I am leaving the house to stand beyond the boundaries, to stay free and over all to be independent. I know it’s going to be tough, but as we all know ‘Doers are achievers’, so I’m leaving.

This was me at the beginning of the story, where the toughest part of my life started. Leaving parents and being alone wasn’t the problem. I dealt with them quite fascinatingly, but the schools with a part-time job and… “Ambar! Where are you? There you are, look at this dress isn’t it gorgeous.”

We were at the mall. Her eyes were as beautiful as ever. Her face with the magnificent charm and the brownish complexion of her skin made me fall in love with her again, just like the day I first saw her.

“Yes, indeed, want to buy it?” I asked her “Yeah, but with my money, actually. Hope you let me kiddo!” and started laughing, on her own unnecessary puns. She bought the dress and me a shirt.

We are married about three years now, and I still feel the same about her mature, horrific, childish and most importantly loveable. We set off in our car, she was driving. I wasn’t able to take my eyes off her. “What are you looking at child?” and laughed again. Teasing me every unnecessary time. I shook off my head and didn’t respond to her gibberish, but I loved this gibberish of her and even her ways to tease me.

She dropped me at my office and went to pick our daughter from her school. I am a successful software developer working as 9 to 5 employee. It was around the afternoon she left for the school to pick.

My phone started ringing. It was a call from her. Our daughter was on the phone, she said “Pa…pa…papa Mam…ma, Blood” she was crying. I was able to hear a crowd around her. She didn’t know how to make call she was still just three. I was shocked and was barely able to think anything.

Collecting myself together, asked her “Where are you, Maya? Where is your mother darling? Give the phone to someone near you.”

By now someone from the crowd took the phone, it was a man, he said “Hello! Is it her father?”

“Yes” I said.

“Sir the lady in the car….” And he stopped

“What happened to her?” I asked

“She has been taken to the hospital as well as your daughter.”

“What happened? Just tell me! Please.” At this point my hands and my voice started shaking. I was losing control of my body.

“Sir you need to calm down.” he sympathized me and said “You need to come to the hospital as soon as possible.”

Immediately my co-workers helped me, one of my friend Sam helped me to reach to the hospital.

We reached hospital. As we were entering the hospital. I felt myself shaking. The fear of somthing happening to her was taking over me.

The man who took the phone from Maya stood beside her, with her schoolbag and the bags of shopping. As soon as Maya saw me, she started crying and came running to me hug me. There were some scratches & bruises on her body.

“Sweety, are you fine? Does it hurt anywhere? Are you ok?” I asked her about her wellness.

“Yes papa.” with a sobbing sound she replied.

“Are you sure about it?” for my concerns I asked her again.

“Yes, papa but ma……” and she took a break. This made me realize I was missing a piece of my puzzle. The man came to me and handed over the belonging of Maya & her mother and stood in silence. I bend down and embraced my daughter, gently asking about her mother. “Maya, where is Ma?” but she was just crying, barely able to breathe. I looked at the man, asked him about my wife. And the answer was silence again. This made my calm self to vanish and enraged me enough to grab his collar but he was the who helped Maya.

I asked him again patiently “Sir, please don’t worry about me. Tell me what happened to her?” This time the man spoke.

“Your wife met with an accident. A truck rammed the car. Before she went unconscious, she was able to make a call. We found your daughter in the backseat of the car with the phone in her hand.”

I was shocked, thousand possibilities flashed in my mind, with tearful eyes. By the time a nurse arrived asking me my relation to the patient. I gathered courage to ask the nurse.

“Will she make it or not?”

Maya was still crying. The nurse looked at me in a way as if she was telling me that it wasn’t right for Maya to stay here. I called Sam near me, whispered him to send Maya at his place, to his wife, as it is not appropriate for Maya to stay here any longer. Sam took Maya with him.

The nurse gave me pitiful look and started speaking “She lost a load of blood, during the accident. Because of this we are not sure about her state. In a moment she could stabilize or end up even worse. Hope for the best and be ready with your prayers.”

At this point, my legs refused to tatake my weights on. My heart took a pause, I went on my knees at the same place, where I once was standing. I was broken into thousands of pieces. Crying all my tears, asking my god, to help her out of this misery. Praying for her wellness. I was at the hospital, surrounded by people. But it felt alone, helpless and drowning. My eyes lost sight, everything was fading, turning the glowing lights into darkness.

Maya needs a mother to look after her. There was just one thought in my mind repeating itself, if possible, take my life in exchange. Let her live. Let her live. Let her live.

My thoughts were forming a cluster where I could see my past. I was once an atheist. And today I am praying for her and why shouldn’t I? She was the one who made me a believe, who turned an outcast into an insider, turned my life into heaven.

I tried to get up, but I couldn’t. My legs were shaking. I was on my knees, I felt a warm hand on my shoulder, it was Sam. He helped to get up and said “she is a fighter, she is strong, remember?” “There is nothing that could take her away from you.”

"I should really take school more seriously," Veer’s ranting on not studying for exams.

"Hey, want to hang out?" Veer suggested.

"Weren’t you just upset about school a second ago?" I was curious.

"Yeah, but that’s in the past. Can’t change it now," he said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Well, that's a valid point, I guess," said Sam.

"We have another exam next week. Shouldn’t you be preparing?" I reminded him. "And on top of that, I have to get to work," I added, remembering my responsibilities.

"Can’t you take a day off?" Veer asked.

