Emergency

(Saturday Morning, August 16th)

Carlos stares at the ceiling, as he lays in bed. He tries to get up, but his arms won't lift. He's too weak to move. He hears the pounding in his chest and the rush of blood in his veins. He shuts his eyes, and when they open, he sees him. "Aziz."

"I'm sorry," he apologizes. "You weren't answering."

Carlos's eyes droop, "I'm too tired to do this."

"Do what?"

"Argue with you for no reason," he murmurs.

"You're starting to look pale."

"I'm always pale," Carlos counters.

"You look sick," he clarifies.

"Thank you," Carlos comments, "You can go, now." He smells the pepper scent and opens his eyes, noticing Aziz kneeling over the bed. "I said go."

"I know," he accepts.

Carlos gulps, "I want you closer. Come up." Aziz crawls onto the bed, and Carlos turns onto his other side. He removes the bangs from Aziz's eyes, before he runs his thumb down his cheek and then eyes his neck.

"You're not allowed to kiss me," Aziz reminds him.

"That's not what I was thinking," Carlos trances, before he slowly moves into his neck. It's hard at first, but then it soaks into his mouth. He bites deeper, and his bottom canine gets stuck. He opens his eyes, pulls his mouth from the pillow, and then takes the pillowcase off his tooth. There's a hole. He'd bitten straight through it. He turns onto his back. Aziz was right. He really needs to stop trying to eat non-food items. He clutches his stomach, the feeling of his insides being shoveled out becoming more intense. He can't sleep now, and if he lays in bed any longer, he will become like the living corpse he was in his dream. He has to eat. Carlos stands from the bed. If he can find a couple dollars and go to the market when they open, then he can be back before anyone notices. It's a good thing the palace is on main street.

"No computers at the table," Aziz reminds his father.

Aladdin taps the tablet, "The security system says our front gate isn't working. If I can't troubleshoot it, then it won't go off if someone breaks in."

"There's no intruders?" Jasmine worries.

"No," he confirms. "I checked the cameras." He falters, "I mean, unless they're hiding in someone's bedroom."

"Why don't you get Carlos to help," Aziz suggests. "He's a technology expert."

"He's not feeling well," his father dismisses.

"What do you mean?" Aziz asks.

"Just what I said," he frustrates. "His teeth hurt, he's getting hunger pangs, and he can't get to sleep without a pot of tea. He's weak and lethargic, and—damn it." He tosses the tablet on the table and places a hand to his head.

"Let me try," Aziz offers, before he searches the tablet. "Well, here's your problem." He hands the tablet back to him, "Look."

Aladdin takes it back, "Is that…"

"Someone cut the wires from inside the walls," Aziz finishes. "And I can tell you it's not anyone at this table."

"Carlos," Jasmine analyzes. "But why?"

"To eat something," he assumes.

"Or someone," she suggests.

"He liked the garlic bread," Aziz reminds them. "William said if he had the virus, he wouldn't be able to finish it."

Aladdin looks at his phone, "Good news. He stole my credit card. I know where he is."

When he stands from his seat, Jasmine encourages, "Be careful."

He kisses her cheek, "Promise." before he hands the tablet to Aziz. "Make sure no one realizes they can break in."

"Please," he reminds him.

"Please," Aladdin sighs, before he heads for the door.

"Yeah. I saw him," the cashier answers. "He left an hour ago."

He purses his lips, "Thank you." before he makes his way out the store and heads for the car; however, he notices the dark alley. He moves towards it and sees a figure by the dumpster, "Carlos?" He looks at him before swiftly turning his head away, and Aladdin steps towards him. "Hey." He kneels, notices the variety of meat in the plastic bag. "I'm glad I found you."

"I'm sorry," he apologizes, and Aladdin sighs. "Are you mad?"

"No, Carlos," he frowns. "I'm not mad."

"But I stole your card," he quietly panics, "and spent way more than five dollars."

"I don't care about the money," he reassures. "I'm just happy you're okay." Carlos silences, and he tries to smile, "How about we go home?"

"Aladdin." Carlos faces him and hesitates, "I think it maybe might be kind of a good idea if I sort of went back to Auradon."

