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The City of Change: Chapter 6.

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Chapter 6. "The insomnia"

 

               6.01 pm, Saturday, May 16, 2022

 

               When Judy Hopps made it to the Zootopia General Hospital, it was already late in the evening. She got to the third level jumping two stairs at the time and hurriedly found the room number that she was given before. The bunny knocked on the door and stepped in carefully. She saw Mrs. Wilde lying in the bed, connected to the disturbing number of medical apparatuses with the beeping cutting the silence in regular intervals. A single bouquet of flowers was standing in a vase on the small bedside table. Just by the bed, with his head in his paws, was sitting Nick Wilde. Hearing the door opening, he lifted his head and greeted her with a smile that carried not a sign of joy.

               “Hey, Carrots,” he said and she hugged him without a single word. They lasted in it for a short, silent moment and Judy sat by him.

               “How… how is she?” She asked with worries.

               “The building’s walls were made of some old, cheap bricks, so the shockwave not only threw her against the wall, but casted a hailstorm of debris at her. She has major internal injuries, of both abdomen from debris and lungs from the shockwave. There was also some metal splinter sharp enough to have pierced through the skin and go stuck in the abdomen. They operated it and then, moved her here two hours ago,” Nick explained.

               “So, she’ll be fine?” Judy asked hopefully, but he just shrugged.

               “They say her state is critical. She has blood in her lungs, she can hardly breathe, even with the apparatus. This night will be crucial, she’ll either get better suddenly or she’ll…” he paused, with utmost effort managing for his voice to sound neutral. “I…” He clenched his fists and Judy put a paw on of them. Her warm touch was soothing his nerves.

               “Just let it out,” she suggested.

               “The last time I saw father, mom was taking me from the restaurant. We were celebrating the first month with actual incomes from Suit-o-pia. Back then, as we were leaving, I said not a word. At the funeral, I had no courage to walk over to the coffin. I never had a chance for a proper goodbye. And now…” A tear flowed down his eye, a first tear Judy had seen in the six years she knew him. “We were just a minute’s run from her house. I wanted to walk over to her and say hello in the morning, but I thought that it was silly and that I could just drop in after the Parade… Crud…” He hid his face in the paws and Judy put a reached for his shoulder. He didn’t cry, even if she fully expected it, just sat there in silence.

               “You couldn’t know,” Judy tried to comfort him.

               “And yet, it’s not making it any easier,” he replied bitterly. “How is it at the scene? Did you find anything yet?” He changed the subject suddenly.

               “It’s… a huge mess. The building has not collapsed further, but it might any second now. They want to inspect it as much as they can and then, bring it down so that it can be rebuilt. As for the mammals that lived in there, we’ve got some impressive shout back from the mammals across city. They offered clothes, food, places to stay... No one should be left behind. About the investigation, Prosecutor’s Office delegated their man, prosecutor Julian Moore, to lead the committee of experts that will investigate the explosion. Guess who’ll represent the ZPD.”

               “Shoot,” Nick shrugged.

               “Max Reynolds. Isabelle Alvarez should assist him as his partner. They’ll want to speak with us soon, as we were the only ones at the top before it collapsed. And we did have the cameras with us,” Judy explained. “About the Parade itself, turns out there were some panic attacks after the explosion. Couple mammals ended up in the hospital, luckily no fatal incidents. I’ve been helping Barnes, Kaylee and others to take care of it for the entire day, though.”

               “Kaylee was here just an hour ago. Barnes also dropped in. He said that he’ll be forced to postpone the party in the end,” Nick giggled, as if he had something way funnier than he did. “It’s idiotic, isn’t it? A broken gas pipe, a spark and… and you just watch everything crumbling into pieces.”

               “The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart and all they can do is stare blankly,” Judy quoted shyly.

               “Fitzgerald’s Great Catsby. But I’m not alone,” he recognized with a weak smile that she returned. Suddenly, he turned away and then, chuckled. “I remember… I was nine or maybe ten… and my classmates heard there’s an awesome spot at the top of Millennium Tower construction site, so after the school, we just caught a bus to Downtown. It was almost empty at the time as the works had been paused. So, Finnick, I and two other guys climbed, first the stairs, then the scaffolding. We were at like twentieth floor, when I said that the view’s pretty amazing already, so they called me chicken and dared me to climb the last few levels. They were barely started, so you had to make couple long jumps just to make it. The kid I was, I figured I’d climb to the very top and then, call them chickens if they don’t follow me, so…” Nick chuckled. “I climbed. And then, when I was supposed to make the last jump, I slipped. I don’t remember much after I hit myself on the head for the first time, but Finnick later told me that I had hit every single beam on my way down, five levels till I stopped at some platform.”

