He went on and on. Riley stopped listening to his words. All he heard was the weeping of those around him and scattered, disjointed whispered words of comfort. It felt like it had dragged on forever before the priest said the final prayer and Riley was asked to toss the first handful of dirt onto the lowered casket. Slowly, he reached down and scooped soil up into his hands. Slightly dampened by the rain, it felt cool and strangely comforting. He sprinkled it gently, then stepped to the side, allowing others to do the same.
Hands were shaken as he said goodbye to everyone who had attended, saying they would see him back at the company where they were hosting a lunch for everyone. He saw Diane and her friend William head straight for their car afterwards, not even bothering to say hello. Not that Riley cared. The rain started to fall harder, and soon, he was soaked from head to foot. As everyone else ran to their vehicles, he spread his arms wide, turned his face towards the sky and laughed. It was the perfect way to end the funeral. Ben came over, and together, they stood there as the casket was lowered all the way into the grave.
“Come on, let’s go get a drink,” Ben said.
“Or five,” Riley muttered. They headed back to the car, but something caught his eye across the path. “Ben, is that a woman?”
“Yeah, she’s getting soaked, too.”
“Here,” he said shrugging out of his jacket. “Take this to her. I have to say hello to someone else really quick.”
“Of course,” Ben said, a bit confused, but he rushed over to the woman standing near another gravesite.
Riley turned back to the tombstones behind him and walked until he reached Meredith’s. Someone had placed fresh flowers at her grave, but there was no indication of who. He bent down and kissed the wet stone. “I love you, Meredith. Promise I’ll visit again soon.”
Chapter 4
It was late afternoon by the time Phoebe made it back to her small apartment in Brooklyn. She was soaked from head to toe, including the jacket that some strange man in the cemetery had loaned her. She’d tried to turn him down, but he’d insisted and then run off back into the storm. Once the door was bolted behind her, she took it off and shook it.
“Damn, this is ruined,” she muttered. “What is this, silk? Shit.”
Far better than anything she could hope to afford—ever. Not that clothes were her first concern right now. She traipsed through the apartment, dripping water everywhere as she undid her long, auburn hair that was already starting to kink and curl from the rain. No point in trying to fix it now.
“Mom? Are you awake? I’m back home,” she called out as she dropped the wet jacket in her bathtub and walked to what had been her bedroom. Now it was her mother’s room since she was unable to care for herself any more. “Mom?”
She knocked on the closed door, but there was no answer.
Her mom always answered.
“Mom, are you awake?”
She tried the door and found it locked. Phoebe’s stomach plummeted. If her mother had an episode while she was gone, who knew what she’d done.
“Mom, I need you to open the door. It’s Phoebe. Come on, Mom!”
Still no answer. She ran to the living room and grabbed the key out of the dish by the front door, sliding and slipping back down the hall in her hurry. The key seemed to stick in the lock a few times, probably from her fumbling hands, before she managed to get it unlocked and yank the door open.
“Mom! Oh, my God,” she cried. Her mom lay on the floor, her head bleeding. Phoebe scrambled for the phone on the bedside table and dialed 911 as she checked for a pulse. “Hello? Yes, my mom, she fell…her head’s bleeding. I don’t know how long she’s been like this.” She spat out her address then did as the operator said, grabbing a towel to try and staunch the oozing wound. She knew she shouldn’t have left her alone again, but the doctors had said the new medicine would help...
She’d rip them a new one when they got to the hospital.
“Hang on, Mom, help’s coming,” she whispered. “Just hang on.”
***
It took fifteen minutes for the ambulance to arrive. Phoebe watched as they loaded her mom on a stretcher and carried her down the two flights of stairs. The ambulance ride seemed to take forever, and when they got to the hospital, she was directed to the waiting room while her mother’s head was examined. She’d demanded to see her mother’s doctor and was told he was on his way and would be in shortly. Phoebe took the clipboard and sat down in a huff, filling out the paperwork for her mother.