Splintered Lives

by Carol Holden

  “Come on; let’s have this wonderful meal we have cooked for the prodigal son.”

  Says Anne with laughter in her voice.

  Simon gets hold of her hand and they all move into the dinning room.

  “How were your exam grades?” Simon asks his sister.

  “Not bad.” Anne replies with a smug smile on her face.

  “They were excellent.” Her mother and father say together. “She got 6 A*’s and 3 A grades.

  “Congratulations Sis”. Simon says. “Better than mine.”

  We’re very proud of both of you and I’m sure that both of you will do well at university, although it will be two years before Anne will be able to go.” Charlie says.

  They have a great meal, Simon’s choice and after a bottle of wine they all become quiet and Simon yawns, excuses himself and goes to bed.

  Chapter 36

  When Simon is in the privacy of his room he sits on the bed and wonders how he is going to confront his mother with her secret. He is annoyed that he was not told before his going to Nepal; now he is home he wishes to be back in Katmandu with his other family. He only has a week at home before he leaves for Bristol.

  He knows that he needs to get his degree here in Britain and if he works hard to become a doctor, he may be able to practice medicine in Nepal.

  He decides to keep his mother’s secret untold, and he will ask Ben to do the same. He gets through the following week by telling his parents that he needs to catch up on some reading. He keeps out of their way the best he can. His mother and Anne are back at school and David goes in to work each morning to prepare for his following year’s lectures. He sees Charlie every day but he thinks Charlie may not know the story. He has been in touch with Ben and asked him to keep the time in Katmandu quiet because he has not had the time to confront his mother with her secret.

  The time comes for him to go to university and after a leaving party at the house David and the family take him to Bristol on the Sunday, as he starts his course on the following day. They see him to his room and approve the accommodation as he is in the residential part of the university and they are sure he will make friends there. When he waves them off he sees tears in his mother’s eyes, as well as, his sister’s. He feels sad but he also feels let down, especially by his mother. He doesn’t know if David is in on the secret, but he is sure that Anne is not.

  He puts his worries out of his mind before unpacking his clothes and books and then goes to find if there are any other students about. He finds a central area within the block and sees that there are four other lads lounging on two settees

  They introduce themselves and settle down to chatting about what they have been doing in the summer. There is a kitchen and Simon offers to make them all coffee. He brings in the beakers and they find him a seat on the larger settee. The living space is oblong and there are two settees, one a three seater and one that will sit two, a large coffee table and a thirty-two inch television. The kitchen is fitted out with a microwave and a dishwasher the counters are scruff free at the moment.

  In the meanwhile Sarah and David feel sad after leaving Simon but they know there is a time when they have to let go of the children and this is the first time

  Simon will be gone for years and probably never come back to live at home. His chosen career will take a lot of study and then he will have to work in hospitals wherever he is sent.

  Sarah and David arrive home and go straight up to Simon’s room. It’s been left in a mess as they have taken out what he needed and left the clearing up until they return. Sarah strips the bed whilst David tidies Simon’s things that are left about the room. He hears a sob escape from Sarah. He takes her in his arms and sheds a tear along with her.

  “It’s so hard to let him go”. Sarah sobs. “I just hope he will settle in and make friends”.

  “Of course he will.” David holds her close until her shaking stops, then he kisses her deeply and they cling together holding each other tight and finding comfort there.

  Sarah feels bereaved at first without his noisy music and the lack of the houseful of his friends but she has work to do and her daughter is still there to console her.

  Simon goes to the central hall in the main building to find the registration desks for various activities. They have to line up to register. Jack, one of the boys in Simon’s residential place joins the same queue for extra curricular sports and they find themselves interested in rambling and tennis. The tennis coach takes the rambling group, as well as, tennis. He takes their names and shakes their hands as he explains that the walking group, usually twelve or thirteen members, begin the walks on the hills at the weekends, usually on Saturdays, and they have a mini bus to take them to the beginning of various walks. The tennis courts are in the sports’ area where the rugby and football pitches are also situated. Simon will use the extensive gym equipment, as well as, his chosen sports. He is feeling happier than when he first arrived and he knows that he will soon make new friends. Jack is taking a medical course so they go to classes together the following day and they are soon working hard at their courses, with little time for Simon to worry about his family problem.

  Time goes quickly and by the Christmas break he is enmeshed in his studies and ready for a break. But he doesn’t want to confront his mother, and as Jack’s family is off to the French Alps for the skiing, Simon is asked to join them. He would not have gone before because he would have wanted to see the family but in his mixed up state he decides to go, so that his problem at home will not have to be resolved. Jack’s family pick up the boys at the university and take them to Portsmouth for the ferry to Santander so that they can drive across country to the French Alps. Jack has a sister who is studying at Durham University so she had to reach home the day before the family left for Bristol. There is a feeling of camaraderie and laughter in the car, as they get to know each other and Simon thinks. “Amy, Jack’s sister, is lovely.” She reminds him of Anne and he takes to her immediately.

