Taste of Savage

Worth Saving

   I wake up but my eyes remain closed as my consciousness catches up with my body.
"How much longer will he be asleep? We have important matters to discuss that can't wait for-"
   "I don't care how important they are, you can't enter this room."
   "Mr. Wilde, you say it as if we are a danger to Jack. I assure you that nobody wants to harm-"
   "He's in the hospital you twat! Obviously someone wanted to kill him. If not him then me."
   I could hear his tone grow harsh and aggravated.
   "Mr. Wilde, correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears you wish to protect Mr. Savage. Didn't he almost get you killed? Don't you blame him for the injury of your partner?"
   The door slammed shut. I hear something made of glass fall onto the floor and shatter. Nick growled audibly and it sent a shiver down my spine.
   I open my eyes to find myself in a hospital bed. Duh.
   Next to my bed, Nick was on the floor scooping up a broken vase that must have broke. His ears were pressed down and he mumbled death threats under his breath.
   "Hey there." I sat weakly, startling Nick.
   "Rabbit!" He exclaimed out loud. He obviously seemed excited to see me awake, but then his mood calmed down almost just as quickly.
   He narrowed his eyes at me. "How ya feeling?" He asks.
   I sit up with much difficulty. My head pounded and my body was sore. I was feeling like I just fell off a building head first.
   "I'm fine I guess." I said quietly. "Why did I hear arguing?"
    "Oh, some suits were looking for you. I made them go so you could heal in peace."
   I smiled softly, but then it vanished. First, he saves my life. Then there's that goofy smile he gave me before I blacked out, like I'm his best friend. Now he's worried about my health? What's this fox playing at?
   "Since when did you care about my well being?" I ask skeptically.
   He shrugs. "I told you, carrots would kill me."
   "You know that's offensive right?"
   "What?"
   "Calling a bunny 'carrots'."
   "Judy doesn't mind."
   I just roll my eyes and look away. Speaking of Judy...
   "Don't tell Hopps what happened. It'll diminish my reputation."
   Nick scoffed. "What reputation? You're like a substitute teacher to us!"
   Ouch.
   I was honest with myself, that hurt my pride.
   Well, whatever pride I had anyway.
   "I'm not so different from the rest of you ya know. I go to work, buy groceries, pay taxes, just like all of you."
   He looked annoyed now. "Let me walk you through something. I wake up under a bridge at six every morning, because I can't afford a home. I go to work for almost nine hours. Then the rest of my day involves making sure Judy gets home safe, then I find something I can eat for dinner if I'm lucky. At the end of the day, my paycheck is confiscated to pay my heaping pile of debt. So tell me, Rabbit, how are we alike?"
   I sat there for a moment. Only one thought kept running through my head, and it made me feel awful.
   "You're homeless..." I say softly. Nick seems to double take.
   "I uh, shouldn't have mentioned that bridge." He mumbles more to himself.
   Suddenly I'm rethinking everything I ever said to him. I'm thinking about how he was late for work and how I threatened to fire him, when he literally just rolled out of under a bridge that morning.
   "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed I was like you." I say apologetically. Great, now I'm an asshole.
   "Don't tell Judy." He says suddenly.
   "I told her I found an apartment. Don't tell her I'm still under the bridge, she'll attack me or something. I don't want her to know I'm still... ya know... homeless."
   So Hopps doesn't know. There's a lot about this fox I probably don't know. I'll have to do some digging later. But for now,
  "How about I keep your secret if you keep mine?" I bargain with a small smirk. He looked at me with a strange glint in his eyes, as if he had a realization. They me holds out his paw.
   "Deal."
   I put my paw in his to shake, realizing just how large he was compared to me. His paw alone was twice as large as my own, and his paw pads were rough, like leather. My soft, clawless, padless paw was practically engulfed by his.
   He smiled a bit before getting up. "I guess I better get going, tell carrots what happened."
   He's about to leave before, "Nick, why'd you do it." He turned to me.
   "Why did you save my life. You could have run. Why did you stop to help me?"
   "I told you, Hopps would-"
   "Nick tell me the truth please."
   "His ears flattened, like he was embarrassed or something.
   "I dunno... it's complicated. Where I come from, it's every mammal for themselves. I guess... some are worth saving."
   With his final statement, he left the room. A small smile crossed my lips as I watched his tail flick as he turned the corner.
   Something about him still bothered me. Sure, he's got charisma in spades, but there's something... Dangerous about him.