AUTHORS NOTES:

Yep I know, its been a LONG time again, but still I'm determined to try and grind these chapters out for you all. But as usual life always throws things at you in different directions.

Well I hope that you enjoy this latest chapter, and if you have any ideas for this story, then I'm all open to hear them. Now enjoy...

…One month later

Lucius was casually walking his way back to his flat after he had done a food shop from the local supermarket. He had three bags in hand as he made his way down the busy street, making every effort not to accidently bump into anyone. It was a Saturday and it was also market day, and there were many a stall open near Savannah central, with thousands of mammals making their way toward the market to buy their goods. The roads especially were very busy, as mammals had to pass through the market in order to get further into the city, which made for some pretty close calls for some of the drivers. But as for Lucius, he was too busy minding his own as he whisked past everyone on his way home. As he walked on, he spotted a particular stall that was selling some hats, and being that it was one item of clothing that Lucius did not yet own aside from his beret, he felt a sudden urge to go peruse what was for sale.

Quickly looking both ways before crossing the road, Lucius quickly dashed across and made his way toward the stall, seeing now that a lone fox was the owner of the stall. Finally reaching the stall, Lucius began to look around the many varied types of hats that hung from little metal display hooks. The fox, who was standing beside his stall trying to encourage some customers, quickly noted the arrival of Lucius and immediately began to try and sell him a hat, not at all being fazed by the fact that a human had suddenly appeared.

"Hello my good mammal, how can I help you today? Would you care to try on some of my hats? Some of the best quality you'll find in Zootopia, and well within an acceptable price" the fox said with eager as he smiled.

Lucius was looking at all the different hats on display before be replied "Yeah, I'm just looking for something... simple. A cap will do" Lucius said as he continued to browse through the stall.

The fox quickly got into action and picked out a few different coloured caps for the human to look at "Here you go sir, something like this perhaps?" he suggested, showing Lucius five different coloured caps. One was jet black in colour, the other was a dark shade of red, another was a purple, the other was a dark brown, and the last one was an off white.

Lucius turned around and looked at the various coloured caps, and in fairness, the colours did catch his eye, and almost immediately he was drawn to both the jet black cap and the dark brown cap. "Can I try some on?" He asked the fox, who gave a friendly smile before responding "Of course sir" the fox then quickly got out a hand held mirror for Lucius to look at while he tried on the caps.

Lucius first put on the jet black cap, and after readjusting the size he looked into the mirror that the fox owner was holding in his paw. He nodded in approval before changing to the dark brown cap. "It suits you" the fox kindly said as Lucius continued looking in the mirror, trying to decide on which one to go for. He took both the caps in hand and tried making a decision. After what felt like a whole evening, Lucius finally decided on the black cap "This one please".

The fox smiled as he placed the mirror down "That will be six Zollers please" he said as Lucius then began to dig out the required money from his pocket. "Here you are" Lucius said as he handed the fox a ten Zoller note "Excellent, that will be four Zollers change..." "No please, keep the change. Have a good day" Lucius said as he nodded to the fox with a little smile before walking off "Thank you sir, have an amazing day" the fox said, a bright smile emerging at the generosity of the human.

Lucius put his new cap on as he left he stall and resumed in his journey back to his flat. A little further up the road from the market he came upon an pedestrian crossing, and so he waited for the traffic to give way so that he could cross, but being as it was a very busy Saturday, the chances of that happening were very slim. He was alone on his side of the crossing, save for an elderly moose and two rabbits who were fixated on their phones without a care in the world around them.

As they waited for an opportunity to cross the road, Lucius spotted in the corner of his eye what appeared to be a young wolf cub that was edging dangerously near the curb, and not a moment later, a large group of mammals were pushing their way past down the busy pavement and had accidently caused the young mammal to get shunted out onto the road and fall onto its knees, causing the wolf to yelp out in pain as its knees collided with the hard concrete road. Lucius then heard the engine of a fast approaching car, a SUV to be exact, and in that split moment the world seemed to have slowed down for Lucius as his fight or flight response kicked into gear.

