Chapter three - Hanging on a thread

The first thing she noticed when she recovered consciousness was how much her head hurt. It was a pulsating pain that made her wince every time she moved her neck a bit. She opened her eyes and the fireplace in front of her was the only thing she could see. The rest of the room was behind her, and she couldn't move at all. The ropes on her legs and arms attached to the chair prevented her from that. The sound of a door opening draw her attention, followed by some steps coming in her direction and then the door closed. - Who are you?- Asked, trying to turn her head just enough to see whoever was behind her. The reply came in the form of a hand grabbing the chair and pushing it so close to the fire the fur in her feet and legs was burned in a second, which made her panic and tried without success to get away. And the skin would have been next to burn to ashes if the hand hadn't pulled her away to her prior position. Still, her legs hurt a lot. - You don't get to ask questions here, farmgirl. I am not here to ask you anything either.- Said a low voice behind her. By the strength of it, it had to be a mammal of medium size. Her analysis was stopped by a punch in her right cheek, which made her literally fly a meter away and land on her side. Her vision was a blur and her mind felt numb, incapable of thinking anything beside how much that hurt. Added to the radiating warm feeling on her right half of the face, she felt a sharp pain under her skin. A groan had barely made it out of her mouth when she was restored to vertical position and slapped on the other cheek. A succession of heavy hits connected in her face and stomach, not letting Judy even enough time to prepare for the next. Every hit added a new level of pain to her body. She had received many hard hits during her training at the academy, and she knew beatings had to hurt, she had to get used to being hit in this job. Criminals don't let themselves get arrested without a fight, and she had to trade punches and kicks from time to time. But this was way more than she had expected, more than her body could accept. After a minute or so, an eternity for the bunny, it stopped. Her tormentor went again behind her, pacing up and down slowly. Judy couldn't even keep her head straight. Many drops of blood had stained the floor under her. Her beautiful amethyst eyes were almost closed by the swollen eyelids, the normally pink and wiggly nose was also swollen and bloody, her face had deep blunt wounds and she even was missing two teeth. The stomach felt almost worst. It was like they shredded everything inside her and started boiling her from the inside. Several times she coughed blood and had a hard time breathing in. - W...why?- Managed to say, only to get kicked on the back and landing on her face this time. A feet turned her on her back, and now she could see who was making her suffer so much. He was a white tiger, a big one, very muscular. He seemed to be in his forties, maybe a bit younger but hard to tell at this point. He wore a red silk shirt under a business jacket. His face was calm, not showing neither disgust or enjoyment, what someone would cal a "business face". - I remember saying that you don't get to ask questions.- Said the tiger, not raising his voice at all. How could someone be that evil without any sign of... anything in his voice? Rage, enjoyment, frustration... Nothing at all. For him, it was just like taking out the trash. - Where... is... Nick?- Another punch, this time in the gut, making her cough a few times. - It seems you don't learn. Alright, I will concede a bit of info. Your partner is not here. His time will come after we finish with you. But first, he will be worried sick of what is happening to you. He will look for you, non-stop, taking risks to get any possible clue of your whereabouts. And when he finds you and can see what is waiting for him, then it will be his turn. The ringtone of a phone sounded in the other side of the room. The tiger stood up and went there to answer. - Yes? Already? Well, it can't be helped. We are done here. Resist two more minutes so we can leave and then run. We'll meet later. The sound of a gun being loaded got to Judy's ears and panicked again, fear rushing inside her along with the pain. She saw the tiger standing over her again and pointing her with the gun. - Don't worry, it has a small caliber. I want you to die slowly, maybe even be found on the verge of dying just to be lost moments after. The gun shot once, twice... The familiar feeling of the bullets piercing her body cursed through her. Only this time she couldn't even try to stop the bleeding, she was still tied up. Her life was abandoning her. She heard him leaving through the door. Then she could hear more shooting, but like very far away. Maybe the ZPD got knowledge of this place sooner than that tiger expected and were coming for her. But sadly not soon enough. At least Nick was ok. He would be, she knew that. The others would protect him until that bastard got caught. That was all that mattered. The only thing she regretted was not telling her feeling to Nick. Well, that and not spending the rest of her life with him. Going to work with him every day, arresting criminals as a team; going out to eat together or to the movies, he wanting always to see horror movies, which she did not like; confessing their love someday, sharing a kiss on the street, not caring about the world around them; sleeping together, hugging each other, like afraid of losing their other half in their sleep; waking every day by his side, watching him asleep until he woke up too and smile looking at each other; cooking together, maybe he would throw something at her, starting a food fight, laughing and ending on the floor kissing each other; maybe, if nature allowed them to, have kids and watch them grow... Now none of that would happen. Tears escaped from her amethyst eyes, witnesses of her feelings. She would only wish to hear his voice again, before she was gone for good. Treasure the memory of him saying her name one last time. But that was impossible. She was feeling already weak. The blood barely leaking anymore. She couldn't feel any part of her body. Only cold. Her eyes wouldn't keep open, despite her wanting to hold on, just another minute, another second even. - JUDY! A familiar voice boomed from behind her, followed by hurried footsteps. Nick's face appeared over her, looking terrified and worried.- Oh my goodness, Judy. What have they... Let me help you.- He pushed Judy to her side, which made her groan in pain.- I'm sorry, I'm sorry, give me a second and I'l cut this ropes... now!- He freed her and helped her lay on the floor, horrified of her state.- Oh, god, Judy, what have they done? The blood... I must stop the blood... NEED HELP HERE, BRING A MEDIC, NOW! Don't worry, Judy, I stopped the bleeding, you are gonna be ok, you are gonna be ok. Don't you dare leave me, Judy, you hear me? Help is on the way, I got you, I got you. Everything is going to be ok, I promise. So just hold on, please. Through her swollen eyelids she could see Nick's face. She had never seen him like that. He would never let others see that they got to him, it was his way of protecting himself from the world. He only opened to her and let his anger, frustration or joy show. Now he was crying, his tears falling on her face, not capable of knowing what to do to help her. He was worried about her. - N...Nick.- Managed to whisper before her last strength left her. - No no no no no no NO! JUDY! WAKE UP! OPEN YOUR EYES, PLEASE! JUDY!

