Prologue

". . . fall . . . spear . . . her head."

"What . . . mean . . . in . . . head?"

". . . that. It . . . of course . . . permanent damage there . . . all."

Judy could hear voices. They sounded distant like someone was yelling to her from across the farm. She couldn't actually see the source of the voice, though. She tried to touch her face in an attempt to find the source of the obstruction, but she found her arms unable to respond to the signals from her brain.

"Permanent damage!? Stu, what kind of damage are you talking about?" Her mother. Judy would have recognised that concerned voice anywhere.

"Now settle down, dear. He just said there's a chance of permanent damage. I'm sure the doctors are doing everything they can for her."

Dad that was Dad. Why are my parents here? Judy thought to herself.

"The brain. It's a very delicate thing. At this point, we just have to wait and see what happens."

Who was that? A doctor, maybe? Judy thought.

"Well, I'm just frustrated. We've been told that hearing a familiar voice would help but we've been visiting for two weeks now and they told us she hasn't so much as flinched in that time. I-I'm scared for her," her mother said.

Judy attempted to respond, but her mouth barely moved and the only noise to escape her lips was a quiet raspy growl.

The three people in the room immediately looked to the bed where the sound came from. Beneath the blanket lay a pre-adolescent bunny. Thick bandages covered most of her head and her jaw was slowly moving up and down as she made an attempt to speak.

Her parents bolted to her bedside, while the doctor ran out to the hall. "Nurse! The patient may be waking up!"

Judy's mouth and throat were drier than she had imagined possible, making it exceedingly difficult to create the necessary vibrations in her vocal cords to speak. All Judy could manage was to move her mouth and make barely audible grunts and groans.

"Is she tryin' to say something?" her mother whispered.

"I don't know Bonnie, it just sounds like growling," her father replied.

Judy decided now would be a good time to try her eyes again. Her mouth stopped moving as her eyelids fluttered slightly and her parents leaned in closer to her face.

"Is she going to wake up?" her mother breathed.

"I don't know! Why do you keep asking me stuff like that?" her father replied.

The doctor came in followed by a nurse with a tray holding a large plastic cup and straw balanced on her back. She set the tray down on the small table at the foot of the bed and pushed her way past Judy's parents. The doctor approached the other side of the bed. "Excuse me, Miss Hopps, I need to check on her."

"Oh, sorry 'bout that." her mother made room for the doctor who leaned in close. He carefully lifted one of Judy's fluttering eyelids and quickly shined a bright light in and out of her eye. "Her pupils are dilating, that's a good sign."

He moved his mouth just a few inches from her ear and spoke in a very soft tone. "Judy? Can you hear me?"

Yes! I can hear you! she screamed in her mind, but the only noise that came was another guttural moan.

"I would call that a response. I think she's waking up. Be patient, this may take a while." the doctor, a moose with a pair of hazelnut eyes turned to the nurse. "Would you please help me get her sat up?"

Judy found herself looking at her mother who looked less like the matriarch of her two hundred and seventy-five rambunctious siblings and more like a tired, dishevelled shell. The bags under her eyes were accentuated by the hospital lighting and her cheeks were streaked with tear stains.

Mom! You can help me. Judy tried once again to speak, making another growl erupt from her larynx.

"I believe she is trying to speak, as you can hear," answered the doctor.

Judy decided that opening her eyes would be easier. Placing every ounce of concentration into the simple task, she tried as hard as she could to raise her eyelids. They fluttered once, twice and slowly opened. She had her eyes about half open when she snapped them shut, the utilitarian lights of the hospital nearly blinding her.

The doctor noticed this and quickly instructed his nurse to turn them down. "Sorry, Judy. If you can hear me, please try to open your eyes again."

She did as asked. This time, she found it a little easier. Her vision was blurry at first, but the scene in front of her quickly came into focus. Her parents were standing beside her, tearing up and smiling like Judy had done something wonderful.

I woke up. It's really not that big of a deal. Wait, can I move my arms yet? Her right arm twitched as she concentrated on moving it. She was only able to bring it up across her stomach before it fell. She let out a raspy groan.

