The fox kit slowly stirred, struggling against the restraints holding her down when she felt a soft hand on her forehead gently petting her and trying to calm the little vixen and keep her from hurting herself.  She tried to open her eyes, finding them blindfolded, but the petting continued without abatement or any hostility.  “Ssshhhh, little one, shhhhh.  Just relax.  You’re restrained because you’re hurt, relax, don’t fight it.”  The fox’s ears locked into the source of the voice, a very weak whimper escaping her muzzle as the petting continued.  After a few moments, the petting trailed off and the fox felt something brush her lips.  She opened her muzzle, taking the nipple of a bottle the nurse held into her muzzle, instinctively starting to suck and drink the warm liquid inside, the medications in the milk slowly coursing through her five year old frame, taking away her pain and slowly pushing her back to sleep, relaxing against the bed and restraints yet again.
She woke again, finding herself still restrained to the bed, but this time without the bandages on her eyes, plunging her into darkness.  She slowly opened her eyes, scared when all she saw was extremely fuzzy images with no distinction or clarity.  The nurse again started petting her and talking to her, telling her to calm down and relax.  Once she was relaxed again, the nurse took some drops and placed them in the vixen’s eyes, the stingy saline solution slowly clearing away the haze as the kit looked up and saw the young human nurse for the first time.  She took in the clean, hairless face with very light makeup, light brown hair, thin features, light complexion, and a beautiful smile even to the little vixen.  She pet the little fox, talking gently as she saw the fox’s eyes catch focus on her finally, giving the flourish of some ear scratches.  “Well, hello, little one.  Can you see me clearly?”
The fox nodded very slowly, glancing around the hospital room and noticing the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor and the slight hiss of the oxygen coming through her face mask.  The pink walls held small murals of children of all species playing with dolls and blocks, bikes and horses.  She tried to turn her head but found it wouldn’t move, drawing a small panic before the nurse started calming her again with pettings.  “It’s okay, Kathryn, it’s okay.  You’re hurt.  Badly hurt.”  The nurse smiled again.  “My name is Beth.  Can you say that?”
The fox struggled, her small muzzle trying to form the foreign word.  “B…be…Bef?”
“Very good.  Can you say your name?”
“K...Kafryn.”  The kit flushed, knowing that she didn’t pronounce it right, even with the petting and gentle scratching that the attempt earned her from the nurse.  “Wha...wha ‘appen’d?”
The nurse’s expression turned bleak momentarily as she thought about the scene in the emergency room.  “You were in a car accident.  You were lucky to survive.”  The nurse pet gently, carefully as she relayed the story.  “You and your parents were driving toward your home when a semi lost control on some ice and slammed right into your family’s car.  You were the only survivor, little one.”  The fox sniffled, a tear running down her cheek as she thought of her mom and dad, whom she’d never see again.  “We...don’t know what will happen to you.  Your parents didn’t have any living relatives, so we think you’re gonna end up in foster care...but first we have to make sure you’re nice and healthy.”
With a sniff, the fox looked down, tears leaving a trail along her muzzle and down her cheek, as the nurse mirrored the kit’s expression, petting her gently.  The nurse took the bottle from the tray and held it to Kathryn’s muzzle, the fox taking it in her mouth and starting the drink the warm medicated milk.  This time the milk spread some pain killers through her body and nutrients, but not the sleeping medication of before.  She finished the bottle and relaxed, feeling the warmth of the milk spread through her body.
“Little one, how are you feeling?  Do you think you are up to some tests to see how you’re healing?”  Kathryn responded with a nod, her voice lost in her emotions as she thought about her mom and dad, trying desperately to remember what happened but not finding the memories there at all.  It was...as if the whole day was a blank….like it never happened.
Lost in her thoughts, she suddenly yelped as she felt a sharp poke in her hip   She looked down.  “Mew!  Da’ hur’!”
“I’m sorry, Kathryn.  Was that the first thing you felt?”  The kit nodded, flushing some.  “That’s not a good sign.”  The nurse ran the spiked wheel down the kit’s leg and up the other leg, not getting any reaction whatsoever until the small needle stimulators hit near the top of her hip.  The fox whimpered as she tried to move her toes and feet...getting absolutely no reaction out of her own body.  She looked at the nurse, her eyes wide in horror.  “It’s okay, little girl.  We were afraid of this.”  The nurse motioned someone to come into the room.
