Emma

His dad, David Edwards, partner lawyer of a firm, was unremarkable as a parent. Too busy on the phone to care for the children and when he wasn't distracted he only focused on the older boys to please his wife. It was because of her that Mars would never had a strong relationship with his dad. Not that he wanted one anyways.

Tatiana Edwards, was the matriarch of the house. Whatever she said goes and everyone did as she told. Whenever David was alone with Mars she was quick to interrupt. She would make him go and play with the other children. Mars really hated being at his dad's house.

So the day you drop him off, he plans to run away. He sits in his barren room all day pretending to read or do work packets to be left alone. While at dinner, he picks at his plate. The family talk to each other about their plans for the week as if Mars wasn't there. He wishes you'd given him a phone. Not to call you for anything but to entertain himself during these dull moments.

"I can't make the baseball game, son, I have to go to Philly for a few days." David says not looking up from his phone. Sending lewd messages to whatever secretary will give a damn probably. Mars has seen his emails.

"There's another on Saturday." Tatiana shoots him a death glare. "Daddy will be there for you, sweetie."

"What are you looking at?" Corey spat towards Mars.

The boy doesn't respond, knowing it wouldn't matter what he said; Everyone would get upset. "I'm not feeling well, may I be excused?" Mars mutters.

Tatiana looks him up and down, "Sure."

After he leaves the dinner table, he puts his plan to escape into play. He gets ready for bed but puts on his days clothes before getting under the blankets. He waits for his dad to come "check on him," turn off the light, and close the door to say goodnight.

After the light is out and the door is closed, Mars jumps into action. He locks the door and grabs his backpack. He puts some stuffed animals under a blanket to pass off as himself. It was time to put his wits to the test now, as he blocks the door with a cinder block. A 'dare' Corey made him bring it into the house. They wouldn't be able to see his bed from the door with the cinder block skewing the view.

From his window, he climbs out onto the porch roof. Carefully, he walks across to the garden trellis attached to the porch. He climbs down and lands in the garden. He runs along the front lawn and heads to a place he knew he could get to.

-

"Hey, good morning, you're probably busy getting ready for the day right now but I just wanted to check on you. I miss you and Mars. I feel like my day doesn't really start until I hear from either of you. I hope everything is going okay. Call me when you can. Bye." Robby ends the voicemail before heading back inside the ED.

It's been a few months since you've officially started dating Robby. He didn't think that you going away for a week would affect him so deeply. He used to be grateful when you were out of town but now he didn't know what to do with himself.

He'd come over, you'd make dinner together, Mars would show him a science project he was working on. You'd talk late into the night in bed. He missed your voice, your smile, your skin, your touch, your eyes, your lips—

"Robby, MVA incoming. Where are you right now? La La Land?!" Dana shakes her head.

He was distracted all day, thinking about you. Waiting for you to call him back. A little bit of him hoped that Mars would come barrelling through the bay doors to tell him something.

After a few trauma and a dozen patients discharged, he sits at the nurse's station to chart before picking up some more patients. As he walks down the hall when he's done, he swears he sees a boy who looks like Mars walking around. It had only been a couple days since he's seen the boy, delirium seems a little excessive. He shrugs it off and enters a room to see a patient.

As he finishes, he sees the boy walk past the window. This time he was sure the boy was real. "That boy… I saw him in the lobby earlier rooting around in the vending machine for a snack," The patient says, "I gave him a dollar fifty for a bag of chips." Robby furrows his brows and excuses himself. He then goes into the hall looking for the boy.

"What's the matter?" Dana notices his concerned face.

"I could have sworn, I saw Mars down here." He looks around troubled, "But he should be with his dad right now."

"Maybe he stopped by for a visit?" Dana suggests.

Robby doesn't feel confident that it was Mars or not. And if it was, his father would go out of his way to visit your workplace for Mars. Another patient is wheeled through the ambulance bay door making him concentrate back on work.

They are put in trauma one and Garcia comes down for an assist. When she enters, she jokes, "When did the hospital start hiring toddlers for food service?"

Everyone looks between each other confused then back at her. They wait for her to elaborate on the punchline, "I just saw a kid with a bunch of snacks in his hands heading up the elevator."

