The Accidental Guest

by Tilly Tennant

  ‘I… I don’t know. I think it would be good, yeah.’

  ‘How did you injure your head?’ Hannah bent to take a closer look. ‘It might need stitches.’

  ‘I don’t know,’ the man said. It seemed as if the idea pained him more than just the physical injury. Hannah had the sudden, inexplicable feeling that he wasn’t even trying to recall the event, like he didn’t want to acknowledge it.

  ‘We should call you an ambulance.’ Gina looked to Hannah for agreement.

  ‘They won’t come out in this weather on Christmas Day for a cut on the head,’ Hannah replied.

  ‘Yes they will. Head injuries can be fatal.’ Gina glanced at the man. ‘Sorry… I didn’t mean to freak you out.’

  Hannah turned to the man again. ‘Is there someone we can call for you? Anyone who can come and get you?’

  He screwed up his eyes, as if reaching for a thought that wouldn’t quite stick.

  They were interrupted by Jess coming back with her mobile phone. She handed it to the man. ‘Here,’ she said. ‘You can use mine.’

  He took it from her, and then stared at it.

  ‘Can’t you remember the number?’ Jess asked.

  ‘I can’t even remember who I’m supposed to be ringing,’ he said in a dull voice.

  ‘But you must have someone,’ Hannah said gently. She gave him another swift appraisal. Apart from his injury, and the fact that he was massively ill-equipped to be wandering around in the snow, he definitely looked as if he had someone. If he didn’t, then tramps were a lot more upmarket these days than they used to be. His clothes looked well made – the shirt sporting the little Ralph Lauren logo – his hair was expensively cut and he was well-built, like he was no stranger to the gym. Under different circumstances, he had dark eyes that would have sucked Hannah in like quicksand, the sort of eyes that had often been her undoing over the years. There was no way this man was some directionless hobo. He had a family, or at the very least a partner and a comfortable home somewhere – she was sure of it. ‘Where do you live?’ she added in an attempt to prompt him.

  ‘I’m not sure.’

  ‘You’re not sure?’ Gina asked, curiosity now getting the better of her fear and suspicion. The stone elephant that she had been holding in a defensive pose was now hanging at her side. ‘Your accent is local.’

  ‘Is it?’ he asked, frowning.

  Hannah threw a worried glance at her sister. ‘Perhaps we’d better call that ambulance.’

  ‘Could I trouble you for some cotton wool or tissue or something?’ the man asked. ‘I seem to be bleeding all over your sitting room.’

  ‘That’s alright, I don’t use it very often,’ Hannah said cheerfully. ‘I’m usually in the little back room or in the kitchen; far cosier in this weather.’ She turned to Jess. ‘There’s a first-aid kit in the bathroom cupboard. Not a lot of first aid in it, to be honest, but there will be some bandages and plasters. Would you pop and get it?’

  Jess nodded and ran off.

  ‘I’ll call that ambulance,’ Gina said, making her way towards the sitting room door. She seemed to have decided that the man was harmless after all, gesturing to Hannah as she did. ‘Can I have a quiet word?’

  ‘I’ll be back in a second,’ Hannah told the man. ‘What’s up?’ she asked her sister as they left him.

  ‘Do you think we ought to call the police too?’

  ‘You’re not still convinced he’s dodgy are you?’

  ‘No… not that. I think he’s lost his memory and there might be a family out there going out of their mind with worry. At least if the police know he’s here there’s more of a chance they can reunite them.’

  Hannah was thoughtful for a second. ‘You’re right. Ambulance first, police after. I’ll go and talk to him some more first, make sure he has actually lost his memory. He could just be confused right now from his clunk on the head, but with a cup of tea and a warm up he might remember it all.’

  ‘And that’s another thing… why on earth would he be out in the middle of nowhere in a snowstorm on Christmas Day in just his slippers and a shirt? It’s all very weird if you ask me. And he hasn’t got a phone. Who goes out without their phone these days?’

  ‘Me,’ Hannah smiled.

  ‘Apart from you and we all know you’re a bit cuckoo,’ Gina said.

  ‘I think you’ll find lots of people do. We don’t all want to be contactable all the time.’

  ‘Ask him if he has a wallet on him. He may have some ID in there.’

