15/12/2024
A Young Nurse Fell in Love with a Highlands Highway Bus Driver
Story Written By — Naso Caleb Kila
“When Mellisah, a young nursing officer from Chimbu who was doing her residency at Goroka Provincial Hospital fell in love with Benny, a very young and energetic Bus Driver enroute to Okuk-Highland Highway. It was love at first sight. A beginning of a very beautiful love story”
I’m Benny, but my friends called me Ben, for short. I’m from Kainantu District, in Eastern Highlands Province. One day, as the weekend was approaching, I left Goroka at the midday and was on my way to Lae when I received an awkward call from my mother at home.
I answered the phone and from the tone of her voice, I knew that something was wrong. My mother called to tell me that Austin, my twin brother accidentally fell off from the tall tree near the house and was rushed to Kainantu District Hospital, and asked if I'm somewhere close to Kainantu but I was already hitting Markham Valley heading to Lae.
But when he told me what happened to my brother Austin, I was bitterly broken and troubled, and made no stops alone the way. I let go of the breaks and accelerated down to Lae sooner than it supposed to take. Made a quick drop off and returned to Kainantu in the afternoon. When I arrived, I was told that he was taken to Goroka General Hospital by an Ambulance. Then I knew, he was badly injured.
I arrived two hours later in town and drive straight to the hospital. Austin was badly wounded and needed a brother’s hug when I walked inside the cold room. He had stitches all over his body. I was worried. His eyes turned white and he couldn't respond when I called.
A young emergency nursing officer who attended to him informed me that his heart was greatly injured and there's a possibility that it would stop functioning a few hours later.
"He is healthy, why would such silly accident cause such a tragedy" I protested. I never said anything more after giving a close look around my brother’s condition. The nurse instead of just standing there, pretended to be in an emergency from one room to the other and returned with some medicines and bandages but by then, he was already loss most blood to internal bleeding. And as the nurse suggested, his heart stopped beating two hours later.
I was the first one who broke down and wept bitterly over my brother Austin. My mother was there, she cried too but loudly and caught the attention of everyone. I hate her for giving him the nasty task to cut down tree branches that made shades in her garden. He is no just a brother, was my twin. A brother next to me. My whole world fell apart when I looked at him, and he couldn’t smile back to me.
The young nursing officer stood there helpless and has her own rainfall of tears. I refused to be comforted by my mother who was the cause of his unfortunate passing. He has gone in what seemed like in a blink of an eye.
After moments of sorrow, I stood up and comforted the nurse who was by my side and said it's okay, it was a nasty accident. I'll bring him home. The nurse knew how close we were. Then I wheeled him out of the hospital to the car park and take him back to Kainantu during the night.
Few months later, after the burial, I went back to work. For a lonely journey alone the Okuk Highway. The pain that resonates with grief over my brother ceases but the wound keeps bleeding as I travel to places, we've been together.
Towards the end of the year, I parked the bus at the bus stop in Goroka and was calling for passengers to Lae when a young lady came and stood under the large tree few meters away from the bus. She studied me with the corner of her eyes. I noticed what she was doing and never I looked back. When she was sure of who I was, she came forward and confessed that she was the nurse at Goroka General Hospital who attended to my late brother Austin few months ago.
Before she summed up what she was saying, I quickly opened the door and stepped outside. Greeted her and gave her a good hug for she reminded me of my brother as well. She returned my handshake and we begin the conversation starting from what happened after we left the hospital. Then, while waiting for the passengers, we went on to chat about a lot of different stuff.
Before we could finish the conversation, the crew signalled me that the bus was filled up and we had to leave for Lae now. I thanked and heartily appreciate her time chatting with me and share my coke with her but she said she preferred Fanta if that was the case and took the Fanta and left. She promised to come and see me again sometimes later and I hope the same.
For the next few weeks, she never came and I forgot about her. I'm so terrible at forgetting people that I've met easily. During the Christmas season, it was a peak period where we make a lot of money because people were travelling. And so, the bus faces a mechanical fault and was in for a service at Faniufa Workshop, and I waited outside while the mechanic and the crew work on it. I was surprised when the same lady at the hospital came by the way I was standing. She was even more surprised to cross my path, she never expected to meet me there.
