Nick POV

I sat impatiently on the edge of a hospital bed, again. Outside the room I could see Judys silhouette pacing the hallway. She had been out there on the phone since shortly after we arrived. From the bits of conversation I could hear when she was close to the door, I could tell she was talking to the police chief.

I checked the time on my phone again. It's been nearly twenty minutes since I was brought back to the room. When Judy and I arrived at the hospital she flashed her badge at the desk staff and explained that we needed to speak with Dr. Clawson.

We were led back into this room and were quickly joined by the doctor. Judy explained the situation while I sat on the bed trying to keep it together. On the ride over here we agreed to avoid saying anything about the lasting effects of the nighthowler, only that I had been shot again.

As Judy explained what happened, I noticed the doctor glancing nervously in my direction. She was absolutely shocked at my "calm demeanor" but still requested that I be cuffed to the bed while she was preparing another dose of the antidote. Judy refused but I convinced her to go ahead and do it. While I felt mostly in control, I could understand Dr. Clawson concern for herself and the rest of her staff.

The dig of the cold metal on my wrist was something I would never get used to. Dr. Clawson explained that it would be a little while before a dose of antidote was ready to administer. That was when Judy asked if I would be alright waiting alone while she made a phone call.

I didn't want to be alone, but I knew how important it was for her to relay information back to the ZPD as soon as possible. They would need to ID William and start tracking him down.

The silhouette of the doctor joined Judys outside and I watched my friend pull her phone away from her ear and put it in her pocket. The anxiety I felt was painful and I wanted to scream at them to have their conversation in the room where I could be part of it. Instead I sat quietly, tracing the sharp curve of the handcuff on my wrist.

After what felt like an eternity, both women stepped back into the room. Judy gave me a reassuring smile but her face looked worried. I couldn't tell if the worry was because of what the doctor told her or because of her conversation on the phone.

"Alright, Mr. Wilde. I have another dose of antidote ready for you. If you can just give me your arm, this will only take a second." The doctors voice wavered a bit as she reached out. I faced away from her and extended my arm, trying to focus my attention on anything else than the sharp prick of the needle.

It was over quickly and by the time I turned back, the doctor had already stepped away from me. Just out of biting range. Despite my efforts to act as normal as possible, she still seemed afraid to be too close.

"Thanks," I muttered and gave her a small smile, careful to avoid showing my teeth.

Dr. Clawson nodded. "Officer Hopps said you will need to get out of here as soon as possible. I would like to keep you for an hour just to make sure the antidote is working. I'll be back in a bit to run some tests."

She left the room again, leaving Judy and I alone. I finally reclined back on the bed and let the tension ease its way out of my body. Judy pulled up a chair next to me and settled into a crouch on the worn leather cushion.

"Can I take those off now?" She motioned to my handcuffed wrist. I nodded and turned my hand so that she had a better angle to unlock them.

I wanted to crack a joke to ease the tension a bit but I was just so tired, nothing came to mind. Instead I just rested my arm over my eyes to block out the light and let out a long sigh.

"How are you feeling, Nick?" Judy asked quietly. I felt the bed shift slightly next to me. She must have rested her arm on the sheet.

Without removing my arm from my face, I answered her. "It's a weird feeling, to be completely honest. Both times when I had been shot as well as each time I have had an episode my body felt really hot. Right now it feels like ice is creeping through my veins and extinguishing that fire. I guess I was either unconscious or just not in the state of mind to be able to notice it last time."

Pulling my arm back slightly, I saw Judy nod. Her finger brushed lightly over the gauze on my arm where the antidote had been injected. "So, it's working?"

I let out a small laugh. "Yeah, I think it's working. I am definitely feeling more calm." Slowly, I tensed and relaxed my limbs to feel the ice soothing the muscles. "Anyway, enough about me. What's the update on the case?"

Judy looked shocked at my question. She let her hand wander to her pocket to pull out her phone but she didn't turn it on. "Well, I emailed the video to Chief Bogo as well as a detailed briefing on what happened. They are running the plates from the car so hopefully we will be able to find William soon and bring him in. The other officers just arrived at the precinct with the otter we arrested. Once I drop you off at your apartment I will be going back to the precinct to help with questioning him."

I put up a hand to cut her off. "Wait, after you drop me off? Judy, I want to keep helping with the case."

Her shock turned to more of a look of pity. I hated it. "Nick, I don't think that's a good idea. I already let you get hurt a second time. You were a huge help, really, I couldn't have done this without you. But we know who our guy is, it would be better if the cops handled it from here. Bogo does want you to come in for questioning but I told him you wouldn't be available until tomorrow. That way you have time to rest."

