Page 123 of The Last Kiss

Cool hands take the place of his. Brisk, industrious, the babble of voices that don’t make my inside mellow the way his does. “Stats are good, BP settled.”

“Henri,” I call his name, trying to reach for him.

“I’m here,” he says but he’s too far away.

“Breathe in now please and then out in one long exhale.” I do. There’s a pulling which makes me gag and my windpipe clears of the obstruction.

The sweet tang of hospital air, bleach and disinfectant, scents that never smelled so good, blast my senses.

“Open your eyes.” The warm hand is back, lacing through mine.

I do. It’s not easy. They are stuck with cement, or sand. Hopefully, it’s the golden grains of France and not builder’s sand.

“Henri.” Tears leak from my eyes as I see him. “You’re alive. I had the worst dream.”

His smile… so damn… everything. “You’re alive too, mon amour, I can’t ever lose you. Not ever.”

He falls down to the seat, shoulders shaking, head in his hands, but for the first time in forever I don’t want to cry.

No.

Now I want to live.

Epilogue

Henri

I can’t look down for the life of me. I’m clinging to the security barrier with the resolve of a free climber hanging from a rock face.

I know down below Simone and Gabriella are laughing. Their laughter is lost on the wind, too many damn tourists to make it heard. I know Gabriella will have her arms wrapped around Simone, daughter and mother happy together.

People come up here for fun? They all need their heads examining. I’d rather stick my hand up a birthing cow’s rear end than do this.

But… a promise is a promise.

Even if they do involve standing three hundred metres above the earth. The wind blows and I’m sure the whole damn thing sways.

Best to just get this over and done with.

Until I turn and see her. Hair streaming in the wind, wisps of tangled chestnut waves, her eyes wide as she takes in the view, dangerously close to the edge, and I know this moment can’t be rushed.

Grinning, I step back into a safety zone, casting me in a shadow from the June sunlight.

She is everything. Every dream, every nightmare, every waking moment in between. I could watch her for days and never grow bored, never plan to get bored.

Who knew you could fall so irrevocably in love with someone? That meeting five times would change your whole existence.

Who knew I’d wait forty-two years to understand what living was?

She grins, turning to face me, her hair whipping across her face, which she pulls at with her fingers. “Are you scared, mon lion?” That twinkle in her eyes is devilish; the bud of her perfect rose mouth stretching into a wide smile.

“Not scared, just valuing the power of gravity with new understanding.”

“Come here.” She holds her hand out and I weave our fingers, reminded of the first time I held her hand and something in the action shifted the earth beneath me. “Look, you can see everything. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.”

I watch her, a smile growing.

“Oh don’t, please.” She rolls her eyes. “Don’t you dare say, ‘I have’.”