He had been telling me the same thing for three years. I almost lost hope. But to keep my mind off of it, I got more jobs, along with modeling. I needed to pay for hospital bills and little things for Riley when he came back. Me and Riley talked every day, and got to hug and kiss each other once a month. It was depressing seeing him as an inmate, but I knew that everything would work out.
"Add this letter to Kyrie's collection." Riley would say, handing me an envelope every month. He started that the very first day I went to visit him with Huey. He said that when Kyrie woke up, to give all of these to him and to not read them. Which I agreed to.
"Is that a gray hair I see, Ray?" He playfully asks, touching the glass. My eyes widen, and my hands fly up to my hair, balancing the phone between my ear and chin. We had to sit in one of those cliche jail visitation stations, with the glass and phones, all of that. It was alright, I guess.
"No!" I say loudly.
"I was joking baby." He says, laughing. "You work yourself so hard."
"I do it for you and Kyrie. Once we get you home, I want you to be comfortable, so I bought you all types of things."
"Ray."
"I want to Riley. I love you."
"...Ray, I don't think we'll be able to get a retrial for me." He says and my smile fades quickly. "I mean, Kyrie's going to wake up, but I don't think the court is going to let me have that retrial."
"Riley, don't say that. You're putting negativity out into the universe."
"Rayen, I've been thinking-"
"Don't think of stuff like that Riley." I say, my throat tightening up and my eyes tearing up.
"Ray, you have to move on. I can't keep holding you back. You need to find a good man and get married and have kids."
"You are that good man, Riley! Why would you say that to me?"
"Rayen, I don't think I'm getting out of here."
"Riley-"
"I'm serious Ray. And I know it hurts, but-"
"Riley, what happened to us getting married?"
"That was when I still had hope, Ray. I've lost it all now."
"Well, I have hope! I think everything will work out."
"Oh my God! I can't believe it! Thank you!" I say, a huge smile on my face. I hang up the phone quickly and dial another number. "Huey, Kyrie is waking up!"
"Really?"
"Yes! I'm so glad he isn't in a permanent coma or whatever. And they say he's not brain dead. He just needs some rest and he'll be fine!"
"I'll tell the court and we'll schedule that retrial."
"And I'll go tell Riley!"
"Ok. You might have to wait tomorrow, because I don't know the visitor times."
"I'll try anyway. If there are none, I'll go tomorrow." I say, trying to compose myself. All that praying I did for the two of them was worth it. We'll finally get Riley out of prison and I'll have my family back again.
I burst into the prison, a wide smile on my face. "Ma'am, visitor hours are almost done."
"How many minutes do I have left?"
"Twenty, ma'am."
"Oh, I won't be long. Please!" I say, walking up to the desk.
"... I guess. Who is it?"
"Riley. Riley Freeman. I'm his wife." I say, still trying to contain my joy.
"Freeman…" He says, and I look at him. His face was stone and it struck me cold.
"Yes." I breathe out. I clear my throat, all of the joy being sucked from me. "Is something wrong?"
"Hold on for a minute." He says, getting up. I watch him walk to another room and let out a breath. What was going on? After a couple of minutes, he comes back, a sheet of paper in his hands. "We found this next to the body. To a Miss Rayen Freeman."
"That's… me." I say, breathless. Next to the body… "Whose body?"
"His body. Your husband's, Miss Freeman." He holds the paper out to me and I take it with shaking hands. I skim over it with tears in my eyes and bite back sobs.
"No!" I scream, falling to the floor. "No, no no no." I sob. He wasn't. Why would he do this to himself? To me? To Kyrie? To Huey? Why would he do this?
"I'm so sorry for your loss, Miss Freeman."