In an instant, Lucius allowed his shopping bags to slip from his grip and crash to the ground while at the same time he put all of his energies into moving his legs as fast as they could carry him toward the young cub that had fallen onto the road before the car could reach it. All of Lucius' other sensory inputs when numb as he was solely focused on saving this cub, his ears started ringing but all the background noise faded away, his vision was fixed on the wolf and he took in a sharp deep breath as his momentum exploded forward. Running across the road and narrowly avoiding another car coming the other way, Lucius sensing that the SUV was really close, and having no other option lunged forward toward the cub who by this point had noticed Lucius hurrying toward him and was now looking to him in fear as the cub also saw the fast approaching car coming it's way.

Lucius, as he was just a few short feet away realised that in that moment, given the speed of the car and in order to save the wolf cub, he himself would most likely take the hit. So in one final motion, Lucius with all his strength pushed the cub off the road and it landed straight on it's back causing another yelp of pain, but for Lucius, things were about to get worse. Just as the cub had landed on it's back, the SUV, now only just applying it's brakes collided with Lucius just as he tried to brace himself, thus sending him flying forward multiple feet up the road and crashing firmly onto the concrete road and rolling a couple of times before finally stopping.

The car screeched to a sudden halt and had veered onto the other side of the road, but luckily managing not to cause a car crash in the process. All the mammals that were walking about had stopped in shock at what they had just witnessed. Mammals from the cars that stopped quickly jumped and rushed toward the human who at this point was knocked out and covered in blood that was coming from some open cuts to his face and arms and back. "QUICKLY, SOMEONE CALL AN AMBULANCE" a male beaver called out as he rushed to the side of Lucius and attempted to render first aid.

It didn't take long for a full blown crowed to descend upon the scene all with their phones out taking pictures and videos, and thus causing a total shutdown of that particular road leading into and out of the centre of Zootopia. A few minutes later the sound of multiple sirens could be heard descending onto the scene, and a few of the local police patrol who were on foot quickly made their way through that large crowd of mammals and finally reached Lucius who still lay unconscious on the ground with the beaver still giving first aid.

Two on foot police officers, both grey wolves rushed over to the scene and began trying to restore order in a prompt manner before the rest of the force arrived. "Come on everyone, back it up back it up" one of the officers ordered as he motioned for the large crowd to keep their distance.

-Lucius POV-

A seething pain shot through the majority of his body, especially his head and the one side of his body where the car had crashed into him. The first senses that returned to him was the ringing in his ears as he slowly regained consciousness. His eyes remained closed and fought to open them, until the bright daylight sun pierced his eyes and forced them to shut again. He forced them open again, and managed to keep them only partially open, clearly he had suffered some head injury that prevented him from opening his eyes fully. He could see the vast crowd of mammals that had surrounded the area, and the two police officers that tried to keep order. As Lucius looked around as he remained laying on the ground, he spotted the young wolf cub standing on the pavement and looking visibly shook up as its parent held it's paw in theirs and looked on. The cub was staring directly at Lucius, and Lucius silently whispered "Thank God" as he saw the cub unharmed.

"Hey mister your going to be fine okay, an ambulance is on the way" the beaver who was still attending him said as he noticed that Lucius was now awake. But Lucius did not hear him as the ringing in his ears was all that he could here in that moment. Glancing around he noticed that there was a steady stream of blood running from him down the road and dripping into a nearby drain.

Lucius tried moving his head and managed to turn to face the beaver who cautioned against moving any further in case of making himself worse, but still being unable to hear anything other than the ringing, Lucius continued trying to move. He managed to roll onto his back and groaned heavily as he laid his back on the concrete. He took a sharp inhale as the pain coursed through his body, but he continued to fight against it. "Get me... up..." he uttered to the otter as he tried to raise himself to his feet, except that the otter held in down while continuing to try and tell him to stop moving.

So Lucius continued to lay there and stare up into the sky, watching as white clouds passed over head. It felt like an age but eventually an ambulance and two police cars finally arrived, the paramedics quickly rushing over to Lucius. The first mammal paramedic that Lucius saw was a large ox, which was then quickly followed by Lioness. "Okay sir, we'll take over from here" The ox said to the beaver as the ox took over in rendering aid. "Okay sir, your going to be fine, we'll get you to a hospital soon. Can you tell me your name?" the lioness asked as she strapped on an EKG to Lucius' arm. But still Lucius could not hear her as the constant ringing persisted.

