"Raj, have you packed your lunch? What about the night suit? And tell Leena not to drive fast on the hills!" I nagged from the kitchen toward my son, who was packing his bag in the hall.

"I got it-I got it, Maa," Raj sighed. "I've already packed lunch and the night suit. And you don't have to worry about Leena's driving skills."

"Still, it's your first time going on a night trip," I said, coming out of the kitchen with worried expressions on my face. "Call me when you reach the college, and call me again once you reach the hills!"

"Maa, stop treating him like a kid. He is already 21. He will never grow up if you keep pampering him," Aryan said, coming out of his room with messy hair, wearing a vest.

"You two will always be children to me. I have seen you both naked—"

"Ughhh! Maa, I don't wanna hear your old dialogue first thing in the morning," Aryan said, covering his ears.

"This rascal!" I muttered, grabbing the slipper in my hand.

"Come here, brat! I will properly discipline you today!"

"Maa, I'm already 26. You can't beat me. I will call the police!" Aryan blurted, half his body already inside his room.

"Hehehe!" My Raj's innocent laugh filled the house, lighting the mood.

He came toward me, bowed, and touched my feet with both hands.

"Don't worry Maa, I will have a lot of fun with friends and return safely tomorrow."

"O my lovely son, come here," I said, kissing his forehead and giving him a warm hug.

"Maa, the bus is about to come," Raj said, gently parting from me.

"Oy, little shit, come here," Aryan ordered from the door of his room.

"What is it, forever loner!" Raj sneered back, moving toward him.

Aryan opened his wallet and handed him a bundle of several five-hundred-rupee notes.

"Have fun," Aryan said awkwardly, averting his eyes.

"Hehe, thanks, elder brother!" Raj coaxed, immediately accepting the money and bolting out.

"Hah! Look at this little shit, using honorifics when I give him money," Aryan scoffed, closing his door.

"I'm so lucky to have such loving boys," I murmured inwardly, moving back to the kitchen.

From a very young age, at 15, Aryan dropped out of school and started working to provide for both me and Raj. However, being his mother, I couldn't let him sacrifice his youth because of us, so I kept working as a maid until he successfully established his business.

"Maa, you will never work as a maid again!"

It has already been eight years since Aryan made this declaration. Still, each time I thought about that moment, my eyes unknowingly brimmed with tears.

We never said it out loud, but when Aryan became successful, we both decided to give all the happiness to Raj that we ourselves couldn't enjoy. Raj dreamed of becoming a software engineer, so Aryan admitted him to the best engineering college in Uttarakhand.

Raj is my younger son. He is a very sweet and kind child. He acts immature in front of us, but in truth, not even once did he ask for anything from me or Aryan. He would accept everything we brought for him with the same gentle smile on his face.

And even though he was still studying, I was already aware of the efforts he was putting in to start earning as soon as possible.

After half an hour, Aryan came out of his room and also left for the office, taking his breakfast.

I spent the next few hours completing the house chores and finally took a breath in the afternoon. Aryan wanted to hire a maid for house chores, but I didn't agree, as I wanted my old bones to keep moving.

"Haah… finally all the work is done," I exhaled, sitting on the sofa.

"Raj must have reached the hills by now. That rascal is surely having fun, already forgetting to call me."

Ring… ring… ring…

"Hmph! Remembered your mother now!" I scoffed.

I grabbed the phone, thinking the call must be from Raj, however it was an unknown number.

Clang…

"Hello?"

"Hello, ma'am. Is this Mrs. Siya Singh, mother of Raj Singh?"

"Y-yes, I am."

"Ma'am, I'm calling from Himalayan Hospital. Your son was brought to our emergency department a short while ago after an accident on the hillside."

After a brief pause, the man on the call continued…

"He is currently in critical condition, but our medical team is attending to him. We need you to come to the hospital as soon as possible."

"…"

"Hello, ma'am? Ma'am, are you there?"

The phone dropped from my hand. My body began trembling from the shock.

My breath turned heavy, and I subconsciously bolted outside, running toward the road.

The hospital was ten kilometres away from our residence, and I mindlessly began sprinting to reach it as fast as I could.

---

I didn't know how much time had passed since I began running or how much distance was still left. With each step, my lungs tightened, struggling to keep up with my legs.

"Maa!?" A familiar voice called out, finally making me stop.

I turned and saw Aryan coming toward me with hurried steps from outside a building.

"Maa! What happened? What are you doing here? And why are you barefoot!?" he demanded, noticing my feet, which I hadn't even realised were bleeding.

Without even knowing, I had already reached outside Aryan's office, which was five kilometres away from our house.

I grabbed him by the collar and whimpered, my eyes overflowing with tears,

"My Raj…"

His eyes widened, and he shouted toward the security guards, "Bring my car right now!"

In a few minutes, the car arrived at the roadside.

Without asking another question, Aryan carried me into his car and rushed toward the hospital.

---

We reached the emergency ward of the hospital and found Leena, Jay, and one other girl sitting on a bench.

Their bodies were wounded and were being treated with first aid. Several police officers were also standing around them.

Ignoring all of them, I approached Jay and demanded, "Where is Raj?"

His eyes dropped low, and he whispered in a low tone,

"I'm sorry, Aunty Siya."

After a moment, the door of the ward opened, and a doctor came out.

"H-how is my son, doctor?" I asked with shivering lips.

"The patient's heart is severely damaged. He is only breathing because of the ICU. We need your permission to perform an immediate operation, but you must prepare for the worst. The success chance of the operation is less than 1%."

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