A/N: Just a quick note here. I've posted this chapter to Fanfiction TWICE and, after six days later, it still hasn't posted to the site. I show it posted on my end, so I'm going to try again today as well as posting Chapter 4. Hope it works because I don't want to disappoint my readers.
Chapter 3 – The Hospital, Part One
Alex and Trevor, both black bears and, coincidentally, brothers transferred the strange mammal onto a wheeled gurney and then slid him into the back of their rig. It was Trevors turn to drive, so he got behind the wheel and took off while Alex took care of the patient in the back.
It took Alex longer than normal to get the patients vitals but, after several minutes he was able to find where to find the pulse, where the heart was located, and where to attach the blood pressure cuff. He then grabbed the radios transmitter and keyed it.
"Zootopia General this is Unit 23, inbound with an unconscious, medium sized mammal, species unknown. Approximately 180 lbs. Pulse at 55 beats per minute, Respiration at 20, Blood pressure 105 over 70. Pupils responsive. Patient appears stable. ETA 20 minutes."
Trevor drove at a safe speed as they headed back to the Downtown District. Unlike his brother, Trevor had nothing to occupy himself so his mind speculated about the patient in the back of their rig. He had never heard of, much less seen a mammal like this one. Alex, meanwhile, was busy monitoring the patient and looking for a vein to install an IV drip. Frustrated, he called out to Trevor "Where the frag is his vein?"
"How should I know" Trevor answered, "I've never seen that species before either! Just find something that looks like a vein and then stick him. If it back flows you know it's an artery and not a vein."
Alex just shrugged his shoulders and said "Okay, let's do it."
Alex found a promising candidate before sliding the needle in. Ha! Got it on the first try! Alex thought. "Got it!" He stated as he taped the needle in place and finished hooking up the IV.
The rest of the trip passed rather quickly and soon they were pulling in to the ambulance bay of Zootopia General. Alex and Trevor exited their rig and pulled the unknown mammal out of the back. Entering the code into the keypad on the outside wall next to the sliding doors, they wheeled him in through the first set and then through the second set of automatic doors. The monitor between the two listed their rig number and a room number for their patient.
They pushed their patient to room 12 and, using the sheet from the gurney as a makeshift stretcher, easily moved him onto the hospital bed. While they were doing this two nurses, an ibex and a goat, setting up all the various monitors for checking and recording heart rate, pulse, respiration, and oxygen levels for the patient at the head of the bed. One by one the monitors came to life as they were hooked up with beeping and wiggly lines and numbers fluctuation along the side of the display.
A third nurse, a wolf, walked in carrying a clipboard and pen. "Hey, Alex, Trevor!" She greeted. Trevor and Alex brightened at the greeting.
"Hi!"
"Hey Stacy! How you doing?" Alex replied. He'd been trying to get the gorgeous wolf to go out with him for a while now but, so far, she'd refused. Politely of course.
"Doing great Alex. Whats the info on our patient?"
"The same from when we radioed in. About 180 lbs. Heart beat at 55 beats per minute, Respiration at 20, Blood pressure at 105 over 70. Minimal variation. Name supplied by OfficerJudy Hopps-Wilde is Dylan Ambrose."
The intentional name drop caught the attention of all three nurses just as Alex had hoped. He was thinking that this might give him a paw in the door to score a date with Stacy.
The goat looked at Alex and asked "You got to meet the Judy Hopps-Wilde?"
Alex grinned and nodded eagerly, glancing over to Stacy, who didn't notice as she was writing the information onto the chart. Stacy was aware of Alex attempting to impress her. She was just hoping that he'd lose interest before she had to tell him that she wasn't interested. Not that she had anything against other species, it was because he was male. She was actually already dating a very nice doe named Allison, a general surgeon at the hospital.
Trevor felt bad for his brother and busied himself with getting the gurney ready for the next patient. He tapped his brother, who was still looking at Stacy, and said "C'mon bro. Time to leave." Alex's face fell, but he nodded and said his goodbyes before turning and following his brother out of the room.
Doctor Rushing, a jaguar wearing a long white lab coat and a stethoscope around his neck opened the door and walked in to the room. "Okay," he said as he used his stethoscope to check for the loudest heart and lung noise on the mammal "What do we have?"
