The Call: Epilogue

She was pretty sure she didn't want to wake up, or maybe she was finally awake enough to realize that she shouldn't be. At any rate Judy's body was sending signals to her that she was under some pretty heavy painkillers, and that moving would definitely be a bad idea right now. The only thing she could be certain of was the feel of someone's paw, bigger than her own, holding her right paw in a light grip.

She groaned softly, forcing her eyelids to break the thick sleep crust sealing them. She was in a hospital room, the lights dimmed, Zootopia's night time skyline visible through the half open curtains in the window. Beside her, Nick was sitting in an easy chair, dressed in his civvies, his left paw holding hers even as he slept, his right arm encased in a plastic cast.

"Hrr?" Judy said, her throat feeling raw. She gave Nick's paw a weak squeeze, and his eyes popped open. He looked down at her, his expression cautious.

"Hey, you with us yet, Judy?" he asked softly, squeezing back.

"Hrr!" she said urgently, looking up at him.

"Oh! Hang on!" he said, growing more excited. He grabbed a cup with a straw in it, raising it to her lips. She sucked it down eagerly, washing the gunk that had been filling her mouth and throat. "Easy there, Carrots. They just took the respirator out yesterday. How are you feeling?"

"Okay I guess, but I think I hurt my..." She paused, brow wrinkling as she took inventory, then finally finished with, "...everything. Nick? Wha... what happened? How long have I been out?"

He set the cup back down on the table. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"We were following... that polar bear... that had been casing the docks," Judy said. "The one that we thought was with that gang that had moved into town." Her brow furrowed. "I think he turned down an alley and I followed him... After that, it's all blank."

"Blank is good," Nick said. "Believe me, I was wide awake for it all. Short Version: you got hurt really bad, and it was touch and go for a few days, but now that you're awake you should make a complete recovery."

"Oh, Mom and Dad must have been so worried."

"Yeah, they were. They're downstairs now getting some dinner from the cafeteria right now while I hold the fort."

"What happened to your arm, though?" she demanded. "Did the bear hurt you?"

"No, that came, um, later, when I fell off the roof of the asylum." Nick's eyes shifted away, not meeting her gaze.

"Fell off the roof? Okay, start over at the beginning."

Judy listened as Nick outlined what had happened since she'd been attacked, letting out a short gasp as he described Mom and Dad's kidnapping, interrupting him to exclaim, "Wait, Clawhauser shot the perp?"

"Yep," Nick confirmed.

"You do mean our Clawhauser, right? Sweet guy, little chubby, loves donuts?"

"In Zootopia, anyone can be anything," he said. "In Clawhauser's case, he's a cop who's eating his own weight in free breakfast pastries, thanks to his grateful colleagues."

Judy would have shaken her head in disbelief, if it weren't for the cervical collar still holding her neck immobilized. "All right, go on."

Nick continued, detailing his first encounter with the mad vixen Volkov, including his poisoning with the new Night Hunter poison. When his narrative began to stumble, describing his struggle to keep from harming her parents, Judy gripped his paw tightly in her own. "Hey, you did okay, Nick," she tried to reassure him. "You were able to fight it."

"It was close, Carrots," he said, gripping back just as hard. "If it'd been two falls out of three, I… I don't want to think about what might have happened. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she said. "It was Volkov's doing, not yours."

"Yeah," he said. "Anyway, once we were taken back to headquarters, they injected me with the Night Howler antidote and I, um, recovered." He shifted his eyes away from her again.

"Nick…" she said slowly.

He sighed. "I'm seeing the counselor, and taking my anti-anxiety meds like a good boy." Nick went on, describing Finnick's urban ninja stunt, and the final confrontation with Volkov and their fall from the top Cliffside Asylum. "So anyway, they've been dredging the river for any sign of her body. Nothing has shown up yet, but with the currents being what they are in that area, they might not ever find anything. I mean, taking a header into a raging waterfall while convulsing from a tazer shock almost certainly means she drowned, even if she didn't break her back upon landing." He gave Judy a very sly fox grin. "I'm absolutely certain it's an assumption that won't bite us in the tail at a later date."

"I'm sure," Judy agreed with a smile.

"So, after they finished rounding up and processing her goon squad, Chief Bogo remembered that I'd disobeyed orders after he'd told me to stay home and rest instead of pursuing the case. So I'm on administrative leave without pay for the next six months as my disciplinary punishment," he finished with a shrug.

Judy's ear flattened in outrage. "Oh, Nick! That's not fair at all!"

"In a completely unrelated coincidence, six months is about how much time your doctors figure you need before you can retake your physical and be cleared for active duty," he finished. Nick smiled, "So, do you think you might want an assistant physical therapist to help you along? I'll work for pawpsicles."

Judy laughed once, instantly regretted it as her body protested, and settled squeezing Nick's paw again. "It's a deal."

"Yeah, well, helping you get better is the least I can do." Nick's expression darkened again. "I was too slow, Judy. I was too slow, and you almost died because of that."

"Nick," she said carefully, "it wasn't your fault. You can't protect me every waking moment; neither could my parents when I was growing up, no matter how much they wanted to, or how much you want to. When I applied to the ZPD, I did it knowing that putting my life on the line was part of the job. That's what it means to take the call to be a police officer, and it's not something I'm ever going to regret. You shouldn't either."

"I…" Nick ducked his head briefly, his eyes watering. "Thanks, Carrots."

"You're welcome, partner."

The End