Always by your Side - A Descendants Story : REWRITTEN

Chapter 15

TW: Mentioning of SA!

"You've taken quite some beatings, but you're going to make a full recovery," the doctor tells Mal, the next afternoon. "Though, it will probably take some months before you're healed completely, Your Highness."

"But nothing's broken?" Mal asks him, relieved.

"No, there are some pretty severe bruises and cuts, but I think you've been lucky in that regard," he says.

"Thank you, doctor," Mal smiles.

The doctor nods at her and then turns to Ben. "Can I maybe speak to you in the hallway, Your Highness?"

Ben looks at Mal, who's already dozing off again.

"Yeah, sure," he says, and then follows him outside to the hallway.

"We did a full examination of her, and there are two things you might need to know," he says.

Ben nods, feeling a bit anxious about what's coming.

"I think you might've already known, but just in case you didn't I still wanted to tell you that Your Highness the Queen is with child," he tells him. "About 13 weeks."

"Yes, yes, I knew that," he assures him. "Is the baby okay?"

"Miraculously, yes," he says. "The Queen is malnourished, been under an enormous amount of stress, been physically abused and beyond exhausted... And- I don't know if I should tell you this..."

Ben looks at him, waiting for him to continue, but whatever it is he wants to tell him, it's hard to get out. "You can tell me," Ben assures him.

"Well... when examining the Queen, we saw some signs of uh- of sexual assault..." he manages to tell him.

Ben remains silent, shocked beyond words. He couldn't believe those pirates would go as far as this... On top of all the physical abuse...

"I'm sorry if I-" the doctor begins, but Ben cuts him off.

"No, it's- it's- thank you for telling me..." he says. "I just- I uhm- I'm going to get some air..."
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"Ben, sweetie, hi," Ben hears his mom's voice from a few feet away.

He's been sitting on a bench outside the hospital's entrance for about half an hour, just staring at the ground, trying to get his head wrapped around all that has happened these past few days.

"Mom," he says, looking up to see her walking towards him.

He gets up and his mom pulls him into a tight, loving hug.

"Hi, son," his dad greets him, and gives him a hug as well.

"We're so sorry it took so long to get here," his mom apologises. "The boat couldn't set sail from Agrabah until last night, and-"

"It's okay, mom, I'm just really glad you're here," he promises, smiling slightly at her.

"How is she?" Belle asks.

"She's- stable," he says. "She's in a room on the second floor, but I think she's still asleep, so maybe we can first go get coffee and I'll catch you up on everything that's happened."
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"Excuse me a second," Ben says to his parents when his phone rings, and gets up from the chair to answer the call outside the hospital cafeteria.

"Hi, Evie, what's up?" he asks over the phone.

"We'll be a bit later than anticipated; Carlos, Lonnie and Jay are stuck at training for at least another hour because of last week's match, and the coach won't let them leave early," she informs him.