"You said you wanted to stay with Jane?" he recalls.

Carlos nods, "Yeah."

"I'll see what Fairy Godmother thinks." Carlos fails to respond, and Aladdin smiles, "Hey. I'm proud of you. It took a lot of courage for you to—"

"Can we not do this right now?" Carlos interrupts.

"Why not?"

"Because," Carlos stresses. "Look at me. I'm eating raw hamburger, asking to be brought back to the land of meat. Even if I am only meat obsessed and not some carnivore, what's Aziz going to think?"

"Why do you care so much about what Aziz thinks?" Aladdin notices, and Carlos eyes away. "Do you like him?"

"I don't dislike him," Carlos confesses, and Aladdin quiets. "Is that weird for you?"

He takes a minute, "Let's pretend I'm your father for a minute." and Carlos looks at him. "I don't want you to change who you are for some guy. Okay? If he's really your friend, he will take you as you are. And that doubles when it comes to the people who love you. Jasmine didn't want Prince Ali. She wanted me—Orphan Aladdin, homeless hustler and professional thief." Carlos stays quiet, and he reassures, "But if it helps, Aziz doesn't need to know about this. I trust you will tell him when you're ready."

"So, what will you tell him?"

"Family emergency." He waits for Carlos to face him again, "Belle wanted me to tell you that Mal's in the hospital."

"They try putting her in the psych clinic all the time," Carlos casually comments.

"She's in a coma," he clarifies. "She drowned, and it caused some brain damage. Her body can't take in heat anymore. She's stuck at room temperature."

Carlos hears his heart speed up, "It seems kind of stupid to be worrying about what some guy thinks now." He gulps, "Is, uh, Evie okay? Ben?"

"I imagine they're taking it pretty hard," he puts forth.

"Probably," Carlos acknowledges. "It's not every day your girlfriend goes braindead."

"She's not braindead," he informs.

"But she's in a coma," Carlos recalls. "She's not getting heat. She will die."

"She can probably still hear you." He suggests, "If you want, you can say goodbye."

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry," he apologizes. "This isn't how I wanted to give the news to you."

"Don't be," he frowns. "Life sucks."

Aladdin nods, "It does."

When he enters the hospital room, Evie looks at him, "Carlos?" She stands up, walking over, before she hugs him. "It's so nice to see you."

"I heard." She let's go, and he observes her, "How are you holding up?"

"Been better." She solemnly laughs, "Better than Ben. He completely blames himself. I wouldn't even be here if he wasn't asleep."

"And Jay?" Carlos questions, and Evie falters. "Right. It's stupid of me to think he would care, being a sociopath or whatever."

"Actually," Evie's eyes widen, "Jay's been taking this really hard. He tried to kill Ben and everything. He's in jail right now."

"He is?" Carlos slowly asks, "What happened, exactly?"

Evie's mouth opens, but she hesitates, "It's a long story." She takes his hand and guides him over to the chairs, before she meets his eyes and explains.

"You were an unstoppable force," Carlos remembers, "and you had all this power. I was starting to think you had to be some kind of god." A breath escapes him, "But, I guess, I was wrong." He starts to cry, "You always knew the right things to say. It might have been rude and callous, but you were always there to help me." He shakes, "I don't want you to leave."

"Hey," Jane softly speaks, and Carlos turns towards her. "Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. I should have waited."

"No." He wipes the tears from his face, "Come in."

She sits next to him, "How are you doing?"

"Been better." He looks at Mal, "She wasn't really nice, but she was always there. It's what I needed. She'd never have the nerve to stand up for me like Jay." He smiles, "She always said that was a good way to get beat up."

"Sounds like she cared about you," Jane acknowledges.

"Yeah."

"Oh." She panics, "Sorry."

He faces her, "For what?"

"Using past tense." She hurriedly explains, "Mal's only been in a coma for less than a week, and already I'm acting like—"

"Jane," Carlos interrupts. "It's okay. As strong as Mal is, I don't know how she could possibly get out of this one."

"Evie must be going through the spell book, though," she hopefully replies.

"You don't know what's wrong with Mal, do you?" Carlos quietly comments.

"I wasn't given a lot of information," she admits.

