His eyes scanned over the note furiously, his heart dropping with every word that she had written in her elegant script. As soon as he finished the letter, he dropped it, and ran through the room, slamming into the door as he threw it open, the meeting that was to happen to move to the back of his mind. He ran through the streets, the last songs she had sung for him playing in the back of his head as he sprinted up the hill that led to the overpass. The wind seemed to not want him to make it in time, pushing against him–a storm just having left their tiny town. 

He saw her there, she was crouched on the railing, people nearby stopping what they were doing. His heart seemed to beat out of his chest as he saw her stand, keeping a balance somehow on the cylindrical railing. His breathing was labored, having just run the distance from the office to the overpass, which was over a mile away from each other. The muscles in his legs burned, protesting as he took a step closer to her. 

She turned briefly and stopped as her eyes landed on him. She gave him a small smile, one that held years’ worth of exhaustion and sadness. “I love you,” she seemed to mouth to him. 

He forced his legs to move— time seeming to slow down as she started to tip in the direction of the rushing freeway below her. He had the one thought that he had to make it, running through his head on repeat. His body felt heavy as he made it to the edge of the railing, throwing his hand out as he begged himself to move just a little faster. His hand with the flesh and a sudden yank caused him to brace against the metal railing.

Time seemed to resume its natural flow. One of his hands was leaning on the railing that she had been standing on, the other reaching below the overpass. Tears streamed down his face as he felt dread and heartache. 

Even though he had caught her, she might as well have been dead. He knew she would never be the same person.