A Firestorm of Choices

On my birthday, a massive fire broke out in the shopping mall where I was.

And my firefighter husband, the Captain, rushed off to save his childhood sweetheart who was threatening to jump from a building due to depression.

In my past life, I called my husband begging for help.

In the end, he ignored the jumper and came to fight the fire.

The childhood sweetheart ended up a broken mess on the pavement.

Back then, he said it wasn't my fault, that it was his choice.

He even took me on a trip.

But at the night we were about to departure, he hanged me on the rooftop where she had jumped and dismembered me, throwing my remains into a meat grinder.

He screamed like a madman.

"It was just a fire! You wouldn't have died! But Bianca died because of you!"

"Today, you'll feel the terror and pain she felt hitting the ground!"

When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the start of the fire.

...

Boom

A deafening explosion ripped through the mall, and flames instantly engulfing everything.

"Fire! Run!"

"Ahhh!"

The blast threw me backwards, landing me on a bed of shattered glass.

In my phone, my husband's voice was thick with impatience.

"What do you want now? Bianca's about to jump from a building to suicide! Are you seriously bothering me with this?"

I couldn't believe I'd been sent back to this moment!

Before my brain could fully process it, I said,

"It's nothing, Jack. Bianca's life is more important. Go save her."

I hung up before he could react and bolted for the exit.

I'd experienced the nightmare once. If I tangled with that stupid man again this time around, I'd be a fool.

The main doors were jammed, a stampede unfolding.

Flames snaked through the crowd, devouring lives.

Cornered in a boutique, trembling, I dialed 911.

It took four tries before someone answered.

My vision blurred, blood dripping from my scalp onto the floor.

This dispatcher was Jack Gibson's colleague.

"Hello, I'm Jack Gibson's wife. There's a major fire at Pioneer Place Mall downtown. Please send help immediately"

She cut me off.

"Captain Gibson is already responding to a call! He was swamped before he left, but he still remembered to tell me that if your number comes up, hang up immediately. Stop wasting emergency resources!"

I was stunned.

I'd only been to the firehouse once, and I'd never called 911 before.

Why did the dispatcher sound like she knew me so well?

No time to dwell. Lives were at stake.

I said weakly. "I'm not looking for him! There's a fire here! He needs to come..."

Jack was the Fire Captain.

This mall was in the city center, packed with people.

If they didn't get this fire under control, the whole city could be swallowed by flames!

The dispatcher snorted.

"Still playing games? Do you realize this is 911? A lifeline! How can you waste emergency resources over your romantic drama?"

"Hang up now."

Panic surged as I heard her intent.

"Don't hang up!"

Just then, a flaming timber beam crashed down on me!

My hair ignited instantly!

Biting back agony, I forced the words out.

"I need help!"

"Pioneer Place exploded! There's a massive internal fire! Hundreds are trapped! Get Gibson here now!"

The mall's exterior was sturdy, reinforced glass obscuring the inferno inside.

From outside, nothing seemed amiss.

Of course the dispatcher didn't believe me.

Her voice was righteous indignation.

"Cut the act! I told you the Captain is out saving someone! He's not coming to see you, no matter how many times you call!"

"This line is for emergencies! If someone dies because you tied up the line, could you live with that?"

"Calling for attention is bad enough normally, but now? Unbelievable!"

Before I could plead, the line went dead.

Click. Beep beep beep

My scalp was scorched.

Tears welling in my eyes evaporated before they could fall.

I had never called 911 before. I wasn't lying.

So.

Jack must have said something at the station, making everyone think so poorly of me.

I put down my phone with a bitter laugh.

Nine years together, and my husband despised me.

No wonder, in my past life, Jack fed me to the meat grinder for Bianca Rossi.

The room temperature soared.

If I stayed, I'd die.

I searched for anything usable but found only a blanket.

No time to hesitate.

I wrapped myself in it and charged through the wall of fire!

Luck was on my side; the flames near the boutique entrance weren't as fierce.

I quickly threw the burning blanket aside and collapsed on the ground, gasping for air.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the first floor was still blocked.

Gritting my teeth, I hauled myself up and ran towards the weakest-looking window on the second floor.

Crash

I hit the pavement hard, glass shards digging into my flesh. Too hurt to speak, I curled into a ball.

"Casualty over here!"

Before I blacked out, I saw the hope,

In my past life, when the mall exploded

While Jack was fighting the fire, Bianca called me, screaming,

"You bitch! Why didn't you burn to death?!"

"If it weren't for you, Jack wouldn't have changed his mind!"

During the argument, she suddenly screamed.

Wind howled through the phone before the call cut out.

Jack extinguished the fire, raced to Bianca, only to find well, what was left.

Police traced Bianca's last call C a heated argument with me.

Jack handled the arrangements alone. Then he completely changed.

I tried to explain to Jack.

I was surrounded by fire, choking on smoke. I could barely speak.

All I managed was, 'But Jack married me,' then I heard Bianca's scream as she slipped.

Jack said he didn't blame on me.

He gave compensation to every victim's family C cash and a plush toy.

And he insisted we take a trip.

At the night we were about to departure

Hidden bombs inside those plush toys detonated, killing every victim's family.

I was dragged to that rooftop and Jack made sure I suffered slowly.

