Hitting Zero - Heart Beat

“I do.”

The bride’s vow echoed across the crowded staple for all to hear, gaining resonance as it stretched toward the furthest corners of the room..

The priest beamed at the glowing couple before him. “Then you may kiss the bride!” he proclaimed, shutting his book as if the enthusiastic exclamation to his statement.

A giddy bubble of laughter escaped the bride, her cheeks radiating with color, tears beginning to well at the corners of her eyes, before leaning in to kiss the man who was now her husband.

Once regaining his lips, the groom smiled lightly at the woman who was now his wife, basking in the warmth of his blushing bride.

Turning on her heels, a fist raised high in victory, the bride’s cheer beckoned the crowd from their pews to applaud wildly for the newlywed couple. The groom turned to the mass of friends and family as well, giving curt friendly nods to anyone he had made eye contact with.

Handed back her beautiful bouquet of pasty white roses and lilies, the bride waltzed forward with her husband’s hand tightly secured in her own, parading down the aisle, showing off the pearly teeth she spent $500 to whiten. The groom waved along, a few steps behind the bride, shaking hands with the powdery haired men who reached out to him from within the pews.

A swift breeze caressed the couple as the church doors were swung open, the brilliant sunlight bathing them in its blessing, their silhouettes seemingly haloed in the sun's rays to everyone they had left behind.

The bride paused at the doorway, breathing in every second of this celebrated moment, gripping onto her husband’s cool hand in an attempt to slow it all down. Then, without warning, she wound her arms around his torso, nuzzling her cheek against his chest, the cheers and awes from the crowd melting away until she felt there was no one else on this planet besides her and her husband.

“I love the beating of your heart. For as long as I could remember, it’s always beat right on time, never slowing or pacing, like clockwork. It’s so comforting to hear.” She whispered, confining in him a secret she held for many years, blushing as if they were in middle school.

The groom let out a heavy breath, his lips tight.

“I knew it,” the bride continued, “I knew that the moment my timer hit zero and our eyes met all those years ago, that you would be the one I would marry.” She let out a blissful sigh, tucking her face against his chest once again. “I just wish you had inserted a timer onto your wrist, too, so you could have known my excitement.”

The groom draped an arm around his bride, kissing the top of her head before nestling his chin in the bun of her hair, the fragrant veil of the bride's great-grandmother filling his nostrils.

His smile fell.

He never told her that he did have a timer inserted inside him. He had asked for it to be placed by his heart, so when the timer did run out he would just know. His whole body would ring the moment he had found the one destined to be his. His heart would finally begin to race passionately in his chest, not ticking away in perfect unison with this countdown.

He hadn’t the strength to tell her that the beating in his chest wasn’t his heart after all, but his own timer still counting down…

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