The first question she confidently threw at me was "What's your name" That was what we failed at the first place. I regrettably said; "I'm sorry, I'm Benny, you can call me Ben "She paused for a moment and said "I'm Mellisah". That meeting was fun and sorrowful.
She bought me a can of Fanta and a plastic chip from a nearby restaurant and made that moment long and sweet with questions that dig deeper into my relational life. To be frankly honest with myself, I never anticipated for such moment but the way she confessed her raw feelings that she loved me so blindly the moment she saw me at the hospital that night, I was relieved from the desire of been loved by someone but never made an attempt to ask.
I never turn the idea down. "Tumo" (Heart) I said it softly. It didn't need to be perfect. It needed to be true. Since the Mechanics in the Workshop took long, I took advantage of them and fell in love with her words and the way she moved her lips and closed her eyes.
We didn't have to sacrifice our feet, we find the concrete slab in front of the kai bar and sat there, mesmerizing the beauty of each others eyes and the harmony of each others laughter.
The crew, who was working on the bus with the mechanic inside the workshop came out to call me but seen that I was with the bird that theft my heart, he nodded his bolded head and went back inside.
A moment later, he came back again and called me in. Before I left, I excused Melissah and thanked her for been my time passer and went inside the workshop. I have no knowledge of which direction she went. I never turned back. That day after we fix the bus, I went back to Kainatu to spend the weekend at home.
During the night, while my mom was having coffee and in high spirit, I jokingly said that I have a new girlfriend. She laughs out loud. "You meant to say you wish you had one, no body will love you, you don't know how to communicate, you're still a kid" She tried to embarrass me by saying all shots of negativity about me she has in her mind.
"Yes, you're right. But Mon, I'm 27, and I must have a girlfriend. In fact, I met one, she said she desired to be my girlfriend. Though I may not posses the ability to communicate but when it's true love, she could possibly understand my silence" I hit back hard at mom. She was surprised at what I saw and keeps staring at me with her mouth wide open. Then I burst out laughing.
We joke about it and never took it seriously but my heart started to feel loved by someone by the name of Mellisah. I never asked for it. It came to me and I accepted the love I believe it's mine.
She was a very beautiful girl. Someone I didn't knew existed within the shores of Papua New Guinea. A figure cut out from the rocky ranges of Chimbu Province. A love buried in the rocks. I was ready to take the last risk if necessary.
On Sunday, I made a good number of runs from Kainantu to Goroka and back until the day ends in Goroka when I rest of the night to go to Lae on the next day. Mellisah was working night shift and was exhausted when she turned up in the morning at the bus stop. She greeted me, I smiled, she smiled and looked away. I kept looking at her until she looks back at me. What a crazy morning. Our love was already seen blooming by my crew.
Mellisah never kept it to herself. She's open and greeted everyone who happens to be my friends. She knew my crew by name and where he came from. Whenever she came for a visit, she called him by name and offered him a drink, sneak or whatever she has. She was so kind and fun to be around. She was a year older than me, but what is that to me, is that my fault?
We continued to meet, not regularly as she was working and I was travelling. But whenever opportunity arises, I catch it with both hands. My love for Mellisah grew and I was already into thinking that she is that one to be married. I started to limit my calls and time with other girlfriends.
That's the hardest part, as some of them were thinking of marrying me and I am running away with another one. These are stories that will never be told. But it took me a while to made them understand that I'm moving on in my life and they must not become prisoner to what we've shared in the past. I asked them to move on as well. Many who understood thanked me and left but there are some, those close one that never really wanted to go. We held on until I made a promise to Mellisah that we'll get married and she agreed.
On several occasions she used to travel with me to Lae, just for weekends and holidays. All my good friends knew about the relationship that would lead to marriage. My mother, who laughed at me when I told her about my love earlier was finally introduced to Mellisah and they accepted each other.
One thing my mother knew was that the women, either working or a housewife will build me up or will break me. And so, she never judges Mellisah and would never in the future. Mellisah, in return, knew pretty well that my mother has in her hand a bountiful blessing, regardless of where she came from and how she looked like, when she accepted the son, she must also accept the mother. I was really blessed to have them both.
