UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES
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Disney owns all rights to its original characters and places, I claim all rights for my OC's and places.
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Actions have consequences. Judy Hopps has finally been accepted into the ZPD through the Mammal Inclusion Initiative. What would life be like if Judy messed up before she made it to the Zootopia Police Academy? Or maybe if Nick was already an officer? Or both?
For my critics who always lament that my stories move too fast, here's another one for you to pick apart.
Last but not least, I'm still having a tough time working with Life is a Highway due to a multitude of factors, so I've decided to post a chapter or two of this story that I've been working on off and on for a while now (yes, another one). It is by no means finished, but I do have a few chapters in the bank and postings will be on an occasional basis. I hope you enjoy it.
1UnintendedConsequences
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"Stupid, stupid, stupid…" was all the grey bunny could choke out through her tears while she pounds her head against the steering wheel of her parent's pickup truck as she makes her way through the lightly falling snow.
"How could I have been so stupid?" the grey doe berates herself "One time … one time I get drunk. I pass my written exams, pass my physical, get accepted into the Zootopia Police Academy. Then … I get drunk and get taken out by some buck I've never met, now I'm pregnant and can't go to the academ-"
*THUMP*
Snapping back to the present, another thought crosses the young does mind – "Great, now I've wrecked dad's truck … as if the day couldn't get any worse… I guess I'd better check the damage…"
Pulling over to the side of the road, the doe walks around to the front of the old beat-up farm truck and notices that the passenger side front fender is a bit more crumpled than usual and the headlight is broken. Then she notices with a bit of shock that there is a piece of cloth and some red fur attached to one of the broken shards of glass that still remain in the headlight housing.
"Sweet cheese and crackers"!
Quickly backtracking along the side of the road, the young doe suddenly sees a form sprawled out in the ditch, confirming the fact that what she had hit was indeed another mammal…
Approaching the still form, the doe notices that a couple of limbs are misshapen, no doubt broken, but most importantly, the mammal – a red fox – is at least still breathing, his quick breaths creating little puffs in the cold air.
Noticing that all the todd was wearing was a now torn dark blue windbreaker, a gaudy Pawaiian print shirt and tan slacks, the doe hurriedly returns to the truck to retrieve a thermal blanket that was kept there in case of an emergency.
After covering the fox as best she could (the blanket was only rabbit sized after all) she calls 911.
"911, what is your emergency?" comes the voice over the phone as the call is picked up.
"Yes, this is Judy Hopps and I've accidently struck a mammal with my dad's truck…"
"Alright Judy, stay calm and tell me, where are you located?"
"About five miles south of the Tri-Burrow Medical Center on Highway 281." is the by now slightly desperate response. "Please have someone hurry, he's still alive but in terrible shape…"
"Stay with the victim, we'll have an ambulance dispatched immediately, and … please stay on the line…"
"O-Okay… please hurry!"
…
Twelve minutes later, a Tri-Burrow ambulance pulls up to a stop directly across from where Judy is standing.
"Where's the mammal?" asks the attendant quietly but urgently.
"Right here Ghordy!" Judy informs the red-tailed deer attendant, pointing to a snow-covered lump at her feet "I covered him with a blanked so he wouldn't get any colder … the snow started to cover him up, sorry."
"No, that's fine … perfect actually. Moving him might have caused even more damage. Sheriff Justice should be here directly; you need to wait for him so you can tell him exactly what happened. In the meantime, we'll be heading back to the hospital where the ER is prepping."
About that time, the blue flashing light from the sheriff's patrol car come into view in the distance and Judy tenses up for the interview that she's been dreading.
…
Some minutes later-
"Judy …"
"Sheriff Justice…"
"So, since you've been training for something like this for most of your life," begins the older brown and white buck "you know the drill. What happened … exactly?" wanting to get as many details as possible while the event was still fresh in the does mind.
"I was heading home from the hospital after receiving some rather … disturbing news," she begins, thinking that the circumstances were none of the sheriff's business "and while I was … distracted I accidentally got over too close to the shoulder and struck the poor mammal that's now headed to Tri-Burrow Medical."
