Jason hurried carefully down the side of the steep hill. He anxiously approached the young brunette lying at the bottom and crouched beside her. Gently he touched her face and eyes. The girl was definitely real and not his dead wife. This girl was younger and naturally prettier in the face, with a more - girl next door look - to her persona. He checked the woman's breathing and pulse for some movement or any sign of life
'Hello. Can you hear me? Hello?'
Jason put his ear up against the young woman's mouth and moved the side of his head against her chest. Unexpectedly the young woman tilted her head left then right in a drowsy, half conscious effort. She murmured something which Jason could not fully understand. Although he was just relieved that the pretty young woman was still alive.
'Hey there. What's your name? Can you tell me your name?'
The woman groaned in a groggy daze as she desperately tried, and failed, to raise one of her hands towards her thumping head.
'Are you in any kind of pain? Does it hurt anywhere on your body?'
'My head... My head hurts so much.' the woman said quiet as a mouse.
'Look. I'm gonna try and pick you up and carry you back to my cottage, okay?'
The woman groaned while drifting in and out of consciousness again.
'I'll take that for a yes then.'
And with that, Jason lifted her up in his arms with a tender ease and carried her all the way back to his cottage.
CHAPTER six
The young woman opened her eyes and stared up at the unfamiliar bedroom setting from a bed she did not recognise. It was late evening and from the half drawn curtains in the bedroom she could sense the sun had already set by the dim, late evening glare which snuck in through the curtains' gap. She glanced around at the darkened, quiet bedroom from left to right. Slowly she took in the grim and out of date brown and white eighties styled wallpaper until she came across the sleeping figure of Jason. He snoozed away while sitting upright on a chair beside her. The sight of the strange sleeping man startled her immensely and she sat up in a nervous angst.
Jason stirred then finally awoke from his slumber, disturbed by the woman's hasty and nervous movements. On seeing Jason awaken the woman huddled herself deep into the far corner shadows of the double bed. She looked frightened as hell and a little overwhelmed. Jason did little to help the woman's anxious state when he let out the most noisy and deafening yawn. It was like a giant grizzly bear coming out of hibernation. He stretched the arms and legs of his awkwardly seated body, then spoke to the frightened woman like she were an old friend. A trick he had learned as a kid from his big social Uncle for when trying to make friends with strangers. Just pretend they are an old school friend that you haven't seen for a while, his Uncle had joyfully preached.
'Heeeey! How are yoooou... How are you feeling?' Jason yawned again. This time sounding more like a limp walrus. The woman remained silent. A cautious fear and a deep curiosity burned fiercely in her eyes. Jason was about to repeat his question, this time without the dramatic yawning effect, when he was unexpectedly interrupted.
'Who are you?' the woman asked.
'Oh, hey. My name is Jason.'
She glanced around the room again. She took in all of the various weird and wonderful shapes and shadows upon the grim brown wallpaper. She was like a curious little child taking in her new surroundings for the very first time. After a short time, she focused upon Jason again.
'What am I doing here Jason?'
'I found you. At the bottom of a hill not to far from here. You were slipping in and out of consciousness, so I carried you all the way back here... to my cottage.'
'You carried me?' The woman replied, strangely surprised.
'You weren't that heavy.'
Jason smiled warmly. The woman's own expression remained emotionless. The two stared and studied each other for a long time in silence, both taking in each others body language and silent mannerisms. Jason seemed so calm and relaxed to the strange woman, if not a little too relaxed which made her feel even more uneasy, even though she were gradually calming and adjusting to her new environment. Sensibly though, she would keep her caution and wits about her. .
'So how are you feeling?' said Jason, breaking the pleasant silence between them.
'My head hurts.' The woman replied rubbing her forehead like she were only realising the painful sensations there for the first time.
'You know, I have a car outside…' Jason replied. Thinking that he could drive the girl somewhere more populated with even a hospital too, and hopefully drop her off there unnoticed by anyone. Of course he wouldn't be able to stay with her, for the obvious reason of his most recent criminal activity. '…I could, in theory, drive you to a hospital if you like. It would be a long drive but...'
'No. No hospitals!' cried the woman, interrupting Jason mid sentence. 'Please. No hospitals.' she pleaded again. She freaked at the mere mention of the word hospital which made Jason even more curious yet cautious about her. It put his relaxed 'green light' frame of my mind into an amber knife's edge.
'Okay. No hospitals. Jesus!' said Jason reassuringly, trying to calm the woman done. He sat upright in his chair and leaned in towards her all of a sudden. 'At least let me take you home. Do you live around here? Surely there must be someone missing you right about now?'