  The weather is great for skiing when they reach their destination, as soon as they have settled in their rooms at the Ski Lodge, they are all eager to get out on to the snow. The members of the family are all competent but Simon, who has done very little skiing, is finding it difficult at first, but as he concentrates he soon gets the hang of it, or so he thinks. Jack’s mother, father and Amy, who ski every Christmas break, are keen to get to the upper slopes. Simon does not want to hold them back so he says he is happy to go up there with them. By the time they have to drive back to the ferry Simon has found his feet on the mountain and loves this new sport. The mountain range reminds him a little of Nepal, and he hugs his photo of his granddad to him, as he remembers the other family there.

  The mountain passes are precarious and although Jack’s dad is a careful and competent driver, he has problems with some of bends in the road. They are travelling uphill when a large animal jumps onto the road. Jack’s dad swerves to avoid it and the car leaves the road. It turns over as it tumbles down the hillside and eventually ignites and flames reach the sky.

  Chapter 37

  The accident is reported and the French recovery services go to the site where the car has burnt out and the bodies unrecognizable inside it. There is no sign of life until they find a boy, who is farther out on the hillside as though he was thrown out of the car as it trundled down from the road. “He is just alive.” The ambulance man says as he finds a faint pulse. “We must get him in intensive care as soon as possible. The others are all dead.” He confirms.

  The boy is taken to a hospital in Grenoble and he is unconscious. He has hit his head on a stone as he fell. He lies in bed almost lifeless for ten days, when he opens his eyes he sees a man who claims to be his grandfather from Katmandu standing over him, there to claim him and take him home. He doesn’t recognize the man but the photo of the two of them and the telephone number on the back has alerted the French hospital as to who he may be. When they are seen together they are sure that they have fo
und his family.

  “Simon you are back with us.” Says Dr Menon “Do you remember what happened to you?”

  Simon looks at the man staring down at him with love and wonder in his eyes but does not remember anything.

  “Your doctor here says that in a few days, when you are stronger, you will be able to come home with me to your beloved mountains in Nepal.”

  Simon’s mind is blank as he tries to remember the Asian man looking down at him. He is very tired and after a very light meal he falls asleep.

  His doctor is by his bedside as he awakens eight hours later.

  “You will be able to travel in a day or two when you have become stronger by eating and sleeping well. Tomorrow you will be able to get up and walk a little around the ward. The day after you should be strong enough to walk around the grounds.” He tells Simon.

  Simon looks around him and remembers the Asian man looking down at him from his bedside. Then he sees the photograph propped up on his bedside table of himself and the man and thinks. “This is me, who I am.” He then yawns and falls back into a fitful sleep. He sleeps for many hours and when he awakens, Dr Menon is looking down at him, with sympathy and love in his eyes.

  “I have something to tell you Simon, the doctor tells me that you have lost your memory and that you were in an awful accident with your family. The car your father was driving came off the road and all the family is dead. You were thrown out by some miracle and because Taz had given you the photograph of you and me, the French hospital contacted us and I am here to take you home.”

  Simon smiles at the man as he feels the love and kindness caressing him as he looks into Dr Menon’s eyes.

  The next few days pass in a daze as Simon begins to feel the strength returning to his body. He feels sad at what he has been told of his family but he can’t remember any of his previous life and as he has proof that Dr Menon is really his grandfather, he knows that he must go home with him.

  He feels strange as he leaves the plane at Katmandu airport but feels his spirit rising when he sees the mountains through the mist in the early morning.

  When he arrives home there is a welcoming family waiting with hugs and kisses for him. Mrs. Menon, who he realizes is his grandmother, holds on to him as if she will never let him go. This is the son of their beloved Taj.

  His new family, Dr and Mrs. Menon, sit him in the garden until he is free of his injuries but his memory seems to have gone forever. They try doctors at the hospital and although they use all their skills on head injuries, they cannot break through his amnesia.

  The time has come for him to resume his studies. They know he wants to be a doctor like his father so Dr Menon arranges for him to register at the University in Katmandu where he may live at home with them and so that they may keep a protective eye on him. The university school of medical sciences was set up the previous year and Dr Menon and Taz were both involved in the beginning and although the lectures were conducted in Hindu some of the lecturers were chosen because of their skills in the English language and the technology was becoming up to date and some programmers on the computer were able to translate any difficult phrases from Hindu to English.

  Although his life before the accident has been lifted from his memory, Simon is still the bright boy he has always been, and with the help of his family he starts to learn their language. His grandmother is with him a lot of the time and she teaches him to speak and read the Hindu language. She knows that if he is to be a doctor in Nepal he will have to be able to communicate with the local people.

  She makes a game of it and soon Simon is enjoying the time he spends with her. She takes him to meditate with her and they find a great bond has formed between them.

