by P B Kane
No, all this was doing was increasing the man’s celebrity on the island itself. So much for being suspicious of strangers. Could it really be that his fellow Shorepointers were taking this amnesiac to their hearts (if, indeed, he had actually lost his memory in the first place)?
It was a thought that, for some reason, caused Daniel to shiver again.
CHAPTER FIVE
IT WAS A THEORY THAT WAS PROVED CORRECT when he returned to school the following day.
Greg and Jill had cornered him at mid-morning break, having tried—they said—unsuccessfully to contact him over the past couple of days. Daniel explained about not being very well, but Jill gave him a look that said she didn’t believe a word of it. Nevertheless, she was insistent he should go and see John with them that night.
“He’s getting more visitors than ever,” Jill enthused. “He’s so popular with everyone, it’s amazing. Like he fits right in.”
“He’s especially popular with your mum,” Greg added, sticking his tongue into his cheek.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” growled Daniel.
Greg smirked. “Nothing.”
Daniel decided right there and then that maybe it was a good idea to go and see this John guy. Put him straight on a few matters, maybe put both of them straight—John and his mum—as the acting “man of the house.” It was a title he’d always shunned in the past, but that was before all this cropped up. And so suddenly, too, Daniel couldn’t believe it was only last weekend that they’d found John in the first place.
When you found him, don’t you mean? It’s all your fault this, you know.
Daniel had shaken his head, gritting his teeth. He hadn’t been responsible for this. But he’d put a stop to it somehow.
In the end, he hadn’t needed to go with Greg and Jill to visit John, because the mountain had come to Mohammed. A mountain in the form of a patient, now dressed in replacement casual shirt and trousers; the clothes he was found in were ruined. John was being wheeled in through Daniel’s front door when he got home from school. The ambulance man deposited the wheelchair in the living room, on Daniel’s mum instructions.
Okay, just a visit. She’s showing him where we live, thought Daniel, which was bad enough. But when he saw the green-suited paramedic leaving, he almost ran after him to ask what he was doing. Why he wasn’t taking this… this… John with him, back to the hospital where he’d come from.
Except he hadn’t come from there at all, had he. No one knew where he’d really come from.
His mum waved when she saw Daniel at the door, John looking up and fixing him with a gaze as well. “What’s… what’s going on?” Daniel asked, voice catching.
Please say he’s just visiting, that he’s having his tea or something (as horrible as it was having to spend any length of time with him) and then he’s going, back to the hospital or whatever, until someone claims him.
“John’s fit to be discharged, Daniel. He’s doing really well.” She pointed to the plasters on his forehead, which had replaced the bandages from the other day. “But I thought he should be somewhere I could keep an eye on him. And since we’re—he’s—not sure who he is still, I figured…”
Don’t say it, please Mum. Don’t say it!
“…well, I figured, we’ve got a spare room here. I could kill two birds with one stone. I didn’t think you’d mind.”
Daniel’s mouth gaped open. It wasn’t just the fact that his mother hadn’t even asked him, nor Mikey (Daniel only took notice of his little brother’s opinion when it suited him) it was more the idea of having to share the place he lived with John. What was she thinking?
But then he could see what she was thinking, and he knew Greg had been right about the man being popular with his mum. She’d spent as much time as she could by his beside over the past few days, when she’d normally only spend two or three days out of her working week doing rounds at the hospital. Daniel could see from the way she looked at the man, watching his every movement in case he needed anything, that this was starting to go dangerously beyond a doctor and patient relationship.
“If it’s a problem,” John began, “I’ve told your mum I’m happy to find somewhere else to stay. A bed and breakfast or something.”
“Mrs. Lacey’s is a nice B&B.” The words were spilling out of Daniel’s mouth before he could stop them, if he’d even wanted to.
“Nonsense! We wouldn’t dream of it,” his mum retorted.
Before Daniel could say anything else, Susan entered with Mikey. They’d stopped off at the park for ten minutes on the way home, to give John time to “settle in.” Mikey looked from John in the chair, to Daniel, then to his mother. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen the man, but it was the first time he’d seen him awake. The last time he was being stretchered away from the beach by rescuers, totally out of it.
“Mikey, this is John. Say hello,” Lorraine Routh encouraged her youngest son.
Mikey looked at Daniel again, who tried to tell him telepathically that this was not a good thing. That they really should not be welcoming this man into their lives, let alone their home. The small boy seemed like he was going to run to Daniel again, clap his arms around his brother’s legs like he’d do if he saw something scary accidentally on the TV. But instead, he managed, “H-Hello.”
“Hi there, Mikey,” said John, beaming. “How are things?” Daniel caught the quick glance John gave Susan as well. Just a sideways shift of attention, but the smile lingered on his face and Susan threw it back at him. And was it just his imagination working overtime, but when he blinked were his eyes—
“Daniel, come with me into the kitchen and we’ll fix up something to eat for everyone.”
Daniel put his backpack down on a chair and followed his mother, looking over his shoulder to see Mikey inching forward, sticking close to Susan but also curious about this newcomer in his living room.