...

Warm. She felt... warm. Protected. Something felt uncomfortable down her throat, but aside that she felt good and safe. Her head was spinning, making her dizzy. Sounds were coming and going, she couldn't make any sense of them. She couldn't open her eyes either. So, she just let herself sleep again.

...

Several voices brought her back awake. Still, she wasn't able to make out the words, just that they felt familiar... and angry. She focused on them and her mind seemed to register them better. - ...were supposed to be with her! You were supposed to protect her! - I know, Mr Hopps. But I... - Don't say another word, fox! Not a single one! This is all your fault! - Mr Hopps, please, remain calm. Officer Wilde is the reason we managed to get to your daughter while she still was alive. What has happened... - Don't you start now with your excuses! You are her boss, you are also responsible for this! Do you have any idea of... - Stu! She is awake! She is trying to open her eyes! - Oh my gosh, Judy! It's me, dad. Please, open you eyes, everything is fi-wait wait wait wait, darling, no...

...

This time her eyes did open, even if only a little. It was dark, and Judy feared that she may be blind until she saw the moonlight coming in through the window. Slowly at first, she started recognizing the things around her. Even in the dark, she could see two figures sitting together against the wall in front of her. She smiled understanding that those two were her parents, but that smile costed her some pain. A regular beep somewhere over her told her she was in a hospital. Then she remembered what happened and the beeping sound became faster as so did her heart. The tiger, the dark room, the continuous beating... She wanted to shout and run away, forgetting for a moment that she was safe in a hospital. Her body wouldn't move, her voice wouldn't make any sound louder than a whimper. But that was enough. - Judy! Judy, is ok, you are safe, you are ok. I'm here, I'm with you. She looked at her right side and found Nick, grabbing her paw and caressing her face. - Relax, everything is fine. You are safe, it's over. Her heartbeat became slower gradually, the beep from the machine going to normal. Nick was with her and he was ok. They didn't get to him. - Nick... - Shh, don't talk, your throat is still sore from the tube. Go back to sleep. You need to recover. I'll be here, I promise. That was all she needed, all she would ever need. So, she closed her ayes again.

...

