My Little Stargazer(Adopted by Remington Leith)

(1) - Cherry

The backdoor to the venue was open and people were walking in and out. Equipment was stacked inside and outside of the trailer. I pushed another case out the door and tried to put it beside the rest of the ones that needed to be loaded into the trailer. I pushed it harder than I meant to and it collided with another resulting in a rather loud crash. A small, almost inaudible squeak came from behind the open door. I pulled the door so it was almost shut and got wide eyed at what I saw. A little girl was curled up in a ball behind the door. She squeaked again when she saw me and hid her face in her hands.
"Hey, kiddo. Where's your parents?" I asked. She shook her head. I sighed. "C'mon I'm not gonna hurt you." I crouched down in front of her. "I'm gonna help you, okay?" She shook her head violently.  Of course Emerson decided that was a good time to come in search of me.
"Rem?" He called and pushed the door open. It hit me in the back and I fell forward barely managing to catch myself from falling on the little girl. As I fell toward her she shrieked and pushed herself away from me. She started to crawl away and I pushed myself up.
"Hey! Wait! It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you." She stood up and started to run and, because it was dark, she ran directly into a dumpster. She fell back and burst into tears. I ran after her and Emerson was completely lost as he still hadn't seen the little girl. A large red bump was forming on her head as tears slid down her cheeks. The look of pure fear on her face when I knelt in front of her broke my heart. Who could've hurt this little girl so much that the mere sight of me scared her? She had her hands on her head. I wasn't exactly sure what to do.
"Rem, what the fuck are you doing?" Emerson walked toward me, "what the-"
"She was behind the door and she just ran into the dumpster." At the sight of Emerson she panicked and scooted back beside the dumpster. Her breathing got ragged.
"She's having a panic attack!" I knew the signs well.
"What do we do?" Emerson took a step toward her and she tried to scoot back further.
"You're scaring her!"
"And you're not?"
"What are you two doing?" Sebastian called from the doorway. We ignored him. I slid forward a bit and the little girl's eyes widened.
"Hey, hey. It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you. Can you take a deep breath? Like me. C'mon." I inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. She didn't copy me, "Please work with me. I don't want you to pass out." I took another deep breath. She made a valiant attempt at taking a deep breath. I kept coaching her until her breathing was regulated. I smiled. "Good job! Now can you tell me where your mommy or daddy is?" As soon as the word daddy left my mouth she threw herself at me and buried her face in my shirt. I sat there, shocked and unsure what to do.
"We should take her to the police station or something."
"Guys?" Sebastian called again, "What are you doing?" He finally started walking in our direction. I stood, picking up the little girl as I did so. Emerson and I walked towards Sebastian. "What's with the kid?"
"She was just here. I don't know where her parents are or why she's here." I said. She was shaking in my arms, hands gripping my shirt tightly. "Em suggested we take her to the police station and I've got no better ideas." Sebastian sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Yeah. That sounds like the best plan. You take her down to the station, we'll finish packing up."
"Sure." I pulled my phone out of my pocket and pulled up google maps to find the police station.

———

As it turned out it was only a five minute walk from the venue. So with the girl still clinging to me like a koala I walked down the street to the station. I walked in and the woman at the front desk looked up instantly.
"Yes?"
"Uh, hi. I-she was-I found her in an alley. She, um, ran into a dumpster." The woman studied the little girl for a second, gasped, and pushed her chair away from her desk.
"Steve!" She yelled, "Steve! Someone found her!" There was a small crash.
"What? Ow! Fuck! She's back?" A man came around the corner.
"Is she yours?" I asked. An obvious assumption given her reaction.
"No. No, she's not. But unfortunately she's here much too often. Her father is in and out of prison and she bounces from foster home to foster home until he's out again. He got arrested yesterday morning and she wasn't in the house. We've been worried sick. I don't think her father will be out anytime soon and this time I think she'll have to go to the girls' home. None of the currently available foster parents are willing to take her in again, poor thing. It's interesting that she's taken such a liking to you though." I looked down at the still shaking girl. Now that I could see her properly my heart ached more than it had before. Her clothes were dirty and full of holes, her hair was knotted, and her pale skin was covered in dark purple bruises. The ones on her neck looked suspiciously like hickeys. It made me physically sick to my stomach imagining how she'd gotten those.
"Why won't anyone take her?"
"She's a handful. She doesn't speak, doesn't trust anyone, she often refuses to eat. She also has autism and that makes it harder for foster parents as well."
"What's her name?"
"The only one we have on record is Cherry." The woman said.
"Come on sweetie. Let's find you something to eat." The man, Steve, attempted to take the girl from me. She shrieked and held onto my shirt tighter. In that moment I made a decision. I might regret it later or I might not, all that mattered at that moment was the little girl in my arms.
"Can I foster her?"

Cherry in the media^^^