As we come to the climax of our three years relationship, Mellisah's father came from Australia, met her mother in Port Moresby and they flew into Goroka. I was to meet them, unfortunately I was in Lae when they arrived and learned that I was not there, they travelled to Chimbu, hoping to meet me when they return. I was scared yet optimistic about what they will have to say concerning my relationship with their daughter.
Three weeks later, he returned and Mellisah informed me to meet her parents. I agreed and we meet at the bus stop. The Lae Madang bus stop. I left the bus and greeted her father, a tough handshake and shoulder hug. A down to earth smile to her mother and a warm handshake. I introduce myself and was a bit guilty to say I was a PMV Bus Driver but it's my pride. I told them boldly. They introduced themselves and we chatted for a while.
I could tell that her father could read what her daughter knew nothing about. Sadly, her mother couldn't tell. There's something I never told Mellisah either. Her father is from Chimbu and I believe he trusted me.
Later that day, I was in Lae when Mellisah called and never said a word. I was troubled. She started to cry on the phone. I knew the conflict would arise. I knew it. Her father agreed excepted me but her mother who thought I was not good enough would intervein. Mellisah tried to explain everything to me but she felt like it's too much and so she allowed her tears to fall freely. She ended the call and didn't want to talk either.
I never returned her call. I respected her feelings and went to sleep. Very early in the morning, I went up to Zenac, and loaded 60 boxes of chicks and arrived in Goroka Town at 12 pm and went straight to Mellisah's residence near K**a Adventist Day High School. She heard the familiar accelerating engine and ran out of the gate and hugged me. She buried me in her arms for a while. Her eyes had tears in the corner. I never said a word. Her parents were in town when I get there, only her siblings and relatives. They all knew me and so they came and greeted me in their Chimbu way. But they also knew that her mother doesn’t want us to get married.
I told the crew to stay with the bus as I rest for a while at Mellisah's place. Mellisah offered me a white bag, a larger canvas type and I spread it over the lawn under mango tree and went off to deep sleep. Her mother and father picked up Mellisah’s younger sister from the air port, who was working at OK Tedi Mining and return home. On arrival, they marvelled to spot the bus at their gate. When they enter the gate, I was already on the chair.
Everyone rushed to the gate and greeted their sister who return from OK Tedi Mining but when she saw me, she threw everything and ran to me. I was even more surprised than she was. "What are you doing here Monkey" she burst out. "What are you doing here My Money". Everyone was amazed and surprised. Mellisah was lost.
They expected either of us to clear the doubt on their faces. Stellar, who was Mellisah's sister was my very best sister and course mate at University of Technology in Lae few years back. Everyone of us has a name, yet she calls me Monkey and I nicknamed her 'My Money'. And we were the best friends.
Straight after graduation, she was on a job training with OK Tedi Mining. Unfortunately for me, tragedy happened. My father was a highlands highway bus driver. On his way to my graduation, he met with an accident and passed away. I was broken beyond repair. When I heard the news, I almost ran unto the speeding truck. My friends have saved me. And after the graduation, I placed my degree just above my head in a bus and was on the road since. In honour of my beloved father who sacrificed everything for me.
Stellar told everything to her families. Mellisah never knew it. Everyone cried, even her mother. It's a promise not to tell anyone but I thanked Stellar. The way she told what happened really broke everyone's heart. Her mother cried openly. Mellisah shed tears as well. She hates me for not telling her in the first place. And she was also surprised that I was her sister’s best friend. She just loved it.
After all Stellar never knew that I was in a relationship with her sister. I knew nothing about it either. That day we met with great surprises and just loved it when she learned that Mellisah is soon to be married to her best university friend. What a sweet coincidence. Her mother changed her mind for the truth softened her heart.
I spend the night with them and her parents finally agreed that they would arrange for a wedding and I will work with her father in Port Moresby.
To be continued!
When it's yours, it will always come back to you no matter how many million miles it drifted and wandered off. You only need to be still and kept the faith.
"I BELIEVE IN THE KIND OF LOVE THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TO FIGHT FOR, IT WILL ALWAYS BE YOURS AND WOULD NEVER DISAPPOINT"
Photo courtesy of KingJosh Images
Written By > Naso Caleb Kila
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