8PM Friday night 

Just one more wallet. That would be enough to get them through the rest of the week. The quick bump on the shoulder, a slight apology, then fading into the crowd; nothing unusual in the busy train station. It was the perfect cover.The wallets were easy enough to locate, but the people were the hardest to choose; a slight mistake and the whole scheme would fall apart. But Maverick was skilled, in fact any misplaced wallet would fall right into his hands. It wasn’t that he was an expert at the art of crime, he knew how to read people. Some days were better than others, today had been decent. 

Green jacket, gold watch, well kept Hermes briefcase, all indicators of the hefty chunk of cash sure to be in the wallet. Even more perfect was his red face, huffing into the phone, and the occasional pitched scream response to his conversation. He slowly began walking towards the man as the floodgates of the arriving train opened and in a swift movement the man’s wallet was in his hand. Before he had a moment to celebrate, someone whipped him around. 

The red, infuriated face of the man pressed onto Maverick. The man’s fingers pressed hard into Maverick’s wrist as he pulled him around the corner. Loudly, he yelled for security.  A hiccup escaped Maverick's mouth and a ramble of excuses prepared to burst from his lips when the man's face softened. The creases on his eyes unfolded, the coloring of his face paled, and his grip loosened. Confused, Maverick turned around and saw his little sister meekly approaching with tears streaming over her flushed cheeks, a glimmer of recognition passed over her eyes. In her hands were two wallets, both stolen. She gripped onto them as though her life depended on it. Her mouth flickered open and then closed. 

“Remember…me?” her voice crept inward, but the young child stood firm.

A resigned sigh escaped him and he turned his back on the two children. The onlookers moved on unsatisfied, and the security guard, confused, turned and shuffled back to his office, and among them Maverick saw the strange situation unfold. Without questioning the mercy of this stranger, Maverick swept his little sister away and both of them escaped into the night.

* * * * *

4:30PM Friday

As she waited, a single snowflake, floated down, soon dozens followed in cascading strings. It was the first snow of the year. Around her, children rushed out of the school building in a mush jackets in every color of the rainbow, cheering joyfully as they jumped into the snow. There were snowmen, snow angels, and balls of snow flying all about. No one bothered to notice the small child with earmuffs hugged tightly over her small, pink face, hiding in the corner of the picture, her breath curling in small circles that wisped around the auburn hair peeking out from her hat

Tugging at her sleeves, she sat patiently. At the age of seven, she was already accustomed to the long, painful hours of waiting in silence. It wasn’t once or twice that her brother forgot to pick her up at the right time, it was every day. There was no certainty when he could come, only that he would show up before the sun sank behind the buildings. Occasionally there was a boy about her age who she would spend hours with. But today she saw him leave and skip around the corner. 

What should I do today? It’s cold…. Thoughts on how to spend the day swirled around her head, and the cold numbed the thinking to slow. 

The playground was now abandoned, all the children had left with their parents, giving Orphelia the chance to ride the swings undisturbed. After swiping the snow off the seat, she slumped down. Creak, Creak, Creeeaak. The swings were rusted from the generations of children and the chains were on the verge of breaking. At least it made the waiting easier, giving her something to mindlessly do. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a man in a green jacket run into the school yard. His breath was sharp and his head twirled frantically. He seemed to be looking for something; suddenly, he turned in her direction and sprinted toward her. Orphelia’s breath started to rise, and STRANGER DANGER rang in her head. The lesson that her brother had drilled in her head about the monsters that took little girls sounded the alarm in her head. 

 “Hey, I’m so sorry but do you know a boy around you age named Chase?  I’m his dad and you see he’s been missing for a while. I really need to find my son. Can you help me out?”his voice sounded genuinely concerned, but the alarms didn’t turn off.  

“I’m not supposed to talk to strangers.” Orphellia muttered. 

“I’m not a bad guy. I’m just a dad looking for his son. Please do you recognize him?”

It was the boy she spent time with almost every afternoon. They both were abandoned by their caretaker, and spent some of the hours cursing them. The guy in front of her appeared different than she imagined the terrible father was. Her imagination painted a heavy, old guy with mean eyes. But this man had a caring yet tired eyes, and an air of helplessness was around him. 

Oh, I’ve seen him a couple of times around. Not today though. He helps me wait sometimes. We both are the last ones here everyday.”

“He’s always here late? What? For how long?” his voice rose a pitch and his face turned redder. 

“Sometimes we stay for about an hour, sometimes even for three. But his mother and my brother always show up.” she replied nonchalantly. “Today I saw him walk out of school and around the block. That was about an hour ago.”

