Love Song to Simone

by E. S. Hart

  “Are you all right?” Simone asked in a concerned tone.

  “I just burn my hand, it's nothing,” he stated.

  Simone could tell it was more than that and that he was still in pain. She knew the man in front of her was extremely proud and would obviously never ask for help but she hated to think that he might have really hurt himself.

  Jake found that the burn was bringing back memories for him of even more searing burns; pain that still haunted him all these years later. The memories came crashing back to him keeping him from straightening up from the kneeling position where he seemed to stay frozen while clutching his right hand.”

  Simone hobbled over to him. “Let me see,” she ordered while grabbing hold of his hand.

  Jake started to come back to reality and tried to pull away. “That's not necessary it isn't the first time this has happened. I will run some cold water on it," he stated firmly. "I will be fine,” he argued to what seemed no avail.

  Simone proceeded to remove the glove and saw the badly scarred up hand. She sat there momentarily stunned.

  Jake pulled his hand away from her and stood up grabbing the glove as well. He hated the fact that she saw his scarred hand. He especially hated seeing her stunned expression at seeing it.

  Simone saw him walk over to the L-shaped kitchen in the corner of the room and heard the water coming from the water pump. She now knew why he felt the need to cover his hands she thought to herself, and also why he had been so adamant about her shutting her eyes when he sat down to play the piano. He obviously didn't want her to see his hands and how scarred they were. Yet, now that the initial shock had worn off she found that it didn't matter to her. What did matter was how this had happened. She now found herself wondering if maybe his face had been scarred as well. Is that why he wore that mask all the time? If so, how had he been burned and apparently deformed? What had happened to this man? Simone sat there hoping that he wouldn't shun her now that she was piecing together the thing he had no doubt been trying to conceal from her. She had found that in the time she had been with Jake that she had come to care about him. Maybe he was still a stranger to her because she didn't know a whole lot about who he was at one time, even though, she had her suspicions but what she did know about him she liked. He was a good, caring man that much she had been able to determine and she now knew he had indeed saved her life. He had let her into his life which could not have been easy for him to do, she now realized that. She just now prayed that he wouldn't shut her out. She watched as he walked back over to her with his glove back on his hand. “How is your hand?” she asked in a concerned tone.

  “It's fine, thanks to the glove the burn could have been worse but it wasn't," he stated bluntly while hoping to change the subject. He couldn't believe he had allowed this woman to get so close to him and be able to remove one of his gloves to see what he was obviously hiding from her and the world.

  “Jake, about your hand…” she began

  “I don't want to discuss it,” he cut her off in an angry tone.

  “I just wanted to say to you that it doesn't matter. Really, it doesn't and if you ever do want to tell me about what happened I will be glad to listen,” she told him in a caring, reassuring voice.

  Yes, he thought to himself, she didn't seem the least bit repulsed by what she just saw; maybe stunned, but then again, she hadn't yet seen the worst of it; not that he would even consider showing her the worse part of his injuries. Yet, he felt there was some truth to what she had just said to him. She would no doubt listen to what he had to tell her. But, if he confided in her wouldn't he have to also reveal who he really was as well. And, if she had found that out would she be able to allow him to live in peace? Could he trust her to do just that?

  CHAPTER 9

  Simone had found that again a pattern had started to develop since that fateful night she had found out about Jake's injuries; at least in regards to his hands. She never brought the subject up to him in the days that followed, yet she found there was a difference in Jake, but not the kind that she had feared with him pulling away from her. If anything, he seemed to be more open with her. He would share more with her about his day and they would start to talk about stuff such as books they had both read along the way. He had also gotten her to talk about her life and how she had grown up in Montana where she had won a talent show at the age of fourteen. From there it seemed like her life was propelled in a different direction when someone downloaded her performance to YouTube on the Internet, and before long she found that she was being discovered by a record label. She had started her music career at the age of sixteen and seemed as if it had been nonstop in the many years that had followed with her popularity only growing and not diminishing. She wanted so badly to ask him about his past but knew again that she needed to exercise restraint.

  ≈

  One night after dinner she was taken aback while she sat at the table while he did the dishes. Now that she had seen his hand he didn't seem to mind taking his gloves off in front of her and showing them as he did his task. Simone then became surprised when he asked her a straight forward question.

  “Do you remember September 11, 2001?" He asked as he stopped his task and seemed to just stand there staring off into space.

  “I think it would be pretty hard to find someone who was living at that time currently walking the planet who doesn't remember that day. It was a day that is now a part of history as we all know it, even kids who weren't born at that time are learning about it in school,” she stated in a solemn way. “To this day, it remains one of the greatest tragedies to ever happen on American soil. Why do you ask?" she inquired.

