Decision made, it didn't take long for Bruno to change into an outfit that would allow him to remain more anonymous and he gathered his sobrina in his arms.

He grimaced at the heat radiating off of her, and he quickly headed into town.

On a normal day, Bruno would have never been able to carry her for so long, even that short distance to the doctor's wouldn't have been possible. But he was too anxious, too worried to even think about that, and before he knew it, he was banging on the door of the doctor's house.

Dr. Mendoza had been the town's doctor since Bruno was a child. He was about his Mama's age, and still going strong.

Bruno remembered a couple of instances as a child when he or one of his sisters needed care, and he had always been kind and willing, even in the middle of the night.

Tonight was no different.

"Hello," Dr. Mendoza greeted softly. "What's going on?"

"She's- she's really sick. Her fever is high, and I can't wake her up."

"Come in, come in." Dr. Mendoza moved aside, and directed Bruno where to set her down. Bruno then pulled his hood down, and the doctor gasped in recognition.

"Bruno Madrigal?" He gaped.

"Yes, yes." Bruno sighed. "Please, it's Mirabel."

"Yes, I see that." The doctor turned to the young girl and asked Bruno all sorts of questions. He asked about her symptoms and what she had been eating or drinking. Bruno detailed all of it as much as he could, considering he had only come out of hiding about 6 hours before. But he had been watching her especially close since the family had left on their trip, so he knew more than he initially anticipated.

"Okay." Dr. Mendoza sighed. "You've done a great job with what you have had available. Now, we're going to do a few things. First, I'm going to set her up with an IV to get some fluids in her. It sounds like she's likely dehydrated. The IV fluids should help her fever, and in the meantime, you and I are going to have our work cut out for us using cool cloths to help bring her temperature down." They set her up on the bed, propping her up with pillows to help her cough like Bruno had at home.

They spent the whole night treating her with the cool cloths, and her temperature did start to come down a little, though her fever didn't break.

Mira stirred early the next morning, asking for water, before she fell back to sleep.

Both men collapsed in chairs, exhausted.

"So, I assume there's a story to your disappearance and your sudden return?"

Bruno grimaced nervously. "There is. I'm not ready to talk about it. The rest of my family doesn't know I'm here yet. I'd like it not to get around the whole Encanto before I am able to talk to them."

"Your secret is safe with me." He consented.

"Can you do me a favor, though? Señora Guzman is supposed to be checking in on Mirabel - could you let her know where she is? So that she doesn't panic when she realizes that Mirabel is not home?"

"Of course, of course. And I think we need to contact Julieta."

"Yes, yes we do." Bruno mused. "I don't know if Dolores could hear me from here."

"I'll see if Señora Guzman could send Mariano to go and bring back Julieta. It's not a far trip by horse, it would take a couple of hours at most."

"That would be best." Bruno consented. "Gracias."

"I'll go take care of all of that right now," The doctor stood up and left, much quicker than Bruno would have expected for a man of his age.

Bruno continued to keep treating Mirabel with the cool cloths. It wasn't long before Dr. Mendoza returned, letting Bruno know that everything they discussed was being taken care of.

Bruno did eventually fall asleep next to Mirabel's bed, though it was not restful. He was up periodically to check on her. Her fever just wouldn't stay down. He jolted with every cough.

Hours later, the door burst open to reveal Julieta, her face lined with fear and her eyes red and puffy.

"Oh, my poor mija," Julieta only had eyes for Mirabel, and Bruno stepped back, ducking his head and handing over the cloth he had been dabbing her face with. Julieta took over Mirabel's care, wringing out the cloth and dabbing her face herself before she looked up and froze. "What- Bruno?" She asked, incredulous. "What - what- I don't understand."

"It's a long story, hermana." He sighed.

Julieta was just gaping at him, as if she didn't know what to make of his sudden presence, but they were interrupted when Mirabel stirred.

"Mama?" She asked.

"I'm here, mija." Julieta turned all of her attention back to her daughter.