  ‘Good idea,’ Hannah agreed. ‘You get the ambulance and I’ll go and see what I can find out.’

  Jess arrived with a green plastic box. ‘This gets a lot of use,’ she said wryly as she indicated the thick layer of dust.

  ‘As there’s just me living here, I try not to get injured if I can help it,’ Hannah smiled. ‘It’s a bit awkward trying to tourniquet yourself.’

  Jess thrust the box at her. ‘Go to it, Florence. Go and patch up our random guest who you obviously fancy.’

  ‘How on earth do you come to that conclusion?’ Hannah asked, taking the box from her.

  ‘Firstly, you haven’t kicked the weirdo back out into the snow where he obviously belongs and secondly, you’ve been gooey-eyed ever since he arrived.’

  ‘If gooey-eyed means I’ve been showing concern, then guilty as charged. He clearly has someone out there who’s missing him. I only want to help him get back to them.’

  ‘What about our dinner?’ Jess said.

  Hannah clapped a hand to her head. ‘Shit! I forgot about that!’

  Jess rolled her eyes. ‘I’ll go and get the turkey out and I’ll turn the veggies off for a while.’

  ‘Be careful!’ Gina called after her.

  ‘I’m not ten!’ Jess shouted behind her.

  ‘No, but you act like it sometimes,’ Gina muttered.

  ‘We’d better get back to our mystery man,’ Hannah said. Wiping the dust from the first-aid box with the hem of her apron, she made her way back to the sitting room with Gina following. Hannah turned to her. ‘I thought you were going to call the ambulance?’

  ‘I am, just as soon as I check that he’s not putting all this on and lying in wait for us with a huge axe.’

  ‘I really don’t think so. He’s a bloody good actor if he is.’

  The man hadn’t moved. He looked as if he had spent the whole time staring into space, and he glanced up vaguely at the entrance of the two women.

  ‘Are you feeling sick?’ Hannah asked as she opened the box and produced a roll of bandage.

  ‘No,’ he replied.

  ‘Dizzy? Like you want to go to sleep?’

  ‘Not really.’

  ‘How many fingers am I holding up?’ Hannah asked.

  ‘Three.’

  ‘Why do people do that?’ Gina asked.

  ‘What?’

  ‘The finger question.’

  Hannah shrugged. ‘I have no idea. I just know that you’re supposed to ask.’

  ‘Cortical blindness,’ the man said.

  Hannah and Gina both turned sharply to him.

  ‘What did you say?’ Hannah asked.

  ‘Cortical blindness,’ he repeated.

  ‘What’s that?’ Hannah asked.

  ‘It’s a rudimentary diagnostic test to assess whether someone is suffering from it.’

  ‘How do you know that? Are you a doctor?’

  He shrugged.

  ‘You’re not a doctor?’ Gina asked.

  He shrugged again. ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘What’s your name?’ Hannah gave him a gauze pad and indicated that he should press it against his head wound.

  ‘I don’t know,’ he replied simply. He didn’t seem distressed about this, just vaguely irritated, as if he had left his umbrella on the bus.

  ‘You don’t have any ideas at all?’

  ‘I’m afraid not.’

  ‘Do you have a wallet or something in your pocket?’ Gina asked. ‘Anything tha
t might have some ID in it?’

  While Hannah wrapped a bandage around his head to hold the pad in place, the man felt in his trouser pockets. ‘I don’t seem to have,’ he said apologetically.

  ‘Not even a set of keys?’ Gina pressed.

  ‘Sorry…’ he said. ‘Nothing in my pockets at all.’

  ‘Did you drive here?’

  ‘I don’t think so. I feel as if I’ve been walking for ages.’

  Hannah tied a knot in the bandage and studied him thoughtfully. In different circumstances she would have burst out laughing at her nursing handiwork. The man now looked like a war casualty from a black and white film. She was quite sure the professionals would have far more sophisticated methods of treating his wound but hers would have to do for now. ‘So you’re out in the snow in quite a cut off area – at least, a good hour’s walk from the nearest town – and you have no coat, no sensible shoes, no keys, no phone and no wallet. Don’t you think that’s odd to begin with, even if you didn’t have this head injury?’

  ‘I suppose it is,’ he said.