  “Because you told me that when I was ready to tell you what happened to me you would listen. I want to tell you, Simone, but you need to promise to keep what I tell you to yourself and not share it with anyone else.”

  “I promise, Jake," she told him while feeling on edge at what he was about to finally tell her, "please tell me," she encouraged. "Does the burns on your hands and, the fact, you won't show me your face have to do with September 11th? Were you burned and deformed in those attacks? I know that some survivors were?” she asked him worriedly.

  “No, it was after the attacks happened. I felt so bad about the thousands of individuals who lost their lives on that fateful day. I wanted to do something, I wanted to help and the only way I felt I could do that was by enlisting in the army and going into battle to fight those who caused such destruction,” he admitted solemnly.

  “That's was a very noble thing to do and I know you weren't alone in feeling this way.” She had known that many civilians had done just what he had after 9-11.

  “Since I had a medical background, I was made a medic in one of the units. But I still experienced combat. There was a situation with a live shell inside one of the men who came in to be treated. The shell went off and my hands were badly burned,” his voice cracked as the memory of that very moment came flooding back to him.

  Simone found herself gasping. “Was your hands all that was burnt?” she asked while wanting him to tell her the rest and figuring that it probably wasn't the case.

  “No, as you have no doubt figured out, I'm sure. My face was also badly burnt. I was lucky that my eyes weren't damaged as well. My neck and upper chest was also burnt and that is why I tend to wear turtleneck sweaters.” he admitted to her as the continued horror seemed to play over in his mind. “I had some plastic surgery done. I went through months of rehabilitation and I was told at the time that more could be done, but I would probably never be the same again."

  “So you just chose to give up?” she cornered.

  “What other choice did I have, Simone? I couldn't go back to the life I had before. The people I knew seemed to want to pity me and even the woman I had loved, whom I had been engaged to marry prior to going off to battle couldn't take what I had become me. She actually decided to marry someone else and gave me back my ring as I still laid in a hospital bed,” he confessed
with pain in his voice.

  What a horrible woman Simone thought to herself; to leave a man when he was fighting for his life after he had valiantly laid down his life for this country. She didn't know this bitch but what she did know she hated. If this bitch were here in this room right now Simone probably would have pulled the woman's hair out. She was sure of this. “I'm sorry you had to go through such an ordeal, but not all people are like that. In fact, for the most part, those such as you who laid down their lives to defend this country are considered heroes," Simone assured.

  “Are they, from what I've seen our society tends not to take care of war veterans the way it should," he spat. "Otherwise, why are some of them on the streets or fighting for better health coverage and other benefits,” he cornered bluntly.

  Simone couldn't argue with what he was saying, unfortunately, there were many times society let veterans down and it was a sad state of affairs when someone stopped to actually think about it. At that moment, she happened to glance in the direction of the piano and something else dawned on her that she hadn't pieced together up until now. Jacques Moreau had joined the army shortly after September 11th and so did this man could very well be him. Jacques Moreau had disappeared after his tour of duty and she had suspected that this man was indeed the famed composer and now she more than suspected it, she knew it.

  Jake looked over and saw the look of surprise that seemed to wash over her face. “Is something wrong?” he asked her.

  “It's true, isn't it? You are Jacques Moreau, aren't you?”She questioned in a whispered tone of voice.

  CHAPTER 10

  Jake sat down at the table to look over at her eye to eye through his mask. He knew that this day might come but he had hoped that it would be a long, long time in coming. In fact, he hoped that the woman sitting opposite from him would have been long gone before she even remotely thought about his identity.

  Simone wondered what he was thinking and what he was going to say to her. She feared that he would again lose his temper with her.

  “How did you come to that conclusion?” he asked while hoping he could stir her from this belief.

  “You play the piano beautifully and you know all of his works. He also joined the army after September 11, 2001. This isn't the first time that I suspected this. I have for awhile but now with what you've just told me I have the missing pieces to the puzzle,” she admitted.

  “I should never have confided in you,” he said in disgust.

  “I'm glad you did," she replied tenderly. "You are Jacques Moreau, aren't you?” She pressed further.

  “No, I'm not,” he stated, standing up from the table abruptly. “I was once a long time ago but that man seized to exist when he laid in that hospital bed with no one there for him. He came here to live out the rest of his days with only himself because after laying down his life for the service of others he came back to no life at all,” he told her abruptly as he walked over to look out the window.

  Simone wanted to go over to him and place her hand reassuringly on his shoulder to let him know he wasn't alone; not any longer. She glanced over to where Max laid with his head propped up with interest.

  “How did Max come to fit into all this?” she asked.