"When we leave here, bring me to the precinct first so I can give my statement. I am fine, really, I don't need to go home and rest. I'm seeing this through to the end whether you like it or not. You didn't let me get hurt a second time. I knew the potential dangers when I got into this." I was exhausted and rest seemed amazing but I made it this far in the case with her, I was not about to be sidelined when we were at the end.

Judy didn't get the chance to argue back because Dr. Clawson returned to the room. She had the same equipment as earlier for the blood draw and EEG. I sat patiently through the tests, trying to ignore Judy glaring at me.

When the doctor was done she let us know that the test would only take a few minutes and as long as nothing seemed alarming, I could leave. Judy didn't miss a beat. As soon as the door closed she whipped around to look at me.

"Nick, I am taking you home. You seriously need to rest and I don't want you anywhere near William or his bodyguards or anyone else tied to Nite Bite. I also don't want to expose you to whatever criticism or reactions you might get from other officers." Her voice had started off strong but dropped to almost a whisper at the end.

I was prepared to stand my ground. "Well, it will be a lot more stressful for me to walk to the precinct after you drop me off than it would be to get a ride there but I guess if that's what I have to do then so be it." I shrugged, fully aware that I was being a little bit of a jerk.

Judy let me know, too. "Nicholas Wilde, you can really be a jerk sometimes.". She huffed and crossed her arms.

I grinned. "You know you love me."

Her voice was even quieter than before. "Yes, yes I do."

*O*O*O*

My tests had come back nearly identical to what they were when I left the hospital last time. As we walked back out to the police cruiser, Judy tried to convince me one more time to let her just drive me home. I wasn't having any of it.

She had insisted that even if I went to the precinct with her and stayed there for the rest of her shift, legally there wasn't much I would be able to do. I could give my statement on this mornings events but I wouldn't be allowed into the interrogation room or anything like that.

I told her that would be fine and I would do what I could. Judy started the car, mumbling something about stubborn foxes. I leaned against the window and watched the city go by.

Evidently the hospital wasn't very far from the precinct so we were at our destination in just a few minutes. I had been secretly hoping it would be a longer drive. To Judy, I acted like I was more than prepared for what awaited me in the police station. In reality, I was terrified.

I had never really had the best relationship with cops. They knew about my little business and knew that I was pretty much untouchable. No one really bothered looking further behind the curtain the way Judy did. To every other cop in Zootopia I was just a shifty small time criminal fox who was now getting tangled up into their bigger and more serious cases. I was expecting to be met with hostility at the very least.

There was a gentle tap on my arm. I turned to look at Judy. "Nick? I've been talking to you. Were you even listening?"

"Oh, sorry, no. I was sort of zoning out. What did you say?"

She sighed and started again. "I said, when we walk in I am going to lead you straight to my desk. Just sit there and don't talk to anyone while I go find the chief. When you tell him your side of what happened, frame it the same way we did with the doctor. Explain that you got shot with Night howler again but don't tell him the stuff from before. If he asked how you were able to resist it, just say that you don't know. I will try to think of a good excuse for that if he brings it up to me. Got it?"

I was so tired it took me a second to fully process everything she said. "Yeah, I got it. Let's just go." I took a deep breath and followed her to the building.

There was a large desk right inside with a cheetah sitting behind it. He was focused on his phone but dropped it immediately as we approached. "Judy! I wasn't expecting you back here for a while." The cheetah seemed friendly enough talking to Judy but his eyes got wide when he turned his attention to me.

I braced for a cold remark or just a look of contempt. What I got was the cheetah cop practically leaping over the desk. "O-M goodness! Are you Nick? Judy is this Nick? It is so good to finally meet you!" He took my hand in his and shook it hard enough that I almost fell over. When he released me I stood completely speechless.

Judy answered for me. "Yeah, Clawhauser, this is my friend Nick. Nick, this is Officer Clawhauser. He works at the front desk."

"It's nice to meet you, Officer Clawhauser" I said, still completely taken aback by his reaction.

"Please, call me Benjamin or just Ben, whichever is fine. Oh, Judy has told me so much about you. Well, I'm sure you two are here for something important so I will let you get to it." He moved back to his seat but was still shaking with excitement. His eyes followed us as we continued further into the building toward an empty desk.

"You told Ben about me?" I asked Judy, raising an eyebrow. I noticed her face turn bright red under her fur.

"I was stuck on desk duty for a while when I got back so I spent a lot of time with Clawhauser. I suppose you may have come up in conversation once or twice." She stopped at the desk and motioned for me to sit. "Stay here. I'm going to go find the chief."

I obeyed and sat down on her chair, reclining back a bit so I could relax. Before I closed my eyes I could feel other mammals gaze on me, I glanced around to see multiple officers spare a glance in my direction. They didn't seem hostile but definitely not as friendly as Ben.