Breathless

Epilogue

Alyn Walker stepped out of the taxi, and squinted as she looked up to the familiar tan brick building, the gold letters on the side gleaming in the sun. Everything about this walk was routine, from the long searching process, to the nerve racking wait as she sat with other women – mothers, sisters, wives – who all waited for their person to come out of that dark corridor.

Wil was the first out. His hair had been cut since the last time she’d seen him, but it suited him, even though it made his hollow, pale face look even skinnier. He’d lost weight before he came in here, but she never noticed. She was too wrapped up in her own world. Getting off the drugs and dealing with killing a man had taken its toll on Wil, but she could only hope he’d start to regain his strength when he was out of here. He’d started smiling again, three months after he’d been put in here. He managed to smile at her as he walked down the corridor one Thursday afternoon in April. It’d been the best day of her life.

She practically ran to booth four, the booth he always had, and picked up the phone. He picked it up too, and smiled at her, the same smile that kept Alyn warm through the lonely days and nights.

“Hey, baby.”

“Hey,” she paused, taking in all of his breaths, wishing she could just touch him to remind herself he was real. “How are you doing?”

“I’m clean, Alyn. I’m finally clean.”

She put her hand on the glass separating them, and he did the same. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Not long till I’m out now.”

“I can’t wait to see you, to kiss you … to just hold your hand. God Wil, I love you so much.”

“I love you too. And I love little Jack, too.”

She laughed. “We are not calling my baby Jack.”

“Our baby. And why not?”

Alyn reached into her pocket and held the small, black and white picture up to the window.

“Because I’m having a girl.”