TEN MINUTES
We have all seen ambulances on the road. The moment we hear the siren, something changes. People move their vehicles aside. Some try to clear the traffic. Some stop and silently pray for the person inside. I used to notice it. I used to pray too. But I never understood the weight of those prayers until my mother was the one inside the ambulance. The doctors had told us that she had only ten more minutes. Ten minutes. She had to be taken to a bigger hospital immediately, but the road was filled with traffic. My sister and I were trying to make people move, watching the seconds pass, knowing that somewhere behind those doors, our mother was fighting for her life. I had already lost my father as a child. My mother was the person who remained, the backbone of our family. And suddenly, I was terrified that I might lose her too. I cried. I prayed. I begged God. "Please don't take her away from us. She's all we have. Please save my mother." I hav...