Ugly Beautiful (5 page)

CHAPTER five

The next morning Jason was up at the tip of sunrise to head back out for his first morning run in what seemed like too many years to remember. He was feeling like a new man with a fresh soul and a clean slate with the whole wide world laid bare before his feet. Jason jogged along the narrow dirt track leading away from the cottage and back down towards the main road which had brought him to this secluded wilderness retreat. Half a mile down the old track Jason decided to turn back. He looked around for a harder trail to test himself on and glanced up to the large hill with the single oak tree on top.

He jogged back towards the cottage and eventually up the steep hill. He was jogging intensely with all his strength, stamina and might, straight for the small oak tree. He ran faster, pushing himself harder, harder than his almost non existent and quickly draining stamina would take. Brutally exhausted he reached the top, yet somehow he managed to find a deep and hidden resource of adrenaline to keep him running, then sprinting, straight for the shabby little oak tree and then... past it. Past the baby oak and finally coming to a gasping halt right on the scenic hill edge. Jason took a few seconds to catch his breath. He thought about how unfit he'd become these past few years. With barely a mile into his run he was ready to collapse in a crumpled heap of cramp, right upon the soft, lush green grass.

Then something caught his eye at the bottom of the hill. It took a few seconds for Jason to steady his focus. But unbelievably enough, and as real as the agonising stinging stitches ripping apart his insides, he saw the body of a slim and dark haired woman lying stretched out at the bottom of the hill. The woman was either unconscious or dead as far as Jason could tell, but it was too hard to say which, from such a great distance.

'Jesus Christ.' Jason said in a state of shock at finding such a site out there in the middle of the Highlands. Obviously it wasn't the first time in his life he'd witnessed a dead body. But it was still a shock to the system to see one out here in the middle of his highland retreat. For a moment he thought he was imagining it all. Which, with all his recent trauma, he guessed would make a lot of sense. Or was he seeing the ghost image of his dead wife perhaps? Was his mind really playing some sick trick upon his eyes? But the simple clothes of jeans and black t shirt the girl was wearing, he could never imagine his ex stripper wife wearing so plain a pair of clothes in her life. Never in a month of Sundays. He'd only ever seen her in sexy slick dresses that rarely, if ever, fell below her knees, even while pregnant. He took a few deep breaths to relax his state of mind - besides, this girl appeared much more petite in body frame on closer inspection, compared with his ex.

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 determined 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.