"Nope, not happening," I replied.

"How about you, Sam?" Veer inquired.

"Nope, got some work to do. Don’t want my father to kick me out of the house," Sam replied.

"So, I better go home then. Well, let’s meet tomorrow," Veer suggested his exit.

"See ya," Sam waved.

"Goodbye," I added.

"Well, Veer, how about you help me this noon?" I changed the subject.

"You need help?" Veer exclaimed, with a mocking tone, "Ambar, Mr. Perfect, needs my help."

"Do you want to come or not? I’m already getting late," I questioned him again.

"Whatever the master says. By the way, what kind of help do you need?" he responded.

"Just some deliveries in the locality. Don’t worry; I’ll help you with addresses," I explained.

"So, will this make you finish your work earlier?" he asked with innocence.

"Yes, but then I need to get ready for my hotel work. You know, I’m a servant of that fatso," I replied in frustration.

"Why are you even doing this? Go back to your parents; they will help you out," Veer suggested.

"Veer, please. I don’t want to talk about it," I said.

"Sure. Let’s go and do the delivery," Veer agreed.

"Yes, the parcels are at my place. Let’s go," I informed.

(At present)

I was helpless. Beside me sat my dearest friend, hands on my shoulders, calming me down. Every tear I shed was for her. Sam, too, was breaking down gradually, looking at me, yet he held me, becoming my pillar. Soon, Veer arrived. "Where are you?" he shouted in the alley, drawing the attention of the entire corridor. Sam raised one of his hands to call him. Sam called Veer.

"How are you? Where is she? How is Maya? Are you alright? Ambar, say something," Veer panted.

With tears in my eyes, a shaking voice, and hopes in my heart, "She's still inside. Doctors didn’t say anything yet."

"Don’t worry, Ambar. We know her. She will be here for you," Veer hugged me, trying to comfort me.

(In the past)

"Veer, you will take on this locality, and I’ll go in that street," I planned.

"Sure, but how do you deal with all this every day? They are really heavy. Who could have thought that letters and some small cards could be this heavy?" Veer complained.

"Those are only half of it that I deal with every day," I said with a humbling smile.

"Yeah, right," his gloomy face showed his discomfort.

"Then shall we start?" I demanded.

"Of course, master, anything you say," he replied. We both laughed and began our work.

(At present)

A man in white, with green rubber gloves on his hands and a covering over his head, arrived. The same nurse who called one of us came with him. My legs were trembling; I wasn’t able to walk. Sam, holding me, did not want to ditch me here. Veer went ahead to know what the deal was.

(Back to the past)

"Finally, we are done," Veer sighed.

"Yeah, we are. Thanks to you, I finished it early today," I thanked him. He interrupted me with a cunning smirk, "Where do you usually do these deliveries?" This was strange; Veer was intrigued about something.

"Here, in these parts, and sometimes outside, but that’s rarely the case. Why do you ask?" I was really surprised, looking at his cunning smile.

"Have you ever seen that girl?" he asked me, enthusiastically.

"What girl are you talking about?" I asked him.

"The girl from our school. Follow me; I’ll show you," he said, forcing me.

"We can’t. I’m telling you it’s not a good idea," I spoke.

"Don’t worry. I already delivered one wrong letter. And now we can go and ask for the wrong letter back," he told his plan.

"What! Are you serious? Please don’t come next time," I gasped.

"Oh, come on. She is cute. And we can go with a reason to her," he seemed to be enjoying this.

"Let’s get it done. I need to head towards the restaurant," I proclaimed.

He took me to a house, a bungalow, with a large glass wall that allows the view from inside out. He rang the bell. A lady with long flowing hair opened the door.

"Yes, how can I help you?" she asked.

He pushed me ahead.

I’m going to kill you, Veer. With a glare, I let him know.

"Mam, my friend here is new at this job. He did a little mistake, misdelivered a letter that wasn’t supposed for you. Can you please return it? We are really sorry for the inconvenience that we caused," I requested.

"I see. Please wait; I’ll check," she said and went in.

"Do you boys need some water? It’s hot outside," her voice was heard with a generous question. Before I could've said a word, Veer replied, "Please can we!"

"Yeah, sure. Come on, get in," she said.

"Ambar! Hey, Ambar.... You listening to me? The doctor is calling us inside. Are you okay, Ambar?" Veer came back.

"Hmm, hmm. What did he say, Veer?" I inquired.

"He just called us in, especially you. Do you need help?" Veer asked.

"I’ll hold him; don’t worry," Sam assured.

"I’ll manage; thanks," I said.

As I collected myself and began moving, my brain got back to the time when we were entering her house. As we entered, we were in the hallway, which had a door on its left. We saw a beautiful girl sleeping peacefully on the bed with a white blanket over her, with only her face visible. Her face looked at peace, the solace she was living. And a swift smile making her an angel of heaven.

"Come in, boys. Here is your water. And here you go, was this the letter you were searching for?" the house lady said.

"Yes, Ma’am. Thanks for it; this will help us a lot. And we genuinely ask for your kind forgiveness," I responded.

"Sir, this way," the nurse led me to a room that was not entirely lit. And there lay my angel with bandages over her head and body. She had the same beautiful face and the same white blanket, but the only difference she had was that this time, that smile was faded. The solace was blown away, and I saw her walking away. Gradually, leaving my hand and gradually leaving me behind. I wanted to follow her, but there was a little girl holding onto my steps.

The doctor came in.......