"Go on…" knowing that there's at least a bit more to the doe's story but not wanting to push the issue, the overweight buck gently urges the young doe to continue.
"Not much else to tell actually. I stopped to check to see if the truck was damaged, I noticed that the headlight was broken and the there was a scrap of clothing and some fur on the broken headlight. I ran back along the side of the road and found the mammal lying there. I saw that he was injured. At least a broken arm and leg I think, so I ran back to the truck and called 911 while I went back to cover him up with an emergency blanket that dad keeps in all of the farm vehicles. That's about it in a nutshell."
"Ok. Let's head to the hospital and finish up there. It's closer than the burrow and we'll go over what I'm going to have to write in my accident report, as well as whatever charges you're going to incur."
*SIGH* "Ok, lead the way. I guess I can call dad and give him the bad news once we're finished."
…
Arriving at the emergency entrance to the hospital, both Judy and the sheriff exit their vehicles and follow the gurney as far as the admitting desk.
"Do we have any information on the patient?" asks the duty nurse, a multi-colored brown rabbit doe.
Having retrieved the fox's personal effects for safe-keeping, the sheriff quickly pulls out the todd's ID.
"Let's see …" he begins "Wilde, Nicholas P., red fox, species vulpes vulpes … umm … Judy, this might complicate things … a great deal actually."
"Sheriff …?"
"Wilde, Nicholas P., Detective Lieutenant, Zootopia Police Department, Precinct One … I've had the distinct non-pleasure of meeting Chief Bogo a few times … this will most likely NOT go well." declares the buck.
"Oh, my …"
"Why don't you call your dad while I make a call to Zootopia. We can pick up the details of the accident after we're both finished with our calls…"
…
JUDY: "Hey mom, can I talk to dad for a sec please … it – it's kind of important."
BONNIE: "Sure Bun-Bun … Stu, Judy needs to talk to you …. No, she didn't tell me why … he'll be here in a sec. Anything I can help you with?"
JUDY: "Not right now mom, but ... we do need to talk after a while."
BONNIE: "Sure thing, here's your dad…"
STU: "Hey there Jude the Dude, what's so important?"
JUDY: "Dad, I – I had an accident with the truck. I'm at the hospital but … dad? Dad? Dang he hung up…"
…
CLAWHAUSER: "Zootopia Police Department, Precinct One, how may I direct your call?"
SHERIFF JUSTICE: Clawhauser, this is Sheriff Justice of the Tri-Burrow sheriff's office, I need to speak to the Chief, it's about one of your officers. It's important."
CLAWHAUSER: "Of course sheriff, I'll patch you right through."
CLAWHAUSER: "Chief, Sheriff Justice is on line one, he says it's important. Something about one of our officers?"
Bogo: "Probably that damned Wilde again … put him through."
Bogo: "This is Chief Bogo, what can I do for you Sheriff?"
SHERIFF JUSTICE: "Adrian, I'm afraid I have one of your officers here in the hospital, a Nicholas Wilde. He was wheeled into the emergency room about thirty minutes or so ago."
Bogo:"Good Lord, what did he do now?"
SHERIFF JUSTICE: "It seems like one of our local citizens accidently struck him with a pickup. The doctors never said anything about his condition, but it doesn't look good. From what I saw of him, he'll be lucky to make it through the night."
Time drug on as the sheriff told Bogo the particulars,
…
Some time later at the Tri-Burrow Medical Center:
"Jude – Judy are you alright?" asks Stu as he and Bonnie charge into the emergency room waiting area.
"I-I'm fine dad … physically at least."
"But you said you were in a wreck and in the emergency room …"
"No dad, I said I was in a wreck and headed to the hospital. You never gave me a chance to finish telling you that-"
"Stuart, give the girl a chance to finish." chides Bonnie.
"Fine, what happened if you're okay?" asks the elder buck.
As Judy tells her short tale, Stu becomes more and more agitated.
"A fox? Here? In the operating room? On MY dime? No way in hell am I gonna pay for any of that!"
