Everything changed in the blink of an eye. Roman was holding up his phone to take a picture of Emeline leaning against the railing with the beautiful background. They were high up in a popular place for turists. That railing had felt thousand of people leaning against it. It was there for protection to avoid anyone from falling to their death.
One moment he was taking a picture of her while smiling along with her. Next moment she was falling. It all happened so fast. The railing gave no warning. It suddenly broke. He saw the fear in her eyes when she realized what was happening.
He dropped his phone and threw himself forward to grab her. He managed to catch one of her wrists. He heard a bone breaking and she was screaming, probably more out of fear of falling than the pain from the broken bone in her wrist. She looked up at him while she dangled in the air.
"Hold on!" He yelled.
"Roman!" She cried.
He heard people screaming and yelling around him but he could only focus on her. He had to hold on to her until someone figured out how to help them or he figured out how to pull her back up.
"Give me your other hand!" He yelled.
"I can't!" She yelled back.
"Give me your fucking hand, Emeline!" He yelled louder. "Now!"
She tried reaching her other hand up. The fear never left her eyes, and he could see the pain in her face. The broken bone wasn't helping them.
"Don't drop me, Roman!" She cried.
"I'm not fucking dropping you!" He yelled. "I promise!"
Her entire life depended on him in this moment. He felt her hand slipping slowly. He tried holding on tighter. She had to survive. She couldn't die like this. It wasn't right.
"Someone fucking help me!" He growled. "Get some rope or something!"
"Roman!" She cried louder.
It felt like every noise around him stopped and he couldn't breathe. All he could see was her falling down. He couldn't even hear her scream. His own voice broke through. He was screaming her name.
He inhaled sharply and opened his eyes. He was drenched in sweat and lying in his bed. He pushed the covers aside, jumped out of bed, and hurried through the house. He stopped in the kitchen door and looked at the woman standing there with her morning coffee while looking out at the birds in the garden. She loved birds and had a feeding station for them. Her long, thick, medium brown hair had been loosely braided. She wore a navy bathrobe and her feet were bare. She took a sip of her coffee and noticed movement behind her. She turned around and settled her dark blue eyes on him while smiling.
"Emeline," he whispered.
He marched towards her and pulled her in for a tight hug. Tears started running down his cheeks. She managed to place the coffee cup on the countertop and wrapped her arms around him.
"Another nightmare?" She asked.
"I dreamed you died. I let go and you fell," he said.
He had managed to pull her up and save her that day but sometimes he was plagued by nightmares of what almost happened. She could have died. She didn't but she could have. He would never have forgiven himself if that happened. Every once in a while he had this nightmare that she slipped out of his hands and fell to her death.
"Look at me," she said.
He kept his arms around her but leaned back enough to look at her. She placed her hands on his cheeks and stroked them with her thumbs.
"I'm here. I'm alive. You saved me," she smiled. "My big, strong man."
He cracked a little smile and moved his head enough to place a kiss on her left wrist. A silent apology for breaking it even though he had nothing to apologize for. She had said many times the broken wrist was worth it when he saved her life. It had healed completely and didn't bother her. She could use it like before.
"I love you," she said.
"I love you too," he said.
"Nightmares are natural. I have them too sometimes. You know that," she said.
He smiled and nodded. Sometimes she woke up from the same nightmare. That he let go and she was falling. That she was watching his face of horror while she fell to her death.
"How about we go out and buy a lot of snacks, and then find something to binge all day?" She asked.
"I like the sound of that," he smiled. "Let me get a shower and we can go."
He leaned down and kissed her. He tightened his arms around her again and broke the kiss.
"On second thought," he smirked. "Let's shower together."