"He's got some head injuries. I can see blood coming from the ear and his pupils are blown" the lioness said to her colleague as he readied a stretcher next to them. Lucius then once again tried to get to his feet in defiance to both his physical pain and the protests of the paramedics. With a heavy groan and wince of pain he managed to get to his knees and panted heavily as the pain was taking its toll on his body. "Sir, please stop moving you could cause serious injury" the ox protested as he tried to stop Lucius from getting up, but the human brushed his hand away before speaking "Get. Me. To. My... feet".

Seeing that Lucius was not going to listen to their instructions, they braced up the human and helped him slowly get to his feet, Lucius tightly clenching his side. He stood unsteady on his feet as he used one of the paramedics for support to keep him from falling over. He looked around and noticed that many of the mammals were cheering on the human, the fact that he not only saved that young wolf cubs life, but also managed to get back to his feet had caused them to cheer loudly in the streets, many of them stood in awed silence in the fact that he survived the impact alone.

The ringing in his ears began to slowly subside and it was replaced by the cheers of the mammals and then was soon also replaced by the paramedics demanding this time, that he lay on the wheeled stretcher. "Sir, please for your own safety, lay down" the ox said, Lucius looking both at him and the stretcher before replying "Help me walk, to the ambulance" both the ox and the lioness shook their heads before they took an arm both and steadily helped walk the human toward the ambulance With each step, Lucius winced in pain, his body was truly suffering, but in all the pain that he was experiencing, he did not regret what he did. In saving that cubs life, he knew that he had done good, and that is all that he wished to do now.

As he reached the ambulance, he was assisted onto the stretcher as it was placed back inside. Lucius laid flat down and in that moment felt any and all of his remaining strength disappear. The paramedics quickly got an I.V into his arm and started pumping strong painkillers to help ease the pain, which helped cause Lucius to drift into a deep sleep as his body finally went limp, his arm dangling off the end of the stretcher.

-End POV-

As the ambulance sped away toward the hospital, two more squad cars pulled up the scene, and in one of those cars emerged both Nick and Judy who quickly set about apprehending the driver of the SUV who had the whole time sat on the ground next to his car in shock at what had just transpired. "Are you the driver sir?" Nick asked as he approached the driver. The driver, a buffalo, responded by simply nodding his head "In that case sir we're going to have to take you into the station for questioning" Nick replied as he took out a set of handcuffs "Please stand up and face the car" the buffalo did as he was told and was soon cuffed, Nick then began reading his rights as he cuffed him.

The other officers from the second squad car had gone about asking questions to the bystanders, asking them every detail that had occurred. "He saved that wolf cub from that car" one of the witnesses said as they were questioned. "I saw it, he just ran across the road, it all happened so fast" said another. It didn't take long for a clear picture to unfolded for the officers who questioned the crowd, they all gave the same answer. That the human had risked his life to save another mammal. Both the officers wrote down every detail from those they asked, and soon after they helped their fellow officers in clearing up the street and making sure that everything went back to normal.

A tow truck was called to tow away the SUV away, and a city clean up crew came to wash away the blood that originated from Lucius. As for Judy and Nick, they had took their police cruiser back to the ZPD so that the driver could remain detained until being questioned.

As they left the now distraught buffalo in a detention cell, Nick and Judy were about to return to duty until an ungodly roar emerged from the top floor which immediately got their attention "HOPPS, WILDE, OFFICE!" Chief Bogo roared from the balcony that overlooked the atrium to the ZPD. "Oh this can't be good" Nick groaned in frustration as he and Judy briskly made their way to Chief Bogo's office.

