Splintered Lives (36 page)

“Look up there!”
 
Simon said, pointing to the fishtail summit of
Annapurna
, “Do you remember seeing it on the night we were engaged, but it was then in the moonlight and so romantic.”

“Yes,” replied Mula almost rocking the boat as she tried to move to Simon’s side and laughed excitedly as the little boat moved roughly in the water.
 
They arrived safely and Simon lifted Mula over the doorstep of their honeymoon suite and opened the champagne from the ice bucket awaiting them in the room.
 

“Here’s to us, darling!” Simon lifted his glass, after handing one to Mula, “and a lifetime of happiness.”

Mula touched her glass to Simon’s and replied, “forever and ever.”

Mula had not had much experience with men and Simon understood this.
 
He gently undressed her and himself and carefully caressed her until he felt her relax and snuggle into his arms.
 
She felt as if she was flying and could not believe the feelings he gave to her, the loving caresses, the touching and kissing and the overpowering sensations of his nearness.
 
They hardly slept that first night as they made love continually until dawn.
 
Their honeymoon was a great success.
 
He was a lover like his unknown father had been and only his mother knew how Taj could melt her heart.
 
During their days they trekked on the lower slopes of
Annapurna
and one of those days they visited Sahida at her school.
 
They ate wonderful meals and drank good wines, in the restaurant of the first class hotel where they were staying.
 
One or two days they did some house hunting, but they decided that they would take up Sahida’s offer and stay with her until they could find somewhere perfect for them to settle and begin a family.
 

Simon had some problems with his head, it sometimes ached and sometimes he felt confused and angry with himself, for losing his memory.
 
But the happiness he felt for his wife and the life they had found together was a great compensation for the unknown life he had forgotten.
 
They found their dream home in a few weeks and they thanked Sahida for all the trouble she had gone through to help them find it.
 
She had taken them, almost every night, to see houses for sale or even for rent.

Dr Menon had made sure that money for a house for Simon was available and Simon had assured him that it could only be a loan, and they would pay him back as soon as possible.
 
He had very strict values and he thought his former life must have given them to him and he sometimes wondered how that life had been.

Chapter 50

Mula and Simon took up their posts at the hospital.
 
They moved into their new home and with the help of Mrs. Menon, Taz and Sahida, they managed to furnish the whole house.
 
Mrs. Menon had some lovely antique bedroom furnishings, a bed, dressing table and chairs to match and they were put into the main bedroom.
 
Sahida had a surplus of dining chairs and a sideboard and Taz, who still lived with her parents, bought them a dining table.
 
Mula’s grandfather gave them a birdbath for their garden.
 
The other bits they needed they found in some store in
Kathmandu

And the driver taking stores to Pokhara hospital from
Kathmandu
hauled the remaining items.
 
They were and are happy in their love nest.
 
Mula has emerged from her shell with the love and caring shown to her by Simon, and he is proud of the way she has progressed from a shy abandoned little girl, to a confident attractive and caring woman.
 
Their life together is perfect.
 
They have built a life together caring for each other, as well as caring for their patients.
 
They have friends at the hospital; one of the girls Mula lived with in the house of residence has found a place there, at the same hospital.
 
Simon has friends from
Kathmandu
who sometimes visit them, and their life is pleasant and always full of fun and laughter.
    

Simon’s grandfather has retired at last and he visits them with Mrs. Menon when they miss their daughter, Sahida, and Simon, their grandson, and they love Mula as their own.
 
Taz calls when she is in the vicinity and Mula loves her stories of the people of the hill villages.
 
She means to be a General Practitioner when she has the experience she will gain as a registrar.
 
She knows she is accepted as one of the family, and they have made up for the unhappiness she suffered at the hands of her parents.
 
Sometimes the Menons bring Mula’s grandfather to see Mula and Simon and he is pleased for the outing, as his old car has finally given up the ghost, and the journey is a long one by road.
 
He has kept in touch with the Menons and they include him in any entertainment they give, and he stays with them when the festivals are on.
 
Dr Menon sometimes visits him in his cottage and they walk up the hillside to his product terrace just as Mula used to do and he makes a gift of some rice from his plot and picks apples from his trees for the Menons.

Taz is now in her late thirties and she has been given, to train, an English doctor, who has been seconded to the hospital in
Kathmandu
, as a part of an Action Aid programme.
 
He is in his forties and a latecomer to the medical profession as a non- military person, and he asked to be sent to some outback country because of his life as a soldier.
 
His service in war zones has toughened him and he has served his twenty -five years, leaving him determined to do something different from the war casualties he has mended so far. His parents live in Derbyshire and he has always been a climber and an outdoor type.
 
His name is James Knox and he is a confirmed bachelor, he loves the mountains and is surprised to have a lady doctor for his mentor.
 
He finds her very efficient and attractive.
 
When they rescue trekkers from the higher slopes he is in awe of her skills and sometimes feels humbled by her success.

Taz was surprised to find that James seemed sensitive to the needs of the villagers, and she encouraged him to work with the older people who have not had the opportunities the younger Nepalese have had for their health care.
 