  Jake turned and glanced over at Max before bringing his attention back to Simone. “Some motorist on that stretch of road where you crashed your car threw out a sack of puppies. All of them except one were dead. I took the little dog here and nursed him back to health and since then he has been devoted to me and I have been his master. In some ways, Max also saved me, I was no longer completely alone I had a friend who loved me unconditionally and didn't shun away from my appearance. He didn't care as long as I took care of him and loved him. In return, he loved me back.”

  “There is that kind of love out in the world as well, Jacques. Your music is still loved throughout the world over,” Simone argued.

  “Don't call me by that name!" He exclaimed. My name is Jake and my music as you call it hasn't been mine for a long time. In fact, Simone I haven't written anything new in years; not since my time in combat. I lost my muse, so to speak, to do so. I guess I should be grateful that I still find it in myself to play my piano compositions."

  “Which is a gift in itself can't you see that?” She pressed on.

  “Simone I have nothing more to give to the world; get that through your head,” he told her in a loud voice.

  She could tell he was losing his patience with her and this conversation.

  But she couldn't let him continue to think that the world had nothing to offer to him any longer. It seemed like such a waste, even when he was just Jake to her she thought it was a horrible thing that he was closed off here from the entire world. Now that she knew for a fact he was Jacques Moreau she really saw just how big a waste it truly was. “I'm sorry, Jacques, Jake, Mr. Moreau…" her voice trailed off; not sure what to call him any longer.

  “Please, Simone I would prefer you call me Jake,” he insisted again with pain in his voice.

  Simone knew whatever had happened to this man along the way that the least she could do was honor his wishes. “In that case, Jake, I just wanted to say that I will drop the subject if you would like me to," she told him sensing that this was indeed what the man wanted.

  “I would appreciate that,” he told her before walking back over to her. “I think we should just call it a night,” he stated in a tired voice.

  “It's still rather early,” she protested. “You're not going to play for me tonight?” She asked a bit disappointed that apparently, he wasn't.

  “I don't feel like playing tonight,” he told her point blank.

  Simone knew she needed to respect his wishes in regards to this. She just nodded and agreed.

  ≈

  Later that night, Jake lay in his bed dreaming. It was a dream he had numerous times since Simone had entered his life. Prior to her coming along, he had mostly dreamt of the horrors of war, yet now that she was there things seemed totally different. He was again in the living room of the cabin and there was Simone. She was standing there looking beautiful in a white, flowing dress. She walked over to him with a beautiful smile on her face and love in her eyes.

  “I love you, Jake,” she said. “It doesn't matter how you look you are the man of my dreams,” she told him as she placed her arms around his neck. He lowered his lips onto hers and they started to kiss. He drew her closer into his arms and their kiss became more intense.

  Jake woke up startled to his dark isolated room; only to discover that it had all been just that; a dream…a dream where Simone had been his. In reality, she would never see him that way and she would never love him like that; not as he had come to love her in the time she had come to live with him. How could he not love her? She was kind, caring, considerate, and oh so beautiful; not just from the outside but from the inside as well.

  CHAPTER 11

  In the next few weeks, Simone found that things seem to have gotten back to the way they had been prior to the night that she had cornered Jake about his true identity. Simone had been somewhat relieved about that. Jake had gone back to playing the piano for her each night and she was now finding that she was singing when the piece called for a vocalist. There seemed to now be a perfect harmony between them and she was happy about that. Yet, she knew although, that there was a subject being avoided between them. She knew the fact that soon the day would come when she would be recovered and ready to leave. She now wondered if she could really just leave him here alone. It seemed again like something that would be so heartless to do. She didn't know how to go about doing so but somehow she had to convince him to come with her; to regain his life. This wasn't where he belonged, he had to be convinced of that but right now she knew wasn't the time to bring that up.

  ≈

  One night after he got done playing, Simone looked over as he stood up from the bench and came over to her. “Instead of taking me back to my bedroom right now, I was wondering if we could talk
for a few minutes,” she asked, pointing over to the chair across from hers for him to sit down.

  Jake hesitated for a minute before walking over to sit down. “What's on your mind?” he asked while knowing that all too familiar look of hers when he knew she was going to get personal with him once again.

  “Well, there is something that I have wanted to ask you since you told me you were a medic in the army," she started. "You obviously know a great deal about medicine so how is that?” she asked.

  “I was pre-med when I was in college. I was, however, a prodigy when it came to playing the piano. So, I was convinced to give up a career in medicine for a career on the stage. But, I never forgot my medical knowledge and I made it clear to the army that I had a medical education so they made me a medic as part of my war efforts in Afghanistan,” he explained.