When my husband Evan decided to dismiss my worries about the old furnace, like he always did, a fire started and both my face and my life was changed forever.
I was nearly disfigured, and my appearance was a reason enough for Evan to leave me. All those years we had spent together meant nothing to the man I had once trusted with my life.
The old house we rented had an even older furnace. That December night was chilly and I wanted the place to feel warm and cozy. With a book in one of my hands and a cup of tea in the other, I got lost in another world.
Then, all of a sudden, a strange smell filled the place. Something was burning, and before I could figure out where the smell was coming from, the fire from the furnace was spreading fast, like a living thing that was eating everything on its way.
Panic set in. I grabbed the fire extinguisher, but it was already too late. The flames consumed most of the room.
Evan was upstairs, studying. I kept calling his name, but he didn’t answer right away. A moment later, I heard his heavy footsteps running down the stairs. His face was shocked. “Get out,” he yelled at me, but I was frozen.
In the next moment, I felt my face blistering from the intensity of the flames! Evan then dragged me out in the yard, and the next thing I remember was the loud sound of sirens.
I was rushed to the hospital and given painkillers for the excruciating pain.
When I woke up the following morning, my entire face was covered in bandages.
Evan was looking at me with a strange expression on his face, and while I assured him that everything was going to be just fine, a distance I had never felt before could be felt between us.
Once home, he hired a nurse to take care of me while I recuperated.
The renovations were underway and Evan was busy with the house, so I tried to convince myself that was the reason he wasn’t around me much. But then, he dropped the bomb.
Evan was leaving me. He couldn’t stand looking at my face that was heavily affected by the severe burns of the fire.
The man I loved betrayed me when I needed him the most.
My heart was crushed, but I knew I needed to be strong for myself.
The months that followed were all about finding strength and enduring the surgeries that were to help restore my face.
I was afraid to face the world and was ashamed of my scars from the fire, believing no one could ever love me again.
But then I met Jim. We first saw each other during a session of a support group for burn survivors. He worked as a doctor who had seen many cases of people suffering burns in fire.
Jim never looked at me with pity. On the contrary, he accepted the way I looked, and being a doctor, he had connections with specialists and surgeons who he believed could help me look like I had before.
His words and his presence restored my self-confidence.
Over time, we fell for one another and we eventually married. This man changed my world for the better. He became my rock and my strength, and I was the happiest woman there was.
Last forward to last Saturday, Jim was celebrating his promotion at a fancy restaurant. Many of his colleagues were present. And then, out of the blue, I noticed Evan in the corner of the room. He was studying medicine while we were together, and I had no idea he became a doctor during the years we lost contact.
Looking at him, I no longer felt confident and strong. The feeling of not being worthy somehow returned at that moment.
And then, Evan approached Jim and congratulated him on his promotion.
“Jim, you are so lucky. Your wife is so beautiful,” he said with a smile on his face.
It was then that I realized Evan didn’t recognize me.
I had prepared speech to celebrate my husband’s success, but at that moment, I knew I needed to change it slightly and make sure Evan knew who I was.
When I took the microphone, I shared my life story. I spoke of my life before Jim, the fire, the surgeries and the pain, and how my ex-husband abandoned me because of my appearance.
Evan’s face went pale when he realized I was his ex-wife.
“There was a time I didn’t trust in myself, but Jim changed everything for me,” I said.
Evan looked like he wanted to disappear. I never mentioned his name, but as he tried to leave the place and knocked something in front of him, all eyes were on him and many realized he was the man who abandoned me after the fire and my scars.
That unexpected meeting was the closure I needed.
The fire took a lot from me, but eventually, that experience brought me to Jim, the true love of my life.
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