The man jolted up from his crouched position, started running towards the gate, stopped for a second, looked back, but after half a second he began running again. 

It was snowing harder, and the frost seemed to bite at Orphelia’s button nose. Her tattered coat inefficient against the growing cold. The time passed and passed and passed. Her stomach growled for the meal that was never to come.A faint whistle roused her, and from down the street she could see her brother striding nonchalantly through the snow, his hands resting cooling in his pockets.

“Lil’ Orphie, come. Let’s go. We’ve got to go finish the errands by today!” he yelled from the gate. 

Barely dragging her too large backpack, Orphelia trudged to her brother. He looked down with a slight smile at her and patted her hair. With her small gloved hand enveloped in his larger ones they walked down toward the train station. As the got closer the faint smell of grease and salt grew stronger, inside she knew the fast food stalls were hard at work. Her stomach growled in response, loud enough that her brother glanced down and sighed. The wallet that he pulled out had a total of $2.63, their whole wealth scrunched up in the poor excuse of a wallet. 

“It’s okay. I’m not that hungry.” Orphelia muttered at the same time as her stomach rumbled louder. “Mom needs that.” 

* * * * *

4:30PM  Friday 

It had been a rough day at work; there was an endless cycle of paperwork to process, and the man upstairs knocked on his door every minute. There just wasn’t enough time. The rapid knock on the door snapped him out of the haze. 

“Sir, your wife’s on line three,” the secretary reported. “I told her you were busy but she insists.” 

“Thank you, buzz her in.” He responded, his voice still groggy from the hours spent in solitude. 

Click “How dare you! You can’t just whisk him away and not expect me to know about this, Shaun. You dar-” her voice was shrill. 

“What do you mean? The last time I saw Chase was when you forced me to sign the custody papers. I’ve been bombarded at work recently; I barely even leave the office.” he replied. 

“He’s missing and today was your day to pick him up. You have him the first weekends every month, or did you forget that already. All it is for you is work, work, work. Practically married to the numbers… I can’t believe that you can even call yourself a father. You don’t care about him. I could-” as every second passed the levels of agitation rose. 

“You mean he’s missing? And if I remember the custody thing isn’t even final, and how was I supposed to know that I was supposed to pick him up. Where did you last see him”

“I dropped him off this morning at school. Then a couple of minutes ago the administrator called and said that he had left school.” she replied, half sobbing. “If you ever want to see him again, you better find him. God help him.”

“Fine, I’ll head over to the school. You start contacting everyone.” his voice started showing signs of desperation. 

Pushing his intercom, he called out,  “Claudia, I’m taking the day off. Cancel my meetings for today and tell the Mr. Graves to expect the numbers on the Evergreen report later this week. I’ll be back tomorrow morning.” 

Frantically, he rushed into the street and into the maze of humans as they hurriedly made their way somewhere important. He only knew to run in one direction, the school. Thoughts begin filling the well of misery. What if Chase is lost forever? Would he have to live on the streets and become a hooligan? Does he even know how to find the police station? Shaking his head, he refused to let any more of the thoughts haunt him. 

The transition from the smooth pavement to the rough gravel indicated that he had entered the elementary school’s playground. The echoes of the children remained in the snow angels and discarded pieces of clothing left haphazardly behind. On the swings was a lonely girl. Her face was hidden between the large earmuffs, and looked about Chase’s age. 

Shaun walked over to her, and crouched down, “Hey, do you know a boy around you age named Chase?  I’m his dad. He left school and no one seems to know where he is. I really need to find my son. Can you help me out?” 

The young girl stared at him, her brown eyes seemed so much older than her appearance appeared. “I’m not supposed to talk to strangers.”

Of course. Shaun cursed himself. He was a complete stranger, for all she cared he could be a pervert. “I’m not a bad guy. I’m just a dad looking for his son. Please do you recognize him?” he pulled out a picture and waved it in front of her. 

A slight glimmer appeared in her eyes, and her mouth pursued open. “Oh, I’ve seen him a couple of times around. Not today though. He helps me wait sometimes. We both are the last ones here everyday.”

“He’s always here late? What? For how long?” 

“Sometimes we stay for about an hour, sometimes even for three. But his mother and my brother always shows up.” she replied nonchalantly. “Today I saw him walk out of school and around the block. That was about an hour ago.” 

The anger dial began  ringing in his head. When he gave up his custody, he had hoped that his ex would have been a better parent than he would ever be; how wrong was he. The situation was worse than he had hoped. With a nod he stood up an left the playground.  The thought of leaving the little girl bothered him, but not as much as looking for his son.

