Under the soft glow of the city's nascent twilight, the old wrought-iron bridge felt like a secret whispered between steel and sky. It wasn't famous, this bridge in an 'unknown' corner of the world, a place where the sprawl of grey concrete met slivers of emerald green parkland. But for Kael, it was sacred. It was where he'd first truly seen Elara, where their hands had brushed, accidentally on purpose, beneath the pale streetlights two years ago. Tonight, it was to be the genesis of forever.
His heart thrummed an anxious rhythm against his ribs, a frantic hummingbird beating against a cage of bone. His palm was slick with nervous sweat, clenching around the small, velvet box in his jacket pocket. Inside, a modest diamond ring, brilliant in its simplicity, seemed to pulse with the weight of every hope and dream he'd ever dared to nurture. He'd rehearsed the words a thousand times in his head, in the shower, driving to work, even whispered them to his reflection in the steamed-up bathroom mirror. But now, with Elara's familiar silhouette etched against the backdrop of the city's shimmering lights, they felt flimsy, inadequate.
She stood at the railing, her back to him, gazing out at the slow, meandering river below. Her auburn hair, caught in a stray breeze, danced like embers, and the soft curve of her shoulders beneath her favorite sweater spoke of a quiet strength he adored. He knew she'd turn any second, and that smile, the one that crinkled the corners of her eyes and sent a jolt of pure joy through him, would melt away every last shred of his carefully constructed composure.
He took a deep breath, the crisp evening air filling his lungs, smelling faintly of distant exhaust and blooming jasmine. He wanted this moment to be perfect. Unforgettable. A cornerstone for their life.
"Elara," he began, his voice surprisingly steady, though his legs felt like jelly. He stepped closer, the soft crunch of his shoes on the gravel path too loud in the quiet anticipation.
She turned, her eyes – the color of deep sea glass – widening slightly as she saw the look on his face, a mixture of solemnity and a giddy, almost childlike excitement. A slow smile bloomed, and his world, for that fleeting second, snapped into perfect focus.
"Kael? What's wrong? You look like you're about to confess to something scandalous," she teased, her voice a warm melody that always calmed the storm in his chest.
"Only something scandalous to my bachelorhood," he murmured, his thumb brushing the velvet box. He reached for her hand, his fingers trembling slightly as they intertwined with hers. Her skin was warm, familiar, comforting. This was it. The moment.
Just say it. Just say the words. Before time steals the chance.
He knelt, the small stones biting into his knees, but he barely registered it. His gaze was locked on hers, a silent promise, a lifetime of devotion reflected in their shimmering depths. He pulled the box from his pocket, the velvet a stark contrast to his calloused fingers.
"Elara," he began again, his voice thick with emotion, each syllable a fragile step towards forever. "From the moment I met you on this very bridge, my world changed. You are my compass, my calm, my greatest joy. Every day with you is a gift, and... I want all my tomorrows to be with you. Elara, my love, will you..."
The world shattered.
It wasn't a rumble, not a distant siren, but an immediate, screeching cacophony of twisted metal, exploding glass, and a roar that swallowed the very air. A sickening, deafening CRASH ripped through the quiet evening, not from the bridge, but from the intersection just meters away. It was instantaneous, brutal, and horrifyingly close.
Kael's instincts screamed. Before he could even register the source, a monstrous force slammed into them, not from the intersection, but from a vehicle that had veered violently off the road, out of control, a dark blur of steel and terror. He saw it in a flash – a pickup truck, spinning wildly, its headlights momentarily blinding him before it became a horrifying, unstoppable projectile.
"Elara! Look out!" he bellowed, a primal, guttural cry torn from his very soul. He didn't think; he reacted. He lunged, shoving her with every ounce of his strength, pushing her violently away from the path of the oncoming death. She stumbled, a surprised gasp leaving her lips, her body pitched precariously away from him, just as the truck, a metal beast gone rogue, slammed into him with the force of a battering ram.
Pain, absolute and all-consuming, obliterated everything else. It was a thousand jagged knives, a crushing weight that stole his breath and twisted his world into a kaleidoscope of searing white and suffocating black. He felt himself launched, then slammed against the unyielding coldness of the bridge's concrete railing, a sickening crack echoing through the chaos. The box, the ring, spun from his grasp, a futile, pathetic arc against the darkening sky.
Then, silence. Not truly silent, but muffled, distorted, as if the world had suddenly filled with cotton. He lay crumpled on the ground, his body an agony he couldn't comprehend, a wet, sticky warmth spreading rapidly beneath his head. His vision swam, fractured, but he could make out the twisted wreckage of the truck, the screams of distant bystanders, and the horrifying sight of his own unnaturally bent leg.
A ragged, rattling gasp escaped him, a sound of profound helplessness. He tried to move, to push himself up, to check on Elara. But his limbs were unresponsive, heavy and alien. Each breath was a struggle, a tiny, burning victory against the suffocating pressure on his chest.
