Fruity Heaven
As soon as I leave the hospital after my abortion, I send my husband, Rykel Heffer, a message.
"I terminated the pregnancy."
I get an instant reply.
"Okay."
I stare at that single word and suddenly find it almost funny.
For years, whenever I gave him a heads-up before heading into a high-risk assignment, the only reply I got was "okay". And whenever I reminded him that if he was unable to reach me for 24 hours, he should come looking for me, I also got a simple "okay".
When I was trapped under the rubble after a building collapsed and lost contact for 72 hours, I sent Rykel 309 desperate messages, consumed by fear.
He replied with 309 "okay"s.
Only now do I realize that every reply I have ever received has been an automated response.
Since Rykel never reads my messages, naturally, he has no idea that half a month ago, I told him I would be taking an overseas assignment and terminating the pregnancy today.
His attention and affection have always belonged to the woman who fills his social media feed—Joey Mugbrey.
"It's our thousand-day anniversary, and it's Joey's birthday too!"
The post is accompanied by a screenshot of their chat history. Above the countless messages is a 1,000-day streak, celebrating their thousand days together.
I tap "Like" on his post and leave a comment.
"A wonderful day indeed."
Today marks the anniversary of the day I narrowly escaped death in that collapse years ago. More importantly, it is the day I decide to leave Rykel for good.