Manner Of Death English Translation

Chapter 8

"My preliminary diagnosis would be Acute Coronary Syndrome!"

The bell announces the end of the allotted time just after my conclusion. I thank the teachers and the bogus patient, joining my hands before quickly leaving the room. The next test for my exam is "Joints". I'm going to sit in one of the seats waiting for my turn for what should be my last exam of the day.

OSCE, the exam that most medical students are familiar with even if they are terrified every time its name comes to their ears. The exam is divided into several tests. Each of them contains tasks to be performed: asking for a history of a fake patient, performing physical examinations, evaluating x-rays and other laboratory results in a given time. When the allotted time is up, the event is stopped and the next one begins.

Many students hate OSCE exams, but to me it's the most interesting—much more than multiple choice questions. Needless to say, the test provides a reliable assessment of the student's ability to apply clinical skills.

Once the exam is over, I rush to take my bag that I left with the examiner, crumple my gown and stuff it inside before heading for the stairs. Today I have a date with Chompoo, a pharmacy student who I have been trying to approach. She's agreed to have dinner with me tonight. We have to meet at the main gate at 4:00 p.m., but I am now half an hour late because of my exam.

I arrive at the first floor which is crowded. I reach my destination with a long, quick stride. I see Chompoo in a short lab coat outside the door. She looks at her watch on her wrist with annoyance it seems to me.

So I see a man in his college uniform come up to chat with her. I stop to observe.

This young student is handsome, tall and muscular. He seems to have grown up, but his eyes have remained the same even though four years have passed.

Tarr! What is he doing here?!

Chompoo points to her left and Tarr waves and goes in the direction she had just indicated. I watch her follow him for a long time until I pat her shoulder from behind.

Champoo turns around a little surprised. "Hey, Bunn!"

"Sorry, I'm late; just finished my exam."

"Oh yes, worry. I understand." She answers me with a feigned smile.

"So... let's go find something to eat." We walk together but I notice Champoo's gaze moving to something behind us right up until we leave the building.

We exchanged conversations for another week before stopping all contact. I haven't seen Tarr since.

...

The hallway in front of me is dark. The bulb on the ceiling flashes and the hallway turns black once again. The air around me is getting colder and colder every minute. My body feels heavy and immobile.

I then see the silhouette of a man advancing towards me. He holds a gun in his right hand, the sound of his footsteps on the ground echoes throughout the room. Fear makes its way to my heart.

The light on the ceiling shines on the face of the mysterious visitor.

Tarr

Suddenly, I feel a rope around my neck. Before I can hear a single sound, the ground disappears under my feet. I fall into the darkness with a noose around my neck.

I wake up with joy thanks to the alarm on my phone. I push the blanket back and sit on the bed, the morning light coming through the window. My heart still beats fast with fear. I am sweating despite the cold in the bedroom. I realize it was just a dream, I try to calm my breathing and rub my face back to reality.

Although I feel that my night has been better than previous ones, I still had nightmares. The dream seemed so real, just like when I dreamed that the abuser injected me with something when I was in the hospital.

Why must I be dreaming of Tarr right now?

I turn off the alarm on my phone and get out of bed. After taking my time in the bathroom, I come out with a towel around my waist. I open the wardrobe to take clothes. I then hear the bedroom door open.

"Aah!" I quickly use the closet door to cover myself, screaming. Luckily, it is placed vertically at the door, which allows me to hide my indecent self.

"Sorry!" I pull a T-shirt off of the shelf and put it on.

"I know you own this house but knock next time please!"

"I'm sorry," Tann apologizes once again. At least he didn't come in just to walk around. "I just wanted to tell you I just made breakfast downstairs. Don't forget to eat."

"Thank you but—can you leave? I'm getting dressed."

"Okay, okay," I hear the door close but I still tilt my head to look at the door, suspicious. Once I no longer feel his presence in the room, I get dressed quickly and put the gun that was on the nightstand, in my bag before going downstairs. The familiar smell of food reached my nostrils.

I walk towards the direction of the table in the middle of the American style kitchen. I understand then why the smell seems so familiar to me when I see breakfast.

"The 7-Eleven porridge?" I watch Tann put the hot porridge, straight out of the microwave, into a bowl.

"I have no talent for cooking; I only know how to use a microwave." Tann places the 2 bowls of porridge on the table. No wonder the kitchen is so spotless.

Lucky for him, I'm not picky. We sit down to have our breakfast. "Don't tell me that you only eat frozen food. "I ask.