The woman calmed a little. She tried thinking hard, yet nothing but blank memories and hazy thoughts of nothing and no one in particular cycled through her mind. Nothing and no one. But for some reason, when she thought about leaving this place or going to a hospital, every fibre in her body repelled against the idea. Even her stomach twisted and cramped up at the mere thought. She had a faded idea that a hospital could no doubt help her in the short term. But it was the long term she was more concerned with right now. And until she started getting her memories back again, the fewer people around her the more comfortable she felt.
'Is there someone who I can call for you or even get in touch with? Somebody who I can take you too even?' Jason persisted. The woman glared blankly at him. She seemed even more confused.
'I, I don't know. I really don't know.'
'You don't know. What about your family? You must have family somewhere? Yes... No?'
The woman's facial expression turned to one of great frustration. She was becoming more and more upset by the second.
'I… I don't remember, please. My head hurts so much when I try to remember.'
'Can't you remember anything about yourself at all?' Jason continued. A slight hint of doubt and frustration crept into his tone. 'What about your name? Surely you must know your own bloody name?' he chuckled.
The woman shook her head in defeat.
'I'm sorry, but I don't. I'm sorry.'
'What about... What's the last thing you remember? Do you remember how you even ended up at the bottom of that damn hill out there?'
The woman looked as if she could no longer take this barrage of verbal questioning from Jason any longer. She slapped her hands firmly against her head in frustration at Jason's constant badgering. Jason seemed completely against the idea that anyone could be suffering from such a traumatic memory loss that they couldn't even remember their own bloody name.
'No, no, no, no, NOO!' The young woman screamed. Jason froze, a little stunned at her over dramatic outburst. 'All I can remember is waking up here, inside this room.' the woman paused, looking Jason directly in the eye with an almost chilling stare. '…and then I remember you.'
There was a long silence. Jason came to realise that he was nowhere near any further along at understanding the woman's situation than he was at the beginning of their conversation.
'Look.' said Jason firmly. His tone sounding tired and fed up. 'Maybe it would be a good idea to get you to a hospital. They could help to locate your family.'
The young woman gave him an even firmer, chilling glare. It made him very uneasy.
'I said no hospitals okay.' the woman snapped back at him like a spoilt but determin
ed child. Jason broke their eye contact and shook his head in another bout of frustration. He stood abruptly to his feet, still annoyed as hell, yet a little more comfortable that he'd broken away from the woman's icy glare.
'Can you even remember what a fucking hospital is for Christ sake? Jesus.' said Jason, trying to get the last word in. But the woman wasn't listening to him anymore. Instead she eased back underneath her bed covers, getting ready to fall into another deep and heavy sleep.
'Could I please... just rest... for now... Please.' whispered the woman tiresomely. Her voice growing softer by the second. Jason sighed, nodding in defeat.
'All right. But I still reckon we should get you checked out by someone and soon. But if you're not in any great pain or discomfort then I guess it's okay for you to rest here for a while.'
The woman half opened her eyes, letting out the slightest hint of a grateful but tiresome smile.
'Thank you... Jason.' she closed her eyes and fell peacefully back into a deep sleep. Jason watched the woman all snuggled up underneath the bed covers with only her pretty face and mop of dark hair sticking out from within. Strangely, he no longer saw a vulnerable and attractive young woman lying in front of him anymore, but a small and innocent, fragile young child perhaps, who slept peacefully over the watchful eye of a caring parent.
An alien, but overwhelmingly warm and welcoming feeling of protectiveness engulfed him, and for the time being he embraced that feeling. It dawned on him too that he hadn't thought about his dead wife, his father or his very own past for quite a few hours now, and was silently grateful for the welcomed new distraction.
'Would you like a drink of water or something?' whispered Jason, but the young woman was already taken by sleep and couldn't reply even if she wanted to. Jason turned towards the bedroom doorway and quietly left, closing the door over behind him.
CHAPTER seven
The next morning a tired and sore looking Jason returned to the cottage from his not as eventful as yesterday's morning run. After an invigorating, therapeutic and refreshingly cold shower he knocked upon the mysterious young woman's bedroom door. It had been eighteen hours since their last conversation. He'd checked in on her last night before he'd retired to his own bed, and surprise, surprise she was still sleeping soundly. Surely to God she would be close to a wakeful state now?
There was no answer from his knocking, so like he'd done the previous night, he entered her room anyway. This time he was carrying a cup of tea and some buttered toast which he placed down beside a surprisingly empty mug of soup he'd left for her last night. Jason opened the bedroom curtains to reveal yet another glorious sunshine day. The young woman stirred from her sleep, half opening her eyelids as the warmth of the golden rays of sunshine melted over her face.
