Splintered Lives (18 page)

there until the possible lift arrives.
 
Although the nurse does not understand

English Simon tries to speak a little of her language, and between them, the nurse

makes hot drinks to be given to himself and Ben and a comfortable bed for

Ben.
 
The sun is at its highest, about noon, when the four-wheel drive arrives at

 
the village hospital and by this time Ben is in considerable pain.
 
The young lady

 
doctor looks at Ben’s leg and confirms that it is broken.
 
She gives Ben some

strong painkillers and then gently takes off his coat to look at his arm.

“It’s looking rather like the arm may be broken at the wrist.” She says.

“I’ll take you down to Katmandu with me so that you can have proper treatment

there.”

“We have x-rays and a good bone doctor so that you will be made better.

I have patients here to see to and then we will be on our way.” She continues.

“My name is Taz and I work with my father who also works in the hospital in the

 
city.”

Simon is grateful to this beautiful young woman, who has so much sympathy for

Ben who is really now quite drowsy from the drugs she administered.

Taz hurries away to attend to four or five patients in another room in the cottage.

They wait for her to have finished her rounds. The nurse arrives with

another drink for the lads and also some soup made from the vegetables they

grow on the terraces outside the hospital. Simon helps Ben with the soup before

 
he eats his own and the hot drinks revive them.

“Come on you two.” Taz says as she drinks a cup of tea
.
“Let’s get this young man in the vehicle.
 
I have a stretcher and I think we can make him comfortable in the back.”

The nurse helps us and the three of us carry Ben on the stretcher and secure the stretcher in the motor vehicle.

 
“O.K let’s get on our way,” says Taz. “I’ll see you on Friday,” she calls to the nurse as she waves goodbye.

Chapter 26

“Give me your names, we have a few hours to travel and as we will be talking, I hope I’ll get to know you a little.”

“Ben is in the back and my name is Simon.”

“We have been trekking.
 
Four of us started out and we met my relative Mark in Katmandu.
 
He is on a project east of Katmandu and met us and took us to the beginning of our trek.
 
We have had a wonderful time until we walked on the high mountains, when Ben began to have altitude sickness and we came down to the lower slopes. We were just celebrating seeing a lodge, when Ben had his accident.
 
He fell over the edge and could not walk.
 
I tried to make him comfortable and then I left him to get help.
 
The school came into my sight and I got help from the headmaster, who found us two beds in a lodge, where we slept until morning and then a teacher with his class helped to carry Ben down to the little hospital where you found us.” Simon tells her.

Taz smiles at him and she sees something familiar about his smile and the length of his eyelashes.
 

“Have you been here before?” she asks.
 
“Do you like to mountaineer, here in the Himalayas?”

“Yes I love this area but I have not been here before.”

Taz continues to chat to Simon whilst keeping her eye on Ben who is keeping awake and contributing a little to the conversation.

“Are you feeling alright,” asks Taz as she looks at Ben through her mirror.

“Fine, I’m just listening to your conversation and trying to keep awake.” Replies Ben.

“Just let yourself sleep if you wish because it is a long drive to Katmandu and I have given you a relaxing drug so you will probably sleep soon.” Taz tells him.

Simon shifts round to see if Ben is comfortable and gives him a reassuring smile

and a pat on his hip as Ben squirms on his stretcher to find a better position.

As Simon turns round to look forward in his seat, he takes a better look at Taz and finds her to be a beautiful young woman of about thirty years old, who does this amazing job working here in Simon’s favourite place on earth.

“You are so lucky to be doing this great job in this spectacular area of the world.”

Says Simon dreamily.
 
“I am going to University when I get home and I’m going to study medicine. I was brought up in Pokhara where my father was a G.P. and my brother was also a doctor in
Katmandu
until he was killed in an aircraft accident on his way home for a holiday.”

Simon has a feeling of sorrow as Taz looks at him and smiles her lovely smile.

“Oh so you come from a family of doctors.”
 
“My mother is a teacher and my father is a lecturer so I suppose that I come from a family of teachers.” Simon replies.

“Where do you come from Simon?”

“
Lancashire
in the North of
England
.” Simon says.

“My mother teaches in Bolton and my dad lectures at Manchester University and I have a sister who is still at school.”

“It is a long grind to become a doctor but if that is your wish I will not discourage you.
 
It is the best job in the world if that is your vocation.” Taz says.

“Just what does your job entail?” Simon asks.

“It is so versatile.
 
Every day I do something different, I am sometimes working in the hospital in
Katmandu
, then I do my rounds in three small places like the one I picked you up from, I also run a female clinic for birth control in
Katmandu
.
 

The life expectancy of the population of Nepal is quite low towards what we know about the West.
 
The people here have to work in hard conditions because of the mountain territory and the altitude.
 
I know that you think it must be great to live here, and it is for me, who has a middleclass life style, where things are not as hard as those of the mountain people, who work their terraces and have to carry their goods by walking everywhere.” Taz explains simply.