Tears leaked out of Mirabel's eyes. "I was scared." She murmured. "When I started feeling sick."

"I'm so sorry I wasn't there, baby." She whispered. "I'm here now. You're going to be just fine."

"I know." Mirabel mumbled. "Tío Bruno has been taking good care of me." Mirabel was asleep again an instant later.

Julieta couldn't help herself, she rushed her hermano, throwing her arms around him tightly. "Oh my God, I can't believe you're here." She pulled back, wiping the tears from her eyes. "What happened?" She asked.

He looked at her, unsure. "With me disappearing or Mirabel being sick?"

Julieta laughed. "I guess both, but start with my mija please."

"Well, to start, you should probably know I've been living in the walls of Casita, but I'll tell you more about that later-"

"Bruno!" She cried out. "What?"

"You want the story about Mirabel first." He reminded her.

"Right, right, go on." She waved him on, and he continued.

"I knew that you were all leaving on a trip and that first Isa and then Mirabel were staying behind. I figured… I mean, I didn't actually anticipate something going wrong, but what kind of Tío would I be if I wasn't watching out for them. Mirabel was fine the day you left, and the day after, though she slept a lot. She started coughing that night, I could hear her from my spot in the walls. By the next day, she was barely moving around. I got even more worried when I heard her going back up to bed that night, and she couldn't stop coughing. So I decided to come out and check on her. That's the only time I'm aware of that she threw up. I got her settled in bed, but she got scared when I was going to the kitchen, so I ended up taking her downstairs with me. I could see into the kitchen, I knew she had barely eaten or drank anything all day, so I got some water in her and I tried to cool her down with cloths like we are doing here. I made a soup-"

"You made soup?" Julieta did not sound convinced.

"It tasted fine!" He protested. "Anyway, I made her soup, and she drank some, but her fever wouldn't go down. When I couldn't wake her up, I realized that I needed help, so I brought her here. Dr. Mendoza and I have been taking care of her, and then this morning we arranged for someone to get you." Bruno flushed, realizing this is the most he had said at once in years.

Julieta surprised him by leaning over and kissing him on the cheek. "Gracias, Brunito. You saved my mija's life."

He flushed deeper. "I wouldn't go that far-" He mumbled.

"I would." She cut him off. "You saved her life. I owe you."

Dr. Mendoza had heard the commotion, and came downstairs to check on things. He talked with Julieta about Mirabel's care for a while, before retreating again with instructions to get him if her symptoms got worse.

Both Julieta and Bruno collapsed in relief when sometime in the middle of the night, Mirabel broke out into a sweat, and her skin finally felt cooler to the touch.

"Her fever broke." Julieta sighed.

"Finally." Bruno leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes.

They both stayed there, quiet, while Mirabel settled into a more restful sleep.

"What happened, Bruno?" Julieta asked her brother quietly.

Bruno opened his mouth to brush her off, but somehow ended up telling her everything, every detail of the vision and how he'd been going to leave when Casita revealed to him that he could stay there in the walls, and that he had been in the walls for years, keeping an eye on them.

Julieta was quiet when he finished, seeming to soak in everything he said before she spoke. "You will come home now."

"Juli-"

"No." Her voice broke. "You will come home. We can tell the family that you left because you refused to do the vision that Mama asked for. They don't need to know that you did it or what it said. I appreciate you trying to protect Mirabel, I appreciate it more than you could ever know, hermanito. But it's time for you to come home. Do you not want to?"

"I do." He murmured. "More than you could possibly comprehend. It's just… complicated."

"We'll uncomplicate it." She declared. "But it's time you come home."

"You're right. It's time I come home."

AN: Alright - there will be one more chapter to this story! Thanks for all the love you have all shown this so far, I hope you enjoy this latest update!

Also if you are reading What about Mirabel? - I'm working on it. I can't post again until I have a more solid plan for where it's going. It's also why I didn't post this chapter yesterday - I took yesterday as a break from fanfiction completely.