I Forgot To Come Home

I Forgot To Come Home

By Paul McCann 

Morning came and sunlight streamed through the windows of the dementia unit at Falling Leaves Nursing Home . Simon had been awake for hours and sat in a chair by the door as staff came to start their morning shift .

It was almost like Simon had become invisible , no one bothered to look his way or speak to him . The normal routine of showering and dressing the residents began  .

Simon noticed that the front door of the unit was open .

One of the staff on night shift had not closed the door properly and no one saw Simon slip out and make his way to the front reception area .

At that very moment an early morning Reverend John Oldbury had come

to see one of the residents and met Simon there at the front door .

Simon smiled and the Reverend said ,

 

“Good morning , have you been visiting someone ?“

“Have you seen my Mother “

Came the reply from Simon .

“What is her name?”

Replied the minister thinking he was a visitor and not a resident with early onset dementia.

Simon stood there staring blankly and looking lost  .

The minister put his out arms around Simon and sympathetically said.

 

“Yeah I know , these places can sure be a challenge .  I hope your Mother gets better soon .Have a nice day then .“

In a rush the minister left and Simon walked out the open front door

 

The taxi that had just dropped off the minister was about to leave and Simon innocently gave the driver wave.

 

The driver of the taxi got out and opened up the passenger door .

Simon got into the taxi and when asked where he wanted to go he replied ,

 

“My mothers house”

 

“Ok , What’s the address ?

The taxi driver asked.

 

Amazingly Simon  rattled off the address of his mothers house

“Twenty Two New Brighton Road, Purley ,

 

“ Ok that’s about an hour from here .”

The driver was soon on way along Billericay road towards London .

 

 On the way the driver pulled up at a petrol station .

Looking at Simon he said ,

“Won’t be long , just buying some cigarettes , is there anything you need from the shop ?

Simon never answered .

 

The driver got out of the taxi and walked away to the shop .

That moment  , Simon got out of the taxi and wandered off .

He followed some people who were headed along the road to a local market . Simon started to wander among the stalls .

Back at the petrol station the taxi driver had returned to find his passenger had disappeared .

 

He asked everyone who was around if they had seen the man leave his taxi but no one did . The driver wasn’t happy . Cursing and swearing he threw his arms up in the air before getting back into the car and driving off at speed on the road towards London .

 

Back at the markets Simon was wandering around in a world of his own looking at the different stalls and talking to his imaginary friend ..

People were too busy looking for bargains to take any notice of Simon and his strange behaviour . In fact he almost blended in with all the shoppers . No one saw him at the fruit stall picking up an apple and eating it . Simon followed a crowd of tourists who were making their way  back to their tour bus . He got on board and took a seat at the back looking out the window . The bus headed off towards London and nobody noticed him there in the back seat . Everyone assumed he was in the group on the bus.

 

Meanwhile back at the Falling Leaves nursing home staff had become aware of their missing resident and a frantic search had begun for his whereabouts .They checked every room and then looked at the footage on their close circuit cameras . To their shock they discovered earlier in the morning that Simon had managed to leave the dementia unit and walk out of the building and even got into a taxi .

 

Immediately the director of nursing informed the police and Simons family about the situation . Now a search was in progress for Simon .

 

 

Back on board the tourist bus there was a sing along happening with  Simon even joining in now and then to some of the songs he remembered . After a while the bus made another scheduled stop .

Everyone got off the bus and Simon followed behind the rest of the tourists .

The made their way  into an art gallery . Simon wandered off on his own inside the gallery , picking up some flowers on the ground and talking to the little children and the small dog that no one else but him could see.

 

After a while Simon left the art gallery and wandered off along the pavement where he stood with a crowd of people at a bus stop .

As the double decker bus arrived , Simon got on board with others in the queue and he took a seat near the back door of the bus .

 

The bus conductor approached Simon and said

“What stop you getting off Guv?”

 

Simon sat there on the seat and never spoke ,

An old lady opposite , called out and tried to attract Simon’s attention. 

