Chapter 25: Wasan's New Mission

The sky after the rain may not be beautiful, but it is a sky that allowed Wasan to see things around him more clearly.

Wasan was holding bags containing traditional delicacies, Thai desserts, packets of milk and eggs and as he walked towards a wooden house with a raised floor that belonged to the elderly Piang, who was 87 years old and suffered from end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and must always use oxygen tubes. He was frequently admitted to the hospital due to respiratory failure and required intubation. He survived many crises to the point that Elder Piang said he wanted to end this life full of torment.

When Wasan heard that Elder Piang, who was the eldest in the village, had finally left the hospital, he decided to buy things and come visit him before his afternoon shift.

The young policeman stood in front of the house that was left open: "Elder Piang, are you here?"

Usually, the old man responded to Wasan with a short "yes", but today the voice that responded to Wasan was the middle-aged woman who came out crying to see Wasan: "Wasan, Dad can't take it anymore."

Wasan's eyes widened in shock, "What do you mean?"

"Just now I got up and saw Dad roll his eyes and couldn't breathe. He didn't respond much to my call either," Piang's daughter cried.

"And why don't you take him to the hospital?"

She shook her head, "Dad told me not to take him to the hospital anymore. Anyone would want to die at home. But he's so sick now. I don't feel good about this at all, Wasan. What should I do? Should I call the ambulance?"

"Wait a minute," Wasan raised his hand to stop the other person, who was about to take out his phone. "Let me talk to the old man first."

Wasan entered the wooden house and found an emancipated old man lying on a futon on the floor in the middle of the house. His eyes rolled back in his head and his mouth opened and closed. His breathing was panting and deep. His eyebrows were furrowed and his limbs were tense.

Gunn used to tell him that many family members of patients may have never before seen the symptoms that people normally have in their final moments, so they become alarmed and take the patients to the hospital. In the end, operations would be performed unnecessarily to prolong the final moments. However, that will definitely not happen to Elder Piang because this house was the house that Elder Piang kept and built with his own hands, including the longan orchard surrounding the house that also belonged to him. It was surrounded by the homes of her children and grandchildren. He must have been very happy in his final moments to die in this environment.

These were definitely the symptoms of the final moment. Fish-out-of-water breathing was the way a person approaching death would breathe as consciousness diminished. If the patient intended to be at home at his final moment, that was the moment in which he should stay at home.

Although the patient did not respond, the ability to hear would be the last sense he had left. Wasan knelt next to the old man's body and leaned down to speak softly in Elder Piang's ear: "Elder Piang, I am Wasan. Listen to me, right now you don't need to worry about anything anymore. I will ask your children and grandchildren to gather here to you".

The old man's breathing slowed down a bit after Wasan finished. The furrowed eyebrows softened, which surprised his daughter. Wasan looked at her. "Does the old man have anything that particularly worries him?"

"He is worried about his great-grandson. He is an orphan, so the old man raised him since he was little. Now he is with a relative who is helping him take care of him."

"Then go and bring the great-grandson to come see the old man right now. Gather all the other relatives and tell him not to worry. Other relatives will take good care of the great-grandson. He will be able to keep an eye on him from heaven."

The daughter seemed worried: "Will he understand what we are saying?"

"The last sense of a person who is about to die is the ability to hear. Talk to him well and don't cry too much, so that he feels relieved," Wasan nodded encouragingly.

After Elder Piang's daughter gathered all the relatives and after hearing the great-grandson's voice for the last time, Elder Piang took his last breath, closed his eyes and passed away peacefully and without worries. Wasan stared at the image in front of him with strange happiness. It would be great to die while surrounded by the people you love in a familiar and comfortable environment without medical equipment that could be painful. He also wanted to choose to spend his last moments like this himself.

This must have been what Gunn felt while caring for his patients, but what Gunn could do most was allow his patients to design even the manner, day and time of their own death.

Before Wasan burned Gunn's files, he read every line Gunn wrote. In every euthanasia case Gunn performed, he noted down everything from the patient's character, his family, his spiritual wishes and medical details that Wasan couldn't quite understand. But overall, he completely understood Gunn's perspective, especially when he read the file of his mother, Ms. Raweewan. The wall of doubt in his heart collapsed. Wasan felt free, comfortable and light like never before.