               “Ouch,” Judy said only and he nodded, aching just at the very memory.

               “I woke up in the hospital, couple days later as it soon appeared. Broken leg, broken arm, mild concussion. By sheer luck nothing beyond that. Mom was waiting by the bed and when I saw her face, I immediately regretted waking up.”

               “Was she mad?” Judy asked.

               “Oh, you can’t even imagine. She scolded me like never before in my life and trust me, that expression really stands for something. But then, in the middle of yells, her voice started trembling, her eyes got watery and she hugged me and started to cry. I didn’t know what was happening. My first thought was that I might not be getting grounded,” he explained and Judy giggled. “That day, she told me many things that I failed or didn’t want to understand back then. I never could fully relate to how it must have felt to her, to have nearly lost her only family. Back as a kid, I did not even try. Later, I thought I did. Now I finally know I wasn’t even close,” he concluded the story.

               “I remember how I broke my arm when I was a kid too,” Judy said. “I was climbing a tree, fell just on a rock sitting under it. It hurt awfully, so I went back to house for mom to see it, but parents had some important guests. When I told them that my arm hurts, dad just glanced, said “Ah, that’s just a scratch!” and said they’d look at it later, so… I took some ice, went to my room and waited.”

               “With a broken arm?” Nick asked with amusement.

               “They said I’m supposed to wait,” she explained. “So I waited. Whole the afternoon. I would have waited till the evening, but my moans brought some older sister of mine and she went to see what was going on. When she saw my broken arm and I told her that parents told me to wait… Oh my. She stormed into the dining room and made some real scene. If you’ve ever seen a kid scolding their parents like they were five-year-olds and them just standing with their heads low and tails between the legs…”

               “I don’t think that would be possible in the Wilde household,” Nick said.

               “To that day, I haven’t thought it would be possible in Hopps household either,” Judy agreed. “The long story short, my parents were apologizing to me for like a month,” Judy finished her story and both of them chuckled.

               “And I remember how mom went to…” They continued to tell one another stories starring their parents, with each feeling a bit better. Judy quickly lost the sense of time, but there must have passed at least an hour, when they heard knocking at the door. Much to the surprise of the both, it was the newest ZPD employee, August Fares. The rabbit had a bandage wrapped around his head and a small bouquet in his paws.

               “Good evening,” he said a bit awkwardly. “I’ve heard that your mother was injured, Detective, and…”

               “It’s Nick,” the fox offered his paw.

               “August,” the rabbit shook it with polite smile. “I figured, I’d pay visit. I hope that she gets well soon,” he handed the flowers to Nick and he put it in the last empty vase.

               “Thank you, I really appreciate it,” Wilde assured. “Did something happen?” He pointed at the bandage covering his forehead.

               “Oh, I was at the Parade, in the crowd. When the gas exploded, there was some panic, someone pushed me over, someone kicked me in the head… I woke up two or three hours ago,” he explained. “I… I’ll be going, I wouldn’t want to interrupt anything. Good bye,” he said and was about to leave, when he stopped at the doorstep. “I’ll be ordering a taxi. If either of you wanted to go back home with me…” He suggested.

               “We’re alright,” Judy assured, yawning.

               “You should get some rest, Carrots,” Nick disagreed.

               “I’m fine.”

               “It’s been a very long day and the prosecutor will probably want to see you tomorrow,” the fox argued and, as he saw how she glanced at Mrs. Wilde, he added, “I’ll be by her for the night.” Judy watched him carefully. Two hours ago, she’d not leave him for all the treasures of the world. Now, that she saw his mind was at peace, at least to some degree, it came a little easier.

               “Alright,” Judy hugged the fox one more time, held Mrs. Wilde’s paw and bided the two of them goodbye. Then, she left the room with August Fares and they headed for the staircase.

               “So… how bad is her state?” August asked shyly.

               “Next few days will be crucial,” replied Judy. They walked down the stairs and as they passed by the first level, they heard some familiar voices. Judy stopped August and they listened.

               “Ma’am, I can’t do that…” protested a doctor with whom Judy had spoken earlier that day.

               “You can and you will, Mr. Blackburn,” stated firmly no one else than Lady Jennifer Tompkins, also known as The Duchess. “Whenever state of either of them changes, I want to know it immediately, even before you inform the families,” she ordered.

               “I understand that Mr. O’Dyna is your close friend and associate, but Mrs. Wilde…”

               “Did I not make myself clear?” Lady Tompkins interrupted him harshly. “Whatever happens, you inform me first.”

