Aaron's father had done a lot of damage to him - concussion, bruised and broken ribs, internal bleeding. Three weeks had passed by before Aaron woke up. He blinked his eyes and looked over to see his girlfriend and brother sitting by his bedside. He smiled, happy to see them.

"How long have you both been there?"

Sean focused on his brother, eyes widening in glee, "Aaron!" He stood up to hug his brother.

"Gentle." Emily warned

Sean suddenly backed away, afraid of hurting his older brother.

That's when Aaron noticed his brother was wearing different clothes.

"Hey Sean, it's okay. Come give me a hug." Aaron encouraged

The six year old inched forward, gently draping his arms over his brother, hugging him in a way not to hurt him.

"We were all so worried about you." Emily admitted, "Even my dad."

Aaron realised that he had no idea how long he had been out for. He had no idea how much time had passed since his father had beat him. He didn't even know what had happened to his father, but he assumed that it was nothing. Nothing ever happened. Nothing ever changed.

"And my dad? Where is he?"

"In jail."

Aaron let out a sigh of relief, "Thank your dad for me."

"You can do it yourself when you come home."

"Home?" Aaron questioned

Emily nodded, "Yeah. Whenever the doctor says you can be released, you'll be coming home. With me."

"Okay." He agreed, "And thanks. For taking care of Sean."

"Of course." Emily replied, "He's practically my brother now. He was so worried about you that he wouldn't leave my side."

Aaron gave a sad smile as he kissed the top of Sean's head, "I love you, buddy."

"I love you too, Aaron." Sean replied, his head still resting on his brother's chest.

Emily and Sean sat and chatted with Aaron for a couple hours, before it was time to go home for dinner. As Emily was packing up her bag, she heard a voice behind her and she turned around.

"What are you doing here?" She asked

"Who is this?" Aaron wondered at the same time

Emily looked back at her boyfriend, "This is Luke. My former foster brother."

"It's nice to meet you, Luke." Aaron uttered

"It is nice to see you again." Emily stated, "But my question still stands. Why are you in the hospital?"

Luke shook his head, "I'm not. Tiny is."

Emily blinked, "Tiny. What about Little King? Where is he?"

"Ri...He's..." Luke bit his lip nervously, "He's...alone."

"Take me to him."

Luke shook his head, "I don't know where he is. When I said he's alone, I didn't mean in this hospital. He was moved to a new foster home."

Emily let out a breath, running her hand through her hair. 'Great. This is all I need.' She thought. First, her boyfriend lands in the hospital. Then Tiny. And now, Little King is somewhere alone and unprotected.

"You're pregnant." Luke finally noticed.

Emily nodded, "Yeah. My boyfriend here...Aaron. He's the father."

"Are you happy?"

"Yeah, but I'll be a lot happier once I know that Little King is safe."

Luke hummed, giving a nod, "Been trying to find him. And Tiny's okay. Just worried about her brother."

Sean tugged on Emily's hand, "Emmy. We gotta go."

"Right." She said, "I gotta get home for dinner. But Aaron will give you my number. Call me."

"I will." Luke promised as he hugged Emily, "It was really good seeing you again."

Emily hugged Luke back, "You too. Give my love to Tiny."

At home, the rest of the evening was pretty chill. But that night as she was finishing her homework, Emily couldn't stop thinking about Little King. He was such a small kid, only five years old. He'd never been without someone to protect him, and he'd never been without his sister. She couldn't imagine what he was feeling or going through right now. She remembered when she had to sad goodbye to them. She knew that their foster home at the time wasn't safe, but she didn't want to be separated from those kids. She didn't have a choice in the matter. Technically, they weren't her siblings, but she loved them like they were.

Meanwhile with Little King, who's real name is Rian Jones. He was in a foster home, and he was pretty sad without his big sister, but he didn't need protecting. He was safe.

"Have everything you need, buddy?" His foster father asked, as he was tucking the little boy into bed.

Rian nodded, "Yeah." But he looked sad

"I know you miss your sister. I'll take you to see her tomorrow, okay?"

"Kay."

The man gave a sad smile, a pain look in his eyes, "Goodnight."

"Night-night." Rian said with a sigh as he turned over, clutching his Raggedy Andy doll close to his chest. It had been a birthday present from Emily that he'd gotten from his third birthday. The last birthday that he had spent with her before they were separated.

Rian had liked seeing Emily at the mall a few weeks ago. He missed her, and had never forgotten her. His sister hadn't let him forget Emily, because she was practically the only big sister that his sister had ever had. So as much as Rian missed his sister, he understood that Tiny missed Emily as much.

Hope you enjoy. Comments are greatly appreciated. In fact, they keep me going.

What would you like to see happen next? Where do you think Rian is? Who do you think his foster father is?