He found the shyness and the profound way they used their few resources admirable, and his eyes lit up at the dry humour they sometimes used upon him.
 
His language skills were few but he had a way of making himself understood and he found friends up in the mountain villages.
 
Some of the villagers had been trekker guides and they would help James out with the language, much to the jocularity of the others.
 
Taz found she could leave him to treat the less severe cases and she told him he was a great help to her.
 
James appreciated her trust in him and the two of them became good friends.

When they were working around Pokhara, Taz took James to meet Simon, her nephew, who felt the genuine warmth of James’s handshake and the two English men took to each other immediately.
 
Simon was twenty years younger than James but the camaraderie was there from the start and the two men were often found laughing at some joke that James had told Simon about his army life.
 
Simon would tell James of some of the things that happened to him when he had not learnt the Nepalese language properly and how the patients had teased him.

At Festival times the young couple would go to
Kathmandu
and Sahida would join them.
 
James would be invited to join the Menons and the parties and the dancing would fill the streets with colour and joy.
 
Simon adored his life in
Nepal
and would not change a moment of it.

Chapter 51

Sarah felt upset by the loss of her son, Simon; she was restless in the bed by the side of David, who put his arms around her to try to comfort her.

“Why has this happened to us?”
 
“That must sound selfish to you, for it is so much worst for Simon.”
 
Sarah said, whilst fitting more closely into David’s arms.

“Hey!
 
We’ve found him and he is happy here, we can’t disturb his life.” David replied, as he drew Sarah closer and hugged her tight.

“I want my son back, he does not know us and he has lost all his memories of our life as a family.”
 
Sarah replied with tears in her voice.

David tried to placate her as he told her he would try to find some treatment for Simon’s amnesia.

“Get some sleep now Sarah, we have a few days to get to know Simon and Mula,

 
I’m sure we will resolve things before we return home.”

Sarah is agitated, she feels frustrated and depressed, more so than before they came here. “What can we do for Simon and ourselves?” She wonders as she tosses and turns, without sleep the whole night. “I should be grateful to the Menons for saving him and giving him the life his father should have had.”
  
The memories of her life here, the love Taj and she shared, came back to her with such strong emotions that tears rolled down her face.
 
“What am I to do?”
 
Sarah crept out of bed and dressed quietly before slipping into the kitchen and making a cup of tea. She took her cup outside on the terrace and looked up at the white peak of Annapurna towering over the lake.
 
The beauty of the morning light, shredding a golden aura over the mountain, gave Sarah a feeling of peace. She tried not to think of the sad event of losing Simon for ever; she must try to be content to leave Simon here, in the world he was now used to, and to live his life with his father’s people.

Sahida came out on to the terrace and brought her mug of coffee.
 
She was dressed for work and had a little time to speak to Sarah and assure her that things would work out for all of them.
 
She smiled as she left and waved from her car as she set out for work.

When he awoke David found an empty bed, and looked around for Sarah.
 
He found her on the terrace, as she looked at the surrounding scenery, and joined her.

“How are you feeling,” he asked as he gave her a troubled look.
 
He could see that she had had no sleep and her eyes were red from crying.

I’m better now, sat here in these lovely surroundings,” she replied as she held out her hand to take David’s.
 
“And now that you are here, I’ll make us some breakfast; Sahida left food in the fridge.”

“Good, then we will find Mark and have a look around Pokhara.
 
I know you lived here before but I think things have changed a lot since that time.” David replies.

They both went into the apartment.
 
David had a quick shower whilst Sarah cooked eggs and toast.

Mark appeared at the door some time later and the three of them walked from Sahida’s home to the centre of the town.
 
There were a few shops, but most of the commerce was done outside on the pavements, where fruit and vegetables are displayed, along with small statues of various gods and good luck charms are sold.

Sarah remembers the time she was brought here from Kathmandu by Joe, her driver, to buy warm clothes and soft furnishing for her small cottage, when she first came to Pokhara in the seventies.
 
The buildings and temples are attractive to David, who has not seen them before.

Sarah bought some products so that she can make them dinner, and they meandered around the little town until they decided to have lunch.
 
They found a small café and sat outside at a table and ordered food.
 
Sarah turned to Mark and said.
 
“What do you think of our situation, and what can we do to make things right?”

 
Mark looks stunned by her question and replies, “I think it is sad that Simon has lost his memory, but I also think that he is very happy here, with Mula and the Menons.

I don’t think there is anything we can do about it, but accept it.
 
I’m sorry Sarah and you, David, but unless he gets his memory back, that’s all we can do.
 
I have noticed he seemed to have a connection with both of you, and perhaps with a little patience, we will enter his mind and he will remember the time before his accident in France.

Come on Sarah, we will see the happy couple tonight when Simon has finished his work and Sahida will be back from school.
 
You have to admit that it is better to know that he is alive and happy, than all our family thinking he is dead, in a grave in France. Mark continues. By the way I rang grandmother to let her and all the family knows that Simon is alive and safe.
 
I know that you two have been too upset to think to ring them.”