-...even after all you have said. You are not to blame here, Wilde. There is no reason for this. - Maybe not for you, Chief. Voices from just outside the room awoke Judy, who opened her eyes. Compared to previous times, she felt a lot better, but still weak. Her body felt very heavy and the bright sunlight coming in through the window made her head hurt. She looked away, to the door where the voices where coming from. There she could see a too familiar red bushy tail, though instead or raised it was limp on the floor. - No one is blaming you, dammit! Even the Hopps admitted it the other day, haven't they? You can't do this to yourself. - I have to. Please, just do it. I'll go sign the papers when you have them. The fox got into the room and, at the sight of Judy's been awake, his face turned into one full of joy as he came closer. - Hey, Fluff. Glad you decided to come back. - How... long? - Well you have been in coma for 50 years. Actually, I am Nick's grandson, Julius Phibeus Rubeus Arceus Nicodemus Wilde the third.- The laughter from Judy didn't came as strong as she would have liked, but seemed to please Nick.- Yeah, grandpa though you would love my name. You should meet my father, he needs 10 minutes to go through his full name. - Please, punch your 'grandpa' on the shoulder for me when you see him. - Will do.- Replied the fox. He leaned forward and hugged Judy carefully.- I'm glad you are back, Carrots. - I'm glad to be back.- Answered her when he moved back to look at her. A hoofstep drew her attention to the door, just in time to see the back of a buffalo going away.- How are things going? - Well, we invented flying cars. Pretty neat. No more traffic on the streets, the kids can play ball around wherever they want. - Nick.- Interrupted the bunny with a serious look on her face, which made his smile fade. - Almost everyone of them escaped. We only managed to arrest two. They are behind bars right now, back at the ZPD. Trial is in 2 months. - Their boss? - No idea. We don't even know who he is, so we can't even try track him down and keep an eye on him to get proofs of his involvement. - He is a white tiger. Quite big. I couldn't see much of his face, sorry.- She added, turning her face away. - Hey, don't be. No reason for that. With that info we can narrow things down. We will get him, and he will spend the rest of his life in prison. The whole ZPD is after him. Even Clawhauser wanted to get a dart gun and go give him a piece of his mind himself, true story. Chief Bogo had to put order in there a few times. - I'm sure he didn't like to do that. - Of course not. He wanted to grab a rocket launcher and start destroying buildings until that guy came out shaking in fear, but he had to keep appearances. New laughs, this time some pain came along, focusing her mind on that.- What about me? How much damage? Nick hesitated and took her paw in his, for comfort..- Judy, you don't need to worry about that. Just rest and... - Please. He looked about to deny her her wish, but nodded.- One cracked cheekbone, two missing teeth, several fissures on both jaws, broken nose, three broken ribs, many deep wounds and trauma to your face, blunt trauma to your abdomen and chest, two bullet wounds on right lung and stomach, internal bleeding, first degree burns of your feet... The doctors operated on you for nearly a day. Your heart stopped beating twice, too much stress. - Sweet cheese and crackers. - Yep, you scared us big time. But we will let that slip for now. As long as you are ok, we won't mind.- Assured him with a smile, to which she replied with one of her own. - Thank you, Nick. - Don't mention it. She went serious again. She needed to know all the facts.- What happened at that apartment when they got me? Nick sighed, obviously he didn't want to talk about it.- It was a trap for us, or you more specifically. A tiger and a lion were hiding, one on the living room, that was the one that attacked you, and another behind the door of the first room. While the first knocked you out, the other took me from behind and we began to wrestle. It took me a while to get him off me, but you were already gone when I did. I ran back to the car, meeting Delgato and Wolfred outside, who saw a tiger with a bag driving away. Delgato forced me to stay put while Wolfred followed that car from a distance. Between the two of us we arrested the lion and took him to ZPD. There, Wolfred told us by radio where you had been taken. We formed a rescue squad along with the SWAT and went to that building. Almost every officer of the precint was there. That was it. Everyone had gone out of their ways to help her. She started crying, thankful to everyone. She would be dead if they hadn't come, risking their lives to save hers. - Easy there. Shhh. It's ok, let it all out. You bunnies, really. I keep forgetting how emotional you all are. - Dumb fox. He got into the bed by her side, being careful not to pull any of the IV, and embraced her. For a couple of minutes, only the soft crying of the bunny sounded in the room, slowly receding until she calmed down. - Thank you, partner.- She said burying her face in his chest, and she felt him tense up.- What's wrong? -I, eh...- He broke the embrace and sat on the edge of the bed, guilt clearly in his face.- Actually, I... - OH MY GOODNESS, JUDY! The sensible rabbit ears and the until then mild headache made Judy whine in pain with that high-pitched yell from her mother, followed by a hug from her and a second later her father at the other side. - Judy, you are finally awake! Oh, thank the heavens you are alright. Even though she was glad to see her parents, she felt somewhat worried to see a red and bushy tail disappearing through the door.