               “I…”

               “I consider this conversation over,” Duchess said and walked out of the room. Judy and August barely managed to climb back upstairs to not meet with the wolf, snarling something angrily to herself as she headed for the exit. Judy and August looked at each other.

               “Was that Duchess? What does she want from Nick’s mother?” Asked Fares with disbelief.

               “There’s one way to find out,” Judy said and the two of them followed Lady Tompkins to the car park just by the hospital. As she was opening the her car, Judy called her suddenly.

               “Mrs. Tompkins!” She said. The Duchess turned around and watched the two rabbits curiously.

               “Ah, Detective Hopps. And your friend would be… Mr. Fares, I presume?” She guessed correctly, which clearly disturbed August. “Why do we always meet in such dramatic circumstances, Hopps?”

               “Would you care to explain your actions, ma’am?” Judy demanded. The Duchess watched her curiously, but then she smirked.

               “Only if you specify which actions I am to explain.”

               “Involving with Mrs. Wilde’s treatment,” Judy explained.

               “Oh, this. Simply my good will,” she shrugged it off.

               “The last time you helped Nick out of good will, you tried to recruit him. What do you want from him now?! Why don’t you just leave him alone?” Judy argued angrily and August suddenly felt completely out of place in the confrontation of a gangster and police detective. Duchess’s chuckle only disturbed him even more.

               “Am I this untrustworthy that not even Judy Hopps believes in my good intentions? You hurt me,” she laughed, but then, her face turned serious. “Do you know how much a stay in hospital can cost sometimes? When your insurance doesn’t cover every tiny medical intervention? Hundreds of thousands. But if I know of it beforehand, I have a power to meddle in and, with creative bureaucracy, reduce the number to mere dollars. Big help with little cost,” explained the wolf.

               “And what do you want in return this time?”

               “Nothing, Hopps, because none of Wildes will ever know of it. I trust it to you,” she replied and, seeing Judy’s suspicions, continued. “I know how it feels to not to be able to afford for your own parents’ treatment. And besides, sometimes, you’ve just got to do the right thing and expect no praise.”

               “No catch at all?”

               “Sometimes, there’s no catch at all,” Duchess assured with a smile and suddenly, Judy felt ashamed. Wasn’t she the one that was supposed to be always looking for the silver linings?

               “I’m sorry for the accusations,” she apologized and Lady Tompkins waved it off.

               “After such a day, no wonder you’re ready to bite,” she did not mind it one bit. “Get some rest and from tomorrow, find whoever did it.”

               “Excuse me?” Judy’s eyes perked up. “Do you mean…”

               “Exactly what I said,” nodded the Lady.

               “If you know something, you should…”

               “Just talk with Lionel. He’ll repeat everything to you everything he told me, I assure,” Lady Tompkins promised. “Goodnight.”

               “Lady Tompkins?” Judy called her one time more and she stopped.

               “Yes?”

               “No private investigations this time, could you?” Judy suggested politely, yet firmly.

               “Someone blew up a building in my district. Someone nearly killed my right hand and hurt and deprived of houses the mammals that I consider myself a guardian of. I think you’ve learnt by now…  I’m not a forgiving type,” Duchess stated with a spark in her eye. “Goodnight, Hopps, Fares.”

               “Goodnight,” replied Judy, as they watched her drive away. August was staring at her with astonishment that made Judy feel suddenly awkward.

               “Wow.”

               “What?”

               “That’s how you deal with Duchess? The Duchess? You’re… you’re really brave, you know?” August said genuinely and she just rolled her eyes with embarrassment.

               “We do have history,” she explained vaguely. “Do you think she… do you think she was telling truth?”

               “About Mrs. Wilde or the explosion?” August asked.

               “The explosion. She seemed sincere about Nick’s mom,” Judy specified.

               “It’s easy to verify and we’ll question Mr. O’Dyna anyway. All that she really changed was telling you about it. But what for?” August wondered.

               “To make sure police will treat it seriously,” guessed Judy. “Which could mean… Well, let’s not read too much into it. Max Reynolds will be leading the investigation anyways,” she shrugged it off and August nodded, reaching for his phone to call for a taxi, when he saw one passing by and stopped it waving his paw. They both got inside, August said Judy’s address and they drove toward the destination in silence, lost in their thoughts. It carried them to Great Pangolin Complex, as both August and Judy turned out to be living just couple streets from one another. Fares walked her to the door.

               “About the Monday, we can postpone it, if you need to. There’s a lot happening,” he suggested as they stopped. She hesitated.

               “There always is a lot happening. Let’s keep the Monday. If something pops up suddenly, we’ll be thinking, alright?” Judy said and he nodded eagerly.