GUNN did not kill Wasan's mother. What he did was give her the best treatment according to her mother's wishes.

"Inspector, where did you go?" Lieutenant Kong said loudly and ran towards Wasan, who had just set foot inside the police station. "Did you know that Inspector Em just proposed to Dr. Rin!? Oh my god, I'm getting goosebumps just talking about it."

"The important thing is, did Dr. Rin say yes?"

"Of course, how could I not? Our Inspector Em is a great catch."

"I have to congratulate Em later," Wasan nodded with a smile and walked towards his desk. Kong looked at Wasan to observe him. A year after Gunn's imprisonment, Wasan seemed to have changed a lot. From someone who was always tense, he now seemed relaxed and smiled easily. Kong wasn't sure what the reason for this change was. He tried to invite Wasan to eat and talk in depth, but Wasan did not respond much other than saying that he had been able to come to terms with the issues related to Gunn.

But Kong knew thaat there must be something more to it than that because this change was much greater than what the eyes could see.

"Anyway, what about you, Inspector Wasan? When will you have good news?" Kong followed him and sat in the seat on the opposite side of Wasan's desk. "You've been single for a year. I don't see you dating anyone new."

"Who told you no?" Wasan pretended to open the case files to read them.

Kong's eyes widened as if they were chicken eggs. "Who?"

"His name starts with M."

The young lieutenant scratched his chin and thought hard, "W...Who could it be? Micheal? Matthew? Mario? Or Police Captain Mark? They're all married, right?"

"Kong, come listen closer." Wasan gestured with his hand for Kong to bring his face closer. The thousand-eyed detective approached obediently before Wasan said, "M for Mind your own business."

Kong jumped away and made a fuss: "Inspector, you insulted me!"

"Go away, I need to work." Wasan waved him off and continued working. Kong was left crying and making a scene like a child and finally he was left alone.

During the past year, Wasan never went to visit Gunn even once. He checked with his acquaintances to find out that Gunn was fine and was helping at the prison's medical centre. Wasan felt relieved. He felt that he was not ready to face Gunn at that time. Deep down, I was still afraid of Gunn. He was afraid of breaking down when he saw Gunn's face. Wasan needed some time to recover again. When the right time came, he could speak to Gunn again, in whatever situation the heavens dictated.

The moonlight reflects on the canal in the middle of the city. Two men stood side by side and in both hands were bags of food bought at the market. Wasan was wearing a comfortable T-shirt and shorts, while the other person was wearing a linen shirt and pants. The well-dressed and handsome man looked at Wasan: "You still eat just like before. I was going to take you out for a nice meal in Chiang Mai."

“This is pretty good for me,” Wasan picked a piece of meatball to eat while looking at the calm water in the dark. He couldn't tell how deep it was or if there was anything hidden beneath the surface. It was like Gunn's eyes. "Anyway, why did you come to see me suddenly?"

Off, the deputy district chief, looked at the police officer who was his ex-boyfriend with a worried look: "I just want to check that you are still okay after everything you've been through. I'm worried about you."

Wasan looked at the deputy district chief and smiled lightly: "I'm fine."

"Do you have a new boyfriend yet?"

The police officer was a little surprised that Off asked so directly. "No, I do not have"

Wasan could see the ray of hope shining on the other person's face, "If you are alone these days and don't know who to turn to, you can always send me a message. What you have been through was very hard, I don't want you to be alone for too long." time." The young inspector was silent for a long while, "But it's been a year since Gunn went to prison, so I'm wondering why it took you so long if you're really worried about me? Let me guess, you just broke up with your boyfriend." , TRUE?"

The young deputy district chief was amazed, and then laughed: "I really can't fool you."

"No, I'm much smarter now," Wasan looked at the full moon in the sky. "You can try to woo me again, but I can't guarantee that I will open my heart to you."

"Why not?" asked the deputy district chief. "Can't you still forget Dr. GUNN?"

