He Led the Rescue Astray

My adoptive mother disappeared in the national forest.
My husband, a park ranger, took only a few seconds to start searching in the completely opposite direction.
When I realized his mistake, I stumbled through the brush, rushing to the front of the search party to point them the right way.
But he just shoved me aside.
"Are you the ranger, or am I? My gut is never wrong!"
It wasn't until he returned from that wrong path, carrying another woman on his back, that I understood. As his old flame, Mina, threw herself into his arms, sobbing with relief, the truth hit me. He deliberately chose the wrong direction just to save her mother.
My mother was found a day later, not far from the correct trail. Her leg had been shattered by a bear trap. She had bled to death.
Seeing her cold, lifeless body on the hospital gurney, my vision turned red. I lunged at my husband, screaming, tearing at him, demanding to know why he hadn't saved her.
Mina, seeing her hero under attack, snatched a scalpel from a nearby tray and plunged it through my carotid artery.
When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the exact moment my husband chose the wrong path.

1
"The tracks disappear here! This way, men! Follow me!"
The familiar words echoed in my head, jolting me back to consciousness. My eyes snapped open to see Alex waving his arm, about to lead the search party down the wrong trail.
It was happening all over again. In my last life, Alex had insisted my mother was lost on the other side of the mountain.
I had screamed myself hoarse, telling them it was the wrong way. I had scrambled to the front of the line, trying to get him to just look again at the signs.
He had simply pushed me away.
"Are you the park ranger, or am I, Lily? I know these woods like the back of my hand. My instincts are never wrong!" he'd yelled. "Mom is missing, and you're just making a scene! We're losing precious time, and if anything happens to her, that's on you! Besides, she's my mother too. You think I wouldn't try to save her?"
Oh, you would. You absolutely would choose not to.
I had trusted his judgment completely, letting him lead everyone down that fateful fork in the trail. And he did find someone. Just not my mother.
The woman he carried on his shoulders was the mother of his first love, Mina.
Meanwhile, my own mother was just off the main trail, her legs crushed in a steel trap, waiting alone for a rescue that came too late. A local found her a day later, but she had already bled out.
This time, I would not let my mother die again.
Done trying to reason with Alex, I spun around and ran back to the command post to find the Chief Ranger.
"The other path at the fork! That was my mother's last known route!"
Alex saw me talking to the Captain and stormed back, grabbing my arm.
"Sorry, Captain. My wife doesn't know what she's talking about."
He tightened his grip. "I already checked that other trail. Its well-traveled, a safe route. There's no way anyone could get lost there."
He pulled me aside, his voice a low hiss. "Don't cause any more trouble! Leave this to the professionals. Just wait here quietly!"
I ignored him, wrenching my arm free and turning back to the Captain.
Alexs patience snapped. He slapped me across the face, the force sending me stumbling to the ground.
"Lily! I told you to stop this nonsense!" he roared. "How could anyone go missing on a path people use every day?"
The slap left my ears ringing, but I didn't care. I crawled on my hands and knees to the Captain's feet.
"Please," I begged, "please, save my mother!"
Alex moved to drag me away, but the Captain held up a hand, stopping him.
"Hold on," the Captain said, his eyes narrowed. "Are you telling me you unilaterally dismissed the possibility of her being on the other trail, Ranger?"
Alex froze, a flicker of panic in his eyes.
A ranger knows the forest, but no one can be 100% certain where a missing person might be. Standard procedure was to dispatch teams to every possible route from a fork. By insisting on taking the entire team down one path, Alex had blatantly violated protocol.
He scrambled for an excuse. "No, it's not like that. The other path leads to a much more remote area. The chances of her being lost there without being found are much higher..."
His voice trailed off, his confidence evaporating under the Captain's cold stare.
The Captain shot him a look of utter disdain before giving the order. "Split into two teams. Find her, now."
The Captain had intended for Alex to lead the team searching for our mother, but Alex deliberately broke away from his assigned group and sprinted toward the other trail.
Watching his eager silhouette disappear down the wrong path, my last ounce of hope for him withered and died.