Stacy repeated the information that she had and waited for the doctors orders. She didn't have long to wait.
"Alright then, we'll assume that those are his baseline stats. Lets do a full workup, blood panel, etc. Also, lets do a full body CT." He then put his paws on the mammals jaws and pried them apart before looking inside. "I've got canines and molars, Omnivore". Letting go of the jaw he gently opened the eyelids one at a time and flicked the light from his little pen light into the patients eyes. Both pupils had a normal reaction. Meanwhile, Stacy had checked the appropriate box for dietary on the chart.
"I want a nurse assigned to this patient at all hours. We don't have any real data and I want eyes on him at all times. I have some more patients to check on but call me if anything changes." Doctor Rushing said as he looked at each nurse in turn. After receiving acknowledgment of the order from all three, he turned and left the room.
The nurses looked at each other before the Ibex, Robert, sighed and said "I'll take first watch" as he settled himself in a chair against the wall. The other two nodded and went back into the central area.
oooOOOooo
Nick and Judy's preliminary report landed on Chief Bogo's desk with just enough time for him to quickly read through it before he had to leave to go brief Mayor Fairbreeze. Judy's reports were always well written and concise, making comprehending them so much easier that when Nick wrote them. Bogo was positive he made the reports confusing just to irritate him.
It was when he reached the last entry that his eyes widened so much they almost seemed to bug out. His eyes narrowed and then re-read the last paragraph. Reaching down to the intercom on his desk he pressed the button for dispatch.
"Dispatch, Officer Clawhouser speaking" came the chipper sounding voice of the overweight cheetah.
"I want all information on this mammal that was found in the Meadowlands A.S.A.P. Also, get the Wildes in here as well, I want to talk to them."
"Will do Chief!"
Bogo hung up and sat back in his chair. Well, he thought, at least it won't be a normal briefing. He picked up his desk phone and dialed the Mayor.
"Mayor's office" the voice of Carl Hopps, the Deputy Mayor answered.
"This is Bogo. I was just going over a report last night involving a mammal found in the Meadowlands, species unknown. There seems to be some discrepancy with the vehicle as well as the ID of the mammal."
"Strange. What discrepancies are we looking at?"
"Medium sized vehicle using an internal combustion engine. Make and model not recognized. The dates on the vehicle paperwork and on the ID of the mammal, one Dylan Ambrose, indicate they're from about fourteen hundred years in the future."
There was silence on the line for a few seconds before Carl's voice returned, now softer and more intense. "Say that again please."
Bogo sighed, he kind of expected this type of response. "Medium sized vehicle..."
"No. no. The part about the dates."
"The earliest date we found so far shows the year of manufacture for the vehicle as 1987."
More silence. "Who were the responding officers?
"The Wildes. I've already called them in."
Bogo heard a sigh on the other end "Okay, we'll be there shortly."
oooOOOooo
Jillian Fairbreeze, lioness, and Mayor of Zootopia, listened to what her trusted friend, confidant, and Deputy reported to her and said "We need to get ahead of this."
"Too many people know about the mammal already, we wouldn't be able to cover it up.
"I don't want to cover it up. I refuse to make the same mistake that Lionheart made. We just need to have a reasonable explanation for his appearance. We'll need to spin this so we don't have a panic in the streets about a 'mammal from the future'."
"I think the major sticking points would be the dates. Everything else could be explained away, honestly, as normal where he came from."
Jillian nodded her head. "That could work. We'll have to doctor the report and whatever documentation there is, but we'll stick as close to the truth as possible. The key will be the Wildes, but I don't think we'll have any problems with Judy. And Nick has integrated well. We should bring in Dr. Reinhold as well."
"Agreed."
oooOOOooo
Judy groaned deeply as she rolled over to her phone that played her all time favorite Gazelle song "Try Everything".
"Nnnooooo" Nick echoed Judy's groan as he rolled over "we're off tonight. Not enough sleep!"
Judy accepted the call and left it on the nightstand. She'd still be able to hear but not be too loud. "Judy Hopps-Wilde" she mumbled, not awake enough to be articulate.
