Considering today is December 24th, MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!—tmw2015
Despite seeing the news, all that was on Rikki's mind was having the <censored> catheter removed, getting out of the hospital, and getting on with her new life.
However, there were plenty of other people concerned about her and her privacy...
When Mayor Stovall first heard the news, he almost choked on his cereal, much to the concern of his wife and daughter. After the ladies managed to calm him down, the Mayor grabbed his cellphone and called the chief of police.
"No sir, the leak didn't come from our end, but we'll get right on it," promised the police chief.
"See that you do," said Mayor Stovall. "Now then, how did things go concerning that other matter I wanted you to take care of?" he asked carefully, for Melissa Stovall and their daughter Julie only knew what had just been aired concerning Rick Plunkett/Rikki the new werecheetah.
"We collected all of Plunkett's stuff out of his hotel room, along with his personal items from the hospital, before sundown last night," said the chief. "Around 8, after we got confirmation from the hospital about Rikki, I had one of my most trusted officers drive Plunkett's vehicle out of town while another followed in his car. Taking some hardly used routes and trails, they drove until crossing the state line into Oregon. After that, they parked Plunkett's vehicle where it wouldn't be found right away and drained what was left in the gas tank so it looked like he ran out of fuel and left on foot to get more. Of course, that will never happen, but you get the idea."
"How long..."
"It was such a remote area, it'll be at least days before there's a chance of anybody ever finding it."
"And none of your men were spotted doing this?" asked the Mayor.
"No sir. They kept their eyes and noses open, but there wasn't so much as a stray animal scent for them to pick up the whole time," reported the chief.
"Good, and what about the stuff Plunkett would of had on him when he left to go searching for gas? You know, his wallet, keys, etc?"
"I personally destroyed all of that when they got back, except for his cash."
"What? WHY?" asked the Mayor.
"Even after settling his hotel bill, the man still had a couple of hundred dollars on him. I figured we could give it to Doctor Tucker and help get Rikki some new clothes and stuff," explained the police chief.
"Oh. Good idea," admitted the Mayor. "Now then, if asked about anything concerning the patient in the hospital..."
"My officers already know to say the only thing they know is what they saw on the news this morning and nothing else," promised the police chief.
MEANWHILE...
After discovering the weregecko taking pictures when he went to check on his future wife, Andrew the weregorilla decided to stay in the tree outside Plunkett's hospital room window and make sure she remained safe.
Unfortunately, he should have worried about his own safety as well.
Hearing a noise, Andrew looked down to see a squad of hospital security guards approaching the base of the tree he occupied.
"Okay men," began one of the guards, "since those pictures looked like they were taken out here..."
"Look! There's someone up there!" shouted a guard, spotting Andrew in the tree.
"GET HIM!"