'Hey there sleepy head' said Jason cheerfully. 'That was some sleep you had yourself there. Almost twenty hours and counting.'
The woman nodded and began stretching herself out from underneath the cosy big double duvet. Jason glanced towards the tea and toast.
'I made you some breakfast. It's not much, but it's edible.'
'Thank you.' the woman replied sounding more like she were hung over from a wild party. 'But I still don't feel very hungry.'
'Well maybe that's because my delicious soup filled you up during the night.'
The woman let out a bewildered stare.
'I never... I never had any of your soup during the night.'
Jason picked up the empty mug and turned it upside down to show the young woman its null contents.
'Maybe you drank it in your sleep then.' continued Jason letting out a wry smile. 'Look, just eat what you can okay. Get some strength in you and when you're ready, I'll show you how to use the shower. You can wash. I'll lend you some clean clothes. Then maybe we can get you some fresh air before deciding just what the hell to do with you today. Now how does that sound?'
The woman stared long and hard at Jason with a blank and confused expression.
Twenty minutes later the woman was inside the cottage shower. She stood almost motionless with her eyes tightly shut as the steamy, warm and soothing spray of water splashed down all over her naked body. After some time standing eerily still she leaned forward slightly to rest her forehead gently against the cubicle wall. She'd never felt a feeling like it before. It was amazing and so, so refreshing. She could stay in that shower forever she felt. And she almost did. For at least another forty five minutes anyhow.
***
Later that afternoon the young woman and Jason finally stepped out of the cottage and into the gentle heat and golden sunshine of the warm Scottish summer air. The woman was wearing a pair of Jason's stone washed jeans and a baggy light blue sweater. She took a moment to glance around in awe at the vast and magnificent highland countryside that surrounded her. Then she raised her eyes towards the heavenly blue skies above.
'Everything around here is so... it's just so...' the young woman paused, searching her entire shallow memory banks for a word that would best describe her new surroundings and the feelings it was creating inside her. Only one word came to her hazy mind though. '...beautiful.'
Jason put on his sunglasses and shook his head. He let out a gentle smirk at the woman's childlike innocence and naivety. She was acting as if she were seeing all of these wonderfully rich blue and green colourful surroundings for the first time. Jason walked ahead of her letting the woman take in and enjoy the surrounding scenery and calm fresh air as best she could. It wasn't until a few over stretched moments later that she noticed Jason moving off in the direction towards the hill with the single shabby oak tree on top. And just like that curious little child she reminded him of, she excitedly followed.
Once they reached the top of the hill Jason led the woman past the oak tree and over towards the other side. He led her right up to the steep edge and pointed down towards the very bottom to where her unconscious body lay only a day before. Right in amongst the long whip-like grass and rows of jagged bushes and stingy nettles
'That's where I found you. Right down there at the bottom.'
The woman was thinking hard. Blank memories and foggy thoughts continued to cycle through her head, but no one single firm image came to her.
'Nothing rings a bell with you about this place, no?'
'No.' replied the woman, quiet as a mouse again. Then, as if deliberately distracting herself, she turned back towards the oak tree. The sight of the isolated tree rooted at the top heart of the hill all by itself, filled her with a great feeling of serenity and joy.
'Could we just sit over there beside that tree for a while.' the woman asked, almost jumping and glowing with excitement.
'Sure, we can do that.' Jason replied smiling at her simple request. He led her back to the tree where they sat underneath its bushy, overgrown branches for a long time. The woman seemed more relaxed than her previous edgy self, maybe too relaxed for Jason's liking, but he was okay with that, for the time being. As they sat beside each other in the gorgeous sunshine, Jason couldn't help but notice the woman's raw and natural beauty which positively thrived and radiated in the fresh air and golden sunshine. A beauty which soon penetrated all the way through his thick and hard shell exterior. It also occurred to him that he hadn't spent this much time in the company of an attractive woman before without so much as a kiss or even an attempted feel underneath her shirt. He had never, at any point in his life, had any platonic female friends that he could remember, even back at school. To him women had always been in his life for one thing and one thing only. An object of sex and desire. If he had ever been sitting on top of a hill before with an attractive woman who he hadn't bedded yet, then you could bet your top pound that the only thing on his mind was when and how to make that first sexual advance. Yet now… Now seemed to be a different story entirely. It was a situation that Jason wasn't all too familiar or comfortable with.
'It's so beautiful up here. Everywhere, it's just so... beautiful.' the woman said in a splendid, innocen
t glee and criminally overusing her newfound deep and rich word in Jason's eyes.
'So you keep saying.' said Jason with a teasing grin. 'You know, I've never actually met anyone who's lost their memory before. It's like the kind of thing that only happens to characters in those shitty soap operas and late night movies.'
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