The Accidental Malthusian by James Callum;

Author:James, Callum;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
Published: 2019-04-30T00:00:00+00:00

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The United Nations Organisation Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo↩

Chapter 25

Saturday, 25th May – Wednesday, 29th May London, England

In the days following the news of Adam and Elspeth’s death, Duncan had found it wasn’t an outward grief which overwhelmed him, but a strange sense of loneliness that he would never see his friend again. The fragility of life had plagued him the most, the concept that one night, he’d gone to bed still knowing his friend was alive, then being woken up at seven in the morning to Olivia walking through the door to announce to him Adam and Elspeth were dead.

When Olivia told him, she did so with a calmness which couldn’t have been more different from the previous Monday when she’d come in and announced their friend was suffering from Ebola. He appreciated afterward her calmness was more exhaustion and in all probability, a relief Adam and Elspeth’s trauma had come to an end. With reflection, Duncan understood he’d grasped early on Adam was going to lose his battle with the disease, so had been given the time to come to terms with that fact.

Olivia didn’t return to work for the rest of the weekend and on Sunday, they ventured out to meet up with Elspeth’s parents in central London, something which had been pre-arranged by Olivia and initially something that Duncan was reluctant to attend. However, it proved to be a beautiful afternoon, and rather than two couples meeting and mourning for the loss of the people they loved, the afternoon turned into a series of stories retelling their memories of Adam and Elspeth. It proved therapeutic for Simon, and by the time he and Olivia left, he felt he’d gained two new friends, but even more importantly, discovered the true essence of the woman Adam had fallen in love with.

Adam’s solicitor contacted Duncan first thing on Monday morning, initially to offer his condolences, but primarily to arrange a meeting. Unknown to Duncan, Adam left instructions in the event of his death, he was to ask Duncan to act as executor to his Will. The solicitor explained in detail Adam left certain instructions for his funeral arrangements and disposal of his estate, and he’d taken the liberty of already emailing a copy of the instructions for Duncan to read prior to their meeting. Although it wasn’t unexpected, Adam’s body wouldn’t be released for some time as a post-mortem was still being carried out, however the solicitor wanted to at least start putting some basic arrangements in place. They organised to meet in the afternoon at the solicitor’s offices in Richmond.

Over breakfast, Duncan opened his laptop and switched on his mobile for the first time since Friday morning. His intention was to spend the rest of the morning looking at the solicitor’s documentation before the meeting, as well as catching up on what was happening around the world.

He went immediately to the WHO website preferring this as his source for what was happening in the Congo, rather than the main new broadcasters.

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