  Although Dr Menon is partly retired he is still involved with the lectures and the training of the students because the hospital where he and Taz work is a teaching hospital. Taz helps to choose the lecturers and trains the students. She is also involved in the affiliation of other hospitals in to the teaching of doctors. She and her father, and her brother before her, were the starting engine for the medical school and they have worked for many years to achieve it. The need for medical care for the people of Nepal has been foremost in their minds for many years, started when his son Taj worked in Katmandu, and he was a general practitioner in Pokhara. The loss of Taj spurred him on to try to achieve what was Taj’s dream and when his daughter joined him in his profession they talked about the great need for more doctors in the place they loved.

  The time for Simon to register for the medical college came as a great relief because he knew that he would have to have the backing of the University of Katmandu, in order to became accepted as a doctor. His grandfather had fought for this day, as Simon had worked for six years, in the hospital that was to become the teaching hospital. He was very familiar with the place so he did not feel so strange as his grandfather took him in the first day and introduced him to the lecturers. He felt lonely as the other students chatted away and although he had learnt quite a lot in the six years he had been in Nepal, some of the local accents sounded strange to him.

  He was soon integrated into the student body and the shy smiles he received from some of the girl students made him feel less alienated and his natural friendliness kicked in, as he relaxed into the life of a student.

  Chapter 38

  David

  Sarah and David have been told of the accident in France and that the whole family have been killed. They are devastated and arrange to go to Grenoble where the funeral has been arranged by both sets of parents of Jack’s father and mother. They have been informed that because of the state of the bodies, they are unidentifiable, so that the coffins are closed and they do not get to say a final goodbye.

  The sadness of the occasion and the devastation of all the mourners find it heartbreaking as David leads Sarah and Anne back to their rental car. Sarah’s mother and father, as well as Charlie, have flown out to the funeral and the sad little party return to Grenoble airport

  There is nothing anyone of them can say. Charlie remembers the good times he spent with Simon from him being a little boy. Joe and Mary hold hands tightly with their heads bent. Sarah is trying to concentrate on the road so that they can find their way back to their plane. David is driving slowly because he feels so bereaved at the loss of his darling son. Anne sitting between her granddads is openly sobbing for her older brother.

  They all reach home after a wretched flight and Sarah goes to Simon’s room and lies on his bed. She is distraught and just wants to be on her own. Her heart is empty. Her mind is a blank. She has shut down her thoughts. She wraps her arms around herself and lets the tears fall.

  “How can this have happened again?” She thinks. “Taj died in a fire and now his son has gone in the same way, how can I endure it? Nobody can help her, David knows the story of Taj but he has not experienced the loss. Anne doesn’t know about her mother’s past, because Sarah loves David and she doesn’t want Anne to know that Simon is only her half brother.” “How am I going to live my life without my wonderful son?” She cries as her hands cover her mouth and her sobs wrack her body until in pure exhaustion she falls into a restless sleep.

  David, Anne and Charlie have all gone into the kitchen where David puts on the kettle for a cup of tea.

  “Where’s Mum?” Anne asks as she reaches for beakers from the cupboard.

  “I think she has gone to Simon’s room, we should leave her for a little while.” David replies. “We will have a cup of tea and then we will see if she wants one.”

  The three of them sip their tea and find that they have nothing to say, each with their own thoughts and grief for the person they have lost.

  Charlie looks through the window at the lake and remembers the first time he encountered Simon and Sarah. He remembers the laughing little boy with his big brown eyes and the sound of his chuckling as David threw him in the air. How will any of them survive this terrible tragedy? He has always loved Simon as his own grand
child and when Simon was older the friendship of the two of them had always been close.

  “I’d better make a move.” Charlie remarks as he gets up, puts his beaker in the sink and giving both Anne and David a kiss and a hug, he goes through to his own part of he house. He needs to be alone so that he can let go of the terrible grief he feels.

  Anne looks at her dad and he hugs her to him whilst they both break down and sob.

  “It isn’t fair,” sobs Anne, she can hardly speak for the tears rolling down her cheeks and the catch in the throat.

  “I know it isn’t.” David replies. “He had such a lot to contribute and he was such a happy, gentle boy and he will leave a great void in all our lives.” After a little while when Anne has settled down a little, David lifts her head from his shoulder and says,

  “I’ll just see if your mother is ready for a cup of tea, I’m sure she must be needing at least a drink. None of us has eaten much since we got the news.”

  He warms up the pot and makes some fresh tea and takes a beaker of it to Simon’s room.

  “Sarah are you asleep?” He whispers. He can see her outline under the duvet but she makes no move and he can see that she has fallen asleep. He decides to leave her until she wakens up in her own time because he knows that when she is awake, she will again be back in this painful world.

  He gets to work and empties the contents of their overnight case into the washing machine. He then looks into the fridge to see what he can make for all of them for their meal. He doesn’t feel hungry but he knows that he needs to do something to take away this bleak feeling they are all sharing.

  “We’ll make a meal he tells Anne, we’ll prepare it together to take our mind off things. What do you want, how about a fish pie?” David knows that that is comfort food and he will make enough for all four of them.