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Ravi was notoriously a bit of a romantic.
Romcoms, cheesy pick up lines, weekly bouquets and fancy dates were straight up his alley, and he took great pride in making sure that he lived up to his self appointed lover boy title.
Ever since he and May had started dating, he had been itching for the perfect opportunity to sweep her off her feet.
But with being at the 118 meant long, demanding hours, and with May starting clinical hours, their free time together became less and less frequent.
"We should make a rota," May had suggested one evening, feet in Ravi's lap after a particularly gruelling shift.
"A rota? For…foot rubs?" Ravi replied, arching an eyebrow in what May had labelled his "adorable confused face".
"For our dates," she said, "We barely have any free time, and when we do, we spend most of it deciding what we're gonna do."
Ravi nods, mulling it over. They had spent all afternoon last weekend finding a good place for their lunch date, but by the time their orders hit the table, it was less than 20 minutes til May's shift began.
"Doesn't that make it feel like a chore? No spontaneity or whatever?" Ravi had questioned.
"Mm, I'm sure there's a way we can still keep it exciting…oh, what if we planned dates for each other? Like — like a surprise date?" May said, snapping her fingers in conclusive victory.
"So like a million surprise dates?"
"A million surprise dates, yes. I expect to be wooed by the way."
Ravi turned his head toward May fully, face determined, "Oh I'll woo you. Probably way better than you could woo me."
"Oh? That a challenge?" May retorted, spurred on by Ravi's sudden confidence in the matter.
"You bet it's a challenge. I'm gonna woo you so much, i'll woo you like you've never been wooed before—"
" —okay, enough with the word 'woo'," May laughed, cutting Ravi's spiel off, "It sounds weird now. But okay, challenge accepted."
Fast forward two weeks, and the first free gap in their schedules meant it was Ravi's turn for a date idea, the day excitedly marked in his mind.
This week — a hike along the chalky white cliffs of Point Dume.
The Point Dume Cove Trail had long since been on Ravi's list, he was simply enthralled by its beauty and he had to plan the most extraordinary date around it.
So he did. According to his plans, they would start the trail in the late morning after a slow cozy start at his place. Then, a drive out of the city to Malibu, where they'd complete the hike in an hour, timing perfect — not too short but not too long either, wonderful for a leisurely pace.
After that, they'd head back down and lie lazily in the gentle warm sun, stretching soundly on the golden sand and splitting food to eat between them, feeding each other little bites from the tips of their fingers.
It was all mapped out perfectly in Ravi's head, and he hummed to himself contentedly as he swung May's hand in his as they approached the rocky edge along the trail path, blue stretching for miles into the horizon and splashing loudly below them.
From here, the cliffs on the other side of the beach stood like slices of white cake, jagged at the edges, azure waves lapping at the base.
"Wooed yet?" Ravi asked, his arms around May's waist and his chin propped on her head as she took a series of photos on her phone.
"We're not done yet. We still need to finish this trail and have our beach picnic like you planned, no?" she replied, laser focused on capturing the idyllic view in front of her.
Ravi huffed a laugh into her hair. He adored this woman so, so much.
"A review only comes after the date then?" he asked, swaying them playfully.
"Bingo. You're such a fast learner baby," May replied, turning and winking cheekily, "We should take some of us, turn around."
"Wait, let me get one of you first. I've been dying for a new lock screen anyway," Ravi said, backing up further onto the path and crouching with May's phone.
May rolls her eyes fondly and takes another step back.
"Make sure you get my good side!" she calls out, posing exaggeratedly.
"Copy that," replied Ravi, closing one eye in faux concentration, "Getting alllll the good angles babe."
They stay there for a moment, May doing more and more outrageous poses to make Ravi snort with laughter.
"Okay, I think that's — Ravi?" May starts, her smile quickly replaced by genuine fear, "Did — did you feel that?"
She stuck her arms out either side of herself, eyes wide with terror. "Oh my god, I think—"
Before Ravi could even reply, the rock underneath May's feet began to crumble, chunks of earth giving way and tumbling into the waves below.
Ravi lunged forward just as May's frightened figure dropped suddenly, her horrified scream rattling around in his ears. He threw his body onto the precarious edge and snagged both of her wrists, gripping with all his might and digging the toes of his boots into the ground.
"Oh my god — Ravi, oh my god — oh m—" May screamed, knuckles white with her desperate grip.
"Hold on, I've got you, just — just hold on, I'm gonna try pull you up," Ravi replied through gritted teeth.
He dug his feet in as far as they would go and pushed, his torso nearly completely folded over the edge. He pulled with his whole upper body, straining tremendously, eyes unmoving from May's, dangling below him.
Ravi shifted his leg in an attempt to plant himself firmer into the dirt, but the ground let out a loud groan and began to tremble beneath him, causing his grip on May's hands to falter.
"Fuck! No, please, help! Somebody help!" he yelled, not daring to turn his face away from May.
"Ravi, let go," May pleaded, her breath short. "You have —you have to let go, I-I can't let you fall."
"You're insane. You're insane, I'm not letting you go, just please," Ravi hurled back, shaking his head incessantly.
"I'm slipping, I can't— I'm—"
Ravi doesn't get to hear how May's sentence ends.
The rock beneath him gives out completely and suddenly everything falls in slow motion, a horror movie playing out in front of his face with no way to stop it.
The unforgiving icy water grasped Ravi immediately, swallowing him and dragging him away. He struggled against the instinct to thrash, frantically recalling his water safety training — don't fight the water, stay calm.
The light from the surface slowly began slipping away as he pulled through the strong undercurrent.