"I don't eat them often. Usually I eat out or grab something from the traditional market near here. But now I have nothing in the cupboards." This market must be tiny to be so close to his house. I realize that Tann seems to have difficulty eating his porridge.

"You have a sore mouth. Why are you eating hot food?" He's endearing when embarrassed, like a really big little brother.

"There is nothing else to eat—except for this." Tann rests his spoon in his bowl as if he has given up on trying to eat it. "You don't need to look at me with so much pity."

I shake my head and go back to my meal. He stares intently at his hot porridge as if he could make it cool faster just by looking at it. "You're going to go to work, aren't you?"

"Yes"

"Do you want me to take you there?"

"No I'll be fine." I abruptly refused. "What, do you not have anything better to do then taking me there?"

"Yes, but my classes don't start until after school hours. I also have to stop at the temple near the hospital. Besides, it's for your own safety, okay?"

I remain silent for a moment before closing my eyes and huffing. "As you wish."

"You know," Tann rests his chin on his hands and looks at me. "You rarely smile, Doc."

I stare at him. "Two of my friends are missing and I have been attacked twice in my own house. I doubt anyone can smile after all of this."

...

Eventually Tann got what he wanted—to be my driver. I ask him to drop me off in front of the emergency department before getting out of his car. The first thing I see when I walk in is Fai taking care of a patient.

"Fai!" I scream her name so loudly that all the eyes of the people in the ward are on me. Fai turns to me and gives me a beaming smile as if the world is instantly lit up. I rush to her, take her by the shoulders, looking at her with relief. "Where... where were you yesterday? Why couldn't we contact you?!?"

Fai looked uncomfortable "Uh ..." Like she didn't want to answer me.

A long sigh of relief comes from my mouth. I have never felt so relieved in my whole life. I really want to know what happened to her yesterday—whatever it is, it might help me with my research. "Do you have something you want to tell me?"

I realize then that I am being downright rude, Fai is in the middle of examining a patient. And besides, I'm forcing her to tell me what happened to her despite the fact that she doesn't seem to want to. I turn to the patient to excuse myself. "We'll talk later. I'm glad nothing happened."

I'm about to turn on my heels but Fai reaches out to catch me by the sweater. I stop and look at her "N... We can talk about this at noon."

I nod, "Ok, I'll come meet you."

I walk away to go to my room. All the nurses' eyes follow me with their gaze and they begin to talk amongst themselves. I try to ignore them as I enter the room. I sit at the desk with Tik, the nurse in charge of my department who followed me.

"Guess it must have been chaotic the other night, Dr Bunn?" He asks me.

"Yeah, but when did Fai get there? You know?"

"A nurse on the ward yesterday afternoon told me that Dr. Fai called the emergency room at 11:00 pm. She apologized for being absent, she had a last minute impediment. But I don't know anything else. She said that she would only be away that day and that she would be back on duty this morning. The nurse who took her call complained that she wanted to call you to let you know but that she can't reach you."

They must still have my old number. "Thanks Tik..."

He then crosses his arms and asks me. "Dr Bunn, can I speak to you freely?"

"Yes?" I glance curiously at this middle-aged nurse who gives me hers, very proud in return.

"Dr. Bunn, do you know what all the women say about you?"

I think I know, yes...

"I don't want to see a nice girl like Dr. Fai fall into the arms of a man like you." Tik and I are close enough that we can talk about our personal lives. However, this is the first time he's been so blunt about it. "Last year you dated Kai for a very short time and after that you went hunting again. If you are not looking for a serious relationship then leave Dr Fai alone please."

"Ah..." I lift my hands and massage my temples. So Kai didn't tell anyone that she was the one who ended our relationship. "I'm not looking for anything serious with Fai. I'll leave her alone. Happy?"

Tik smiles, satisfied. "Good. Accept your fate since you have decided to be a Casanova. If I see you close to Dr. Fai again, I will spank you." He gives me a file, telling me that.

"Should we bring in the first patient, Doctor?"

...

In order to avoid Tik's threat, I ask a stretcher bearer to tell Fai to meet me at a 'Noodle Shop' restaurant across from the hospital. I want to know what happened to her yesterday. The young doctor sits across from me looking paler than usual. After ordering our meal, I decided to cut the wait short.

"What happened to you Fai?"

Her shoulders slump with a look of terror on her face. "Yesterday at noon four teenagers came to my house. I made the mistake of opening the door and they entered." She takes a deep breath. "They took my phone and my wallet and then called my older brother. In fact, he owes a pawnbroker money. Hundreds of hundreds of millions in interest. They told him to pay his debt, and that they were holding me hostage until then."

