Justice League: Zootopia's Flash of Lightning

Chapter 11: Recovering

The hospital room was cold and smelt faintly of
disinfectant, but Nicholas Wilde didn't notice. All his
attention was focused on the bandaged bunny that lay on the bed before him. Barry paced nervously nearby, he hadn't changed out of his uniform since he brought Judy in, but had his mask pulled down.
The Flash's arrival at Zootopia General Hospital had
initially startled the staff, but when he showed them the injured police mammal they sprang into action. Judy had spent three hours in surgery as doctors worked to save her life, the explosion and subsequent collision with a shelf had broken several bones and caused significant internal bleeding
The surgeons worked tirelessly, but she had been getting weaker by the second. She needed a miracle.
So Barry had told the staff about his rapid healing factor and donated some of his enhanced blood, reasoning they could use a centrifuge to separate the base componants and use it as a vaccine. The effects had been instantaneous. Judy now lay on a bed, swathed in bandages and a hospital gown. Her breathing was shallow and her vitals low, but she was stable and slowly recovering.

"This is my fault," Barry had been so lost in thought he hadn't heard Nick speak.

"If I had just, moved quicker, we could have taken down that panther."

"Hey, it's not your fault." Barry said.

"But it is!" snapped Nick. "We're partners, we're supposed to look out for each other! I let this happen.I...I failed."

His ears drooped as he looked back at Judy's unconscious form.

"You know, when we met I was just a street hustler. I lived my life conning mammals out of anything I could, money, food, even a car once. Then this bunny cop shows up dressed like a meter maid and I think, 'here's another gullible mammal I can use'."

He laughed weakly.

"Then she shows up again a day later and blackmails me into helping her solve a case. I try to make it as difficult as possible, but she just doesn't give up..
He looked up at Barry, gently taking one of Judy's
bandaged paws in his own.

"Then she went and did that, she could have saved herself, but she chose to save me. Why? Why me?"

"Listen," said Barry, softly laying a hand on the fox's
shoulder. "I know what it's like to fail someone close,
believe me I do. But I've learned the hard way that you can't always account for other people's actions, especially if they care about someone."

He looked over at Judy, her chest rising and falling as she slept.

"That's why she saved you Nick. When you two are
together she walks a little taller, smiles a little more often. Given what I walked in on the other night, it's obvious that she doesn't just care about you, she loves you."

Silence fell, broken only by the sound of Judy's heart
monitor.

"Would... you mind leaving...for a moment?" asked Nick, quietly. "I...want to speak to her."

"Sure," replied Barry. "I'll be right outside."

Nick didn't bother to look up as the human exited, he just waited until he heard the door close. He took a deep breath.

"Carrots...Judy....I...... I really don't know how to start, so...I guess I'll start at the beginning."

He shifted his chair closer to the bed.

"When we met I...kinda just saw you as another country hick that thought they could make it in the big city. Another mammal that would burn out when society applied pressure, but...you did something I hadn't seen before. You kept going, you never gave up, you. never lost that smile. You got under my skin like no one else and had so much faith in me, even when I was a jerk. But more than anything you showed me I could be more, that I could DO more.'
His voice began to crack as he continued, his emotions bubbling to the surface.

"When that press conference happened it felt like my heart had shattered into a thousand pieces. Then you came back, you apologized... you made an effort to reconcile with a predator, a fox, not many mammals will do that. I think it was then I realised just how much you meant to me."

He buried his muzzle in the bed sheets as the dam finally broke, tears flowing freely down his muzzle and onto the bed as Nick wept.

"Please Judy, please come back.I don't know what I'll do without you. I......I love you too."

He buried his muzzle in the bed sheets as he became
wracked with sobs.

"Nick..."

The voice was quiet, raspy, almost unhearable, but the fox had heard it nonetheless. He felt the paw he held slowly move and grip his own as he looked up, blinking away tears from red rimmed eyes. Judy was looking at him, her glistening lavender eyes poking out from between the bandages.

"How long?" he asked.

"Long enough," she replied. "You know, I never said
anything because I didn't want to ruin what we had. I thought that if you knew how I felt, it might have driven you away. The truth is Nick, I was scared, I've never felt this way about any mammal before, let alone a fox."

She took a wheezing breath.

"I don't regret what I did, because the truth is no matter how much you might drive me up the wall, you always make me feel special. I meant it when I said you were more than a simple con fox, you are one of most faithful and honest mammals I have ever met...relatively speaking."

They both shared a weak laugh and she felt Nick gently squeeze her paw.

"I guess... What I'm trying to say is that, I'd love to see where this goes."

Her partner smiled as he leant in close to softly nuzzle the bunnys' cheek.

"So would I," he replied, as he felt Judy lean into his touch.

"So would I."