They hurried up the stairs and were standing outside Bogo's door. Judy knocked the door lightly "ENTER!" a resounding reply sounded from the other side which prompted Judy and Nick to enter the office, snapping a quick salute as they stood in front of the chief. Bogo sat behind his and wearing a rather unhappy face as he stared at the two officers stood before him "I have recently just gotten off of the phone from one of the mayors secretaries, who has informed me of a very recent incident involving our resident human. I'm told that he risked his life in saving a young wolf cub" He stated, as Judy and Nick stood in silence "and in true Zootopia fashion, the press has already gotten word of his heroic deed, not to mention the videos that have popped up on the social media" he turned his computer monitor around, showing both Judy and Nick some of the videos that were recently uploaded.

It showed multiple angles from different mammals POV's showed how Lucius had dashed across the road and pushed the wolf cub out of the road before he was hit by the car which sent him flying multiple feet down the road. Bogo turned the monitor back around "I was also told by the mayors secretary that they wanted to organize a formal televised interview with Lucius, so as to properly introduce him to the wider world, given that now he's strewn all over the internet". Judy and Nick remained silent, both wondering what any of this has got to do with them.

Bogo took a deep breath, his unwavering 'unhappy face' not faltering once throughout the whole rant "You two are now reassigned as Lucius' personal security only up until he recovers in hospital. I don't want any of those overzealous reporters trying to get a cheeky snapshot or quote from Lucius while he's in hospital" he stated as he stood to his feet "You two already have a rapport with Lucius, so that's why your both assigned on this. Do I make myself clear?" he asked, staring at both of his officers "YES SIR!" They both replied together "That will be all. Dismissed". Again both Nick and Judy snapped a quick salute before turning and leaving the office.

Once the door closed behind them Nick was the first to speak up "Did you see those videos? he asked "How could I not. It's a miracle that he survived" she replied as he replayed the scene over in her head. They had both made it back down to the atrium and saw that their friend Clawhauser was at his usual place behind the reception desk. They both walked over, just as they got close enough, the chubby cheetah looked up from behind his phone screen "Oh hey guys, come take a look at this" he urged his friends over. Judy and Nick quickly made it to the desk "What is it?" Judy asked "Run out of triple glazed again?" Nick joked which got him a nudge in the ribs from Judy.

"Take a look at this" he turned his phone around and showed them yet another video of Lucius doing his daring rescue of the wolf cub "It was just uploaded a few seconds ago. Wasn't that the call you guys were just on?" he asked as he put his phone away "Yeah, we apprehended a rather distraught buffalo at the scene" Judy replied "You can bet that this is going to be on the nine o'clock news" Nick remarked which got an affirmative nod from Clawhauser. "I hope that he's okay..."

-At the Hospital-

Lucius was being wheeled into the hospital still unconscious on a gurney toward the ICU, the paramedics were detailing to the doctors and nurses who rushed over the extend of his injuries "Mid twenties male, involved in a road collision, he has multiple head lacerations, possible broken ribs and arm and multiple cuts and scrapes along his torso". He was wheeled into trauma bay three where the doctors and nurses rapidly attended to his condition. An I.V was quickly inserted while one nurse cleaned away the blood that covered Lucius' face revealing some of the lacerations. One was just above the right eye, and another was on his right cheek, then there were smaller cuts and scrapes that were scattered around the face and head.

One of the doctors has cut away Lucius' shirt to reveal his bare chest, then an EKG monitor was quickly set up, the doctor then proceeded to use his stethoscope to check both his heart and lungs "Good breath sounds on both sides" the male gazelle doctor stated as he continued to check over the rest of Lucius' body, noting that one side of his body was significantly more bruised and bloodied than the other "Okay I think it's safe to assume that he's got some broken ribs by the look of it" he motioned toward that part of the body to his other colleagues who began addressing the issue. One of them, a sheep, began to feel around the area and nodded to the doctor, confirming that there was indeed some broken ribs. "Lets get him stabilized and we'll get him a CT, and X-RAY" the doctor states as they continued to attend on Lucius' condition.

Lucius' bed was wheeled out of the ICU and through long stretches of corridors, passing many a mammal doctor, nurse, porters, and many other staff. The medical staff wheeled through the main door to the CT room and then placed Lucius onto the machine and soon began scanning his body, looking for any injury that he might have suffered internally.