"Then the county will place a lien on your farm until the bills are paid!" comes a comment from Sheriff Justice.
"WHAT?" comes from the awestruck buck.
"Judy struck the victim with your truck, and that makes you liable. Besides, that's what you're supposed to have insurance for … you DO have insurance on your vehicles don't you?" the sheriff asks tersely.
"Of course I do, but this'll make my premiums go up. But for a fox of all mammals?"
"Careful there Stu" cautions the sheriff "you wouldn't want to make any speciest remarks, things are already bad enough. As far as I can tell, the doctors aren't too sure that Officer Wilde will even make it through the night, surgery or not!"
"Officer? Officer? Where in creation is a fox an officer of the law?"
"Precinct One of Zootopia is where!" interrupts a large bull water buffalo. "I'm Chief Bogo, and Lieutenant Wilde is one of my best detectives. Tread lightly with your remarks sir, or you'll be making the trip back to Zootopia with me – in pawcuffs."
"Now listen here-" begins Stu.
"Stuart Hopps, that will be quite enough." warns Bonnie.
"But-"
"I said enough!" as Bonnie's voice carries a hint of steel in it.
"Now then," the elder doe continues as the bedlam ceases "what are we looking at here?" addressing both members of the police.
"Well," begins Justice as Bogo and the three rabbits look to him "as of right now, failure to yield to pedestrian traffic and reckless driving at the very least, with possible involuntary vehicular mammalslaughter if the Lieutenant doesn't make it through surgery or through the night."
"But" interrupts Judy "that could mean I'd … I'd-"
"Face possible jail time, yes." finishes Sheriff Justice.
"Like hell!" interrupts Stu "Not for a damned fox! OWWW!" as Bonnie grabs an ear and twists.
"I'll take this one home and get his mind straight." states the elder doe as she heads for the parking lot, husband in tow. "Judy, are you going to come along? I'm sure the sheriff won't want you to be driving the truck with a busted headlight."
After a moment's hesitation: "No, I-I think I'll stay until … until I know whether the fox … Nick, is that his name?" as she looks to Bogo and receives a curt nod "Until Nick makes it out of surgery … or not. If I don't end up in jail, I'll let you know when I'm ready. Besides, I really need to talk to you … privately at some point, regardless of the circumstances."
After Stu and Bonnie leave, Judy takes a seat in one of the emergency room waiting area chairs. Several minutes later she notices Chief Bogo finishing a phone call.
"Chief?" asks the doe, curious as to why he'd be calling someone.
"Letting my pilot know to head back to Zootopia, and then letting my next in charge at the Precinct know the situation here. I'm staying until I'm satisfied with Wilde's condition, one way or the other. Although I am curious as to why your parents are here and not your husband Mrs. Hopps." the buffalo finishes with a touch of concern.
"Actually, it's miss, not Mrs. Chief. No husband and no prospective mate. I am curious as to why you pegged me as a wife though." returns Judy.
"I'm married with several calves of my own" returns the bull "and every time my wife has been pregnant, she subconsciously rubs her belly constantly, just like you have been doing."
*SIGH* "I guess it would merit an explanation." decides Judy knowing she has nothing to lose at this point, "Let me start from the beginning ... Most of my life I've been fixated on becoming a police officer with the ZPD. I've given up everything to learn and train to be the best officer I could ever hope to be. After I passed all of the academic tests and passed my physical, I was notified that I'd been accepted to the Zootopia Police Academy's next full training cycle. To celebrate my success, I went out and for the first time in my life let loose and kinda got drunk. Very drunk actually. Unfortunately, I woke up in bed the next day with some nameless buck and just found out earlier today that I'm pregnant. So, now I can look forward to being a single mother and probably end up working for my parents on their farm for the rest of my life like hundreds of my siblings."
"You do know that there is an alternative-" begins Bogo.
"NO! absolutely not! I will NOT have an abortion. I will NOT kill my unborn kits because of a stupid mistake that I made!" returns Judy hotly.
