I dialed the number on my phone and pressed it against my ear to wait. "9-1-1 whats your emergency?"

"Uhm, I found this little girl who appears to be sick and abandoned." I said into the receiver as I adjusted her position.

"Can you tell me if there are any serious injuries?"

I looked over the little girl quickly as I tried to find any. "Not that I can tell, she has a fever though."

"Are you near a hospital?"

"Yes, I'm a few blocks from one."

"Head there with her so they can take care of her, I will have officers on their way to meet you there to take your statement."

"Yes, Ma'am. I'll be at woodscrest memorial." The call ended with not much more than a simple farewell. However, now was the harder part. It took a moment for me to adjust to her so that I could carry her and grab my backpack from the ground.

Walking to the hospital was a bit strange, though how could it not be. I had just found this abandoned child and was carrying her. Would someone believe me if I was stopped? Do people just assume were related? Or are people calling the police because of this? I knew these questions were ludicrous, well at least a part of my brain knew that.

While i was caught up in my own paranoia i noticed i was fast approaching the hospital. As I did I could see a couple of cops standing in front of the building, most likely waiting on me.

"Sir, are you the one that called about the little girl?" The taller of the two asked as he walked over to me with his partner close behind.

"Yes." I know their cops and all but I've always felt nervous talking to the police. It's not that i'm scared of them, they just project so much authority.

The second officer, who was a bit shorter then the first but clearly in his later years smiled and came closer to me. "Don't worry kid, we just wanna make sure she's ok. Go on and take her inside to the nurse that's waiting. Child services are on the way so we'll be in there to chat in a bit."

"Yes sir." The older man planted a solid pat on my back as I walked past them to go inside. Luna still safely tucked into the nook of my neck and wrapped in the thickness of my jacket.

Though I realized I may need a jacket too as soon as I walked into the hospital. It had warmed up outside through the day but the inside of the hospital felt like walking into an industrial freezer at first. Though before I could walk but a few feet in a nurse approached me. "Hey there. We have a spot waiting on her to get her checked out. Go ahead and follow me."

I did as instructed and followed the nurse to the back where a small examination room was ready for us. I took a seat on the paper covered bed and the nurse set to work checking her heart and blood pressure as she slept huddled into my side.

The nurse smiled slightly as she watched the little girl, "She seems a little attached to you." I could hardly do more than a slight chuckle. "Anyway, follow me and i'll take you to her room. The doctor plans on admitting her for at least the night."

It took a moment for me to get up since Luna had slid slightly to my side as we sat down, but I managed to get up and follow the nurse once again. She led me into a standard looking hospital room, single bed in the middle and a chair to the side. I moved over to sit on the bed with her and the nurse simply gave a small smile before leaving again.

I wish I could say that it gave us a few minutes of peace but there was a knock on the door and the older of the two officers walked in again. "Hi again you two. Sorry I didn't introduce myself before, the name's Paul."

He stretched out his hand and I extended mine to shake. "Max." Was all i could say as we greeted each other.

"It's a pleasure to meet you max. Why don't you tell me about everything that's happened today?" He pulled up the chair that was set to the side.

I took a deep breath to calm myself before I told him everything. Recapping from the moment I heard her crying to bringing her here to the hospital. The two of us sat there chatting for a bit after I told him what happened. He asked me a few basic questions about her hoping I had something that would help him. However the only thing i could tell him was that her name was Luna.

During the time we talked the nurse returned and began hooking Luna up to an I.V. and other things. The whole time I kept a solid grip on Luna, I almost didn't realize it at first.

As soon as the nurse finished up and left the officer did as well and I was alone with Luna who was still peacefully asleep. I sat there for a long time just sitting. Not really much else to do. That is until my phone started ringing. I picked it up to see Nona calling. "Hello."

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!! DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED WE ARE RIGHT NOW!!" I had to quickly cover the phone as Nona's voice rang out.

"Nona calm down I'm fine." I could hear her huffing into the phone before she continued.

"You better have a good reason for not even calling, it's not about not having a cook it's about you not answering my calls or calling when you're over an hour and a half late!" She practically growled into my ear. "Now start talking!"

"Uhhh, it's a really long story. I'm at the hospi-"

"YOUR AT THE HOSPITAL!!! HOLD IT RIGHT THERE I AM ON MY WAY!!!!!" before i could even finish my sentences she had hung up.

"Awe crap." I slumped into the bed as I realized Nona was going to kill me. I stayed in my laid back position until I heard a crash followed closely by an angry yell. "She's here"

"I don't care! My best friend is in there and I need to see him!" I could hear Nona pushing the police officer that was outside over the desk.

A moment later and the door flew open. Before I knew it though, I had grabbed Luna and pulled her tightly to my chest in an instinctual reaction. When I looked back up I saw Nona staring at me in shock. "H-Hey."