Carlos points to the monitor, "You see her temperature?"

"She has hypothermia," she notices.

"And you see the heat lamp and electric blanket," he points out. She turns towards him, and he addresses, "Her brain is malfunctioning. Forget about how bad she was at keeping heat. Now, she can't even get it."

"I'm sorry," she sympathizes.

"On the Isle," Carlos seriously says, "we say it sucks."

"A little cold, isn't it?" she unsurely responds.

"Life's cold." Carlos glances at her, "And Mal knows that better than anyone." He meets Jane's eyes, "I don't want anyone to pity me. Just be there for me."

"Okay," she softly accepts. "Do you want me to go?"

"No," Carlos stands from the chair. "My teeth are still killing me. I think I need a snack."

Jane stands, "My mother is waiting for us. We have some food at home."

He nods, "Sounds good."

"Sultan Aladdin wasn't kidding when he said you might be hungry," Fairy Godmother smiles, as Carlos finishes the bacon.

"What happened to your sweet teeth?" Jane notices.

"I've been eating brownies all month," Carlos says, before he looks around. "Is there anything harder? My teeth need a challenge."

"You know," Fairy Godmother moves over to the snack cupboard, "I think we do have something more challenging."

Jane notices her take the stick out, "But that's—"

"Now, Jane," she interrupts, "we have to let him try one."

Jane silences, as she watches Carlos takes the beef stick and bite it. He smiles, "Is that peanut butter?"

"On the inside," Fairy Godmother informs. "It's your reward for making it to the center."

"It never took this long for me to bite through something," Carlos comments.

"It's made for chewing," she explains. "When your teeth get tired, put it in a Ziplock bag for later."

"What is it?" Carlos questions.

Jane frowns, "They're dog treats."

Carlos falters, facing her, "Really?" She nods, and he hums, "Dogs have it good here. Do humans get anything like this?"

"Not really," Fairy Godmother states. "Humans tend to prefer eating something over chewing something."

"It's not safe for humans to eat dog treats, is it?" Jane concerns.

"In moderation," she answers before facing Carlos. "Don't use too many. I read dogs have a lot of vitamin A in their foods. I don't know how that would affect you."

"I mean," Jane protests, "if humans need less, he could overdose."

Carlos interrupts, "Fairy Godmother. Could I have a moment with Jane, please?"

She smiles, "Of course." before she lifts a finger. "Oh. And you're sleeping on the couch tonight, okay?"

Carlos smiles, "Got it."

After she leaves, Jane sits across from him, "Sorry. Even though you've only shown interest in guys, she's still worried about you being here with me—a girl."

"She's just being smart," Carlos understands. "And who knows? Just because I've only liked guys, doesn't mean I couldn't find a girl interesting."

A breath escapes her, "But you would still like guys more, wouldn't you?"

"Maybe." He analyses. "But that's illegal here." He meets her slate blue eyes, "If there's a girl I like, that I'm compatible with, then I owe it to myself to see where it goes."

"I suppose," she eyes down, before she grins and faces him again. "There was something you wanted to tell me?"

"What?"

"You told my mother you needed to talk to me," she reminds him.

"Right." Carlos takes a deep breath, "It's about why I came back early."

"About Mal," she assumes.

"No. Um," Carlos's eyes shift.

"Carlos." She takes his hand, and he looks at her. "What is it?"

He takes a moment, "I didn't know about Mal, until after I decided to come back. The real reason I came back early is because… because…"

"You can tell me," she reassures.

"I had a hard time with their vegetarian lifestyle," Carlos admits. "Like a lot." He takes a deep breath, "So much, in fact, that Aladdin said I should get myself tested for the virus."

"The virus," she repeats, before she shakes her head. "Carlos. You don't look like a predator to me. I mean, you don't act like one."

"Maybe it's not something you can see," he examines, and she quiets. "I'm going to get tested, and I'm actually really nervous about it all." They meet each other's eyes, and he asks, "If the test comes back positive, would it change the way you feel about me?"

"No." Jane grins, "Carlos. You will always be my friend, and nothing could ever change that."

"Right." Carlos lets go of her hand, "That means a lot."