The Piano Man

The boat, the boat... where is it? I must find the boat... I'm cold... so cold. Oh, Lida, where are you? How can I find you? I must find you... So cold, so cold... I must get back on the boat... Oh, Lida... Lida... Lida...

"Mummy, look at that man!"

"What man?"

"That man, there, by the sea! Look, his clothes are all wet!"

"Well, perhaps he went into the sea for a swim".

"But he's wearing a shirt and trousers and shoes, Mum. Nobody swims in clothes like that!"

Linda Jones and her daughter Ann were on a beach by the sea in the south of England. It was eight o'clock in the morning. It was a sunny day, but cold - not weather for swimming.

Linda Jones looked at the man. Her daughter was right, the man's clothes were not clothes for swimming in. They weren't even summer clothes, they were work clothes - black trousers, a white shirt, and black shoes.

"He does look strange", she said. "But people sometimes do strange things, Ann".

"But Mummy, perhaps he's ill. He's trying to walk - look! There's something wrong with him!"

The little girl was right. The man stood up, and began to walk along the beach, by the sea. But he didn't walk very well. First he walked up the beach, then down again, to the sea. He fell down, and got up again. Then he walked into the sea, and fell down again. This time he didn't get up. He stayed there, lying in the sea.

"You're right, Ann", Linda said. "There's something wrong with that man. You stay here. I'm going to look at him".

She walked down the beach to the sea. The man didn't get up, he stayed lying in the water. Linda stood by the sea and looked at him. He was a tall young man, about twenty-five years old, with long dark hair. His clothes were wet, and he looked cold. His face was very white, but there was a dark red mark over his left eye.

"Hello. Are you all right?", Linda asked.

The man looked at her, but didn't say anything. Linda tried again. "You look cold", she said. "Do you need help?"

The man didn't speak. He tried to get up, but he fell down again, in the water.

"Oh dear", she said. "You do need help, don't you?"

She took off her shoes and walked into the sea. She took the man's arm. "Come on", she said. "Try to stand up".

She tried to help him up with one hand, and then two.

But it was not easy. He was bigger than her, and she nearly fell into the sea beside him. But then she got him to his feet and helped him walk out of the sea. On the beach, he sat down again. Linda sat down next to him.

"Are you hurt?", she asked. "Are you not feeling well?"

The man looked at her with his strange blue eyes. But he didn't say anything.

"What's your name?", Linda said.

The man didn't answer. He turned his face away, and looked at the sea. Linda looked at the mark over his eye.

"Oh dear", she said. "I think you need to go to hospital". She took out her phone and called for an ambulance.

Twenty minutes later an ambulance arrived, and two ambulance men ran down the beach to the man. They looked into his eyes, felt his hands, and asked questions.

"What's your name, sir?", they said.

No answer.

"How did you hurt your head?", they asked. "Can you move your legs?"

No answer.

One of the ambulance men turned to Linda Jones.

"Do you know this man?", he asked.

"No", said Linda. "He was like this when I found him".

Suddenly the man stood up, and tried to walk away, back into the sea. But he couldn't walk well. He fell down and lay on the beach. The sea came over his legs. All his clothes were wet and he was very cold.

"Come on, sir", the ambulance man said. "You're not well; you need help. We're taking you to the hospital".

The two ambulance men helped him up and carried him into the ambulance.

At the hospital two nurses took off the man's wet clothes and put him in a warm bed. A young doctor came to look at him. He saw the mark on the man's face, and his cold white hands.

"What happened to you?", the doctor asked. "How did you hurt your head?"

The man closed his eyes and did not answer.

"Who is he?", the doctor asked the nurses.

"We don't know. He didn't speak to the ambulance men", a nurse said. "I asked his name but he didn't say anything. I think he's in shock".

"Let's have another look at his head". The doctor moved his fingers carefully over the man's head. "Ah", he said. "There's another injury. Here, under the hair. See? Something hit him very hard here".

The doctor felt the man's cold hands and feet. "How long was he in the sea, do you know?"

"We don't know, doctor. We don't know anything about him, because he's not speaking".

"Well, that can wait. First, we must get him warm. He's too cold. Give him lots of warm drinks, and check him every hour. Let him sleep, but keep him warm all the time. Tomorrow morning he must have a scan for that head injury".