Right after our wedding, my husband and I just crashed on the hotel bed, totally exhausted, right? It was our first night as a married couple, and he was hinting at being intimate, but I was just too tired. He seemed okay with it, but then something unbelievable happened. I woke up in the middle of the night because the bed was shaking!
I turned over and couldn’t believe my eyes—Jeez, he was sitting on the edge of the bed, violently trembling. I shot up, my heart racing with fear and confusion.
“Mark, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” I asked, my voice shaky.
He didn’t respond immediately, just stared blankly at the wall, his eyes wide with terror. I reached out to touch him, and he flinched as if my hand was on fire.
“Mark, talk to me! What’s happening?”
Finally, he took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. “I… I had a nightmare,” he stammered. “It felt so real. I thought I was back in that place.”
I was confused. “What place? What are you talking about?”
He looked at me, his eyes filled with a mix of fear and sorrow. “I never told you, but before we met, I went through something terrible. I was kidnapped and held captive for months. Sometimes, it all comes rushing back in my dreams.”
My breath caught in my throat. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I didn’t want to burden you with my past. Tonight, it just… it just hit me out of nowhere.”
I moved closer, wrapping my arms around him. “You’re not alone anymore, Mark. Whatever happened, we’ll face it together.”
He hugged me back, his body still trembling. “Thank you,” he whispered. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
We sat there in silence for a while, holding each other until the tremors subsided. Eventually, we lay back down, and I stroked his hair until he drifted off to sleep. I couldn’t shake the feeling of unease, but I knew we would get through it together.
In the days that followed, we talked more about his past. Mark opened up about the trauma he had endured, and we decided to seek professional help to deal with it. It wasn’t easy, but our love grew stronger with each step we took together.
Our wedding night had been far from what we expected, but it had brought us closer in a way we never imagined. We learned that true love wasn’t just about the perfect moments; it was about being there for each other through the darkest times, too.
Years later, we often looked back on that night with a mix of sadness and gratitude. It was the night we truly began our journey as a married couple, facing the world together, no matter what nightmares came our way.