"While I applaud your strong moral convictions, that's not at all what I was suggesting." counters Bogo calmly. "There is a generally little-known program at the ZPA for smaller police forces tailored for both predator and prey heavy outlying towns and municipalities. The course is only twelve weeks long and is tailored toward the actual natural weather conditions that will be encountered. I believe that it would benefit you greatly. The course begins in just over two weeks and you could easily complete it while in your first trimester.
"After graduation you could join the Bunnyburrow PD or possibly the Tri-Burrow sheriff's department as either a fulltime or part time officer. It may not be the ZPD, but at least you wouldn't be giving up your dream of becoming an officer completely. Family and friends could help you raise your kits. I believe the Tri-Burrow sheriff's department even has some sort of daycare arrangement for its officers if memory serves."
"That all sounds very hopeful" begins a thoughtful Judy "but after all of this? How would I ever stand a chance at becoming an officer?"
"I'd be willing to put in a recommendation, and I think that Sheriff Justice is reasonable enough to give you that chance given the circumstances."
"That's IF your detective makes it out of this alive, which brings up another point!" murmurs Judy, ears and shoulders slumping.
"Firstly," begins Bogo "I have every confidence that Nick will survive this ordeal. When he does, I think that once he learns all of the facts, the Nicholas Wilde that I personally know would never press charges against you."
"Why would he not do that? Don't get me wrong, I always hope for the best, but I'm the one who put him here after all."
"Let me tell you a little bit about Nick Wilde – Nicholas P. Wilde was born and raised a city fox. Nick originally had a twin sister who only survived a few days after her birth before passing away. He lived with his parents on the outskirts of Happy Town. In spite of its name, Happy Town is a slum, heavily populated by mostly predators, especially foxes. I don't know how things are around the Tri-Burrows, but in Zootopia, foxes in general are looked down upon as the scum of the earth. Sneaky, thieves, and not to be trusted by anyone, even other predators. At around age eight or nine, Nick tried to join a Junior Ranger Scouts pack. Initiation night, the rest of the pack, all prey mammals, held Nick down, muzzled him, then drug him to a trash bin outside of the meeting place and dumped him in.
"His parents went to the scoutmaster and complained, but the rest of the pack, again all prey mammals by the way, had already told him that Nick had provoked them and they muzzled him out of self-defense, so nothing ever happened to the kits involved.
"By age twelve, Nick was trying to do some small hustles just to survive. His father, John, was a tailor by trade, and a very good one from what I'm told, while his mother worked by her husband's side as a seamstress. Nick naturally fell in with some bad company, a crime family known as the Bigs, doing odd jobs – cash drops, numbers running that sort of thing, nothing really dangerous.
"At around age twelve he hooked up with a smalltime hustler named James Finnick, Finn for short. Finnick is a fennec fox and can easily pass as a kit if a mammal doesn't pay attention. Those two did a lot of small hustles, just barely inside the parameters of being legal.
"After that, at around 17 he finally enlisted in the military and was accepted into the Teams. Most of what then Lieutenant Commander Wilde and his group did are so classified that even I don't have access to unredacted files. He was out-processed several years ago with an honorable discharge due to medical reasons. I've seen most of the scars and they aren't pretty.
"When the predators started going savage a few years ago, Nick had overheard a couple of Bellwether's henchmammals talking about using a concoction made from some sort of plant referred to as Nighthowlers to make a paintball sort of pellet that they were using to dart random predators.
"Nick and Finnick tried to report it but of course no one would listen to a fox, so they took it upon themselves to set up a sting. They provoked the henchmammals to chase them, then they managed to steal the darting weapon and switch the pellet with a blueberry of all things. When the mammals chasing them retrieved the weapon and darted Nick with a blueberry, he faked killing his friend and had actually recorded the henchmammals bragging about the entire scheme on a cell phone.
"When they brought the recording to the Precinct and presented it to me, I was convinced enough to order a raid on Bellwether's home and office and the lab where they were manufacturing the poison and put a stop to the entire plan. We later found out that Bellwether was planning on introducing a sort of shock collar that would be mandatory for all predators to wear after the age of six."
