Lives Unraveled

Chapter 3

When Nick finally got his emotions under control, he made all the necessary arrangements for his mother's body before he took a cab home. He tossed and turned all night, his mind too awake to sleep and his body too exhausted to do anything else.

The next morning, Judy was furious that he hadn't called her immediately after his mom passed away. He deflected her anger by saying he'd been busy filling out paperwork and hadn't felt like talking to anyone anyway.

Three days later, Nick was surprised to see so many officers at the funeral. He was glad, because otherwise the service attendance would have been pretty sparse. It felt weird to Nick, seeing everyone out of uniform, especially Chief Bogo. The Chief told Nick to take a few weeks off, or more if he needed it.

Judy stood next to Nick while several mammals waited to give him their condolences. "Thanks for coming, Ben." Nick shook Clawhauser's paw as the cheetah sniffled before he pulled the fox into a crushing hug. "Urgh... not so tight. It's ok, big guy," Nick patted the cheetah on the back and looked at Judy imploringly.

Judy came to his rescue, grabbing one of Clawhauser's arms and pulling him away. Nick mouthed a silent thank you to Judy while she led the blubbering cheetah off to follow the last of the ZPD officers walking to their cars.

Nick smiled up at Rita when she stepped forward and pulled him in for a hug with her trunk. "Hi, Rita. Thanks for coming."

"I wouldn't have missed it, Nick. You and your mom are like family to me." She leaned in and spoke quietly. "It's ok to cry, you know."

Nick shrugged. "I'm all cried out, I guess."

Rita shook her head. "If you need anything, you know where to find me."

Rita walked away to make room for Sally when she came to speak to Nick. The vixen tried to get him to open up, but Nick withdrew and slipped on the face he always wore, the comfortable mask of snarky humor he used to hide his true feelings from the world.

After they talked for a few minutes, she was able to finally convince Nick to let her help him empty his mom's house. Nick wanted to sell it quickly, and he knew he could use the extra help, even if it came at a price.

Nick surveyed the bedroom and his tail drooped. "This house... it's a minefield of regrets for me. The sooner I can clear it out and sell it, the better."

Sally, who was emptying a nearby dresser, looked at him and spoke. "So you're going to sell the house because you can't deal with your emotions?"

He turned to give the vixen a puzzled look. "What? No, my emotions have nothing to do with it. Look, it's a big house, and it's just me. I don't need the extra hassle right now anyway."

Sally came over and put her paw on Nick's arm.

"What if you want to ever, you know, settle down? It's crazy, but it could happen someday, right?"

Nick pulled away from her and picked up a small box from the dresser before he sat on the bed. He opened the box and stared at the contents.

Sally nervously looked down at her feet. "Sorry, it's none of my business."

Nick sighed. "No, I'm sorry." He smiled at her. "Thanks for helping me, Sally."

Sally went back to emptying the dresser as Nick dug through the box filled with thread, thimbles, and other miscellaneous sewing items until he jabbed his paw on an oversized straight pin with a little carrot head. He frowned and shook his paw before he closed the box.

Nick looked at Sally. "I remember the costume I begged my mom to make for me when I was just a little kit. I said I wanted to be an elephant, just like Rita."