“Where are you going young man?”

She asked .

 

Simon replied .

 

“Do you know my Mother ?

 

The old woman replied ,

 

“What’s your mothers name and where does she live ?”

 

Simon immediately replied ,

 

“ Mavis Davis and she lives in 22 New Brighton Road , Purley. “

 

The conductor laughed and rolled off a ticket .

 Then he handed it over to Simon and stood there waiting for a payment of the fare  .

 

Simon took the ticket and sat there and smiled .

The old lady opposite him said .

“Here let me help.”

She kindly opened her purse and gave the conductor the money for the fare. She looked at the conductor and smiled and she said .

 

“I think the young man is lost .  Isn’t it a coincidence because I used to live on New Brighton Road many years ago . Maybe this young man knows me  somehow . “

 

Suddenly Simon stood up unexpectedly , walked to the back door then   stepped off the bus while it was in motion . Falling to the ground , where bystanders rushed to assist .As he lay there unconscious an ambulance was called . It wasn’t too long before the siren was heard and the sight of the flashing lights was seen coming through the afternoon traffic that moved to one side allowing the ambulance right of way .

A small crowd of people stood around Simon when the ambulance arrived . Two paramedics emerged from the ambulance and rushed to assess the situation .One of them asked

 

“Did anyone see what happened ?’

The old lady who had been on the bus spoke up .

 

“ I sat on the bus near him . He mentioned he was going to see his mother just before he stood up and fell off the bus . *

 

The paramedic asked did hesay where his mother lived  .

 

She smiled saying

“He seemed to think I knew his mother . Said her name was Mavis Davis and lived at 22 New Brighton Road , in Purley” .

 

The medic thanked the old lady and then went to examine the causality who was unconscious on the ground . Non responsive , CPR was given and continued until the causality started to cough . He was placed into he ambulance and the crowd watched it drive off at speed .

The old lady waved and said ,

“I hope you find your mother “

 

A short while later in the emergency section of Guys Hospital , Simon awoke and tried to sit up in bed .

One of the nurses on duty came over and said .

“Well hello there . So do you remember what happened ?”

 

Simon said ,

 

“My mother will be worried about me .  I never came home .”

 

The nurse looked at his observations and then noticed the news on TV had the story about a missing resident from Falling Leaves nursing home . A picture of Simon came up on the screen and the nurse burst out ,

 

“Oh that’s you .“

She laughed and immediately called the supervisor.

When it was discovered who the patient was everyone laughed and  sighed in relief that Simon was found .

He was kept in hospital for a week and then discharged back to Falling Leaves . On the first night back in the Nursing home Simon had packed some clothes into a bag went to the exit door of the dementia unit .

“Going somewhere Simon ?”

Said the night nurse .

“My mother will be worried where I am .”

Simon replied.

“Its ok she’s knows we already told her where you are so don’t worry .

Said the nurse .\

“Are you sure . So she knows where I am .”

Simon said and the nurse replied .

“Yes , she will pick you up tomorrow morning so you better got and get some sleep or you’ll be tired in the morning .“

The night assisted Simon back to his room and he lay down and went fast asleep .

Next morning some residents sat around watching residents pushing prams and little children walking past with school bags  .

Simon was still asleep with the help of the medication provided durinmg the night  .
Morning staff arrived to start their shift at Falling Leaves with morning showers and breakfast on their list of duties to do .

Outside the sun was shinning  in a blue sky and birds chirped at the chorus of life that stirred at the dawn of a new day  .

Questions were being asked . How did Simon escape  .

Phone calls were made .

Later in the day some of Simon’s family members visited .

One of them was 83 year old , Mavis Davis .

Simon’s mother was brought in on a wheel chair from the nursing home where she lived . She was seated next to  Simon at a table but he never  even recognised who she was .

After an hour the visitors left and everyday activities continued at Falling Leaves with karaoke and a story time session .

Simon still talked to the little children who visited him and the dog who liked to visit him now and then .

 

The End