Like madman who'd lost his beloved,, Jack muttered over my screams.

"A fire isn't as deadly as a fall! Because of you, my Bianca is gone forever"

"You know? When I got there she was just broken."

"She must have been in so much pain."

He laughed, a terrifying, broken sound.

"But it's okay. You'll soon know exactly how she felt."

Jack tore me apart, and when I had one breath left,he threw me into the meat grinder.

My soul wrenched free in agony, watching Jack feed what remained to stray dogs.

Then he held Bianca's portrait, declared his vows to her image, and jumped from the rooftop.

I understood then, but it was too late.

Now, blessed with a second chance, I'd saved myself.

Smoke choked the air.

The second floor collapsed! Thick, black plumes rose, spreading panic. The lead paramedic worked quickly on my wounds.

Peeling back my eyelids to check my pupils, he roared:

"How is the fire truck not here yet with a fire this big in the city center?!"

"Ugh!"

The female paramedic lowered her arm in frustration.

"The dispatcher hung up on me!"

"I tried multiple times, they were always busy! When the finally answered, I gave the location and begged for the Captain to respond and she just hung up! She said I should stop playing games. Unbelievable!"

The lead paramedic's face flushed with anger. "What kind of dispatchers do we have?! Who would fake a fire this big?!"

An elderly woman shuffled over, trembling, offering a water bottle she couldn't give me.

"Hang in there, dear. The doc says fire victims shouldn't drink water right away."

Tears cut tracks through the soot on my cheeks.

I nodded weakly. "Thank you."

Even strangers showed me kindness now.

But my husband of nine years? He'd chosen his chronically unfaithful childhood sweetheart over my life.

Maybe Jack and Bianca had been together all along.

I just hadn't known.

After checking my condition, the lead paramedic dialed the fire dispatch again.

The dispatcher answered, already furious: "You are calling to report another fake fire for Sienna Moore, are you? Last warning! This is an emergency line! One more personal call clogging it up, and I'm reporting you!"

The paramedic bellowed: "Are you completely oblivious?! Pioneer Place is engulfed! There were casualties everywhere! Every doctor in the city is here! Where the hell is 911?!"

"Do you understand your job?! If you can't handle an emergency, pack your bags and get out!"

The dispatcher froze, then scrambled. "Oh god right away, Sir!"

EMTs loaded me onto a stretcher.

The world spun.

"The patient is critical! Where's the oxygen mask?!"

"Heart rate unstable! Starting CPR!"

My phone buzzed.

Seeing 'Hubby' on the screen, a paramedic put it on speaker near my ear.

The connection clicked.

Jack's voice lashed out.

"Sienna, what the hell is your problem? Didn't I tell you no calls means I'm on a call?! Bianca was literally on the ledge!"

"And you called 911?! Do you have any idea what that line is for?!

Your call tied it up! The report about Pioneer Place didn't get through!"

"I don't care about disciplinary punishment! But people could die! Hundreds of families could be wiped out because you couldn't control yourself!"

Bianca's sniffles came through the line.

Jack's voice turned icy.

"Listen Sienna! If you bother me or tie up that emergency line one more time, I swear to god, we're done!"

My skin was fused to my clothes, but that pain was nothing compared to the ache in my heart.

Every time Bianca drifted back into town, Jack talked about divorce with me.

I was the one who kneeled down, begging him not to leave me alone.

But this road to love was endless.

It's too long to see the end, too dark to see any hope.

I was burnt, fighting for my life in an ambulance.

Tears mixed with blood dripped onto the stretcher.

My heartbeat grew fainter.

Jack. Had you forgotten? Today was my birthday. Our ninth wedding anniversary. The fire caused severe casualties. Rushed into emergency surgery, my life hung by a thread. The lead surgeon needed next-of-kin to sign consent forms.

He opened my phone. The contact list held only one name: 'Hubby.'

The doctor called, only to find be blocked.

Just then, the dispatcher called back, voice thick with panic.

"Sienna? Oh god, Sienna, I'm so sorry! Really! You always called before, tying up the line I thought this was another one of your joke! I didn't know! Please, please talk to the Chief! Explain it wasn't my fault! I can't lose my job!"

The surgeon asked the dispatcher to call Jack and get me unblocked.

About two minutes later, Jack called.

The surgeon started to speak, but Jack cut him off.

"Sienna, you just don't take a hint, do you?!"

"I'm having the divorce papers emailed to you right now! Sienna Moore, get your crap out of my house! You make me sick."

Back when we were crazy in love.

Jack used to say it was our home.

A place just for the two of us.

Now.

He told me to get out of his house.

The surgeon gave me a pitying look and took the phone off speaker.

He lowered his voice, "Jack Gibson? Your wife is on the operating table! Get to Central Hospital NOW to sign the consent forms!"

The volume was low, but I still heard.

I thought Jack, hearing a doctor, might at least hesitate.

Instead, his voice was flat and cold.

"Unbelievable. She dragged this charade to the hospital?"

The sound of spraying water and distant screams came through.

"While I was saving someone today, her call nearly killed her!"

"I just pulled her to safety when I found out Sienna's call had tied up the line, delaying the Pioneer Place response!"

"You tell Sienna, if she's really dying, she better sign those damn papers first!"