I watched as her shock changed into confusion as she looked at the little girl in my arms. "Ma'am this is a restricted room!" The taller of the two cops went in and tried to grab Nona.

"No. It's ok. She's a friend." The officer looked at Nona for a moment before turning and leaving. I took a moment to look a little closer at Nona, she had probably come running from the cafe since she was still wearing her apron and had her black hair tied in a very messy bun. "You probably should have left the rolling pin at the cafe."

She looked in her hands and saw she was still holding the rolling pin. "Yeah, i guess yo-" She stopped and I knew my distraction had not worked. She snapped her eyes up at me and pointed the rolling pin in my face. "Don't you dare try and switch around the blam-. You know what i mean."

Nona walked over to me and looked down to Luna, "I found her alone and scared a few blocks over.I tried to calm her down and she ended up latching on to me. Her name is Luna."

"Wow, she looks so cute." Nona instantly melted as she looked at the little girl. She had always been a hard headed person but... cute stuff was her one and, unfortunately, only weakness.

"She does doesn't she? Look i'm sorry i didn't show up for work, things just kind of, snowballed into being here." As we sat there I felt Luna starting to stir in my arms. I looked down at her as she started to sit up in my lap and rub the sleep from her eyes.

She noticed the heart monitor on her finger and then the I.V. in her arm, finally she looked up to me and her eyes widened. She started tearing up and immediately tried to jump away from me. I reacted on instinct and held her close to my chest as she tried to struggle. My voice stayed calm and low as I tried to calm her. "Shh, it's ok. Calm down you're going to hurt yourself."

Once she heard what I said she froze in my arms, she simply stopped. Her eyes rose to look at me and they were filled with waves of emotion, the most noticeable being confusion that barely clouded her fear. "Are you ok, you didn't hurt your hand did you?" I reached over and picked up the hand that had the I.V. and noticed she had yanked it slightly and her skin was becoming irritated. "Oh, does it hurt? Let me call the nurse and see if she can take care of this."

After hitting the call button for the nurse i turned back to Luna as she looked up at me with her deep blue eyes that were framed by dirty blond hair. She simply stared at me as we sat and the nurse came in. She continued to stare at me as the nurse fixed her I.V. and made sure she wasn't going to get infected by having yanked the needle.

Nona sat in the chair next to the bed and watched as Luna continued to just, stare. I could see what I assumed was confusion in her eyes as she watched me. Luna reached down slightly and grabbed the hem of my jacket before pulling it up to cover herself and said one word, "Warm"

"How do you feel Luna?" I asked as she pulled the hood up onto her head and fully wrapped herself up in the very oversized jacket.

However, before she could even open her mouth there was a knock on the door. "Come in." Nona spoke and the door opened to reveal an older man wearing a simple dark blue suit.

"Hi there, my name is detective Bendela. I have some news regarding little Luna here." He paused as he looked down to Luna with a sad look in his eyes. "The lab managed to get a lead about her family, we even managed to get in contact with her father."

Luna flinched and quickly moved so that she was hiding in my chest, completely hidden by the jacket. "I'm assuming that's where things get complicated?"

"Yes, in a nutshell, he refuses to come pick her up. He said he was glad he could finally be rid of her." Oddly enough I felt Luna sigh into my chest like she was relieved.

"If I had to guess, I'd say that's not a bad thing." Nona said as she looked up at the officer.

He sighed as he spoke. "I'd have to agree. Anywho, we have someone from child protective services on their way to take her. You two can go since we already have your statements."

I felt Luna grip my shirt and looked down at her before looking up at the Detective, "No. I... I'll take her in."

The two adults in the room looked over to me and I felt Luna loosen her grip as she buried her head into my chest. Nona let out a soft chuckle before she spoke again "Shoulda seen that coming."

"I gotta admit i didn't expect that." The detective spoke with a concerned look on his face. "You sure about this? I mean, that is a huge responsibility."

Looking down at the little bit of Luna I could see through the jacket I could feel an instinct in me that was screaming do not let her go. She needs you. "I'm more than sure."

Detective Bendela smiled slightly and shook his head. "Been a while since I've met someone as young as you with as good a heart as yours. If you're serious about this then the women coming to pick her up will be able to take care of the paperwork. I guess i should be on my way then."

With that the detective left and I was left with just Nona and Luna. Nona stood and walked over to the edge of the bed to sit. "I can see it in your eyes that you're not gonna budge, so I won't argue, but remember, you have us if you ever need help."

"I know, and thank you." I looked up to Nona and realized I was mimicked by Luna who was also looking up at her as well.

"So, what's the plan? I won't let you take her back to that god awful apartment." I looked down at Luna and knew Nona was right.

What the hell am I going to do?