"Oh my gods! I remember reading about that. Nick and his friend were the ones who figured that out?" remarks an astonished Judy.
"Yes, they were. I was impressed enough to offer both of them the opportunity to attend the ZPA and become officers. Nick accepted and went to the Academy, but Finnick didn't. Finn instead accepted a position as a mechanic in the Precinct's motor pool. In a few short years, Nick has become my best detective and excels in interrogations, while Finn is the lead mechanic in Precinct One's motor pool.
"Nick will tell anyone that everyone deserves a second chance, that not every situation is black and white, cut and dried - whatever metaphor you want to use is applied here. So once again, I sincerely doubt that Nick would press charges against you, all things taken into account."
"But, I don't understand …"
"Why Nick would be where you accidentally hit him?"
"Yeeesssssss …?"
"Nick's father recently passed away due to some rare form of cancer that is peculiar to red foxes. His mother passed less than a day later from grief – it's a fox life-mate thing. Nick was put in an indefinite bereavement leave status to help him deal with the loss."
"I still don't understand why he'd be clear out here … so close to Bunnyburrow." presses the doe.
"Nick's mantra, so to speak, has always been to 'not let mammals see that things get to him' for as long as I've known him. When he needs to sort things out, he takes off on what has been referred to as a 'walkabout'.
"Be that as it may-" begins a hopeful Judy.
"If I may interrupt for a moment…" begins a tan bunny doe in scrubs.
"Debra?" remarks a stunned Judy "I didn't know that you were working here!"
"I'm not, actually." admits the tan doe. "They called me in from the Aurora branch to work on the fox, since Aurora has so many preds. Anyway …" stretching out a small paw towards Bogo "I'm Doctor Debra Hopps-Leaps, Mr. Wilde's primary physician. I was told to update you on your officer."
"Let's hear it then." answers the bull tasking the small paw in one of his large hoofs, not at all sure of the outcome.
"Umm, Chief Bogo, are you sure that you want my sister here to hear what I have to say?"
Looking at the very apprehensive doe, Bogo makes the decision "Yes, I am. Your sister's future is riding on how detective Wilde does, plus she'd find out in due course anyway, so let's hear it."
"All right then …" looking at a chart, the doe continues "Nicholas Wilde, red fox, species vulpes vulpes, … heavily bruised snout and dislocated lower jaw, reset. Broken right orbital socket, pressure set into place. Moderate concussion, we'll need to reevaluate every six hours or so. Severe trauma to muscles on right side of neck, neck brace in place. Separated right shoulder, reset. Cracked right clavicle, reset. Right radius, humerus and ulna, broken, reset. Three ribs broken and two ribs cracked on right side, reset and compression bandages applied. Right side of pelvis cracked. Right femur broken and reset.
"Now for the internals … right lung bruised and punctured, reinflated, and right kidney severely bruised."
As Debra looks up briefly, she sees Judy's look of abject horror, while Bogo's face is one of stern acceptance.
"Detective Wilde will definitely live then, correct?" asks the bull.
"Oh, yes, without a doubt." answers the tan doe. "However, his road to recovery will be long and arduous. He'll be bedbound for several months before he can even think about rehab. Rehab will be ongoing for months after he's able to get in and out of bed on his own, as he'll need to relearn how to walk let alone run. He'll need cognitive tests to be sure there was no permanent brain damage as well. It was suggested to me that the soonest that mister Wilde will be released from our care will be around nine months, unless you'd rather that he be transferred to Zootopia Mercy. In any case, mister Wilde will need to stay here until he's stable enough to be moved, which will need to be at least three to four weeks. We can reevaluate his condition at that time."
"When will we be able to see my detective?" asks Bogo.
Again looking at her sister, Debra tells Bogo "Mister Wilde is currently in recovery and will be moved from recovery into room 512 in roughly forty-five minutes. That's in the ICU ward on the fifth floor in case you weren't aware. You can wait for him there if you wish. I'll alert the desk nurse to your arrival."
Looking at Judy with a question on her lips as she leaves the waiting area, Debra says nothing after Judy mouths 'I'll tell you later'.
…