Robby's brow furrow, "What did he look like?"

Garcia gives the description and he swears under his breath. The boy really was Mars. His mind goes a mile a minute as he thinks about where Mars could go in the hospital. After the patient is stabilized he asks Garcia, "Did you see what button he may have reached when you got off?"

"I think he asked for the sixth floor." She recalls

Sixth floor was the Pediatric floor. Robby enters the elevator with a worried sigh. He pulls out his phone and calls you. After a few rings, you answer, "Hey, I was going to call you back. I miss you too."

"Hey, I don't want to scare you—"

"Oh god."

"I think Mars is in the hospital right now."

"What?! As a patient?!"

"No, no, just here wandering around." He explains, "I thought he was with his dad."

"He is supposed to be. Are you sure it was him?" You worry, "I have to call David. I can't believe this is happening."

"I'm looking for him right now. I'll call you back when I find him." He assures, "Hold off on calling in case I'm just being a lonely sociopath."

He hangs up as he arrives to the Pediatric ward. He searches the hall and stops at the nurse's station, "Have you seen a little boy here? About yay high, wearing a shirt with an astronaut on it."

"Oh, there's a boy in the waiting room matching that description. He said he was waiting for his mom." A nurse says.

He nods and thanks them before heading to the waiting room. There by the fish tank, the boy sits staring at the fish swim around inside. Robby comes up beside him and confirms it was Mars. He sits down beside him. The boy looks tired as he watches the fish. He smelled a little dingy like he hadn't showered in a few days. "The Carrassius auratus commonly known as the goldfish. It's actually an invasive species in America due to their opportunistic feeding tendencies. When they are released from captivity they have the ability to destroy entire ecosystems." He says.

"Mars, what are you doing here? How did you get here?" Robby asks the boy softly.

"I ran away." He confesses, tears welling up in his eyes, "I hate my dad's house."

"When did you get here?"

"Late Monday night. Tuesday morning when it was still dark out."

It was Wednesday now. Robby tries to hide his disbelief. He's been missing a day and a half and his dad hasn't come looking for him. "Where have you been sleeping?"

"The abandoned wing of the hospital." He purses his lips.

Robby sighs, "C'mon let's get your stuff."

"No!" The boy flinches, "No! Don't take me back! You can't make me!"

"Mars, please. I won't make you go back. I just want to see where you're staying and call you mom to let her know you're safe." He pulls the boy into his lap and dials your number.

"Is it him?" You picked up quickly.

"Hi, Mommy." Mars murmurs

"Mars," You whisper in relief, "Why did you run away?"

"They don't care about me. I was going to wait in the hospital until you came back."

"What were you going to eat?! Or where you sleeping?! Oh my god…" You take a breath, "I am going to call your father and tell him what has happened before he calls the cops. When did you run away?"

"Monday night?"

"Monday?! You've been missing for almost 2 days?!" You shout, "You are in so much trouble. Your dad is in bigger trouble. I can't believe you, Mars."

"Please don't make me go back." He begs.

"Then who will watch you, Mars?! You can not keep making grown up decisions without a grown up!" You raise your voice then calm down again, "I am going to call your dad and we will discuss what to do."

"Wait, hang on, I know it's not my place but… if it's bad enough for him to want to run, maybe I could watch him until you get back." Robby proposed.

You pause for a moment, "Are you being serious?"

"Yes, he can stay with me. He can sleep in my bed. I can take the couch. All until you get back." He offers again.

"Yeah! I could stay with Robby! Please!" Mars smiles. The first time since being found.

"I don't know… I've got to call his dad." You sigh, "Can you keep him until I get back to you?"

"Of course. Call me back as soon as you can." He hangs up. He gets up while carrying Mars and goes to the abandoned wing for his stuff.

While in the room he sees all the food wrappers of what he had taken. There were some gowns on the bed for blankets. Mars grabs his backpack and starts to clean up. Robby helps him by collecting the gowns and arranging the room as if it was untouched.

When they arrive in the ED, Robby puts Mars in a bed for him to rest. "So it was Mars." Dana watches him as he does a check up on the boy.

