I don't own anything relating to Descendants, Disney, Dove or Sofia.
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Mal sat on her bed, flipping through old photo albums. Macie slept curled up into her mom, completely passed out. The older woman flipped through the pages of the book. She stopped on a page that has pictures of their very first day at Auradon prep. Mal traced photos with her fingers, memories flooding her brain. She would never forget Carlos and Jay stuffing their faces with everything they could find, or Evie trying rock candy for the first time, nearly breaking her tooth.
She flipped through a few more pages, chuckling a little at just how purple her hair once was. A couple more pages later, her own face pressed against Evie's, giant grins on there faces as they ate ice cream. Finally she came to the picture she had been searching for. The last picture Evie and Mal had taken together. There they stood with Jay and Carlos the night of the ball. They all looked so happy, no idea everything would be completely different the following day. Once Evie and Mal fell out, Mal fell away from the boys too. She broke up with Ben and moved away a couple months later. Auradon wasn't that big but she had moved as far away as she could, even spending some time back on the Isle.
The cell phone on her nightstand started to ring. Mal grabbed it quickly, looking at her sleeping daughter. Macie shifted a little but stayed asleep.
"Hello?" Mal said as quietly as she could.
"Mal, I'm really sorry to bother you at work but we kind of have a situation here with your friend."
Mal sighed, "what kind of situation?"
"Well they have moved her down to detox but she is completely freaking out. I guess one of the male nurses tried to search her for drugs. I'm not entirely sure but they asked if I could call you."
Mal looked over at her daughter. "What am I supposed to do about it? Macie is fast asleep." Mal had zero desire to wake her child up from a nap, especially to help a women who blamed her for being raped.
The other woman paused for a moment. "Can you bring Macie with you? She can hang out at the nurses desk with us for a little while."
Mal hesitated. She didn't leave her kid with many people. "Are you guys sure you can't calm her down? We aren't even friends anymore."
"They are going to kick her out of the program if she doesn't calm down."
Mal glanced over at her kid once again, debating her choices. "Fine, I'll be there as soon as I can." With that, she clicked the end button on her phone and sat up.
"Macie, baby," Mal gently shook the small girl. Macie groaned in response. "I know baby." Mal gently scooped up her only love and carried her to the car before strapping her into the car seat. Mal was trying so hard to not let her frustrations out at the entire situation. Evie wasn't her problem to deal with. Mal felt her eyes glow green and heat up as she drove. She tried her hardest to calm them but was struggling. Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Glancing in the rear view mirror, she saw the only thing that mattered to her, snoozing away without a care in the world. Mal felt her eyes cooling down as she shifted her eyes from the mirror back to the road. She continued to take deep breaths until they pulled into the parking lot. Undoing what she had done only minutes before, Mal unbuckled Macie from the car seat, holding her close as she made her way inside.
"Hi, Mal," a couple of the administrative staff said as she walked passed them and headed to the nurses station.
"Hey," Sofia said, waving. "I guess they called you in?"
"Yep. Perfect Mal here to save the day," Mal rolled her eyes. "Can you watch her? She will probably stay asleep. She's really tired." Mal passed her daughter over to her friend, placing Macie's backpack down next to her. "Diapers, snacks, all that jazz are in the bag."
Sofia nodded in understanding. Macie snuggled into Sofia's shoulder, still completely oblivious to the world around her. Mal brushed the tiny locks of hair out of her child's face before kissing her goodbye. "I won't be long," Mal stated.
With that, she turned around and headed over to the drug unit of the hospital. Mal had no idea why this part even existed. They rarely had people there. While there was a small drug problem in certain parts, it certainly wasn't newsworthy.
Mal pushed open the set of doors before flashing her nurses badge and walking through the second set. "Hi, Fred," Mal waved at the security guard. "Where is she?"
Fred pointed down the hallway, "2nd door on the left."
Mal simple nodded and walked in the direction he pointed. She glanced in the window of the room and saw the blue haired woman just sitting on the bed in a trance.
"Here goes nothing," Mal whispered to herself right before pushing the door open.
"Mal?" Evie said quietly, looking up at the intruder.
"I was asked to come help." Mal walked slightly closer to the bed. "On my day off no less. To help someone who doesn't want my help."
"M..." Evie's started.
"No." Mal snapped, "You do not get to call me that."
Evie just nodded. Mal took this moment to really look at the other girl. Her hair was wet, soaked in sweat. Her tiny frame engulfed in the hospital gown she was wearing. Her eyes were slightly sunken in and the dark circles under her eyes made her look dead.
"You look like hell," Mal told her.
"I feel it."
Silence engulfed the room, neither knowing what to say. It was Mal who finally broke the silence. "You need to let them check you out. They need to make sure you don't have any drugs on you."
"He touched me," Evie simply said.
"Yeah that's kind of the point," Mal said, clearly missing the point of Evie's words. "He has to check and make sure you don't have any coke anywhere so you can complete detox." Mal moved closer and sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Can you do it?" Evie asked her, her eyes darker than normal.