"Elara?" he rasped, the name a fragile, desperate plea against the encroaching darkness. "Elara!"
Her voice, a thin, terrified sob, cut through the ringing in his ears. "Kael! Oh my God, Kael! No! No, no, no!" She was there, scrambling on her hands and knees towards him, her face a mask of horrified disbelief, streaked with dirt and fresh tears. He saw the cut on her forehead, the graze on her cheek, but she was moving. She was alive. A single, triumphant tear squeezed from his eye. At least that. At least she was safe.
But he wasn't. The cold was seeping in, a chilling premonition that crept from his shattered body to the very core of his being. He could feel a pressure on his chest, a heavy, unyielding weight that stole more and more of his precious air with each shallow, ragged gasp. He knew, with a horrifying, crushing certainty, what this meant.
No. Not now. Not like this. Not when I was so close.
His mind screamed in protest, a desperate, defiant roar against the encroaching shadow. He had plans. So many plans. A small apartment they'd decorate together, a silly tradition of Friday night take-out, the sound of children's laughter echoing through their future home. A lifetime of quiet, beautiful moments, built conversation by conversation, smile by smile, with Elara.
"Kael, just hold on! Someone's calling for an ambulance! Please, Kael, stay with me!" Elara was sobbing, her hands futilely pressing against his chest, trying to stop the flow of a life that was already ebbing away. Her strength, usually so surprising in its quiet resolve, was useless against this monstrous, internal decay.
He tried to smile, to reassure her, but his lips felt numb, his muscles unresponsive. His vision swam. The city lights, which had seemed to promise so much, now seemed to mock him, their brilliance fading too quickly, just like his own.
This wasn't how it was supposed to be. The words were on my tongue. The ring was in my hand. Our forever was a breath away.
His mind, in its final, frantic dance, rewound. He saw her face again, radiant in the twilight, innocent of the horror that had consumed them. He saw the tiny, velvet box, lying just out of reach, its contents waiting for a question that would never be fully asked. The words. The words he hadn't spoken. The question he hadn't fully delivered. It was a searing, bitter regret, hotter than any pain in his body.
My love, my anchor, my gentle fire.
The words caught in my throat, a final plea.
A future unwoven, a promise unkept.
A breath stolen, before it could ever be deep.
He wanted to fight. Oh, how he wanted to fight. To cling to the life that was being ripped from his grasp with such brutal indifference. He clawed at the air, his fingers closing on nothing but the thin veil of existence. The darkness was pressing in now, like the very concrete was trying to reclaim him.
No. I don't want to go. Not without saying it. Not without seeing her say yes. Not without our forever.
His chest heaved, a desperate attempt to draw a full breath, but the air wouldn't come. Each gasp was shallower than the last, a tiny, fading flutter against the immense weight crushing him. Elara's voice was distant now, a muffled cry, as if she were speaking from another world. He could feel her hands on him, shaking, cold.
He opened his eyes one last time, forcing his blurry gaze to find her. She was leaning over him, her face a mask of grief, her tears falling onto his dirt-streaked cheek, cool and cleansing. He tried to lift his hand, just a fraction, to touch her face, to offer one last comfort. But it was too heavy.
His gaze flickered, not to the blurring city lights, but to her eyes. The sea glass eyes that had held his world. And in their depths, he saw not just despair, but love. Unconditional, fierce, enduring.
With a monumental, final surge of will, Kael forced air from his failing lungs. It was an impossible effort, a last desperate act. Elara, seeing the subtle shift in his eyes, instinctively leaned closer, her own face inches from his, desperate for any sign of life. His lips barely moved, producing a raw, rattling whisper, barely audible over the distant sirens and her own strangled sobs.
"Elara... my love..." he rasped, his eyes burning with a dying intensity, locking onto hers. He gathered every last shred of his fading strength, his voice breaking, "Live... for us. Live... happy... please. Even without me." A wet cough shook his body, stealing precious air. His gaze, however, remained fixed on her, unwavering. "Please, please do. And know... I'll be waiting. Until we meet again... in whatever comes after this."
Her head shook frantically, a heartbroken refusal, raw and guttural. Tears streamed down her face as she pressed her forehead to his, trying to shout a protest, a promise, anything, but only a choked sob escaped, mirroring the agony in his own fading plea.
The last image burned into his fading consciousness was her face, blurred now, but still beautiful, still radiating the light that had guided his every step. The faint echo of the city, the distant wail of sirens, all faded into a single, profound silence.
A whisper of a breath escaped him, a sound softer than a dying flame, and then, Kael's eyes, fixed on the vanishing light of his beloved, finally, completely, closed. The silence of the night descended, broken only by the anguished, heartbroken cries of a woman who had just lost her entire world on an ordinary bridge, on an extraordinary, devastatingly Radiant Night.
[A/N: This is my first novel, and I am learning and growing with each chapter. Your understanding and support are truly appreciated. I look forward to continuing this story with you. Until our paths meet again... under the Radiant Night.]