"Yeah, he ran away from his dad's. He was living in the hospital the last few days." Robby sighs, "Go ahead and rest here Mars, I'll come back to check on you okay?" The boy nods before laying his head on his pillow.

They walk out the room. "I offered to let him stay with me for the week."

"Really?" Dana gapes.

"Why not? He looked miserable when I found him. He would rather be eating bags of chips and hospital scraps than be at his dad's. That says something, right?"

"I guess," She shakes her head, "What did the missus say about it?"

"She'll let me know." He checks his phone for any new massages, "I'm going to catch up on patients to keep my mind off things. Could you check on Mars? He's a little dehydrated."

"You want an IV?"

"Nah it's not severe, maybe a Gatorade? Or some milk?"

"You got it."

"Thanks"

-

It's late into his shift when you call. Robby was getting nervous. When he answers, he hears the quiver in your voice like you had been crying, "Hey."

"Hey, is everything okay?" He asks.

"Um, for now. The fucking prick went to Philly, neglecting to tell me he was leaving too." You sniffle, "His wife, that bitch, thought Mars was sick but didn't check on him for a day and a half. Like who does that?!" You sob, "They disgust me. You know, it's always been like this. Mars suffers because what they really want to do is take it out on me."

"It's okay. It's okay." He hushes you, "We can figure it out. Mars can stay at mine until you get back."

"Could you? I told David a friend could look after Mars. I do not want him alone with that woman and her hell spawn."

"Of course, I am almost off. It'll be fine." He smiles, "I'm in your corner, Honey. Take a breath for me."

Silence.

"I want to hear you," He says. On the other end you audibly inhale through your nose and out through your mouth. You do it a few times.

"I should just come home." You say defeated.

"Hey, the crisis is averted. Mars is in trusted hands again. You'll just be upset all over again," He says, "It's just a few more days, we'll be okay."

"Okay… okay. I trust you. I am trusting you." You say, "Thank you, Robby."

"You're very welcome. I'll see you soon." He hangs up.

He heads back inside to check on Mars. Dana sits by his bed as Mars lays asleep, "He went to sleep after I have him a cup of milk. He was mumbling about flight paths and orbit until he closed his eyes."

"He's going to come home with me." He says, "Spend the weekend together until his mom comes back."

"He'll be happy about that. How is she doing?"

"Upset. Rightfully so, I can't imagine neglecting a child the way that family has. Pretending he doesn't exist. It's horrible," He touches Mars' forehead, "To look at him and not see him as an innocent child, his son. Never in my wildest dreams could I do that."

Dana looks at Robby's face. He looks fondly at the sleeping child. A smile grows on her face, "You should take him home soon."

"As soon as Shen comes in." He rubs the boy's head and leaves the room to finish his shift.

When Shen arrives, Robby carries Mars as he hands over his patients. The boy lays on his shoulder, eyes closed and unbothered by the movement and chatter. "Cute kid," Shen points.

"Thanks. That is everything. We are out of here." Robby says, "You all have a good night."

Robby thanks his lucky stars he drove his car today. They arrive at his house. It was a small apartment; one bedroom, one and a half bath. Even with his salary, he felt no need to upgrade. He lays the boy on the couch and nudges him awake.

"Robby?" Mars rubs his eyes, "Where am I?"

"My house." He smiles, "You always seem to get your way buddy."

He hugs Robby, "Thank you."

"No, thank you! You got me out of work on time." Robby pats the boy on the back, "You must be hungry. What do you think we should have for dinner?"

"I don't know. What do you have?"

What did Robby have? He was good a cooking but he never had ingredients at home. Last time he made a meal it was at your place. The two of you went grocery shopping together. He looks through his cabinets with a sigh, "I don't know."

"Let me see." Mars gets off the couch and inspects the food in the pantry and the fridge, "Here, we could make spam fried rice. You have all the ingredients." Mars holds the can of spam.

"Do you know how to cook?" Robby raises an eyebrow.

"I'm not allowed to operate anything in the kitchen other than the microwave without adult supervision." He recites.

"You're in luck, I am an adult who supervises for a living." Robby brings over a dining chair for the boy to use as a stool.