The feline entered the room gracefully, a stethoscope draped over his neck his thick, plastic framed glasses nearly hiding the tabby markings on his face.  He smiled to the kit as he helped the nurse undo the wrist and arm restraints holding Kathryn imobile.  They then worked to disconnect the harness from the straps holding her back, but not removing the harness itself.  Very carefully, they helped to sit her up, the nurse hitting a button to bring the kit’s bed back up into a sitting position.  They leaned her back, the nurse smiling and petting her while the doctor had her flex her fingers, hands, arms, back, and neck.
The doctor looked at Kathryn, giving a scritch under her chin, when his expression changed.  “Well, the good news is that you’re not nearly as bad off as we were afraid you could be.  You’re definitely not out of the woods, but you should make a decent recovery and have an adequate a decent quality of life.”  The kit looked confused at the doctor.  “The bad news is that I don’t think that you’re ever going to walk again.”  He pulled out a tablet computer, showing her the images of her spine.  “The accident caused your spine to snap and sever your spinal cord about here..” the doctor pointed to an area a little below her rib cage.  “Unfortunately, because of this, you’re going to end up living in a wheelchair.  There isn’t anything we can do to change this right now.”
With a quiet nod, Kathryn absorbed the information presented to her by the doctor, the relevant parts sticking in her mind.  Particularly, the part about never walking again.  She looked up at the doctor, as he nodded to the nurse.  “W...Will I be able to move around soon?  Get out of this bed?”
The doctor nodded to the kit.  “We have a chair for you to use.  Nurse Beth here will help get you set up.  But first, I want to make sure you are okay with some solid food.  Think you are up to eating some solid food?”  The kit nodded and the doctor tapped something on the display, ordering food for his small charge.  He then stood, ruffled her hair and left the room.
Not long afterward he left, Kathryn and Nurse Beth were watching TV when an orderly brought a tray in with a plate.  He left the tray with the nurse and turned to leave.  “Th...thank you, sir,” the little fox squeaked to him.
He gave a smile.  “You’re welcome.”  He slipped out of the room as the nurse moved the plate onto the bed table for Kathryn to eat.  She opened the container, revealing a cheeseburger and fries, the suddenly overwhelming smell flooding the vixen’s sensitive nose and making her salivate.
She reaches out, then stops, looking at the nurse.  “I..is it okay?”  The nurse nods smiling.  “What ‘bout you?”  Grinning, the nurse revealed the second tray, holding a salad and a diet soda.  The fox smiled, trying to wag her tail, but getting no motion out of it.  Reaching out, she picks up the little cheeseburger and pulls it to her muzzle, taking a bite of it and starting to chew the savory sandwich, murring in pleasure.  Giggling, the nurse takes a bite of her salad, eating with the little kit, though not as quickly.  It takes nearly no time for the kit to finish her burger, and munch down some of the fries.  She finished the meal, smiling to the nurse as she wiped her muzzle clean with a napkin.
Once both were done with dinner, the nurse changed the kit’s diaper and helped her down into the wheelchair, smiling.  “Ready to learn how to drive this thing?”  Kathryn nodded enthusiastically as the nurse strapped her in to make sure she didn’t accidently fall out of the chair and get stuck somewhere.  The nurse stood up, nearly towering over the little kit as she instructed her in how to work her new transportation, giving her the ability to move on her own with some degree of independence.  Beth walked to the door, opening it as Kathryn wheeled out into the hallway, suddenly overcome by shock as several people stopped and applauded to her, giving her strength to push forward.  She followed Beth to the elevator, riding down to to the ground floor where they made their way out to the courtyard.
The kit flushed repeatedly as people stared at her, recognition flashing across their faces to a past she can’t remember, a story she doesn’t know, as she feels like the celebrity of this small town hospital in the mountains of Colorado.  Her and the nurse talked for a very long time, getting to really know each other while they enjoyed the cool, mid-spring mountain air.  The nurse explained that she was Kathryn’s court-appointed guardian and that the kit would be well taken care of because her parents were quite well off.  She also explained that there were several instances where several persons attempted to step in as family but the claims fell through.  With a smile, she said that there was a fox couple that were looking to adopt her, realizing that her family’s money was hers and would only be available after the kit’s 21st birthday.
With a blush, the kit agreed to meet the family later that week, and yawned wide, having had a long day.  They made their way back up to her room where the nurse helped her back into bed, strapping down her harness yet again, having observed the kit’s nightmares first hand and not wanting her more hurt than she already is.  The nurse left to attend her rounds as the kit used the TV remote and started watching cartoons until she drifted off to sleep.