Riley hugged on her parents picture and cried herself to sleep in their room. The morning was beautiful and bright. Riley sat on the floor holding onto the picture with her head on her parents bed still asleep when her phone rang. She drowsily opened her eyes and reached for her phone which was beside her on the floor. She checked the caller and it was Lionel.
"Hi..Lio..." she mumbled dully.
"Have you been crying?" he queried on the other side of the phone.
"No..." she mumbled, lifting herself up from the floor.
"Are you sure? Because judging from your voice, it seems so." he uttered a bit anxious.
"It's...." she was about to say something when the phone started vibrating, another call coming in. She drew the phone from her ears to check the caller.
"I will call you later Lio, Uncle Lian is calling." she muttered.
"Okay..., I will be waiting for your call." he uttered and hanged up.
By this time, Riley was already in front of her room.
"Hello...Uncle." she mumbled to the person on the phone as she swung her door opened. She walked over to her bed and slammed herself on it.
"Hello..sweetheart, hope you slept well?" he queried sounding a bit concerned.
"Yes Uncle.." she mumbled.
"That's a relief to hear dear. Anyway, can you come over to my house. I need to talk something out with you." he uttered bit anxious.
"Okay..." she slowly replied a bit puzzled.
"But I need to pass by the hospital first before coming over." she added.
"That's also fine dear, I will be waiting for you." he uttered.
"Okay Uncle.." she mumbled.
"See you later then." he muttered and hanged up.
Riley sighed and tossed her phone on the bed forgotten to return Lionel's call. She dashed off to the washroom to freshen up. After some few minutes, she returned from the washroom and walked over to her wardrobe. She swung the door opened and took out a blue jeans matched with a sea blue top. She got dressed and sat behind the mirror. She starred at herself in the mirror for a while lost in her thought. A message alert from her phone startled her, drawing her back to reality. She reached for the phone and checked. It was a LINE message from their friendship group chat.
"Hi girlfriend, where are you?" from Kate.
"Yeah..Riley, how are you and where are you now?" from Loretta.
"Do you need us to come over? You know we're always here for you." from Nancy.
"Hi..girls, I'm fine and at home now but will soon be leaving to see mum at the hospital. I also have to go and see Uncle Lian. He called me to come over so I think I will be okay but I will call you guys later when I'm back." she texted back.
"Okay..., we will wait for your call." from Loretta.
"Yeah..., take care." from Kate and Nancy
END OF MESSAGE
She stared at their chat for a while and dropped the phone on the bed. She turned back to the mirror and gathered her hair into a ponytail and held it with a blue ribbon. She studied her face in the mirror and stood up. She walked over to the door and went out. She descended the stairs and walked over to the kitchen to prepare a quick meal for herself. Within few minutes, the noodles was done. She took it over to the dinning table and had her meal.
It was already 8am now, Riley sent the plates to the kitchen and quickly washed down. She left the kitchen over to her parents room to get some cloths for her mother. She slowly pushed the door opened and went over to the wardrobe. She took a small bag from the wardrobe and placed it on the bed as she opened it. She wandered her eyes through the wardrobe, took out some cloths and packed them into the bag. She slowly removed another dress and was about to fold it when she saw an envelop fell out.
She gently dropped the dress on the bag and reached out for the envelope. She picked it up and opened it but was stunned by it's content.
"Auntie Nichole?" she mumbled to herself, bemused.
She dropped the letter on the floor and hastily went back into the wardrobe searching through it for more. She pushed her parents cloths aside, her eyes lingering through the wardrobe. Suddenly, she spotted a small box sitting gently in the far corner of the wardrobe. She reached out for it and opened it to find similar messages like the one she read earlier.
"What the hell is this?" she exclaimed, stunned.
She was still starring into the letter when her phone rang. She reached out for it and answered without checking who the caller was.
"Hello..?" she answered.
"Am I talking to Miss Riley?" the voice questioned.
"Yes please, who am I speaking to?" she inquired.
"I'm calling from the hospital. Your mother is awake." the voice answered.
"Really?" she uttered gleefully.
"I will be right there." she added and hanged up, her attention drifting back to the letter.
"I have to find out what this means." she added hastily, pushed the letters into her hand bag and picked the bag containing her mother's cloths up. She descended the stairs and briskly left the house.