Wasan shook his head slowly, "I don't miss Gunn. He killed Dr. Somsak. He is a murderer. What I am thinking about is not the person, but the principles he left behind. It is growing inside me."

"Can you tell me about it?"

"I'll tell you when I get it," Wasan handed the bags of meatballs to Off. "As for you, if you think it's a waste of time to chase me, I recommend you find someone else."

Off received the bag of dumplings from Wasan and ate it while laughing bitterly, "It seems like there is a high chance of failure, but thank you for being direct with me."

"Because I know that not being direct is not good for anyone. It will only create awkwardness, misunderstandings, and lead to problems that will escalate until they are too difficult to resolve," Wasan absently stared at the dark surface of the water for a while.

A long moment before turning to hug the tall man and give him a gentle pat on the shoulder. "Thank you for coming. I hope you meet someone nice."

"Thank you, Wasan." In return, he hugged Wasan. "No matter what you try to do, I hope you succeed."

"Tae, Tae, my handsome Inspector Wasan came to see you," Anne, the nurse of the Subdistrict Health Promotion Hospital, approached Tae, who was working on the list of patient names on his desk. The senior public health official immediately stood up. He left his office and walked towards the man in uniform who was waiting in front of the hospital building. Tae looked at Wasan from behind without saying anything for a while. Wasan changed a lot, this was what Tae could feel. It was a change that couldn't be seen physically because Wasan still had his good looks. However, if you talk to him, you can feel it very clearly. From someone who was abrupt in his speech, he became more gentle. From someone who was tense, he became relaxed and calm. Tae knew this was definitely influenced by Dr. Gunn and what Wasan asked Tae to do reinforced it even more evidently.

"Hello, Tae," Wasan turned around and raised his hands in a greeting gesture because he heard Tae's footsteps.

"How have you been, Inspector? Well?" Tae reached out to give the police officer a gentle pat on the shoulder. "This week's update is that there are two terminally ill patients in the hospital. One is Grandma Kongkaew in Moo 10 and Grandma Pimpa in Moo 10 as well. They both have cancer."

"I know them both. They are distant relatives of my mother. I didn't know they had both reached the final stage."

"Yes, it's pretty fast." Tae looked at Wasan's face, "Will you visit their houses with my team?"

"I probably won't have time to go with your team because I have work at the police station, but I will go on my own personally during my free time." Wasan looked as if it reminded him of something. "Anyway, it looks like we're going to get the budget for the 'Hospice Care with Our Heart' project?"

Tae shook his head, looking disheartened. "The boss does not allocate any budget here. This year he will spend more on screening and medical check-ups."

"In that case, I will gather the volunteers to test the project and show you the results first," Wasan said with determined eyes. "I just went to talk to the abbot of Ban Lan Temple, and he agreed to come see the patients who were about to die. If he is not busy, he will go directly to the patients' houses. I will have to bother you to tell him." contacts of the patients you visit", the policeman reached into his pocket and took out a piece of paper with the phone number of the abbot of the community and gave it to Tae. The public health official received the paper and looked at Wasan in surprise: "Thank you very much."

"I'm looking for time to go to a Christian church and a Muslim mosque. Oh, and one more thing, I spoke to the village chief Jai and suggested that people in the community who have lost their loved ones gather at the pavilion to share experiences and support each other in difficult times of sadness over loss. The village chief said it is an interesting suggestion that he will consider."

"I can invite the family doctors who work with me, who I have taught how to prepare for the final moments and the living will, to give a lecture as well to attract the attention of the general public."

Wasan nodded, "It's a very good idea. If this project can be done and we know the exact date, I will take leave from work and come help."

It's hard to believe that the person who seriously pushed this was a police officer. Tae looked at Wasan with eyes full of admiration, but he didn't know if what Wasan was doing would be in vain or not because topics related to death were still something difficult to discuss in Thai society. However, at least Tae could now see the light at the end of the tunnel. He hoped that the strength of the new generation like Wasan would still be strong to do good things like this.

The pre-prognosis mortality rate of terminally ill patients in the community was no longer abnormally high. What the community now had was someone like Wasan, who knew the good elements of death and sought ways to allow terminally ill patients to pass away peacefully and with their human dignity intact.