Mars instructs him on what to do. The rice cooks and he dices the spam and puts it in the soy sauce marinade. When it's all ready he tosses it in a pan with some frozen veggie mix to fry. When it's all finished he serves the food at the table.

"So, why don't you like your dad's?" Robby asks.

"Because his family sucks," He says plainly, "His wife makes me call her Mrs. Edwards as some weird power trip. My dad doesn't know anything about me. I don't think he cares to. And their kids hate me."

Robby purses his lips disappointedly, "But your mom takes you there…"

"She has to. When I was little there was a huge custody battle. They spent a lot of money on lawyers to get their way," He explains, "I was going to have to live them full time but my dad changed his mind. Said a month in the summer would suffice. I think he still cares about her. Feels bad after his wife's cruelty."

"Still seems like kind of a dick." Robby mumbles.

"Mom says that too," Mars giggles.

They laugh together. "Surely, they know how smart you are."

"They know…ish."

"Ish?"

"I only read books in my grade level around them. And I don't talk much." He scoops his food, "If they found out, they'd probably try to ship me away to MIT or something. They would just try to turn a profit from me."

"But your mom still treats you like a kid." Robby nods.

"Exactly. Even if I'm some prodigy my mom treats me like a kid. We go to Kennywood in the summer, she takes me trick or treating and helps me make a costume, she builds snowmen with me in the snow. I like all that stuff. Just because I'm smart doesn't mean I'm not a kid." Mars smiles.

After dinner, Robby calls you to talk to Mars, "You'll be respectful in his house. Do as your told."

"Yes mom." Mars says.

"Good, I love you and I miss. Please don't give me a scare like that again." You blow kisses to the your phone. "Now put Robby on the phone." Mars hands the phone to Robby and goes to the living room to sit.

"Hi, you." Robby puts the phone to his ear.

"Hi. I can't thank you enough for doing this. I've been on and off the phone with David all day. I've got a bit of a headache and Gloria is trying to force me to attend a mixer tonight.

"Then don't go." He chuckles, "Say, Mars isn't feeling well."

"You're being a bad influence," You giggle, "I just want to stay on the phone with you instead."

You sigh dreamily and Robby's heart squeezes at the sound. He's never yearned for someone before. He smiles, "I miss you too."

"Oh, I know you do, from the endless voicemails you send throughout the day."

"Don't make me sound so desperate." He cringes.

"That's because you are." You laugh, "Should I take an earlier flight to make you feel better."

"Maybe?"

"I'll head straight to your house from the airport too."

"I'm sold," He smiles, "Go and have fun. Mars and I can manage without you for a few days. Actually Mars is…" He checks in the living room to see him reading one of his medical textbooks. He sits in Robby's cozy reading recliner with the book in his lap. He lays his head on the arm rest and fights his eyelids from closing too long, "He's doing fine."

"Alright, I'll talk to you later. I love you…" You trail off. A smile grows on his face as you start to sputter, " I didn't mean to— I mean I did but I didn't want to— It's just a little soon to—"

"I know what you meant. I feel the same." He assures, "See you when you get back."

He hangs up the phone and walks over to Mars. He takes the book from his lap and picks him up. He carries him to bed. He looks so small in Robby's big bed as he tucked him in.

Robby stands at the door as Mars gets more comfortable in the bed. He smiles to himself before closing the door. He lays on the couch as he replays your words in his mind. He would have said it too, but you were so flustered he didn't want to overwhelm you. He opens his phone and calls you back. It's goes to voicemail.

"Good evening, I know we just got off the phone. I put Mars to bed and I am laying here thinking about what you said. I just want to say, I love you too. I didn't want to freak you out any more but I didn't want you to think what you said was wrong and—"

"Say it again." You pick up the phone, "I want to hear you say it."

"I love you too." He bites back a smile.

"You're not just saying it because I said it first right?"

"No. It's something I felt for some time."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"And you're not going to get sick of me?"

"Not for a while, no."

"Okay, define a while because in my mind a few months is a while."

"Oh longer than that," He chuckles.

"Then when? It's a very valid concern."

"With how this conversation is going it may be shorter."

"Robby!"

You continue talking on the phone through the night until you both asleep.

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