A Wife Out Of Place

Synopsis

In early April, my husband Errol and I did what we always did this time of year. We went back to our own hometowns to visit our family graves. Errol's family lived out in the countryside. It was a long drive, and the holiday was short. He left in a rush that morning and somehow took my phone with him by mistake. I stayed home and noticed his phone sitting on the table. It was the exact same model as mine. We had bought them as a matching pair. I had no reason to check up on him, and honestly, I wasn't even thinking along those lines. I picked it up, unlocked it, and was about to use his phone to order some food. Then a WhatsApp message popped up at the top of the screen. It was from his sister, Audrey. [Errol, is your dear love still hurting from the tear she got during childbirth? I made some soup for her. I'll bring it to the postpartum center soon.] I froze. My eyes stayed on the screen, but everything inside me seemed to go still. I was Errol's wife. I knew that for a fact. But I wasn't pregnant. I had never been pregnant. I was sitting right here in my living room, completely fine. So who was Audrey talking about? Who had just given birth? And who was lying somewhere in pain, recovering from a tear that came with it?