My brow furrows as I listen to Fai's story.

"I've known for a while that my brother owes money, but I've never been bothered about that until now. I didn't know why they were there yesterday. These kids turned my phone off until 9:00 pm. And then they told me that their boss had received the money from my brother. They left with my bag and my cell phone. Since then, I cannot reach my brother, he perhaps does not wants us to know where he is. "

"Have you ever filed a complaint?" I ask her.

"The police have already taken my statement, and I made a composite of each of them. The officers told me they were part of the same group that attack bikers at night. They will locate them."

Teenagers ambushing motorcyclists at night?

Young people who work for a pawnshop, who order them to keep Fai at her place although they have never contacted her before.

It's like they're trying to make it look like Fai was missing right after I spoke to Tann about Janejira. But they had only temporarily locked her inside her house, not kidnapped like Pert. But why?

I don't know if these incidents are related. But I start to bring the pieces of the puzzle together.

"Do you know who your brother owes money to?"

Fai shakes his head. "I don't know. Probably one of the big bosses in the Mafia."

I lean against the back of the chair, trying to rearrange my thoughts. I have to think about the next step. One thing that is certain is that I am about to get involved with a wide variety of people ranging from police to street thugs.

Sorrawit, the boy at Khao-Tom-Mud, who came for consultation, must have met them. I think it's time to order some more of those sweet rolls.

...

Sorrawit opens the door to my ward with a euphoric smile on his face. He is still wearing his school uniform, a white shirt and khaki shorts, and a bag of Khao-Tom-Mud in hand—an even more impressive amount than last time around. I was waiting for him with my arms and legs crossed, sitting on my desk chair.

"Hello doctor." Sorawit puts his hands together and greets me with respect. I wave to him.

"Have you finished school yet? It's still early." I said smiling at him. He scratches the back of his head timidly.

"Yeah, I went to get the Khao Tom Mus you ordered right after class."

I glance at the bag in his hands. "I haven't ordered that many."

Sorawit stammers. "N, we're giving those away. My Mom says it's a 2-for-1 deal."

"Really? I thought you had a crush on me and wanted to buy me off with this." I tell him still smiling.

His face changes from the typical color of the people of the north to a bright red. "D... Doctor."

"How about you put your bag down so that we can chat a bit." I gesture towards the chair in front of me. Sorrawit shyly walks forward and takes the seat, putting his bag on the desk. "How are you? Are your injuries still painful?" I take his arm to auscultate these wounds which are healing.

"N... no, not anymore." His cheeks are still quite red.

"Hmm, so much the better." I'm looking at the bruises caused by the impact of a possible iron bar. "Can I ask you something? Do you know the people who beat you up that day?"

The boy thinks for a moment. "Actually, I have an idea on who it was. But I won't say it or else I'll beat up myself again?"

I sit up in my chair when he says he knows them, but doesn't want to tell anyone out of fear. "Can you tell me?"

"I know one of them. He's a junior of mine in high school. A thug. He's close to getting kicked out. He rarely comes to class, stuff like that. But I don't know the others."

I nod, "Do you know who they work for? Is there a 'Big Boss'?"

Sorrawit shakes his head, "I don't know. But they probably do because people are afraid of them. One of my friends told me that even the police do nothing, no matter what they do. They always let them go. "

"Ah I see. It's unfortunate. I also have a lot of patients who were assaulted that night. You have to be careful, Sorrawit." I told him, leaning over to touch his thigh. Sorrawit gasps, "If you know anything else, you must tell me. As you already know, I encounter a lot of similar cases: I want my patients to be careful."

Sorrawit answers me with a big smile, he looks happy. "Of course I'll ask my friends if they know anything else."

...

I'm about to leave the emergency department, the clock on the wall announces 4:45 p.m. As soon as I left the examination room, I saw my driver waiting for me near the bench in front of the room. His tall figure dressed in black, approaches me.

"Why are you working so late today?" Tann asked while trying to put his arm around my shoulders. "Let's go to the car."

I walk faster, escaping from his long arms which fall on an empty space. "This is the time I usually finish. But if that bothers you, I can go home by myself next time."

Tann hurries to catch up with me. "I thought you finished at 4:00 p.m. I have class at 5:00 p.m. I'm going to be late." Tann looks at his watch—a smartwatch, just that. It looks like this man has money to buy any non-essential items. "Do you want me to bring you back? or do you want to go with me to the school?"

