"Well isn't this a nice surprise, a family reunion is it? Come to save your wounded puppy?" Harry jeered at them, trying to disguise the legitimate surprise in his voice.
"Wait, are they actually related? I knew they were close, but not that close and you never said anything about puppies!" Gil asked, surprised but for a different reason. It hadn't yet come into Gil's mind as to why Evie, Jay and a Dragon had entered his basement. "OOH! Dad is going to kill me!" He screamed as Mal breathed fire in Harry's direction.
"Let Carlos go!" Evie cried at Harry, moving to cover Jay as he rushed over to Carlos.
"Fine, if you want him so badly, you can take him." Harry sneered. "I was finished with him anyway."
"CARLOS!" Jay's scream rocked the entire basement and even brought Mal back to human form. It was a guttural scream full of torment and feelings left unsaid. For a moment the fighting ceased as Evie and Mal looked over in Jay's direction, afraid of what they might find. It was only a second but in that moment Harry and Gil managed to slip away.
It didn't matter that the pair were gone anyway, the sight of the boy in Jay's arms was enough to make Evie and even Mal stop dead. Carlos had turned as pale as the hair on his head, well the tiny parts of him that weren't covered in bruises had. They could see blood in his mouth and his body was like a patchwork of marks and cuts. Harry had clearly had his way with Carlos.
"Noooo! Carlos! Please stay with me! I LOVE YOU!" Jay cried as he kissed the boy's forehead and then his lips, hoping against hope that True Love's Kiss could save him.
"Even if that could save him, it wouldn't work here." Evie lamented. "There's no magic on the Isle, remember?"
"Then we need to get him back to Auradon as quickly as possible! I'll turn back into a dragon and you guys hop on my back. It'll be quicker to get back to the car that way." Mal's eyes turned green again as she shifted form back into a dragon. Jay needed no encouragement as he rushed in picking Carlos up only to have him snapped back to the ground by the chain tying him to the ground. Jay managed to snap the chain like it was nothing more than a pile of sticks. He had summoned the strength of a mother lifting an incredibly heavy object off the child she loved so dearly. Within seconds he had joined Evie on Mal's back and they were soaring high above the Isle towards the car.
It was only another five-minute drive back to Auradon but for Jay it felt like an eternity. Normally it would have been thirty or so minutes but Mal was driving like a maniac in order to save Carlos. "GET OUT OF THE WAY!" She screamed as she belted the horn.
"Carlos! Please stay with me!" Jay cried as his tears landed on Carlos' face. It was torture carrying him like that. He felt limp and unresponsive, Jay prayed that they hadn't been too late. He couldn't bear it if Harry took Carlos from him. It was all Jay's fault, it didn't matter what Evie and Mal had said. If Jay had just been honest with his feelings when he had the opportunity... Carlos may have been naked in his arms but at least in a good way. But no, he had been a coward and had destroyed Carlos' life. It hurt Jay that the only times he could be honest about his feelings was when Carlos was near-death in his arms.
Jay couldn't help but stare at the cuts that wrapped around the younger boy's body. There was blood coming out of his mouth and from wounds all over his body. Jay just wanted to curl up and die knowing that he had allowed this to happen to his friend.
"Hurry!" Mal shouted as they pulled up in front of the school. Jay rushed out of the car with Carlos in his arms. He ran through the castle with everyone staring and whispering in worry. They all knew Carlos and it shocked them to see him like this.
"What is going – " Fairy Godmother began as she came out of her office and saw the trio running. Then her eyes fell on Carlos and her heart skipped a beat. "Oh no! Hurry children, the infirmary is this way. OUT OF THE WAY!" Students in front of them leaped into the nearest doorway to avoid been trampled by the group.
They arrived at the infirmary and were greeted by the Nurse. "Fairy Godmother, I heard a – " She was interrupted by the sight of the lifeless boy in Jay's arms. For a moment her eyes went wide before she slipped into Nurse mode. "Hurry! Put him down here at once! I'm going to need all of you to leave, except Fairy Godmother, I have a feeling I'm going to need some magic for this one. NOW!" Jay hesitated, he didn't want to leave the boy alone, he couldn't let him die alone. However, he knew that for the Nurse and Fairy Godmother to be successful they needed time and space so Jay allowed himself to be pulled back outside by Mal and Evie.
"Jay…" Evie began but she struggled with finding the right things to say. There were no words that could make Jay feel any better about any of this and she knew it.
"He's going to be alright." Mal finished trying to be supportive.
"How can you know that?!" Jay exclaimed, begging for any sort of answer that could put his mind at ease. However, there was none that could do so and Mal was well aware of this. Instead they stood in silence for a minute before huddling close together and crying on each other's shoulders. There was nothing that they could do but wait.
