Descendants 4

24

It's three in the morning when the phone rings. Daniel and Victoria are awake in an instant both reaching for their own phones.

"Hello?" Victoria answers, Daniel slowly puts his down and leans towards his wife. The only sound on the other end is that of crying.

They've been expecting this call. Dreading it.

"We're on our way" Victoria says gently and hangs up, she and Daniel change clothes and splash some cold water on their faces. Mal must know by now Victoria assumes as they close the door to their room so they don't bother to go to her room and instead head straight out of the castle.

Mal is just getting in the car when they arrive, her eyes are dark but calm, she turns to them and only motions for them to get in. No one talks in the car, Ben's hands grip the steering wheel too tight but he keeps his speed under control.

Ten minutes later they're parking in front of the house. It almost seems as though they've agreed on their meeting time. Uma, Gil, and Harry are stepping out of their own car and Lonnie and Jay have just pulled up. Evie is the closest so they all assume she's already inside, she probably hasn't left his side in days.

They wait for Lonnie and Jay to take off their helmets before going inside as one. Just as they walk into the house Victoria remembers how early it is and how none of them have had anything to eat. She's not hungry and she doubts any one else is but they should still have some food.

On the way up the stairs she conjures up some muffins and sandwiches, Mal notices and conjures beverages. They stand outside the room staring at the door, no one makes a move to either open it or knock. Jay reaches forward with a shaking hand and opens the door.

"You came" Carlos' voice is raspy but his eyes light up as he sees them all at the doorway, they slowly file in, Victoria and Mal leave their things by the door and huddle with the others around the bed.

Just as they predicted, Evie is there already sitting beside him at the head of the bed with Jane on the other side. Doug stands beside Evie with a comforting hand on her knee.

For a moment no one says anything, they just smile at Carlos and pat whatever body part is closest to them. Uma is the first to break the silence and everyone is grateful for it, Victoria doesn't know if she could have handled another second of silence to be honest.

"How do you feel?" She asks, Carlos smiles at her but it seems to require a tremendous amount of strength to do something so simple

"Nothing hurts" he clarifies and there's some tension and worry that's lifted off of everyone shoulders "I'm just tired, I feel weak. Sometimes even talking is just too tiresome"

"Do you need anything?" Victoria hates the way her voice quivers but she is determined not to cry in front of him, she wouldn't forgive herself if the last thing he saw was her in pain, she doesn't want him to feel sad if she can help it.

"I've got everything I need now" Carlos simply says, Victoria curses internally, he's not making it easy to hold in her tears

"I love you Carlos you know that right?" Jay says suddenly, grabbing his hand and holding it tightly to his chest "you're my best friend and my brother, I'm right here and I not going anywhere"

"I know Jay" Carlos smiles and holds out his free arm for a hug "I love you too" he whispers into his ear. Jay pulls back and quickly wipes away a tear from his eyes

"Do you," Harry starts but doesn't know how to ask "are you...?"

"Not yet" Carlos says in a sad tone understanding what he meant to ask and knowing how hard it is for any of them to even be thinking it "it won't be long though"