               “Cool! So… Until Monday?” He guessed and she nodded.

               “Until Monday. Goodnight, August.”

               “Goodnight,” he replied, still watching Judy, as she was disappearing behind the door.


 

 

 

               8.47 pm, Saturday, May 16, 2022

 

               The first thing Max did after coming back home, was taking a long, hot shower. He stood in the water for long, long time, letting the steam off as he was finally realizing how exhausted he was after the long day he had behind him. As he left the bathroom, dressed in new clothes and with the refreshing feeling of having just taken a shower, he found Kaylee in the kitchen; she was just finishing making the dinner. Max watched her impressed; she still had strength to not simply settle for a defrosted pizza that he had suggested. She strained the macaron, separated it into two, obviously unequal servings while Max turned the kettle on ad reached for cups.

               “Tea? Orange juice?”

               “Juice,” Kaylee settled and he smirked. One day, he was going to teach her to drink tea, but certainly not today.

               “Then juice it is,” he found a box of juice and filled one of the cups. He opened his drawer and browsed all the teas he had, while Kaylee was putting on each plate delightfully tasting, spiced vegetables. Max was watching her without a words until she noticed and paused, a bit abashed.

               “What?”

               “I just… I’m so impressed that even after a day like this, you find strength to make such a dinner,” he said and she blushed with a smile. She took the plates to the table and sat there. Max brewed his tea and joined her on the opposite side of the table. They dined in silence, only interrupted by Max’s praises of the food, which Kaylee was accepting with embarrassment. He could see that something was troubling her.

               “What’s wrong, darling?” He asked.

               “It’s nothing…” She tried to shrug it off, but after the hundred times Max had been telling her that her feelings were important, he didn’t even have to repeat himself anymore. “I was so mad at you back then, you know? When I saw you standing there safe and sound and laughing like nothing had happened.”

               “Oh, you must have been,” Max only admitted with a giggle. “I’d kill me, if I were you.”

                “If I were a wolf, I swear I would,” she said and then, brought out a smile. “Sometimes, I wish I wasn’t part of ZPD, simply for that I wouldn’t have to know about everything you do at your job. Damn it, I’d sleep much more peacefully then,” she said and he chuckled, reaching for his cup of tea.

               “What, already thinking of retirement?” Max joked.

               “Only after you. There’s no way I’m retiring now that I know how reckless officer you are. Someone has to watch over your back,” Kaylee pointed out. “And besides, I can’t be leaving them now that they left me responsible of whole TO Section.”

               “And I’ve got an exciting investigation ahead. It’s so good to live in such interesting times, isn’t it? At least we have a lot to do,” he said and Kaylee watched him doubtfully.

               “Interesting times? These are hardly interesting times,” she disagreed.

               “Really? Then what are they?”

               “The interesting times are when maps in the history books go all flaggy and arrowy. We’re not even in the ‘factors leading to’ section, so we’re not living in the interesting times and thank Lord for that.”

               “When you put it that way… Yeah, I like what we have now. The… ‘peaceful development’ section?”

               “Success of equality movements?” Proposed Kaylee.

               “Cultural revolution?”

               “Or maybe ‘ZPD cleans up after the bad, rich officials every five minutes’? It carries the spirit of these days, doesn’t it?” She noticed cynically.

               “I guess it does,” agreed Max. “Sometimes, it feels like we’re maids. We’ve just cleaned up this mess, can we keep it clean for like, ten minutes?!” He complained and Kaylee laughed.

               “But no, there’s always work,” she concluded.

               “There’s always work,” Max nodded. Kaylee continued to eat, but then she paused and looked him in the eye.

               “I’m glad that you’re alive,” she said and the simplicity of the statement struck him. For a moment, he had no idea what to say whatsoever.

               “I’m… yeah, me too,” he only muttered awkwardly.


 

 

              

               1.59 am, Sunday, May 17, 2022

 

               Max reached for phone and checked the time. A minute to two in the morning. That meant that for last four hours, he had been staring at the ceiling trying to fall asleep. He closed eyes for millionth time with no effect, snarled angrily and lifted himself off the bed carefully not to wake Kaylee up. She shivered and tried to search for him with paw, so he gave her a pillow. She pressed it against herself and continued to sleep blissfully. Max walked downstairs, to the kitchen. He turned the kettle on, opened his drawer and browsed the teas searching for some sort of relaxing tisane. He had at least several kinds, as far as he remembered. Browsing through them, he glanced at the medicines lying in the corner. There wasn’t really much, but one thing brought his attention immediately; a small white box. He reached out for it and watched it carefully. Doxycycline; the antibiotic that, as a side-effect, had paused development of his genetic disease, FFI, also known as fatal familial insomnia. When doctors came up with the thing, Max was eighteen and already with the first stage triggered. He was suffering from insomnia resulting in phobias and panic attacks. The antibiotic cancelled those out and allowed Max to forget of his defect and probably the worst month of his life. A month that seemed to have lasted forever, when at times he could sleep no more than half an hour a day.

