm good." She replied, starting to stand up. Judy felt a strange numbness as she shifted her weight, before immediately falling back to the ground.
If it weren't for the rain, a silence would have taken over as Judy noticed the piece of rebar jutting from the ground a few feet away, completely covered in a layer of her blood. It was that moment the rabbit realized just how seriously injured she was.
"You still with me Murray?" Sly bent down next to the hippo on the other side of the previous chaos, who was audibly snoring.
"Huh? Wha? Oh yeah, I'm okay Sly." He responded as he woke up.
"Good, we gotta get out of here."
"What happened?"
Sly looked over, he could barely make out Nick crouched next to Judy, who was still on the ground.
"I did something stupid." Guilt took over the raccoon's face, followed by determination, "Go start the van big guy, I'll be right there."
"Just keep the pressure on here, I'll grab the first aid kit in the car." Nick looked his partner in the eye as he replaced his own bloodied paw with hers.
"She's going to need more than just a band aid." Sly said as he took a knee on the other side of Judy. His iconic smug grin was gone, replaced by an expression of pure concern. Nick noticed it instantly, he could hear the sincerity in his voice, it was the only thing that prevented him from flat out murdering the raccoon on the spot. "This is my fault. Please, let me help you."
"I- You- Of course this is your fault!" The fox stuttered, emotions running high, "Hey, keep talking to me fluff, I want to hear that annoying voice of yours, okay." Nick could see the damage done, and was doing his best to treat it in the field. He looked Sly dead in the eye, "Laceration on the left thigh, possible concussion, no signs of shock yet, but we need to stop that bleeding." If he was really there to help he'd better get to it.
"I know Bentley-" Sly said aloud, looking up, "I can't just leave her here- No- Don't worry-"
"Listen," He addressed Nick directly, getting his attention with a paw on the shoulder, "we aren't going to do any good out here, the cut's too deep. She needs to get to a hospital."
"I know that!" Nick snapped, before getting back to tending Judy's wounds, "I just need to get her patched up and then I can take her."
"And what? Have her bleed out in the back seat of the cruiser? You can't help her and drive at the same time. And she's going to need your help all the way there."
"WELL WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?" The fox replied, starting to break, "Either call an ambulance or get out of here. You've done enough already."
"I'm trying to help!" Sly snapped back before calming himself, "There's no way an ambulance would get here fast enough, I can take you to a hospital in the van, we can keep her stable in the back."
Nick looked between Sly and Judy, the raccoon responsible and the rabbit who was finally feeling the pain of the gash in her side. Barely managing to maintain his composure, he nodded.
"I'm going to make things right, I promise." Sly said quickly as ran over and opened the back doors to the blue van. He and Nick then carefully picked up the injured bunny, and carried her over.
Murray helped ease her onto what little cushioning was available in the empty cargo van before jumping into the driver's seat. A few jackets were the best they could do, but it was better than nothing. Sly grabbed a small first aid kit as the hippo gunned it.
"The canals has a clinic on Penema Ave." Nick called up to Murray, feeding him directions to the closest help, "Hang a right at the next light."
"Keep going straight Murray," Sly interrupted, before directing his attention to the fox who was working on cleaning out Judy's wound, "That little place won't be any help, she needs an actual ER."
"Okay, then our best bet is Creedence Medical, in downtown."
"You get that?" The raccoon raised his voice to ensure their driver knew where to go.
"Sure thing!" Murray commented back. He continued, putting a finger to his ear, "Bentley buddy, take us home!"
Nick and Sly got to work cleaning and dressing Judy's wound as the van sped down the road, ignoring all traffic laws. The one roll of gauze present in the kit had to go a long way, luckily it covered the majority of Judy's injuries, the visible ones anyway. They couldn't completely stop the bleeding, but four blood soaked paws resulted from the constant pressure being held on the rabbit's gash.
Unexpectedly, Judy remained quiet during the extended van ride tot he hospital. She understood the situation, and although the pain intensified with every passing moment she knew the best thing she could do was remain clam. The last thing Nick needed was a hysterical bunny flailing about for the remainder of the trip. Besides, Judy had dealt with worse injuries before, her family farm wasn't exactly the safest place after all. Be it a rouge tractor or a 126 rabbit game of tackle football gone wrong, the Hopps family was at the Burrows' clinic almost monthly. Her dad often joked with the doctors to keep his tab open.
Judy recalled the time she broke her left arm. She was only six years old, or maybe she was five, her mom knew all the details. It's one of those stories her parents would tell to anyone, much to her embarrassment at how stupid it was. The young rabbit was over her friend Andy's house for a birthday party. His parents had set up a little kiddie pool in the backyard for everyone to play in. The thing couldn't have been more than a few inches high. She was playing in it when the cake was brought out. As expected, everyone sprinted out to dry off. In her excitement, Judy managed to trip on the lip of the plastic pool, landing hard on a rock. It hurt, but she was tough, simply walking it off. After the cake, her arm still hurt, she told her parents and they put some ice on it, letting her go back and play only a few minutes later. It wasn't until the next day that anyone realized it was broken. The look on her mom's face when she saw Judy's arm all swollen up that morning, just thinking about it made her laugh. It was quite possibly the lamest way to break a bone, but the memory is one Judy will never forget.
"You're not going all looney on me now are you?" Nick tried to lighten the mood as he heard his partner chuckle.
"No no, I was just- OW" Judy replied, coming back to reality before Sly threw another large bandage from the first aid kit on her thigh.