Simon looks thoughtful and then says, “How do the people of the mountain villages live, how do they make a living?”

“Things are better than they used to be, my older sister is a teacher in one of the mountain schools and she would not like to teach anywhere else.
 
A lot of her students have become guides for the many people, like you, who love to come and spend their summers here.
 
Due to the quantity of the trekkers, money has been found from many sponsors for the lodges to be established. There is employment there for many of the villagers.
 
Because of this tourist trade, water has been piped to many of the villages and this has made the lives of the people so much better.
 
Their health has improved and the quality of their lives is better. The number of children has become less because of the birth-control clinics opened in this area.
 
Nurses from the hospital have been trained, to see to the day to day, health of the villagers and birth control clinics are available for women who wish to control their family size.”

“So we from the West have contributed to the increase in the living standards of the people, and the love we have for the mountains is a positive thing, do you not think?” Simon asks with a twinkle in his eye.

“Of course it has.
 
There are many Western people contributed to the help we get at the hospitals, as well as, the villages.
 
You tell me that your relative is at present working here in Nepal.
 
What is the work he is doing?”

“He is building a bridge over a tributary in the east of
Katmandu
.” Simon replies.

“See that will be a great help for our country, the villagers in that area have a harder life because of the lack of roads and the width of the river.” Taz almost hugs Simon because she feels warmth towards him that she doesn’t understand but she feels that this boy is such a special person as she answers.

Ben screams as the car swerves on the twisting road to avoid a small animal that crosses its path.

“I’m so sorry Ben, are you alright?” Taz asks gently.

“I need to have a drink.” Answers Ben trying not to make a fuss but feeling in agony with his leg and now his head is hurting.
  
He thinks if they stop for a while the activity will take his mind off his tremendous pain.

Taz looks at the time and says that there is a roadside comfort stop about ten minutes down the road.
 
She hopes that Ben can wait until they reach the café.

The people in the car go very quiet and Taz is trying to be a steady driver so that Ben won’t feel any more pain than is necessary.

They arrive at the café that is situated by the roadside, overlooking a wide fast -flowing river.

 
Taz jumps down from the motor and Simon follows her.
 
They go to the back and help Ben who is doing his best to find his one good foot to stand on.
 
Taz and Simon help him to stand and then Simon takes his weight as he helps him to the toilet and then gets him in a seat on the outside of the café so that he can get a look at the surroundings, as well as, feel the warm air on his face.

They buy bottled water and Simon unscrews the one for Ben who takes it in his good hand and drinks thirstily.

“Oh that feels better.” Ben smiles as he feels relief.

Taz and Simon drink their water with relish as they watch the river rolling on its way.

“When will we be in Katmandu?” Ben asks.

“About three hours” Taz replies. “I reckon we are about halfway there and we should be there before the darkness falls.”

Chapter 27

The light is just about fading when we reach the outskirts of the city.
 
The sunset is casting an orange mist into the bowl in which Katmandu is situated.
 
The people are surrounded in this spectrum of brilliant coloured fog.
 
The ones on bikes seem to be followed by this yellow slip- stream. The atmosphere is vibrant, with the people in their colourful clothes, the animals, the sacred cows slowly chewing their cud, and the monkeys jumping up and down on the temple steps.

Taz makes her way to the hospital where she takes them to the Emergency Department.
 
Ben is taken on another stretcher belonging to the hospital and Taz takes me to the Inpatient desk to give information on Ben’s accident.
 
I fill in a form as best I can and then I go to Ben to reassure him that I am about and that I shall wait for him.

Taz comes along from within the Emergency Department and takes me to a room to wait for Ben to be examined and have his bones set.

“I’m afraid he won’t be able to leave hospital tonight Simon.”
 
Taz says, “because he will need an anesthetic but you should be able to take him away tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry we’ll see that he has a good night’s sleep and you can stay in the visitor’s room for the night.”

“May I see him when he comes out of the operating theatre?
 
He needs to know that I’m about.”

“Of course. I’ll ask my father to come and have a word with you when he has seen to Ben.” Taz replies.

“Oh your father is the consultant here, that must be great for you both to work so closely together.”

“It is because this being a remote area we doctors have to be versatile and my father has studied many aspects of medicine.
 
He was a G.P. for many years.”

“I think that I would like to be a G.P. when I have finished my training.” Simon tells Taz.

“Good.” She replies. I’ll bet you will make a very good one, I have seen how you have taken care of Ben and I’m sure you will take that caring attitude into your chosen profession.” Taz replies.

Taz takes Simon to the staff canteen and although he is not really hungry she persuades him to have a sandwich and a hot drink.

“Tell me about your life in England.” Taz says. ”I have only been to
London
once, when I was a young girl, and I loved the city.
 
The many parks and all the theatres, the embankment of the river and the bridges, especially
Tower
Bridge
.”