  ‘Oh!’ Gina squeaked. ‘Perhaps you were mugged and dumped out here to die!’

  ‘He was mugged?’ Hannah asked with a wry smile. ‘So that means he must have been out in the snow in his slippers in the first place for a mugger to find him.’

  ‘Maybe they broke into his house and dragged him out. Maybe they’re holding the rest of the family hostage!’

  At this, the man looked properly alarmed for the first time.

  ‘I don’t think you need to worry,’ Hannah said, doing her best to reassure him and shooting her sister a warning look. ‘It might happen to Liam Neeson or Tom Cruise, but those sorts of things usually only happen in films. I’ve never heard of it on Holly Way.’

  ‘Holly Way?’ the man asked. ‘Is that where I am?’

  ‘Yes. Does it ring a bell with you?’ Hannah asked.

  ‘I’m not sure… yes, maybe.’

  ‘It could be because it’s Christmas,’ Gina said. ‘Holly and mistletoe and all that.’

  ‘Oh… probably,’ the man said, the hope wiped from his expression again. ‘It’s Christmas, then?’

  ‘Christmas Day. We did just say that,’ Gina replied.

  ‘So you did,’ the man said quietly. ‘Sorry.’

  ‘Stop being sorry,’ Hannah said. ‘You’re sure you don’t have a clue about your name?’

  ‘Tom!’ Everyone turned to see that Jess had returned.

  ‘Tom?’ Gina asked. ‘How do you know that?’

  ‘I don’t,’ Jess said. ‘But he looks like a Tom to me and we have to call him something.’

  ‘He is here, you know,’ Hannah said, frowning.

  ‘Sorry, Tom,’ Jess said with a sheepish grin.

  The man smiled. It was a lot brighter than it had been. ‘That’s alright. I don’t mind if you call me Tom.’

  ‘Hannah began to pack away the first-aid kit. ‘I’ll make you something to drink and my sister is going to call an ambulance to have a look at that head injury. I have some dry clothes you can borrow. I can’t promise they’ll be to your taste and they might not fit brilliantly but at least you’ll be drier and warmer in them.’

  Gina raised her eyebrows. ‘You have men’s clothes?’

  ‘Jason left them behind.’

  ‘And you didn’t have a sacrificial bonfire with them?’

  Hannah clicked the lid of the first-aid box back into place. ‘He wasn’t that bad.’

  ‘Why did you kick him out then?’

  Hannah glanced at the newly-christened Tom, and then back at her sister. ‘I don’t think this is the time,’ she said. ‘How about you go and see to that ambulance before…’ her sentence trailed off. They had no idea how bad this man’s head injury was but it was bad enough to cause amnesia. The last thing she wanted was for him to start being seriously ill, fall into a coma, or worse. The sooner they got help the better.

  ‘OK,’ Gina disappeared to make the call.’

  ‘You’re cooking,’ Tom said. ‘I can smell turkey.’

  ‘Christmas dinner,’ Hannah replied.

  ‘I’ve ruined it. I’m sorry about that.’

  ‘No you haven’t. We can make it Christmas tea, so it doesn’t really matter. Unless you’re hungry, of course, in which case we can eat now and you could join us.’

  ‘I don’t think I am hungry,’ he said. ‘But thank you for the offer.’

  ‘Right… I’ll get you that drink then. What would you like? I can do tea, hot chocolate, coffee? I even have green tea if you’re that way inclined.’

  ‘She means she has green tea if you’re a crazy hippy lady,’ Jess put in with a grin.

  ‘Thank you,’ Hannah said briskly.

  ‘Green tea actually sounds good,’ Tom said.

  ‘Hmmmm,’ Hannah said. ‘So you remember that you like green tea?’

  ‘I don’t know. It just sounds good.’

  ‘Jess…’ Hannah asked, ‘do you think you can look after Tom for a moment while I get those dry clothes and a cup of green tea?’

  ‘No problem.’ Jess reclaimed the stone elephant that her mum had discarded on the windowsill. Hannah was about to tell her she didn’t need it but checked herself. She had a strong feeling that this man was genuine, but none of them really knew for sure. Perhaps it was a good idea not to let their guard down completely.

  ‘I won’t be a minute,’ Hannah called as she hurried off.