"Judy!" Clawhousers voice exclaimed from the phone. Judy was very glad that she hadn't put the phone near her ear. His exuberance was too much sometimes, especially after only, Judy looked at the time, 2 hours of sleep.
"What is it Ben?" Judy asked. Coffee, she definitely needed coffee.
"Chief Bogo wants you to report to his office A.S.A.P."
Judy sighed. She loved her job and the difference she made as an officer, that was the only thing that made her force herself out of bed with almost no sleep. "Alright Ben, let the Chief know we'll be there soonest. Take care of yourself!"
Clawhouser acknowledged and hung up as Judy nudged Nick in the ribs. "C'mon sleepyhead, we have to go in. Probably about that mammal we found last night."
Groaning, Nick sat up in bed mumbling "Need coffee, lots of coffee."
Judy dragged herself out of bed and walked, naked, to the bathroom. Nick's eyes followed his doe and, as sleepy as he was, found himself mesmerized by her. He was so in love with his doe and he thanked the gods every day for being married to such a wonderful mammal.
Now, much more awake than a few seconds ago, Nick stood up and followed Judy into the bathroom where she had just started the shower. Climbing in behind her, he wrapped his arms around her, picked her up, and held her close, her back pressing hard against the front of his body.
"Nick!?" Judy exclaimed "What..." That was as far as she got before Nick started kissing the juncture of her neck and shoulder. That was her weak spot. She moaned as she felt him start to nibble there, raking his teeth gently over the spot. He knew what that did to her! Oh well Judy thought as her mind started to fog over and she felt Nick's paw beginning to caress her, Bogo can wait a bit longer. She then surrendered to her husbands ministrations and let herself give into her desire.
Almost an hour and a half later, Nick and Judy arrived at headquarters and walked up to Bogo's office. Knocking, they waited a second before entering, Nick in the lead. Judy let out a "Oomph" as she ran into Nick's back when he suddenly stopped in the doorway. Peeking around his side, she saw Mayor Fairbreeze sitting in Chief Bogo's chair while the Chief stood next to her.
"Come in Officers, we have much to discuss."
oooOOOooo
Doctor Rushing looked over the test results from his patient. So far everything about his vitals had remained steady and within a normal range. From what he could tell, his patient seemed to be in some type of coma. However, his brain activity was abnormally high for that to be true. Frustrated, he got up and went to the patients room. Pushing the door open he saw one of the nurses from earlier, the Ibex Ginart, seated in the one chair in the room browsing through his phone.
"Any change Robert?" He asked.
"No change Doc. I changed his IV bag a little while ago but other than that it's been rather dull."
"Okay. Keep me updated and let whoever relieves you know that as well."
"Will do Doc." Robert said. When the doctor left he opened the tab he had been on. Look at the horns on that one!
oooOOOooo
Nick and Judy glanced at each other before climbing into the chairs. Nick rested his right elbow on the armrest of the chair and leaned over giving the impression of extreme ease. Judy winced. Pretty much everyone tended to take Nicks ways in stride after a year and a half on the force, but this was the Mayor! Judy could see Chief Bogo's stormy expression and Nick's smirk. Nick was tweaking the Chiefs nose as usual, but Judy knew that Bogo actually respected the fox.
Jillian clasped her hands in front of her on the desk, her expression serious. "As you've probably guessed, this is about the mammal you found last night. I've read your report and I'm rather astonished at what happened. My only concern is the dates that were found. While I don't want to hide things like my predecessor did during the Night Howler Incident, I have to balance that with the possible panic that might occur if people suddenly discover there's a mammal that seems to be from almost fifteen hundred years in the future."
Here Judy piped up "Well Ma'am, Nick and I thought the same thing. We postulated that its possible that they use a different calendar where he comes from."
Mayor Fairbreeze's eyes took on a far away look before she nodded her head. "Yes. Yes, I like it! I think that would be a very good explanation. We'll go with that at least until we know better. We'll worry about how to explain how he got here later." Jillian turned to look at Bogo, "I want Nick and Judy assigned exclusively to this case for right now. As soon as Mr. Ambrose wakes up, I want them there to debrief him."
Chief Bogo nodded. As Mayor Fairbreeze rose from her seat, she addressed Nick and Judy again "I want to thank you two. Not just for what you did in the past, but for all the hard work you've done since then as well. You do Zootopia proud!"
