"Ethan!"
Riley shrieked when she saw his face on her phone screen. She first thought it was a prank.
"Is that you?" she asked the obvious, but who could fault her when all she got from the other side was a smiling face and miming words? No voice.
She frowned when she realized what was happening.
"Tap the mic icon at the bottom of your screen, you idiot," she instructed, and soon enough Ethan was blushing in embarrassment.
"When will I ever learn these things?" Ethan said, shaking his head slightly. "How are you, sweet girl?"
Riley blushed. She was over fifty, far from being called a girl or even a young woman, but every time she spoke with him, she felt younger and younger. Giddy even.
"Oh, stop it, you sweet-tongued devil."
Ethan's smile widened. "Look at you being modest about it."
Then Riley remembered that her best friend and favorite writer was in the other room, arranging for the body to be taken to a coroner for DNA confirmation.
"Did you speak to her today?" Riley asked, a mix of curiosity and fear.
Ethan shook his head. "I didn't want to assume… Do you think I can talk to her today?"
Riley didn't know.
It was way over her pay grade, limit, and profession to give or refuse him that permission.
She just sighed sadly. "I don't know, Ethan. We were at your funeral just yesterday. So you can imagine her situation."
Ethan blinked. Opened his mouth, then closed it for several moments, eyes wide.
Did he hear her right?
His funeral?
"Sorry, I think I misheard you just now."
Riley chewed on her bottom lip, her heart breaking for him. To have your father host your funeral while you're well and alive… that wasn't for the weak.
"There was even a body with your face on it, apparently," she explained. "Your mother saw it."
Ethan's face went pale.
"She did?" he mumbled.
Riley nodded, then added that his mother didn't believe that he had died, she was certain the body with his face, wasn't his.
But that could just be denial, Ethan thought to himself.
Ethan didn't dare to hope. He just stared at Riley, his eyes full of unspoken pain.
Riley had to bite the bullet. Ethan needed that push, whether Gretchen would get better or worse after that, could be dealt with later.
"Go. Call your mother, child," Riley urged.
Ethan's tears fell before he could cut the call.
Charlotte was on the bed, studying when Ethan was talking to Riley.
"Are you okay?" she asked softly.
Ethan scoffed bitterly. "Define okay. I'm scared, Char. Shitless. What if she flips on me? What if she has a seizure or something? What if she… hurts herself?"
"What if she'd be happy to see you?" Charlotte interrupted. "What if this is exactly what she needed to get over her trauma? What if she needs you right now?"
Ethan mulled her words over and over before deciding to call his mom. He just hoped Riley had her sleeping pills ready because, this was happening.
Ethan waved at his mother's beautiful, confused face. "Hey, cutie pie. Heard you missed me at my funeral yesterday..."
"Ethan?" Gretchen called, unable to stop her hands from tracing the screen. "My baby boy…"
She couldn't help but cry aloud, hurting Ethan in the process.
"Mom…"
Gretchen sniffed back her tears. "Did you suffer? Is that why you're haunting Mother?"
"Mom…"
She waved him off dismissively. "I know you didn't want me there, but I had to. You're my only child, so when I heard…"
Gretchen had a full meltdown right then, with tears and snorts.
"Mama…" Ethan called again.
This time, she stopped. It wasn't a video. This was Ethan calling her mama for the third time ever, he would never be that cruel to call her that beyond the grave.
"Ethan? Is that you, my baby? You're alive?"
Ethan nodded.
Gretchen suddenly yelped backward, terrified. Screaming. And then she was gone from the screen, but Ethan could hear things breaking.
Ethan didn't want to cut the call. He was hurting himself to go through that hell again but this time he wanted to face it.
And then he could hear Riley's animated voice before it all went silent.
The silence stretched for so long that Ethan thought that he had gone deaf.
Then Gretchen walked toward the phone screen slowly, cautiously. "What number am I thinking of?"
Ethan laughed in spite of himself. "Could be seven or three, but I'm sure for today, it's one, because I'm the only one in this world for you."
"Oh, Ethan…" Gretchen smiled through her tears and sat back down. "Are you…? Did you…? Were you…? Was it all a prank?"
Ethan couldn't hide his smile. The fact that she was still talking to him after two hours of freaking out without needing a nurse meant everything to him.
"No," he assured her. "I just had a big fight with Dad, and he kind of… disowned me."
Gretchen paused. "He what?"
Ethan shook his head, still struggling to believe it himself. The first time he said no to his father, and it turned out to be his last to the public.
He was announced dead! By his own father.
"That's not important now. Let's talk about you," he said, his eyes twinkling.
Gretchen was still in shock. "He told me you died from choking… He hosted your funeral in a church… I saw your plain faced body!"
Ethan felt sick but, he couldn't let it show. It was enough for her to get upset for both of them.
"He had someone with your face in the casket… He called in TV crews… And all of that because you fought with him?"
"It's done, Mom."
"No. No! It's not done. You're not done!" She stood, pacing. "He has crossed the line! I'll make him pay for this. And I'll definitely make it hurt for eternity!"
"Mom, I'm seriously fine now," Ethan said, flipping the camera to show an awkward Charlotte sitting nearby. "See? I'm staying with a friend."
Gretchen frowned. Freaking out anew, "I don't know her. Where are you, Ethan? I'm sending you a car right now."
Ethan shook his head. "No need, Mom. Her name is Charlotte, she's Vanessa's family."
Gretchen nodded slowly. "Vanessa… I can't believe she's there for you and I'm not. I'm your mother, goddammit."
"Do you think you can be with me?" Ethan asked carefully.
He expected her to refuse, stall, or redirect.
Instead, she smiled at him lovingly.
"I'm here now, aren't I?"
Ethan's eyes widened. "Are you a hundred percent sure about that?"
Gretchen laughed at his expression. "Like I could stay away from you."
Then she grew quiet. "I had to hear from someone else that you had forgiven and forgotten everything enough to love and miss me."
"I always love you, Mom."
"I know that now," Gretchen said, wiping her tears. "So… I met your Matt."
Ethan leaned forward, suddenly curious. "How did he look? Was he crying?"
Gretchen beamed. "I'm not sharing that over the phone. Come to my hotel room, and I'll tell you everything."
And just like that, the call ended.
Ethan was so happy that it felt dirty. Charlotte was smiling at him from the bed.
"And now we know she's ready to meet you." Said Charlotte, "Question is: Are you?"
Ethan didn't know but, most of all, he didn't want to believe it, but it had happened.
Maybe miracles do happen.