  After flicking the kettle on and being informed by Gina that the ambulance service were having problems with the snow but, given the details of Tom’s injury, would be out as soon as possible, Hannah rushed upstairs to find some clothes.

  In the spare bedroom, she opened the door of the wardrobe. In between layers of clothes that had long been out of style but she couldn’t quite part with, was a handful of trousers and sweatshirts belonging to the man she had parted company with the previous year.

  When Jason first left she had cried, despite the decision having been hers. It seemed like she was destined to remain alone, as failed relationship after failed relationship left her convinced that the man for her simply wasn’t out there. Was she that difficult and awkward? Had she been that awful to live with? Did she have some dreadful social inadequacy that meant she couldn’t communicate fully with the rest of the world? She didn’t think so, but it seemed that every relationship was doomed to disaster. She didn’t get out enough – at least not to the traditional places where women might meet men, like pubs and nightclubs and painting classes – and she wasn’t one for internet dating. Somehow, the idea that a soulless computer programme could find your soulmate wasn’t one that appealed, no matter how effective it might be. Hannah wanted to discover that person for herself. So she had begun to travel. And then she had stopped seeing the travelling as a search for her soulmate, and had begun to see it as a search for herself, and the travelling itself had become her love. Gina had frowned and told Hannah that she was running away because she couldn’t face the idea that she was incapable of keeping a relationship going. But when her own marriage had gone to the dogs, Hannah had kept the smug lectures at bay, and decided that she would simply be there for her sister. These days they were closer than ever, much closer than they’d ever been growing up. Perhaps there was something to be said for being single after all.

  As she rifled through Jason’s clothes, looking for something that might fit their strange Christmas guest, Hannah couldn’t help but reflect on the reasons she still had these clothes at all. She had messaged Jason to tell him she was leaving them on the front lawn and he could pick them up or she’d burn them. But when she’d returned home that evening and found them where she’d left them, instead of starting the bonfire there and then, she had gathered them up and packed them away. Every so often she had passed the spare room and had the urge to go in and smell them. Then, as the months went by, and the pain of the split faded, so did his scent, until she could barely recognise him at all over the smell of mot
h balls and damp. For a while she had barely recognised herself; this last break up had shaken her life around more than she cared to admit. But it had also been a good thing, leading to her quitting her job and setting up a thriving online business designing book covers, business cards and promotional merchandise. She loved her life now more than ever. Perhaps that was why she had kept Jason’s clothes – to remind her not to go back to where she’d been before. And perhaps now, the arrival of this stranger in need was a sign that she didn’t need that prop anymore; either way, it didn’t seem so hard to give them up now.

  ‘Does this guy have sugar in his tea?’ Gina called up the stairs, interrupting Hannah’s musings.

  ‘Why can’t you ask him?’ Hannah called back, gathering up the clothes she had chosen and letting the wardrobe door bang shut again.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Gina said as Hannah made her way back downstairs. ‘I just don’t want to.’

  ‘You’re not still scared of him, are you?’

  ‘I wasn’t scared before, I just didn’t know if we could trust him.’

  ‘He’s harmless; just confused.’

  ‘Yeah, I know. You’ve got to admit it’s all pretty weird though.’

  ‘I suppose so. We’re stuck with him now, though, at least until the ambulance gets here. Did you call the police?’

  ‘The emergency operator said the ambulance guys could inform the police when they came to pick him up. Are we supposed to go in the ambulance with him?’

  Hannah was thoughtful for a moment. ‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘We hardly know him, but as he doesn’t even know himself right now I suppose we’re the closest he’s got. I wouldn’t like to be taken to hospital on my own if I didn’t have a clue who I or anyone else was.’

  ‘Me neither. I’d be terrified. It’s funny though,’ Gina added, ‘he doesn’t seem that phased by it.’

  ‘Maybe he’s just so confused it hasn’t really sunk in yet. And I guess if you can’t remember what you’ve lost you can’t be scared by it.’

  The kettle shrilled its readiness and Hannah handed the bundle of clothes to Gina. ‘Go and take those in to him and I’ll make the tea,’ she said.

  ‘What about our dinner?’ Gina asked.

  ‘We’ll have to have it for tea now.’