"Mal!" Ben yelled as his footsteps rushed down the hallway. "I just heard, is everything alright? Is Carlos…?"
"We don't know Ben." Mal spluttered as she fell into her boyfriend's arms. Doug was right behind him and didn't need to say anything before giving Evie a shoulder to cry on. For a moment Jay was left alone standing outside the doors. He realised that he had no one to lean on when things get tough, it had always been Carlos. Carlos was the intuitive one who always knew the right words to say that could make Jay feel better. Jay may have had a tough exterior but he needed someone like Carlos to keep him grounded and to remind him to care.
Jay couldn't believe that he had failed him. If he had paid more attention to Carlos instead of his own feelings he would have noticed the change in him. Everyone else had but Jay had been too selfish to care.
"Jay…" It was Jane standing behind him. Of course it would be Jane. She was the only one like him who relied on Carlos. Together they held each other and silently wept. It was a heartbreaking scene for all who witnessed it.
They had been waiting outside the hall for hours before the Nurse finally came out to give them an update.
"I'm afraid that Carlos' injuries… well…" Even the Nurse was struggling to find something to say to comfort the group. "We're doing everything we can. Fairy Godmother is casting every spell she can think of and a few she found elsewhere. He is improving but he is far from being out of the woods yet. I'm afraid it's going to be a long night. If you want to go back to your dorms I can – "
"No." Jay replied adamantly. "We'll wait." The others around him nodded. The last thing on their minds right now was sleep.
"Alright, Fairy Godmother has excused you all from the curfew tonight. I'll let you know if his condition changes. We've called some specialists from the nearby hospital who should be arriving shortly to help us. Please send them through when they arrive." With a worried glance around at the group the Nurse returned to Carlos. Through the crack in the door Jay could see Fairy Godmother frantically casting spell after spell on Carlos to try and keep him alive and repair his injuries at the same time.
"Do you think he'll ever be the same?" Jane asked. No one really knew what to say. Who would? Carlos had been brutally raped and abused repeatedly while they had done nothing. If only they'd noticed sooner then maybe Carlos would be awake and not in a coma.
"He's survived it before but it wasn't this bad." Jay tried to comfort Jane but he knew it sounded weak, even he didn't believe in it. No one wanted to add anything else so they just sat together in silence as the sun slowly rose.
Countless doctors and nurses from the surrounding hospitals had rushed through Auradon Prep in an effort to help save Carlos. There were even some news crews outside, though they seemed more focused on the King Ben aspect of the story than Carlos himself.
"Hey guys, we thought you might be hungry so we brought you some breakfast." Up the stairs came Audrey and Dizzy. They both looked like they hadn't slept much the previous night. "Any news yet?" Audrey continued.
"No, the doctors have been in and out all night so at least they haven't given up hope." Mal replied, smiling at the girls. The feud between the two had long since evaporated once they had gotten to know each other. Their mutual disgust of Chad had initially brought them closer together but the thought of losing Carlos was the glue that bound them.
"Jay, how are you coping?" Dizzy asked, she had always known that Jay had feelings for Carlos but she still didn't want to out him to the rest of the school.
Jay couldn't answer, he knew if he did the tears would keep flowing. Instead he just gave Dizzy a massive hug. He really needed some of her brightness and positivity that had shone through even on the Isle. The group ate their breakfast in complete silence. They were all yearning to hear something positive come through on the other side other than the low murmur of worried nurses and doctors.
After a few more hours had passed they heard footsteps heading their way and so they stood up expectantly. It was Fairy Godmother with a worried expression on her face. Jay's heart sank, this couldn't be anything good. He thought he had lost Carlos before and he didn't want to go through all that emotion again.
"Hello children. I'm afraid I've done all I can with magic so now it's up to Carlos to pull himself through. The Doctors are hopeful but we'll just have to wait and see." A glimmer of hope found its way through to Jay who stood in disbelief. He felt like whatever grand deity was watching from above had granted him another chance. This was a chance he was not going to waste.
"Can we go and say hello?" Jay asked, the hope clear in his voice.
"Yes, but only three at a time please. The Doctors still have plenty of work to do and I don't want you to get in their way. You won't be able to talk to him anyway, he's still unconscious." Jay's heart sank at that prospect, if Carlos was still unconscious could he still wake up?
"Jay, Evie and Mal. You guys should go first." Ben suggested. The rest nodded and gave them supportive looks as they walked through the door.
"Oh, C…" Evie cried as she caught sight of the poor boy. Carlos was still naked but he had tubes and pipes coming out of him everywhere. There were some that were containing his internal bleeding and a few making sure he had oxygen.