               “It’s not happening again, is it?” Max  asked himself. Without much of a thought, he took two doxycycline pills and swallowed them. It wouldn’t change a thing and he laughed nervously realizing it suddenly. All that he could do was taking it regularly and hoping for it to work. With this thought in his mind, he sat down in a couch and turned on TV.

               “I haven’t slept for four hours in my bed. I can watch some news as well,” he muttered and switched to ZNC 24, hoping for something interesting.

               “…tragedy indeed,” said Mayor Ketchikan during the conference which was held earlier that day. “Today’s tragedy and the support for its victims that has already come in immersive amounts show how wonderful and caring city we are. And I promise that we, as the city, will provide them all the support required as well,”  Mayor promised with his usual, encouraging smile. Watching him on the news Max thought that this guy was born to handle the cameras.

               “What support do you mean, Mayor?” Somebody asked.

               “The biggest priority is to provide the victims a place to stay. The city has recently acquired newly built block of flats just quarter a mile from the place of explosion, at Elm Street 96. The victims that lost their houses and should express such wish, will be relocated there, off-rent for first twelve months. Beyond that, each family will receive financial help for the new start. They have just lost everything and we certainly do not want them to fall in debts,” Mayor elaborated.

               “It sounds like a lot of money, doesn’t it? Can the city afford it with this year’s tight budget?”

               “It shall be covered with the money city received from Reynolds Reparation Fund. I believe Detective Reynolds will have no reservations,” the raccoon smiled and Max could swear he winked at him. The Mayor had put a lot of effort in the campaign to cut off from Thomas Reynolds’ actions on one hand and show that he was the supporter of the Fund on the other. Even despite Max’s numerous claims of apolitical attitude, people often associated this venture as Ketchikan’s success just as much as Max’s.

               The wolf listened to the interview for a few moments more, but hearing nothing that he hadn’t learnt before, he surfed through the channels again, searching for anything interesting. He stopped at another channel and another interview from today, this time with Alvarez. It must have happened just after the evacuation, as she seemed exhausted and shabby and still, more fit for magazine covers than Max would ever be in his life.

               “…bizarre. Like someone wanted to take it down, but changed his mind in the middle,” Alvarez confessed. “I was just standing there, my mind trying to process the thing and then, Hopps just said: ‘Me, Wilde and Reynolds are going in. Alvarez, you make sure no one stands in the street.’ Totally cool, like she was seeing such things every day. I tried to protest, point out that the thing could fall any second, but then, Wilde looked me dead in the eye and said: ‘And that’s why we’re going in.’” Alvarez took a deep breath and shook her head.

               “And they went in,” concluded the journalist.

               “You can say a lot of things about Wilde and Hopps, but to me, they’re probably the best, most devoted officers I have ever…”

               “Max?” Kaylee called him from the upstairs. Max stopped watching the news and turned at her. She was dressed in her sleeping gown and looked really disturbed. “Everything alright?” She asked with worries as she walked down.

               “Yeah, just… watching some news,” he explained. Kaylee sat down by him and watched with him without a word. The interview with Officer Alvarez continued.

               “Your new partner seems rather smooth-tongued, huh?” Kaylee pointed out, half-sleeping.

               “Oh, you have to give her that. And with that pretty face of hers, she’s wasting herself being not in the PR section,” Max admitted, as they watched Alvarez concluding the interview. Kaylee yawned deeply.

               “How about some sleep? We have work tomorrow,” she suggested and he forced a weak smile.

               “Yeah, I guess,” he agreed and they walked up to the bedroom. Max didn’t tell her a word of how he had been trying to sleep for half of the night already, but he was quite sure that Kaylee knew anyway. She even tried to stay awake with him, but fell asleep in few moments in their cozy bed. Max continued to watch the dark ceiling in blank, terrifying silence.

Insomnia
n.
Chronic inability to fall asleep or remain asleep for an adequate length of time.

Sorry for delays I've had some tough time recently. Chapters should resume normally at least till the end of March and hopefully till the very end. Welcome back and enjoy reading!


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HolyCross9's avatar
Zoinks!  Max is beginning to have those first signs of the same disease that affected her mother!