"If I go to school with you where am I supposed to wait for you?" I blurted out.

"My office is upstairs. You can work there waiting for me." We reached his car which was blocking the road. "I know you don't want to be alone."

He's not wrong. I've been trying to avoid being alone as much as possible for days. Tann unlocks the car and opens the door for me.

I take note of his gesture and frown "Tann, we need to talk about this..."

Tann signals for me to get into the car. "After you Doctor. We can talk about whatever you want inside." I reluctantly get into the car with someone opening and closing the door for me. Tann walks around it and slips into the driver's seat. The man starts the car and leaves the parking lot. "Doc, what do you want to talk to me about?" I turn my gaze to Tann. "You're straight aren't you?"

Tann turns to me, puzzled. Then he comes back to the road. "Sure, I'm straight. What's that question?"

"A straight man does not hold hands or hug, touch or hold the door for another man."

Tann gives me a big smile. "Oh? I can't?"

"Or do you treat all men that way? Has anyone ever asked you if you are gay?" I'm starting to bombard him with questions.

"I don't do this for everyone. I just wanted to do this for you." He freezes. "And I'm not gay, I like girls."

Why do his actions always contradict his words? "So stop treating me the same way you treat women. I don't like it."

"Remind me not to do this when I go too far. Sometimes my instincts take over."

Never in my life have I wanted to punch a person in the face so much.

"Whatever. What's done is done. Next time you do this I'll tell you my bottom line."

Tann chuckles, "And that won't be good. You're stuck with me anyway." Tann stops at a red light. I sigh, annoyed. "I didn't go out to investigate today. I don't know where to start. I think it would be best to think about it together. Do you have more information today?"

"Yes, I have..." I look out the window. "I have a lead. We'll talk about it after your class."

"Okay."

Tann parks on the side of the road near the entrance of the school. I glance at the teens entering and exiting in a whirlwind of activity, indicating the success of this place and then turn my head to the man who owns this business. "How did you manage to trap all these kids?"

"I didn't do anything. They all come to me because of the failure of the Thai education system. I am one of the first generation of students who took the Thailand Admission Test; I understand this that these kids have to go through." Tann stops the engine. "I understand you passed the Entrance Exam? Lucky."

I open the door. "Yes I did, so keep in mind that I'm older than you. Show me a little more respect." I need to learn more about Tann; who knows, I might find something interesting. "You graduated with honors in biochemistry; why did you decide to open this school? Why don't you go to college, publish research, or become a university professor?"

"I wanted to come back to my homeland. I have to take care of my mother." A mother? Tann said his mother would come home from time to time. He gets out of the car. "Let's continue this interview later. We will have a lot of time to chat but I have to go teach now. Go to the third floor, the white door on the right is my office. You can use it and if you want to dig through my things, put everything back in place when you're done."

He's right, I'm definitely going to dig into his stuff. Guess I shouldn't underestimate Tann's intelligence. He sure is intelligent, this makes him even more intimidating. I've chosen to trust him for now, but I need to remember that there is a possibility that he could be involved in Janejira's death.

...

The cameras weren't working? I snicker. I'm not sure if he could hear me. "Really? Why am I not surprised? "

[What do you mean, Dr. Bunn? What are the results of the blood tests? Drugs, toxic substances, chemicals? Do we have any evidence indicating the cause of death?]

"All the results came out negative, no overdose." I stop for a moment. "Aem..."

[Yes?]

"I thought about it... about my suspicions that Janejira was strangled... I may have misinterpreted."

[What?] The Captain sounds surprised by what I just told him. [What's wrong?]

"She could... indeed have committed suicide." I am appalled at the words that come out of my mouth. This the first time I have lied to the officer on the phone. "When Jane was about to die... she might have choked herself until her throat was badly damaged."

[Oh s**t ! Dr Bunn, I trusted your judgment, that's why I put together this damn investigative team,] I hear him huff, very annoyed. [Well then, don't forget to put it in your report. I hope there won't be any problems.]

"Got it..." I answer him calmly and he hangs up.

Can it be that easy? Too easy. Didn't he notice that something was wrong? Nothing? Or is it also a part of this plot?

I have just started on this path, a path where I have to lie in a report, to say that Janejira committed suicide. I stretch out wearily on the chair. I close my eyes. I feel exhausted for a moment before I bend down to retrieve my bag and put it on my lap. I take out a piece of paper and place it on Tann's desk.

On the header is the separate Garuda emblem, and below, the clearly noted words that address this document to Royal Thai Police Headquarters 'AUTOPSY REPORT'.