"Sorry, don't worry, we're almost there." The raccoon addressed her directly for the first time since he inflicted the damage.
Judy looked at him, knowing it best not to question the situation right now. Instead she focused on dealing with the ever present pain.
The van's sudden stop caught Nick off guard, he realized he had no clue if they had arrived or not considering the lack of windows and how much attention he was paying to his partner. Murray opening his door was Sly's que to throw open the back doors as well, they were here. A bright light flooded the interior of the van from the heavily illuminated emergency room entrance at the hospital.
"Stay here." The raccoon said as he jumped out the back, running towards the large automatic doors only a few feet away. Seconds later he remerged with several EMT's and a gurney.
Three wolves and a gazelle, all wearing matching white uniforms, quickly took over the scene. They carefully pulled Judy onto the stretcher and wheeled her inside, wasting no time at all. Nick followed behind, stopping inches from the door when realized he was alone.
"You're not going to stay?" He turned to face Sly, who was halfway back into the van.
"I've done all I can for now." He replied, his tone a mixture of honesty and scheming, "But we will meet again, Officer Wilde…soon."
Nick ran inside as the van pulled away, the doctors were already working on Judy. One of the wolves that brought her in was waiting in the hallway.
"Excuse me officer." he approached Nick, using a calming tone which had no doubt comforted dozens of families as their loved ones sat in the same room Judy was in right now. "You are here with Ms. Hopps, correct?"
"Yes, I'm her partner, Nick."
"Great, do you have a last name Nick? Just for our records."
"Wilde."
"Thank you, if I can direct you to our waiting area, I can give you updates on Ms. Hopps there."
"No thanks," Nick replied much to the surprise of the wolf, "I'm good right here."
He opened his mouth in an attempt to remove the fox from the hallway. Nick motioned for him not to speak.
"If you can do me a favor, the two of us were on a very important assignment, so if you could just not contact the police station on this that'd be great. Thanks. Have a wonderful evening." He guided the wolf by the shoulders, encouraging him to keep going down the hall. The wolf had too much to deal with at the moment so, with a 'huff', he simply walked away. Leaving Nick alone, giving him plenty of time to think over the situation while the minutes slowly ticked past.
"Mr. Wilde," The same wolf came up to Nick about an hour later. "I have to say, your partner is one lucky bunny."
"How is she?" he replied, hesitant to smile at the supposed good news. 'Lucky' could mean anything in a hospital.
"Well, that gash is the only wound we could find, no internal damage, the cut itself only slightly damaged some muscle tissue, it didn't do any serious harm. Honestly it was one of the cleanest procedures I have ever seen. As for a concussion, it's still early to call it but the signs have diminished greatly, it's likely she was only shaken by the impact."
"How long until the doctors are finished with her?"
"Actually, she's being moved to a room right now, you are welcome to see her if you wish."
Nick wasted no time, walking right past the cheery wolf, who sighed.
"Room 2027," He said as the fox was already five steps past him, whispering to himself "A thank you would be nice…"
"Can we leave yet?" Judy said as Nick sat down at the foot of her hospital bed.
"Nope, doc says they want to hold you overnight." He teased her. Nick had caught up with the main doctor who worked on the rabbit just outside her room, speaking to him briefly and learning all the details of her condition.
"Well that's just wonderful. What are we going to tell Bogo?"
"Don't worry about him, he never expects us to show up at the station anyway."
"True, your slacking may actual prove useful for once."
"I should take offense to that, but seeing as you are broken and helpless, I'll give you a pass."
"Just you wait Wilde, as soon as I'm out of this bed I'm going to get you for that one." A devilish grin overtook Judy's face as the two partners got right back into their everyday banter. Nick stayed in the room all night, keeping an eye on the injured rabbit. She was going to be fine, be he cared for her, more than he showed. As dawn broke a dazzling sunshine burst through the window, a stark contrast to last night's bleak storm. Today was a new day. The two had some breakfast and Judy got ready for some final tests before the hospital officially released her. Just as she and Nick were planning their trip back and their inevitable talk with Bogo, there was a knock on the door. The morning nurse let herself in.
"Sorry to bother you Ms. Hopps," The slender female tiger said gently, "but these just arrived for you."
Both Nick and Judy gave the nurse inquisitive looks, as she walked over to a small side table and placed down a vase filled with brilliantly colored flowers.
"The doctor will be with you in about half an hour." She said, exiting the room just as quickly as she had entered.
The two looked at the beautiful display curiously, nobody knew Judy was in the hospital, so who sent them? Unless one of the staff tipped off the chief, or contacted Judy's parents. Though knowing either of them, they would have been there within minutes of getting the news. This had to be someone else…but who? Judy reached over, grabbing a small tag attached to the neck of the vase. She grinned as she read the inscription on the immediately recognizable card.
"I have to say Nick," She handed the card over to her partner, "he reminds me of you."
Nick wasn't sure if he should laugh or be angry as he read the card.
'Sorry I almost killed you – Sly'
Well, that's another chapter down. Whole lot going on in this one, hopefully you guys like it, I tried to incorporate some feedback I've been getting and see how it turned out. Anyway, the next chapter should get some more character development and plot related nonsense out of the way, and then the chapter after that will see an interesting turn of events. As always, if you have any thoughts on the story please leave a review, they are really helpful. Time for me to get started on the next chapter, thanks for reading everyone.