Outside the CT room, walking down the room and down the corridor was none other than Jasmine, who having been very busy most of the day had not heard that her neighbour was in the very CT room that she had just passed. She was on her way toward the nurses station just a little ways down the hall. Passing a number of patient rooms, Jasmine finally reached her destination, her friends and fellow colleagues were all chatting to each other while they were busy doing some paperwork related to their own patients. "Hey, guys" Jasmine called out. "Oh hey girl, how you doing?" her friend Veronica, a fellow jaguar, replied, smiling warmly at her friend "Oh you know, same old same old. Patient in four still wont stop scratching at his dressings, had to change them again" Jasmine complained as she took a seat behind the work station. "Your lucky you only have to deal with changing bandages" Another of her friends replied, a female bear standing over the counter as she jotted down notes on some paperwork "The patient in seven has cysts that absolutely stink, and I had to wash him because he cant move".

They all conversed for a while as they filled out paperwork and caught up with other jobs that needed doing. A little while later the doors to the CT room opened and a bed was wheeled out. Jasmine briefly glanced up over the work station to see some of the porters wheeling the bed down the corridor and turn a corner, she did not take a long enough look to realise that the one on the bed was Lucius, so she continued with her paperwork..

-A few hours later-

Lucius, after having gone through many tests by his team of doctors and nurses was finally wheeled into his own room, while under some strong painkillers was left to rest and recover. It was only shortly after that Lucius was put into his room that he started to come round. The first thing that he could hear was the rhythmic beeping of his heart monitor. He slowly began to open his eyes, a part of him hoping that he would awake to his old world, and everything that he experienced before was the effects of some strong drug that he was under, but has his eye lids peeled back more he realised that it was not the case as the first thing he saw was a medical poster in the corner of his room about how to effectively wash your 'paws'.

Lucius was bandaged around his torso and there were many a plaster and stitches about him as a result of his sudden encounter with a car earlier that day, in addition his left leg was sprained and he would require a crutch to walk about for awhile until it fully healed.

Finally gathering his bearings, Lucius saw that he was now wearing a patient gown and was hooked up to a monitor and an I.V drip that gave him a steady dose of pain relief. Looking out toward the window, he noticed that it was dark out and the city had began to quieten down. He looked toward the door and through the small glass panel and noticed that there was still some mammals walking about the corridors, presumably the staff he concluded.

Thankfully he found that his phone was placed next to him on a small table, he took hold of it and opened it and checked for any missed notifications. Only one, from Jasmine. He didn't have it in him to call her back, she would probably ring his neck in for landing back in hospital he thought, beside if she had just finished work then what use was it to worry her anyway. Lucius instead began looking through social media, but all that he could find was videos of him jumping in to save that wolf cub "Surely this cant be the only thing that everyone is on about surely" Lucius quietly complained as he scrolled through, but after a few minutes of scrolling he found either nothing of interest or just the same thing over and over.

Deciding to just give up looking on social media, Lucius instead started looking through the news, although there was some brief mention of his acts in the news, it was still a varied category of news items that Lucius began to read through just to pass the time. As time passed, Lucius began to feel his eyes grow heavy, and it wasn't long until he finally dropped off back to sleep, his phone having plopped itself down on his chest as he blissfully slept, for yet his second time in hospital.

-The next morning-

Judy and Nick were both making their way through the hospital corridor and toward Lucius' room. It was just past seven in the morning so the hospital was a little bit quiet still, so they found their way with no trouble. "I wonder how he's doing?" Nick asked as they were in sight of Lucius' room "I'm sure he's getting the best care that there is" Judy replied as she gave a warm smile toward her partner "After what he went through saving that kid. He's sure going to be in the lime light now". They both finally reached the door, Judy gently knocked on the door.

"Come in" a familiar voice answered from the other side. Judy opened the door and both she and Nick stepped in "Hey Lucius. How you feeling?" Nick asked as he closed the door behind him. Lucius was sat in a chair by the window, looking out toward the city, he turned his head to look at them, his face was black and blue and he had a couple of stitches running along the left side of his forehead where he hit the concrete. "What can I say? Could be worse" He replied with a chuckle "It could?" Judy asked as she looked at Lucius' battered face "Well... could be raining" Lucius smiled. "So what do I owe the pleasure this time?" he asked as he tried to stand to his feet before being met with protest from Judy "Hey, hey. Don't you get up for us. You need to rest" "Yeah man, after what you did, you deserve to put your feet up" Nick added as Lucius finally sat back down with a grunt.

