Chapter 2: Oblivious

Nick found it rather peculiar what happened next. Bonnie and Stu were waiting for them outside the bathroom. While Bonnie led Vivian away to talk, Stu led him to a room with a bed, not just a bed, a giant bed.

There were other valuables in the room too. The room had books along with various board games.

"You will sleep here," Stu said. Without paying any attention to see if Nick followed his orders, he walked away.

It was like regaining what he had lost before. Before his family sold everything off. Sleep was the last thing on his mind. He had to experience everything while he had the chance. He started by reading the first comic of Superbunny and then another…

His mother was by his side on this giant bed sleeping and cuddling him. A slight shift woke her up. "Five more minutes."

They went back to sleep.

"Get up!" his mother said. "I'm late for work, and you need to go back home."

It took a while for Nick to fully awake, with his mother incessantly poking him.

"Where do you work?" Nick mumbled. He hadn't a clue. His father sold stuff but what did his mother do?

"In Bunnyburrow."

"Doing?"

"Stuff."

Despite being low on time, his mother made him clean up the room which had scattered comics on the floor first. Taking comics off the shelf was much more enjoyable than putting them back on. It was only when the room was clean enough that Vivian led the way out of the burrow.

"Thank you for your hospitality," Vivian said when they met Bonnie on the way out.

"That's not the way out, and Nicholas can stay here if he wants," Bonnie said.

"Can I?" Nick asked.

"No," Vivian said.

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

"Ahem, remember our talk," Bonnie said.

"You don't need to remind me."

"So why is he still wearing those instead of new clothes?"

"He likes them."

"New clothes?" Nick said.

"Shh. We're low on time… I'm late for work since I overslept."

"That's not our deal." Bonnie led them back to the room they stayed in the previous night. She showed him the clothes in the drawers for him to wear.

While Nick was in awe, picking out an outfit, Vivian said, "Just pick one! It doesn't matter."

"Temper."

Vivian tapped the floor. "I'm late enough as it is."

It took a rather long time for Nick to pick out something he wanted. He chose a pair of blue pants along with a black shirt. "I like these."

They gave him privacy to change his clothes.

Nick tried to put these on, but they were too large. He came out wearing his old clothes. "They're too big."

"All that wasted time…" Vivian muttered under her breath. "Can we leave now?"

"I'll permit it," Bonnie said. She led them out of their home. The Hopps Family lived on a massive farm. She stayed behind while Vivian and Nick walked towards where they lived. However, once far enough away, Vivian picked Nick up on her back.

"What's the big idea? I can walk myself," Nick said.

"We don't have time."

She ran while carrying Nick to the tree where they lived. When she arrived, she was out of breath. They lived underneath a single tree that was far enough away from the farm. His father hadn't left for work yet and the bear was around as usual. They were waiting in the main tunnel.

Vivian gasped upon seeing John, as for why, Nick couldn't tell. She said nothing. It didn't seem like the right time to ask. There were bloodstains on the ground but nothing else was amiss. No one seemed to be bleeding. His father's tail was slightly higher than usual but it wasn't raised.

Did his father object to him playing with his tail that much? It would've been better if he just told him so.

"I'll be leaving for work now," John said.

"Sorry, he broke into where the nearby rabbits lived yesterday," Vivian said while trying to catch her breath.

"No more digging today," Raymond said.

"I'll be leaving for work now." Vivian sounded sorrowful. She walked towards the Hopps Family Farm. This was rather ironic because they just came from that way.

It was home – and it was boring. There was nothing except tunnels underneath the tree. Only the main area was large enough for the bear. Raymond didn't allow him to go outside either because it would be too difficult to keep track of him.

The bear sat nearby, playing with his phone. Like it always was, while he had nothing – not even digging for today. Why didn't his mother let him stay with the rabbits? It would be better than this place. Someone was calling Raymond.

"Boss?" he said.

Nick listened to the one-sided phone conversation.

"He visited some bunnies… Exercise plan?... I'm a bear sir… I'll try it." The bear started to contort his body into strange positions.

Nick gave the bear a wide berth.

"Not really relaxing. Jumping jacks, sir?" He tried to show his boss his movements. Although, trying to exercise while holding onto a phone was somewhat impossible so he set it on the floor. "I don't think this is going to work."

Despite Nick being fully aware, and giving the bear as much space as possible, during one of his routines, the bear crashed into the fox.

Nick couldn't move his arm. The pain was unlike anything he had felt before. That included times when the bear accidentally stepped on his tail, leg, and a few other unpleasant occasions. It was as if the bear put his full body weight on his arm.

Nick wailed in agony.

"Are you okay?" Raymond asked.

"You – you crushed my arm," Nick whimpered through the tears in a whisper.

"The fox kit is crying. I'll call you back." He turned his full attention towards Nick. "Sorry." The bear was never good with apologies. It took a minute for him to say something else to break the awkward silence. "Do you want some food?" Raymond asked.

He shook his head. Sifting through a pile of dirt for insects didn't seem appetizing right now. Worse, if he had to do so with one arm.

The bear got a sandwich for himself from his car. "Do you want to eat this?"

Nick nodded.

A bear-sized sandwich was too big for a fox to hold.

"Do you need help eating?"

"Please."

Raymond did his best to feed Nick. For the first time in forever. he had a bite of real food that tasted so good. The bear ate food himself once he finished feeding Nick.

Better still – Raymond permitted him to use his phone or rather… helped him use his phone. Nick was able to watch several shows. A luxury that he never had. Yet his arm broken arm was quite a distraction. He didn't dare try to move it for fear of damaging his arm permanently. It hung limply at his side.

The show was loud enough that he didn't notice Judy arriving from below and neither did Raymond.

"This is where you live?" Judy said.

"What are you doing here?" Nick asked.

"Let me see." Her body brushed against his. She tried to look at the bear's phone. "Superbunny is better than Batfox."

The pressure against his arm caused him too much pain and he screamed. "My arm is broken," Nick hissed.

Judy seemed shaken. She backed off unsteadily. "I – It's not in a splint or a cast."

"We're poor. We can't afford it."

"I – I'm going to talk to my mom," Judy said. "There must be something we can do."

Judy left as quickly as she came.

Without even letting him finish the episode, Raymond said, "I need to make a call."

Instead of just calling someone here and now, he got into his car and drove away. It was that bunny's fault. Not only did she hurt his arm, but if she hadn't come, then Raymond would still be letting him watch shows on his phone. He sat on the floor, waiting for Raymond to come back.