"I'm not a drug nurse, Evie. I work in the ER. There is protocol."
"Screw protocol, Mal." Evie said harshly.
"No," Mal rebutted, "that's not what is happening here. I came in on my day off. I had to bring my sleeping toddler up here to help you."
"Your kid is here?" Evie's asked. Mal nodded. "Can I see her?"
Mal's eyes widen in surprise at the ridiculousness of the question. "No, Evie. I know it's shocking but my toddler isn't allowed in the drug ward."
"Right."
Silence encroached again. "Look, you need to let them help you. And I need to get Macie back home to bed to finish her nap. Understand?" Mal practically demanded. Evie just nodded, tears forming in her eyes.
"I just thought it might be easier if a friend checked me. That's all."
Mal cleared her throat, "we aren't friends Evie. We just used to know each other as kids."
"Mal..." Evie looked down, picking at her nails.
"Look, Evie, you and I don't know each other anymore. I don't know about you but I'm not the person you knew when we were younger." Mal stood up and walked over to the side of the bed. "You need to figure your shit out. It's not my responsibility to fix that. It's on you."
"I didn't ask you to fix me!" Evie snapped.
"No, you just had them call me in because you refuse to go through detox!"
"That's not why I freaked out. It wasn't some twisted plan to get you here. Mal, it was a guy. A guy I don't know wanting to take off my clothes and feel around for drugs."
Mal stared at the other woman for a moment before the realization hit her. "Oh." Evie nodded slowly.
"Did you ask for a female nurse?"
"They told me there weren't any working today in this unit." Evie told her.
"Ugh," Mal groaned. "Give me a minute." She walked out of the room and headed back over the nurses station. "Will you please make a note in Evie's chart to say that only female nurses can interact with her? As well as note that I'm going to do the check and get her settled?"
Sofia nodded. Mal looked over and saw that Sofia had made a pallet on the floor and that her daughter was still completely asleep, not even the commotion disturbing her. "Thanks," Mal said, "for that too." She pointed down at the sleeping child. "I'll be back as soon as I can."
Once she made it back to Evie's room, she instructed the blue haired woman to stand up. Even barefoot, she was taller than Mal. "Clothes off," she told her. Evie did as she was instructed. Mal quickly searched her to make sure she wasn't hiding anything in her underwear as well as making a mental note of any marks on the woman's body. "Alright, you look clean," Mal waved her hand, indicating that Evie could put on the hospital scrubs she was given.
"Thank you," Evie told her once she was dressed.
"Yep," Mal responded coldly. "You're all set. I had them make a note about female nurses so you should be good to go. Good luck." She turned to leave and Evie spoke again.
"Please don't leave me."
"Why not? You blame me for what happened to you. Somehow me not being able to see the future meant you got hurt." Mal chewed on her lip.
"I didn't mean to blame you," Evie told her. Moments later she ran to the bathroom and vomited the little amount she had eaten. Mal rushes in behind her and held her hair, rubbing her back until the feeling passed. Evie sat down on the floor, tears in her eyes. "I hate this."
"Yeah, I remember how it felt. It was some of the worst days of my life." Mal sat down next to Evie's, clasping her hands together in her lap.
"What made you stop?"
Mal smiled, "Macie."
"I don't think I'll be taking that approach," Evie chuckled.
"It's hard. Being clean is hard. But it's worth it. I look back at the person I was when I was using. I'm ashamed of her."
"Yeah. I get that." Evie told her.
"You've got the hard part over with." Mal pointed a the toilet, "Well mostly."
"You think so?"
"The first few days are the hardest to ignore the cravings. It'll get easier."
"Really?"
"No," Mal laughed. "It'll be easier to find other things to do though."
"I do miss designing." Evie shrugged. "All the money I got from that, I used on drugs."
"Look, the offer to stay with me is still there, even if we aren't friends." Mal told her, looking into her brown eyes. "Someone has to help you get back on your feet. Might as well be me."
"Thanks, Mal."
"Anytime."
"I want us to be friends again. I miss you." Evie said almost silently.
"I miss you too, Evie but I don't know if can trust you. I understand what happened to you and why you did it but you cut me out of your life. You ended our friendship with no explanation. You were my family. Those scars may never heal."
Mal stood up, crossing her arms over her chest. Evie looked up at her. "I know."
Mal reached out her hand after a few moments and helped her up, guiding her back to her bed. The taller woman was still very shaking and unsteady on her feet.
"I really have to get Macie home," Mal looked over at the door. "Will you be alright?"
"It's not like I have a choice." Evie told her.
"I'll check on your tomorrow then." Mal waved to Evie before walking out the door. Her heart hurt and she could feel her eyes glowing green. The pain she was feeling caused her body to react. Seeing the person she once cared about more than anything else hurting like that was hard. Mal closed her eyes and took deep breaths, willing her eyes to calm down. Finally she felt her face cool and she walked back to the nurses station where she had left her kid.
"Thanks again, Sofia," Mal told her as she scooped up her daughter once again. "I owe you one."
