Three Little Misfits

Visitors

The hospital doors slid quietly open as Judy, Alex, Peter, and Johanna walked into the entrance. The air was sterile, and to the triplets' highly trained noses, reeked of paw sanitizer and latex. Alex looked up to see the ceiling what he could imagine to be a thousand feet above them. Johanna's head remained in a swivel as she looked for one mammal in particular. Only one thought kept running through her head. 'Where is daddy?'

For the past few weeks, Nick had been experiencing pains in his abdomen. Judy would ask him if he was okay, but he would just brush it off to put his job and his family before him. Until the night came that the pain finally became too much to handle. Finnick quickly came over to stay if the kids woke up, and Judy drove Nick to the hospital.

A couple of procedures and an X-Ray screening later, the cause of the pain was discovered. Nick had a tumor on his stomach. It was the size of a softball. No time was wasted. Nick was prepped and readied for surgery. The next morning, Judy told the kids and they were here to visit him.

Johanna kept looking around, expecting to see her daddy waiting for her in the front entrance, until she saw something in the herd of doctors and nurses piling into the elevator. A bright red and very bushy fox tail.

Her eyes lit up with excitement. "Daddy!" She called as she let go of her mom's paw and ran after them.

Judy's eyes widened and her maternal instincts kicked in. "Johanna?! Wait!" She said as she ran after her, dragging Peter and Alex behind.

The little beige bunny squeezed her way through the legs of the doctors as the door closed. Judy tried catching the door, but she was not fast enough. She slammed her fist into the metal door and bit her tongue in an attempt to not curse in front of her sons.

Judy thumped her foot rapidly as she tried to think. She then realized the other elevator had opened. She did not hesitate. "Come on boys, into this one!" She announced as the three of them stepped in. Peter let go of her paw as she mashed the button. Finally, the door closed, and the elevator ascended.

Johanna squeezed her way further and further to the back of the space. Both doctors and nurses looked down at the little bunny in confusion. She finally got to the tail, and without thinking, she lunged herself ahead in a big hug.

"Daddy!" Johanna said happily. With a big smile, she looked up, but her smile quickly faded as she looked up at a very confused red fox with dark brown eyes in an arm cast. The bunny turned her head in confusion and slight fear. "You're not daddy."

A nurse knelt down to Johanna's height. She was a deer, young, nurturing, and fresh out of medical school. "Are you looking for your dad, sweetie?" She said.

Johanna looked up at her with big brown eyes. She thought she was very pretty. She nodded her head without blinking.

"Do you know your daddy's name?" She asked.

"Um,... Nick Wilde..." Johanna replied.

The nurse nodded. So, this is the famous officer's daughter, she thought. It just so happened that she was going to give him some pain medication. "Okay. I can take you to see your dad, okay?"

Johanna nodded with a returning smile.

The elevator gave a lovely chime as it reached their floor. Johanna took a hold of her hoof and followed her down the hall, along with a couple of other doctors.

The two of them made their way into the fifth room on the left. As soon as she walked through the door, the bunny's eyes lit up to see her dad in the hospital bed, talking to the doctors surrounding him. Johanna let go of the nurse's hoof and ran to the left side of the bed, while she went to the right.

"Daddy!" She called excitedly.

Nick had just woken up, so he was still very groggy, yet he still had a smile on for his daughter. "Hey Baby Carrots." He said faintly.

The bunny climbed up the bed and hugged herself around his neck. He gave her back a rub. She nuzzled her head in the fluff of his neck.

Johanna began to crawl over her dad's body to sit on his lap, but Nick quickly picked her up and put her back to his side. "Hang on, Johanna, you can't sit on my lap right now. Daddy's tummy is still healing, okay?"

She nodded, and Nick smiled.

"Now another thing. Where's Mom and your brothers? Why are you by yourself?" Nick asked.

Johanna stated back at him, puzzled by the question. She had completely forgotten them in her excitement to see him. But then, her question answered itself down the hall.

"Johanna?!" Nick and Johanna heard Judy call from afar. The nurse stepped out to gain her attention.

"Mrs. Wilde?" She asked. Judy looked at her. Her two sons stayed close to her. "Your husband and daughter are both in here." She reassured.

Judy breathed a sigh of relief, and the three of them hurried to the room.

Johanna looked at the nurse, but her head was gently turned to face her father. "Did you go wandering off without Mom?" He said in that fatherly guilt-ridden fashion. The bunny slowly nodded her head. "Now, you know you can't do that, right Jojo?"

"But I wanted to see you, and make you feel better." She said.

Nick let out a big smile. He hopped his daughter's nose with his pawpad before giving her head a rub. "You always make me feel better, Baby Carrots."

Johanna gave him a big hug once again. Then out of the silence it came...

"Dad!"

Nick's ears perked up, but before he could react, he saw Alex's smiling face approach quickly towards him. Just a second before the bunny slammed his entire body weight into his stomach. Nick grunted in agony. Judy came running in the room. "Alex!" She said in a worried tone. Peter just smiled as he walked to his dad's side.

The fox desperately held back tears as he picked his son off his aching stomach. "Nice to see you too, buddy..."