Judy and Nick stepped closer to Lucius , Nick began leaning against the wall while Judy stood just to the side of Lucius "We thought we'd let you know that Bogo has had us assigned to look after you until your discharged from hospital. He doesn't want any 'overzealous reporters' trying to get an interview with you while your recovering" Judy explained. Lucius nodded his head in understanding. "Your practically a hero after what you did" Nick jumped in, giving a little smile toward Lucius. 'A hero?' he thought to himself. He hated that word. He did simply what anyone else would have done, nothing heroic about it.

Lucius looked at Judy and Nick "I'm no hero. I just simply... did, as anyone else would have" He looked back out to the window again, his faint reflection showing the price of his deeds. Judy's ears flopped down as she heard him say that, to her and many others, what he did was nothing short of the bravest thing anyone has done. "Luci..." Judy was about to speak before the door behind her suddenly opened without warning. Both Judy and Nick turned to look who had just entered the room, and were surprised to find that it was "Oh hey Jasmine" Judy announced.

Jasmine stepped through the door and looked firstly at Lucius, who remained seated and looking out the window, she then looked to Judy and Nick and smiled warmly at them "Hey guys. Do you think I can borrow Lucius for a moment?" She asked, but in reality she was demanding that she talk to him, albeit politely. "Sure, we were just about to get some food anyway, weren't we carrots?" Nick replied, clearly getting the subtle message and urging Judy away with him out of the room. "Oh uh, yeah. We'll be back later okay Lucius? Take care" Judy said as she and Nick promptly left the room, closing the door behind them as they left.

Once the door closed, Jasmine made her way over toward Lucius, who was still looking through the window, but could see just enough of a reflection to see Jasmine approach him. He could see that she was wearing her nursing uniform, so clearly she was working today. Lucius turned his head slowly toward her as she got closer who gasped in shock at the sight of his injured face "Oh... Lucius" she quietly spoke as she looked at his face "I saw the video, you saved that little boy" she knelt beside his chair as she gently cupped his hand in her paws.

Lucius cracked a small smile "How you doing?" he asked which earned him a smile from Jasmine "Even battered and bruised, you still ask how I am. Never mind me, what about you" She asked, till holding his hand "Oh you know. Broken rib or two, slight concussion, fucked up leg. Other than that... not to bad" he managed a chuckle before stifling it from the pain in his chest "I think getting shot was a lot better than getting wiped out by that car" he managed to add which got him a disapproving look from Jasmine "Lucius, be serious. This could have been a lot worse" she said, worry clearly written in her tone of voice.

Lucius simply smiled before resting his head on the back of his chair "In that single moment. I never felt more alive, despite almost getting killed" he looked at Jasmine, who still held worry in her golden eyes "In the time that I've been here. that single moment of me saving that kid, is the most I've felt alive, and I would happily do it again". Lucius looked into her eyes as he said this, his soul felt at ease as he looked into those golden orbs, but he looked away back towards the window and instinctively clasped onto his cross that was thankfully still around his neck.

Jasmine squeezed his hand lightly which got his attention back to her "Lucius" she started "What you did, was perhaps the bravest thing that I have ever seen. You risked yourself to save someone you never knew, almost at the cost of your own life. Mammals everywhere are calling you a hero-" Lucius scoffed lightly as he once again turned away "I'm a soldier, Jasmine. I've spent the best part of five years putting my life on the line. Every day thinking that it could be my last. Doing what I did, saving that boy. It was what anyone would have done. I'm no one special" he countered, the sorrow of past memories evident in his eyes as a single tear ran down his cheek.