2
About ten minutes later, the Captain's voice crackled over the radio.
"We've got her! Her leg is caught in a bear trap, it's shattered. Is the ambulance here yet?"
"Negative!" someone replied.
Panic seized me. I snatched the radio from the Captain's belt.
"I can provide first aid! I'm a doctor! What's the location? I'm coming now!"
I ran, my feet flying over the uneven ground, a single prayer chanting in my mind.
Don't die, Mom. Please, just hold on.
I'm almost there. You have to hold on!
When I finally reached her, she had already lost too much blood and slipped into unconsciousness. She was lying on a stretcher, cold and pale, just like the last time I saw her.
A sob escaped my lips, and I collapsed over her body, weeping.
The Captain pulled me back. "Quick! Back to the command post! We have oxygen tanks there!"
Right. She needed oxygen, a blood transfusion. She wasn't dead yet.
I wiped my tears, nodded, and scrambled to my feet, following the team back.
But when we arrived, the command post was filled with cheers.
Alex stood there, covered in mud, with a woman on his back. I recognized her instantly: Mina's mother. Unlike last time, with the search party split, her rescue had been rougher. There were several bloody gashes on her thigh, and she too was unconscious.
I could only scoff.
What a performance. A few scratches and she faints?
I tried to ignore it, but Alex believed her act. He had commandeered the entire medical kit for her.
What about my mother?
"Wait!" I yelled, running over. "Give me one of those oxygen tanks!"
I tried to wrestle one away from him.
Alex's face was a mask of grim determination. He shoved me back with his body, sending me sprawling to the ground.
"Mina's mother needs oxygen! A life is on the line, Lily! When are you going to stop this selfish act?"
He completely ignored my mother, bleeding and broken nearby, to lavish attention and resources on a woman with a few superficial wounds.
Was he really so blind he couldn't see who was in mortal danger?
With no other choice, I grabbed a sturdy branch from the ground, tore a strip from my white sundress, and began to fashion a crude splint to stabilize my mother's fractured leg.

3
Even unconscious, my mother's muscles trembled in agony. It was a small mercy she was out; the pain of setting a shattered bone like this would have made her pass out all over again.
But she still needed oxygen.
I gently pried open her mouth, clearing the dirt and blood from her airway. Then, kneeling beside her, I laced my fingers together and began chest compressions.
Thank God we found her in time. We were still within the fifteen-minute golden window for resuscitation. After two long minutes of pumping, my arms aching, my mother finally stirred.
"Lily? Where's... Alex?"
Seeing her eyes flutter open, I burst into tears of joy. She tried to lift her hand to wipe them away.
"My child... why are you crying... I'm all right now..."
"I'm not crying, Mom," I choked out. "I'm just so happy!"
Suddenly, a triumphant shout came from Alex.
"That's wonderful! You're awake! I didn't let Mina down!"
I turned to see him helping Mina's mother, who was now breathing from an oxygen mask. He was animatedly telling her how he'd defied everyone to come and save her.
A chill spread through my heart.
The woman who had raised us from childhood was still clinging to life, and he had the nerve to brag to another woman's mother about how he had fulfilled his "promise."
My mother's flicker of consciousness faded, and her eyes rolled back as she passed out again.
"Mom!" I screamed, scrambling over to the medical station. "The oxygen tank... where's the oxygen?!"
As I frantically searched, Alex finally decided to pay me some attention. He grabbed my arm, yanking me back.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
I spun around and slapped him, hard.
"I'm asking you where the FUCK the oxygen is!"
Everyone froze, stunned into silence.
Just then, a hand tangled itself in my hair, yanking my head back so hard I nearly fell.

4
Mina stood over me, her eyes filled with tears as she looked at her mother's minor injuries.
"Alex, what happened? Why is my mom hurt? I told you exactly where her signal was lost!"
Alex just glanced silently in my direction, and Mina immediately understood.
"It was you!" she shrieked, her voice venomous. "It was you, wasn't it?! You're the reason my mom got hurt!"
She lunged, trying to claw at me. Her sharp nails dug into my scalp as she pulled my hair.
"Do you have any idea what you've done? My mother has hypoglycemia! If anything happens to her, I'll kill you!"
I wasn't about to take it. I twisted my body, grabbing her wrist and applying pressure to the joint until her grip loosened. With a heave, I threw her to the muddy ground.
"Your mom has a few scratches and low blood sugar? My mother has a compound fracture and is bleeding to death!" I spat. "What, is your mother's life more valuable than mine? Alex dragged the entire medical team over here just to treat a few goddamn cuts on her leg. You really think she's in danger?"
My voice dropped to a low growl. "I'm telling you right now, if anything happens to my mother, you will pay."
Seeing Mina kneeling in the dirt, Alex's heart clearly broke. He shoved me back forcefully.
"Lily! You're completely out of control! Now you're physically attacking people?"
He bent down to help Mina to her feet.
I watched them, my voice cold as ice as I asked the question that had haunted me for years.
"Alex, whose husband are you, anyway?"
Sensing the shift in the atmosphere, Mina let out a piercing cry.
"Just because he's your husband, he's supposed to bend the rules and save your mother first? Is that it? I gave Alex her exact coordinates! Of course he had to save my mom first! Was he supposed to go searching for someone when he didn't even know where she was or if she was even alive?"
Her shriek drew everyone's attention. So, whoever speaks first is right?
I was about to argue back when Alex pulled me away, his voice a low warning.
"You've already made one mistake today. Just admit you were wrong and stop causing more trouble!"
"Alex?!"
He actually thought this was my fault?
It was because he misled the rescue team to save Mina's mother that my own mother missed her window for survival in my past life. If I hadn't insisted on searching the other trail this time, she would have died alone in the woods, just like before.
And now he was blaming me.
"Do you even have a conscience?"

First, search for and download the MotoNovel app from Google. Then, open the app and use the code "291300" to read the entire book.