Daniel’s mother had already taken a loaf out of the breadbin, and opened the fridge for butter and spread. She turned when she saw him enter. “Before you start, I know what you’re going to say.”
I bet you don’t. I bet you haven’t got a clue.
“I realise I should have run this past you and Mikey first, and for that I’m sorry, but—”
“Mum!” he snapped. “I really can’t believe all this. You don’t know anything about him.”
She pulled a face as if he was talking Martian. “I know more than you think.”
“He can’t even remember his own name,” Daniel pointed out, pacing the kitchen.
“He can. It’s John,” she said, as if that was all he needed. “You’re the one who found him, I thought you’d understand. He’s my patient, Daniel—”
“Oh, and you bring back all your patients to the house when they leave hospital?”
“No, but… well, these are unusual circumstances.”
“You can say that again.”
“What do you mean?” asked his mother, but Daniel refused to answer.
She walked over to him, placing her hands on his shoulders. “Look, this is something we can do to help. It’s the right thing to do—deep down I know it is.”
He shook his head.
“Like I say,” said a voice from behind, causing them both to jump, “if there’s a problem…” John was standing in the doorway, leaning on the jamb. Daniel was shocked to see him there, after all he’d been a wheelchair when he was brought in, but nobody had said there was anything actually wrong with his legs. Wasn’t there a rule or something that you had to leave hospital in a wheelchair? But John did look like it had tired him out, that short walk from the living room to the kitchen. His eyes flittered beyond them, over into the kitchen, and he winced.
Susan appeared behind John. “I told him he should stay in the wheelchair, but he wouldn’t listen. I…” She looked down. “We heard raised voices.” Mikey was by her legs, peeping in, looking frightened. Not of John this time, but of those raised voices, of what it meant.
&nbs
p; “No, you shouldn’t really be up, John,” Daniel’s mother agreed, and immediately went across to him. “Could you give me a hand, Susan?” With one arm around the babysitter, another around his doctor’s shoulders, John was helped back to the living room and to his wheelchair. Gently, they eased him down into it. Daniel watched from a distance, as the two woman fussed around the man. John caught the boy’s eye again and grinned.
This was all so wrong; he couldn’t believe how wrong it was.
Or maybe he was reading too much into that grin? Perhaps John was just trying to smile warmly again, to put Daniel at his ease. But it was just coming out all... It looked… warped. Twisted. Daniel couldn’t bear to look at it anymore, just like he couldn’t stand to look at those grey, lifeless eyes. There was just no warmth there that he could see, but apparently he was in a minority.
When the women had got him into his chair, they both went off back to the kitchen to fix food—the conversation Daniel had been having with his mother either postponed or forgotten about for now. The only reason Daniel was still watching was that Mikey had now been left alone with the man. Strangely, though, he couldn’t hear much that they were saying, the words little more than whispers; and a flicker of John’s eyes… or Daniel’s imagination? But the next minute, Mikey was rushing off. Daniel thought John might have said something to upset the kid, but before he could investigate further, his little brother returned with a few of his toys to show John. They were actually bonding!
That wasn’t the worst of it, though. That evening, more people came, having got wind of the fact John had been moved from the hospital to their home. Relocated, might be a better word, because it didn’t look like he was going anywhere anytime soon. Daniel had heard Jill and Greg talking about how many visitors he’d had, but hadn’t really believed it. Now he was getting a sense of just how well thought of John was, as townspeople brought flowers, chocolates, cards... the rest of the gifts were apparently back at the hospital and Daniel’s mum would fetch them the next time she was there.
The Echo reporter also showed up, keen to do more pieces from the angle of the family who’d taken John in. “You found him, and now he’s here, living with you!” the young man called Ed enthused, wiping his round spectacles. “It’s a perfect story.”
Not quite, thought Daniel, but answered Ed’s questions as well as he could, leaving out what he didn’t feel comfortable discussing. He drew the line at a photo with John, however, but that didn’t matter: the rest of his family seemed more than happy to oblige.
Joining this circus were Greg and Jill, also eager to see this man who was rapidly turning into a legend from what Daniel could see.
“Hey mate. This is brilliant, isn’t it?” said Greg, munching on a sausage roll from the kitchen, one of a dozen batches Daniel’s mother had cooked for people who were still rolling into the house.
Daniel sighed.
“What’s up? At least now you can see what a nice guy John is for yourself. You’re going to be living with him.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“I don’t see why you’ve got such a downer on him,” Jill interrupted. She was holding Vincent by the lead; it was the first time Daniel had seen the dog since they’d both stumbled upon the stranger on the beach. Like him, the collie didn’t really want to be here. In fact, he was doing his best to hide behind any piece of furniture he could find. Earlier, when Ed wanted Jill to bring Vincent across so they could get a photo of at least one of the two “people” who’d been first on the scene, the dog had barked then whimpered, refusing to move. “I don’t know what’s the matter with him. He’s usually so playful.”