Jasmine looked on, saddened by his words, and seeing clearly how upset he was by them as well. She got to her feet, still holding his hand in her paws "I know that you are a good man Lucius. You have proved that to everyone. Remember that you have friends, that you are not alone. That I will always be here for you" She smiled warmly as she finally let go of his hand, letting it rest on his lap. "I'll be coming to see you more often. I've been made as your attending until your discharged" Jasmine added as she looked at Lucius, still feeling worried for him. "... again" Lucius quietly joked which managed to get a smile out of Jasmine. Lucius turned to face Jasmine again, looking into her eyes "Thank you... for everything"

"I'll let you rest now. If you need anything, just press that button beside the bed and someone will come check on you" Jasmine said softly as she gently squeezed his shoulder before finally departing and leaving Lucius alone. Almost as soon as Jasmine had closed the door behind her, Lucius felt the tiniest of pangs in his chest, but it only lasted for the briefest of moments before he felt nothing once again. He still held tight to his cross which brought him some small comfort in the time that he's been in Zootopia. Lucius looked out the window and out toward the busy city beyond, then looked back into his room and sighed lightly "Hope I wont be here too long. Hate hospitals"

7 Days later...

"Well Mr Felix, you have made really good progress in your recovery. For someone with your injuries it hasn't slowed you down at all, I'm impressed" Doctor Tusk, a elephant working as a physiotherapist happily told Lucius who was walking completely unaided up and down the length of the room, a little bit of a limp was present but overall he was doing good.

Standing next to Dr Tusk was Jasmine who had come in on her day off to see Lucius' progress. She was lightly smiling at Lucius as he began walking back over to the two of them, the bruises on his face had started to fade slowly. Lucius reached the pear and stood up straight, he was wearing a pair of blue gym shorts and blue t-shirt which showed off his muscular legs and arms. He was still bandaged around the chest due to his ribs but they were healing up nicely. "So then, when can I go home?" Lucius asked eagerly.

Doctor Tusk looked over some notes of his before looking back to Lucius "Well given your good recovery I don't see why you can't go home today" he said with a smile which also caused Jasmine to smile some more, before quickly covering it up before Lucius saw it. As for Lucius he sighed with relief "Thank Christ for that. Now maybe I can go and give the mayor an answer to his question" "What's that?" Jasmine asked "When I first came here, and when I was first met with the mayor, he talked to me about the idea of joining the ZPD. I said that I would think about it, and well... I think it's time I gave him an answer. I can finally be something of use here, do something for good" Lucius answered as he collected his things from a nearby bench.

"Well I think that is a very commendable effort Mr Felix. I look forward to seeing you in uniform" Dr Tusk said as he put away his notes "If your feeling ready, I will ask your attending doctor to discharge you from hospital" Lucius looked practically glad at what he heard and immediately answered in the affirmative, to which the doctor went about to discharge Lucius.

Lucius took a big sight before sitting down on a nearby bench, where he was soon followed by Jasmine who took a seat next to him "So the ZPD?" she enquired, Lucius inhaled before answering "Yeah well, and without sounding like a stuck record. I am a soldier, or at least was a soldier. I need purpose, I need to be doing something that can make a difference. Who knows, maybe they'll let me join the SWAT team or something".

Jasmine raised an eyebrow before returning to her normal posture "I think you would make a good police officer" she said with a smile which also got a small smile from Lucius "So, when your ready I'll take you back home"

Lucius quickly got to his feet and gave an affirmative nod to Jasmine who then began to lead them both out of the room. Just as soon as they left the physiotherapy ward they bumped back into the elephant Dr Tusk "Oh hey, just finished speaking to your doctor, and he says that you can go home. Take care Mr Felix, have a good day" the elephant patted Lucius on the shoulder before leaving. "Well that settles it then. Lets go" Lucius said with a smile as he and Jasmine made their way out of the hospital and toward Jasmine's car.

The ride back to savannah central was quiet, with neither Jasmine nor Lucius able to strike up a conversation. In truth, Jasmine was worried for her human friend, for someone who could have easily have been killed by that car hitting him, Lucius continued to just brush off all concern about his wellbeing. Lucius had pushed to the point of exhaustion in his time in recovery. There were often times where he had to have his physiotherapist and other nurses and doctors try and stop him so he could rest before he hurt himself even further, but always he pushed away any concern and pressed forward.