* * * * *

9:30 PM West Valley Medical Center 

The smell of the hospital always terrified Orphelia. It smelled like the reaching hands of death. The nurses walked in silence and the beeping of the machines created an orchestra of melancholy. After a few steps towards the end of the hall, the siblings arrived at their final destination of the night. 

“Mom, are you awake?” Malverick’s voice was unusually soft. “We brought the money for this month’s treatment. Can we stay tonight?”

Countless machines were hooked up to a frail woman. She was breathing through an oxygen tube and IV machines poked at her pearly white skin. Orphelia scuttled towards her mom and into the little space on the hospital bed. The mother blinked in recognition of her daughter and son, but no other movement signalled the life within her. 

“I’m going to pay the medical bill and get a cup of water. Stay with mom.” said Malverick. 

The hospital was almost empty, yet they still made Maverick pull a number. It had been about a three minute wait, when the screams of an ambulance sounded. Nurses and doctors rushed towards the entrance. His curiosity pulled him towards the chaos. A young child, about his sister’s age, was covered in blood. The boy’s blue hoodie was tattered and the remnants of a  red cartoon backpack was flung to the side of the  ambulance.

“Move out of the way! Get the CPR ready. He’s lost a lot of blood already; he needs the blood transfusion. What type blood is he?” The nurses screamed and pushed the stretcher inside.  

“Number 758. Please come to counter 6.”  

Maverick slumped down in front of the nurse at the counter and pushed a worn envelope towards her. 

“It’s exactly $890 for this month. The insurance covers the rest.” Maverick stated. 

“Thank you Maverick. You’re such a good son.” Everyone at the hospital was aware of the tight situation that he was trapped in. 

“Say, the boy that just came in...Is he going to be okay?” the image of the young boy had implanted itself in his brain. “The blood transfusion, will it work?”

“Ohh. He’s going to need that blood  transfusion in order to survive. But he has type AB negative blood. It’s a rare type, so there’s nothing at the hospital right now. The doctors contacted the nearby hospital. But I’m afraid it’s going to be too late for the child.” the nurse sighed and continued the remaining paperwork. 

After a minute Maverick broke the silence, “I have type AB negative. I can give the blood right?”  

The nurse leaped from her chair and towards the phone. “I have a potential donor.”

Maverick was swept up from his seat into the whirl of white corridors, gowns, and tubes. A couple of pints of blood were drawn from him and into a bottles; the loss of blood made Maverick nauseous. 

“You’re a brave kid. Not a lot of people would be willing to donate their blood for a stranger. The hospital thanks you.” the nurse, helping him unplug from the IV.

“What happened?” Maverick asked. 

“He was in a car crash, walking around alone. Are you feeling okay?

“Mhmm. My mom was in the same situation as this kid. I just wish that someone would have been there to donate their blood for her. But no one wants to…She has a rare genetic difference in her blood that makes donation rather difficult.” Maverick sighed “I wish I could have done this for my mother instead.” 

With a slight sigh, he entered his mother’s hospital room again. Orphelia and his mother were sleeping soundly. The small seat in the corner was open to his tired body. The hard, plastic chair may have seemed uncomfortable, but for him it was as luscious as a queen’s bed. In a couple of hours, he had to wake up again for his morning job then for a couple more. It was a simple yet arduous routine. He had to do what he could to survive. 

* * * * *

2:30 AM  West Valley Medical Center 

“Where’s my son? Tell me where he is right now!” Shaun yelled.  “I got a call saying that Chase Garcia was hit by a car and was sent here. He’s my son. Please tell me if he’s okay. God it’s my fault. I should have been there.” his breath became shorter with every sentence

“Sir, sir. He’s fine. He got a blood transfusion by a gracious donor and he’s resting in room 108. I’ll lead you there.” the nurse replied.

“But he has a rare type…” Shaun replied meekly. 

“Well, we had a rare donor.” 

“Could you please tell me the name of the donor so I can thank him later? He saved my son.” 

“ He’s a good boy. He’s a regular taking care of his mom and his younger sister. If you want to thank him, he’s just above your son’s room, Room 211.” the nurse shook her head in sympathy. 

* * * * *

5AM  West Valley Medical Center Room 211

Shaun could see the dimly lit room. The beeps of the machine and the sleeping breaths were the loudest sound in the room. A small girl was nestled inside a woman’s arms, and a teenager was drowsing in the corner. The two children looked familiar; it was the children from the train station and the girl was from earlier today. The people he saved ended up saving his child, sometimes fate could play out in the weirdest ways. Perhaps if he hadn’t let them go his child would have been dead.