Daniel knew, and stroked the top of the dog’s head. It appeared they were the only two sane ones present.
“Oh, I can’t stand it in here any longer,” said Daniel, throwing up his arms. “I need some air.”
He stormed outside and went to sit on the wall that surrounded their home, looking out over the rest of town. Greg and Jill, and Vincent, joined him a few moments later. “Daniel,” said Jill, sitting down beside him. “Whatever’s the matter?”
Daniel opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. He’d never felt like this before, not with Greg and Jill. Like he couldn’t tell them what was on his mind, couldn’t express the feelings of doubt he had about John.
“Yeah, you’re acting like a prize dope, if you ask me,” Greg chimed in.
Daniel rose and began walking off. “Look, just leave me alone,” he said.
“Hey, wait!” Jill called after him. “Where do we say you’ve gone if your mum asks?”
“I doubt she will,” Daniel replied over one shoulder.
“Daniel…”
Vincent barked after him as well, as if he was abandoning the poor creature.
“Just say I needed a walk,” he told her, and then he was—walking that is. He wasn’t sure exactly where he was going, but he ended up back at the police station, standing outside again, staring at the entrance.
It brought back so many memories, this place. Not for the first time since what had happened, Daniel thought about his dad. Those selfsame feelings of longing, of wishing the man was here so he could tell Daniel what to do. And anger that he had to leave them all in the first place. Completely irrational, because it hadn’t been his Dad’s fault; hadn’t been anyone’s fault. The hospital should have brought back all those bad memories, not here. This was a place of good recollections: of trips to tour round the cells, or rides in patrol cars. And if his dad wasn’t here to help him, then maybe his dad’s old best friend had turned something up.
He hesitated before going in, before going up to Weeks—who was still at his desk, seemingly always at his desk. But Sly Yeats wasn’t around, he’d been told. “Would you like to speak to someone else?” asked Weeks.
I would, but he’s not been around for a long time… and never will be again.
Daniel shook his head, but told Weeks to let the sergeant know he’d called. Daniel made the trek to the cliff tops overlooking the Clown’s Feet, and sat there watching for an hour or so until the sun began to dip in the sky. For a little while at least, he felt like the last person alive on Earth. But gazing down at the sand between the Feet and the colours flooding the sky behind the clouds reminded him of the previous weekend, so he decided to return home… not that it felt like home anymore.
By the time he arrived back, it was almost dark. Most people had gone now, but when Daniel sloped in through the front door, he found that John was still there—out of his wheelchair now and on the couch. In the spot Daniel always liked to sit because it had a good view of the TV. His mum was on the couch too, not that far away from John. A bottle of wine was open and on the coffee table in front of them—practically finished—but instead of the just the usual one glass there were now two. Obviously whatever medication John was taking, it was okay to drink alcohol with it.
“And where have you been?” his mum asked, though there wasn’t the usual tone that came with a reprimand, just a slight slurring of words. “We were just starting to get worried, weren’t we John?”
John nodded. “I expect all the commotion here was a bit too much for Daniel, isn’t that right? That’s what I told your mother, anyway.”
What was he doing, trying to get Daniel on his side now? It wasn’t going to work.
“Ah well, as long as you’re all right.” She looked at John. “I’ll go and get us another one of these.” When Daniel’s mum stood up, she wobbled slightly, but then straightened. She fixed her eye on the kitchen, and made for it. John, by comparison, barely seemed tipsy. “You boys talk amongst yourselves,” she called back.
Daniel remained where he was, quite a distance away from John, who was grinning again. “You know, I really am grateful that you found me. If you hadn’t come along… well, I don’t know what would have happened.”
Daniel remained silent.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?” asked John, who now rose. He didn’t seem to
be suffering any discomfort at all.
“W-What is there to say?” Daniel finally managed, though he couldn’t keep the tremble out of his voice.
John frowned, and began walking over. Daniel shrank back. “What you are so frightened of? Me? There’s no need to be frightened of me. No need at all.” The grin stretched wider. It struck Daniel as unnaturally wide for a moment or two, then the moment passed. It was enough to cause him to shiver a little, though.
“S-Stay away from me,” Daniel warned. “Stay away from my mum, from my family.”
John’s grin faded, a more serious look taking its place. Those grey eyes stared blankly at Daniel. “But you’ve all been so good to me. I want to… repay you somehow.”
Daniel found an inner strength from somewhere. “We don’t need anything.”
“Your mum’s so lonely, Daniel. She was just telling me before you got back. It must be hard without…” He paused, glancing down. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”
“Shut your mouth! Don’t ever say anything about him!”
“I was only…” John began, but his sentence trailed off. “I’m just keeping her company, and vice versa.”
Daniel’s hands were balling into fists. What exactly was he intending to do, punch this guy, only a few hours out of hospital? He’d be hunted to the ends of the island, probably even driven off it. And that’s not even counting what his mum’s reaction would be.
“I totally understand, trust me I do. No one can take the place of… They just can’t. I know that. We’re only friends. Just keeping each other company, like I say.”