Lucius was still in some amount of pain around his mid section, but had successfully managed it so far. A little while later, Jasmine had pulled up outside the flat and both of them got out of the car. It was currently quiet out, with mammals few and far between. Lucius got to his feet and stretched a little while taking in a deep breath "Ahh... feels good to finally be out in the fresh air" making their way across the street and toward the front door, Jasmine was the first to open the door and kindly held it open for Lucius to enter first "Thanks" Lucius smiled as he walked through the door. The both of them made it to the elevator and stepped in, the doors closed and the began it's journey upward.

Lucius rested against the wall and had his eyes gently closed as the elevator went upward. Jasmine stood opposite Lucius and rested her soft golden eyes on the human figure, watching as his chest slowly rise and fall with each breath. As she looked, her gaze fell upon the piece of jewellery around Lucius' neck, seeing the cross resting atop his shirt. She continued looking at it in what felt like an eternity before she was brought out of her focus by the sound of the elevator beeping, signalling that they had reached their floor.

Lucius opened his eyes and stood up straight before the doors slid open. As they did, both he and Jasmine stepped out of the elevator and walked down along the hallway. Each step that Lucius took was very noticeable compared to the soft steps of the jaguar that walked next to him. With a little limp as he walked, Lucius finally reached his door along with Jasmine.

"Finally good to be back, thank God" Lucius said as he inserted his key in the lock. Jasmine smiled as she too inserted her own key in her door "I bet" she chuckled, still smiling. Just as Lucius was about to open his door, Jasmine called out "Hey. If you need anything. Just call me. I'm always here" she smiled toward the human who stood beside his door. Lucius smiled back at Jasmine "Thanks Jas, means a lot to me, honestly..." He was going to say something else, but he could not find the right words, so instead gave an affirmative nod before finally opening the door and stepping in his flat, closing the door behind him.

Jasmine noticed that he wanted to say something but before she could press it further, Lucius went inside. Brushing it aside, she also entered her flat and closed the door. Setting her things on top of the counter in the kitchen, Jasmine made her way over to the lounge area and took a seat of the couch, sighing deeply 'I hope he'll be okay' she thought to herself.

Pulling out her phone she opened up the news app, and unsurprisingly the top article was about the very human she was worried about. Since the day that Lucius saved that young wolf cub, the news has been abuzz with him ever since. It was through the efforts of chief Bogo and Judy and Nick that kept any reporters from actually getting a word with Lucius about the whole thing. Even the mayor was eager to get a word with him, no doubt to try and get some of the limelight for the upcoming mayoral elections.

Jasmine scrolled through the article and found so many pictures that captured the moment that Lucius saved the cub, and especially the moment when he got hit by the car, the very sight of it made Jasmine's stomach curl. She was told by a colleague that it was a miracle that he even survived. Just thinking about it made her feel a pit in her stomach that would not budge. Did she care so much for this human to make her feel like this? Her thoughts were then disturbed by the sound of her phone ringing, a name popped up at the top of her caller ID, it was Angel, her friends from the café that her and Lucius always go.

Accepting the call she answered "Hey angel"...

Back in Lucius' flat, the now shattered and battered body of Lucius after he entered his flat groaned loudly in pain and rested against a nearby wall, his hand clutching his side tightly. He had managed to put on a good show with his physiotherapist and Jasmine, successfully hiding his pain in order to be discharged from hospital. But he was paying for it now. He had pushed himself too far in the past few days and he knew it. He was not arrogant to the fact that he pushed himself to near exhaustion and that many a time he had to be physically stopped by the nurses and doctors, hell even Nick when he was just casually watching from a distance had rushed over to try and stop him before he hurt himself.

With a grunt and a groan, Lucius pushed himself off of the wall and with a hiss of pain, limped his way over to his bedroom. "Had to play silly buggers and jump in front of a car didn't I" Lucius chuckled as he made his way toward the bedroom door. Opening it he slowly made his way over to his bed before just falling flat atop of it. He took out his phone and looked at the time. 13:44. mumbling to himself "Just an hour or so... I'll be tip top". He closed his eyes and quickly drifted off to sleep, his body now finally limp and resting.