Now putting all her will into speaking, she attempted to communicate her desire for a drink to quench her parched throat. "Waa..." she huffed and narrowed her eyes towards an inviting cup brimming with water at the end of her bed. "Waaaah…"

"I think she's thirsty," her mother stated flatly.

"Oh, right," the doctor smiled sheepishly and brought the cup over to the bedridden bunny and stuck the straw into her mouth.

Judy suckled on the straw. The cool water that cascaded over Judy's tongue was as sweet and refreshing as ambrosia. It cooled her throat and moistened her parched throat to the point where she felt tentatively ready to make intelligible conversation once again.

"WhaaaatammIdoinnnhere." A look of shock filled Judy's face when she heard her run-together and terribly slurred speech.

Her mother came to the side of her bed and gave her a hug, with tears streaming down her face. "Oh, thank goodness you're awake, Judy. I thought we were going to lose you."

"Whaat haappennnd?" the bunny asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"There was an accident, dear."

She tried to think back. The last thing she could remember was the play, Gideon and then...

The doctor looked at Judy's parents "Would you all excuse us for a moment, I need to speak with Judy in private."

Her mother perked up at this request. "What!? But we didn't even get to talk to—"

"Come on, dear, most importantly our girl is in good hands and we can talk to her later on. Sorry, Doc."

As soon as everyone was out and the door shut, the moose looked back towards the lame lapine laying on the bed. "Judy, there was an accident at the school play. Do you remember it?"

Judy shook her head.

"Do you remember the fall?"

She nodded. Then a terrifying thought crossed her mind and her eyes grew wide with terror. "Giideon?"

"Yes. Gideon pulled you out when you fell," the lapine just stared at the doctor with tired eyes, waiting for the rest of the story. "He just heard a suspicious noise backstage when he happened to be walking by. He said he found you at the bottom of the trapdoor."

Judy tried to shake her head or voice some other means of protest for the distortion of events but found the effort too taxing. "Why cann't I taalk riight?" she asked instead.

"You landed on a prop spear. A piece of it was propelled into your head, it breached your skull. The doctor paused, running a finger down the groves of his antler till he, at last, arrived at a spot just above his right eye.

He hiccoughed as though trying to break a difficult topic. "The family physician in Bunnyburrow removed the shard, and you stayed there for twelve days before you were moved here."

"Whaat went wrawng?"

Judy tried to move her right arm again. This time it felt like a limp noodle from prolonged inactivity. She willed it to her forehead and touched a hand to a spot just above her right eye. Her digits made contact with soft bandages long before it made it to her forehead and brought about a sharp tang of pain, dulled by the morphine coursing through her system.

"You shouldn't be doing that Judy," the doctor protested settling her hand to her side. "Would you like me to bring your parents back in?"

Judy shook her head, "Tired."

The doctor chuckled. "You know, you've been asleep for two weeks."

Judy nodded and repeated, "Tired."

"Later, maybe?"

"I would liiiike that. What about schooool?"

"It's too early to tell but maybe in a few weeks of therapy and you'll be right as rain. Your teachers have been informed of the accident and they understand."

Judy gave a weak smile.

"Rest up. It's a miracle that you've come back to us at all." With that, the moose made his way to the door and exited the room.

Judy lay in bed, completely still and staring at the ceiling, thinking back to what happened two weeks ago. It seemed like there were things she needed to remember. But whenever she came close, they seemed to slip out of reach like some slippery eel. Judy decided to close her eyes, thinking that answers would come to her tomorrow.

He won't be punished you know?

That was new. Judy's eyes snapped open to the voice in her mind. What was it talking about?

Gideon's father is the wholesaler for all of Bunnyburrow and the next several counties around it. Your parents won't risk their livelihoods over you. The school won't punish him either. Not when his dad is behind their paychecks.

No ones above the law! They'll know. Judy thought to herself.

Your parents just think you're a klutz. Now you just have to do something about it.