After Mayor Fairbreeze left, Bogo looked at the two mammals seated in front of him and said "Alright, you've heard the Mayor. Until further notice, you two are on this. I want you to go over everything that CSI uncovers. I'm going to contact the hospital and inform them that they need to work with you and keep you updated to the mammals condition. I want a briefing every morning so that I can update the Mayor on anything new. Now get out of my office and get some rest."
Nick and Judy nodded. Both were still tired after only 2 hours of sleep and the adrenaline of meeting and talking to the Mayor was starting to wear off already. Even with a couple of cups of coffee after their, rather enjoyable, shower this morning.
"Nick,when we get home" Judy started, her voice gravely with exhaustion, before being interrupted by Nick "Sleep, we need sleep my love." Judy sighed, so happy they were on the same page.
oooOOOooo
Wendy Kentala, the goat nurse assigned to the mystery patient, was happily crocheting a pullover for her niece while she sat in the room. She'd been here for 8 hours already since she'd taken over from Robert, so she'd made good headway on the sweater.
Wendy looked up from her crocheting to look at her patient. She couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He had to have come from very far away as no one had ever described meeting a mammal like this. Poor thing had almost no fur on most of his body. Well, except for what was on top of his head, a bit less on his chest area, and some above his genitals that they had noticed when putting him into a hospital gown when he arrived.
The increased tempo of the monitors cut through her musings. Wendy set her hobby aside as she stood up and studied the monitors. Heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration up slightly. Glancing at the patient, she noticed movement. A slight creasing on his forehead, eyelid twitching, a quick grimace.
Wendy grabbed the call button and pressed it. Within a few seconds Wendy heard Stacy's voice over the intercom "Nurses Station."
"Stacy, it's Wendy. Our patient is experiencing increased activity."
"Alright, I'm calling Doctor Rushing and then I'll head in and help if you need it."
In short order Stacy walked into the room and took notice of the patient's changing expressions and rapid eye movement. Apparently the patient was now dreaming. Hoping to wake him gently she grabbed his paw and began speaking to him.
"Mr. Ambrose? Mr. Ambrose, can you hear me? Can you understand me? Mr. Ambrose, you were in a vehicle accident. You're in Zootopia General Hospital. You're okay. We didn't find any injuries but you were unconscious. Mr. Ambrose, if you can understand me squeeze my paw." There was no response so she tried again.
"Mr. Ambrose, if you can understand me, please squeeze my paw." This time she was rewarded with a slight squeeze. "Good Mr. Ambrose! Your doctor has been notified and will be here shortly. Take it slow. If you're in any pain, squeeze my paw once for yes, twice for no." There was a slight hesitation before Stacy felt her paw squeezed twice, both times stronger than before. She then placed the patients paw on the bed next to him before letting go and patting it in reassurance.
Both nurses watched the patient slowly begin to move around more as well as beginning to mumble. The door opened and Dr. Rushing came in, a smile on his face. "Mr. Ambrose! You had us worried for a bit! I'm Dr. Rushing, your physician." He then turned to the nurses who quickly filled him in on the recent events.
"Good. I'm glad you're feeling much better Mr. Ambrose." He removed the pen light from his pocket as he continued. "Mr. Ambrose, I need you to open your eyes so I can check your pupil response okay?"
Their patient mumbled as if answering him and they all could see he was struggling to do as the doctor asked. After a minute of watching the effort the patient was putting forth, Dr. Rushing said "That's okay Mr. Ambrose, we don't have to do that right now if it's too difficult."
The patient started grunting harder and, with what seemed to be almost a growl, opened his eyes.
Chapter 3 done! I tend to do rough outlines when I write, basically I know what I want to happen in each chapter, but when I write, the story tends to take on a life of it's own. For example, I didn't plan on the shower scene between Nick and Judy or the interaction between Alex and Stacy, much less having Stacy in a relationship with a lady doctor, they just happened.
Thank all of you for sticking with my story so far. I promise it will pick up before too much longer, more action, more drama.
Again, any questions or suggestions just let me know. That goes for any mistakes you may find. Just be nice! As always, if you like the story please follow (or even favorite! I'd be very happy with a ton of favorites!).