A dull ache in his shoulders appeared and the burning in his chest began to spread, his lungs constricted by thorny bands of ice, squeezing, squeezing, squeezing.
Ravi forced his eyes to stay open, ignoring the sting of the salt and focusing on chasing the hand in front of him, so close but still so far, its open palm deceptively inviting as it sank further into the murky depths, almost in slow motion.
May's hair was haloed around her head, a twisted vision as the last dregs of sunlight painted honey streaks in its splayed strands. She looked eerily angelic, eyes shut and arms outstretched, something akin to a smile still faintly on the corner of her lips.
It stuns Ravi momentarily, how at peace she looks.
He heaved his tired body further, scrambling for one of May's wrists and grasping it with all his remaining strength. The telltale slick of blood, thinned by the water, wrapped around his fingers, taunting him as he pulled her lax figure towards him.
The fire in his chest was unbearable now, his movements sluggish and weak against the relentless pull of the waves. Ravi looked up, clawing desperately to the surface as May lay motionless against him in the tight circle of his other arm.
Please, please, please, he thought, desperate, hand breaking into the air and palming the remaining rock, slippery with algae. Ravi pushed up, throwing himself backwards onto it before readjusting his arms underneath May's shoulders. He planted his legs and pulled, heaving the both of them away from the edge, swallowing a cry at the stab of pain that shoots all the way through him.
Immediately, he rolled over and cradled May's head, her body terrifyingly cold in his hands.
"Help! We're down here! Somebody—somebody help!" he shouted hoarsely, coughing and spluttering, spitting saltwater from his mouth.
Ravi tilted May's head and parted her lips, trying not to tremble at the blue tinge creeping up. He leant over her and placed his interwoven hands over her chest, pumping up and down with the heel of his palms.
"Come on, come on, please—help!" he screamed again, leaning forward to blow harshly into May's mouth, willing fiercely for the rise and fall of her chest.
Ravi's arms were burning now, his vision growing black around the edges and a merciless ache enveloping his entire body.
A gasp hit his ears and he looked down to find May's eyes fluttering open and darting around frantically.
"May? Oh god—hey, hey," Ravi says, moving to clutch her head with his now shaking hands.
May turned her head and coughed over and over, a hacking choke that brought up water and made her shoulders heave. She had a gash across the side of her forehead that was bleeding steadily, red dripping onto her skin soaked shirt.
"Ravi?" she murmured, meeting his eyes and covering his hand on her cheek with hers.
"Hey, we're okay, it's all—we're gonna be okay," he nodded, the movement heavy.
"Ravi? Ravi!" May repeated again with urgency, as if he hadn't said anything at all. He was sure he had though, and he frowned in confusion.
Did she even hear me? he thought, maybe I should get closer.
He tried to lift up but his legs gave in immediately like jelly beneath him. The pounding in his head seemed so loud now—was that there before?
His eyes felt heavier too, each blink sluggish and painful, May getting further and further away every time he opened his eyes. Why was she leaving, he thought distantly, stretching his hand out towards her.
His vision was disappearing now, the sea, shore and May swimming together to make an amalgamation of each other. Faint reds and blues kept flashing over May's face.
Ravi could tell she was talking, her eyes wide and panicked, mouth moving but she was still so far, no words were forming.
She's hurt, Ravi thought to himself, suddenly angry at his body and its refusal to just move.
More voices entered his head now, warbled and unintelligible—maybe they could help May. He tries to speak to warn them, tell them his girlfriend's hurt, but the words won't come, trapped cruelly behind his teeth.
He saw what looked like two figures surround May, their large looming shadows crouched beside her, and finally surrendered to the heavy pull of his eyelids, plunging him into darkness.
A harsh white light jarred Ravi from what was probably the worst sleep of his life. His tongue stuck uncomfortably to the roof of his mouth, tacky and bitter tasting like copper.
Blood, he thought, suddenly alarmed. May, he remembered again, panicked and desperate this time.
"May? May?" Ravi tried to call, his voice raspy and strained, and his vision blurred.
A figure in what Ravi made out to be a visitor's chair sat up straight at his movements.
"You're awake."
A warm hand settled over his, and as the mystery face grew closer, his vision settled.
"May," he greeted, forcing out the words, "Are you okay, what—what happened to your head?"
May smiled, a small timid thing. She had a large white dressing on the side of her head, and neatly placed butterfly stiches on the opposite brow. She sat in a matching hospital gown, IV line hanging from her arm to the bag on the metal rail next to her.
"We got a little banged up. Rocky cliff side collapsed on our date," May explained, stroking Ravi's hand with her thumb, her touch barely there, like she was afraid Ravi would disappear again.
Ravi looked up at her and turned his palm over, lacing their hands together.
"Guess I didn't get the chance to woo you," he said, attempting to joke.
May looked pained. "We almost died —it was…secondary drowning. You got me out and then—I'm sorry." She broke, tears running down her face.
"Hey, it's not your fault, it could never be your fault. You know I'd follow you anywhere right?" Ravi consoled.
"Even off the side of a cliff?"
"Especially then. You're not dying without me."
May sniffed, giggling a little at Ravi's absurdity. "You're so romantic."
"I try to be," Ravi replied in earnest, pausing to gaze at her. "You know, I love you, May. This is probably the worst timing in history but I feel like almost dying gives us a pass."
"No, it's perfect. I love you," May whispers back, leaning forward to rest her head on Ravi's shoulder as much as her injured body would allow.
"There's still time for me to woo you. Maybe in front of a movie at my place this time," Ravi suggested, after a beat of comfortable silence.
May erupted into giggles, burrowing her face into his neck.
"I can't wait. Woo away."