Jay could not bear this sight. It hurt him to know that his actions had caused Carlos to rely on machines to keep him alive. What if he was stuck like this for the rest of his life? Jay knew he would never leave him and would always take care of him whatever he needed. But would Carlos want to stay alive if this was his quality of life? Surely the humane thing to do would be to let him die rather than suffer through all this pain? Jay did not want to think about that right now, it was way too early and a nurse was coming over to give them an update.
"Unfortunately he still hasn't regained consciousness but he was lucky in avoiding any serious trauma to his head. We believe his body shut down because of the massive trauma it had sustained rather than because of a concussion or the like. This is a good thing." The nurse quickly added seeing the worried looks on the trio's faces. "The Doctors are hopeful that he will regain consciousness and that his mind will still be intact. To what extent his personality may change is hard to tell. He unfortunately did sustain a lot of trauma which can have a negative impact on the mind." The nurse then paused, unsure of how to continue. "There were also indications of rape and we've taken semen samples from his stomach and anal cavity if the case ever comes to trial. If you need anything else I'll just be over here."
The three stood in silence around Carlos as they digested the information they had just been given.
"Harry Hook will be lucky if he ever survives to see a trial." Mal stated, the venom in her voice causing even Evie to step back a bit. Jay may have agreed with Mal but right now his focus was on Carlos. He sat down beside him and brushed the hair out of his face. He looked disheveled and he didn't want any of the others to see him like that. Carlos was normally so brave and full of life and it hurt anyone who knew him to see him like this. Jay took his hand and gave it another kiss, he had long since given up on the fact that True Love's Kiss might work when the Fairy Godmother's magic hadn't but he still wanted Carlos to know that he was loved and that his friends were there.
Jay continued to hold Carlos' hand for the rest of the day, he even fell asleep holding it so that he would know if Carlos woke up. Eventually Mal and Evie left Jay so that some of the others could visit Carlos but at the end of the day only Jay stayed. The others knew that he needed some space. It went unspoken how Jay felt about Carlos but everyone understood. They knew that for the rest of his life, Carlos would be well looked after and protected.
Countless Doctors and nurses checked up on Carlos regularly and his condition was improving, but only slightly. Each time they visited Jay felt a tiny bit better before the guilt of what he had done came crashing down upon him.
"Jay…. Oh Jay." The Fairy Godmother sat down beside him as she gave him a hug. Jay had never had any parent that cared for him but he thought this must be how it felt. "Mal and Evie told me that you blame yourself for what happened but you shouldn't. From what I've been told Harry Hook had a history with Carlos and it would take the strongest will imaginable to have survived it. Carlos has before and he will again."
"How can you know that?" Jay asked, his voice was hoarse from all the crying.
"I have hope, it's the most powerful magic of all. I have hope that Carlos will survive this. I have hope that you and him will find your happily ever after together. I've seen you two together out on the Tourney field and in my classes. You both rely on and look up to each other. You have a strong bond and I have faith that it will see you through."
It was a powerful speech but Jay still held some doubt in himself.
"Have you forgotten? We're villains. Villains don't get happy endings." Jay lamented through gritted teeth, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to stream down his face.
"Oh Jay, you're not a villain and neither is Carlos. Your parents were but you are not. We all make choices in our lives and it's our choices that make us who we are, not our parents. Just look at the two of you. When you first arrived in Auradon and fell out of the limo fighting over a blanket you were vastly different people to who you are now. You saved the kingdom at Ben's coronation and you did it again when you rescued Ben from the Isle. You are both heroes. You are more a hero than most of the students who go this school. You two deserve the happiest of endings. This won't be the end of your story, trust me."
As hard as it was for Jay to do so, he did trust that what the Fairy Godmother had said was true. She was a genuinely good person, well, fairy. She had no ulterior motives and she had succeeded in making Jay feel better.
"Thank you." Jay fought back tears for the umpteenth time that day. "I'd never really thought about it like that before. Thanks." He worked up the energy to give her a smile as she stood up with a worried smile.
"I'll give you two some space. I really do hope he wakes up soon. You two deserve each other." With that she walked away as Jay turned back to the sleeping Carlos beside him. It still hurt to see all the cuts and bruises he had suffered at Harry's hand. Jay fought through it though and gave Carlos a kiss on the lips before sitting back down with his hand held tightly in Jay's own. Almost imperceptibly, Jay felt Carlos' hand tighten slightly around his own. He may have imagined it but Jay didn't believe he had. It made him smile and he fell asleep knowing that everything was going to be alright.