Detoxified

Epilogue

It was yet another stormy day--not particularly out-of-the-ordinary for this time of year, but it somehow felt deliberate. Devised by the universe itself to set the mood on the scene down below the clouds.

Tharn stood, unmoving and rigid, beneath the pour of cool rain with only a small umbrella as refuge, at the very entrance to the police station. The double doors appeared large. Increasingly imposing the longer he stared at them.

He wasn't really sure what he was doing here. He just knew that... He needed this. That he needed to face that which still haunted his memory, plagued his thoughts, sickened his stomach, disrupted his sleep, and withdrew him from his life.

He needed to face it, head-on, in order to finally relieve himself of it.

He needed to face him.

Tharn swallowed roughly at the thought and puffed out a shuddering breath as he tentatively stepped forward, pushed the doors open and entered into the main lobby of the station.

Officers and detectives and secretaries bustled about, persistent chimes of desk phones sounding, voices colliding into an incomprehensible mess among the noise--it was disorienting, and Tharn found himself absently wondering how anyone could tolerate such a hectic job every single day of their lives.

Nevermind that, though...

He was here for one thing, and one thing only.

As he scanned over the open room, he found Detective Saengthong, leaning over another officer's desk, staring and gesturing intently at something on a computer screen. Exhaling out his nerves, Tharn reservedly shuffled forward, weaving around desks and miscellaneous personnel until he was stopped directly in front of the detective, determined expectancy in his eyes.

"Oh, hey, kid. You're finally here," Saengthong greeted, briefly excusing himself from his previous conversation and guiding Tharn over to his own desk in the far corner--it was much quieter and more agreeable over here. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd gotten cold feet or something. I wouldn't blame you; honestly, if I were in your position, I would just do everything to put this whole tragedy in the past. I'm actually kind of surprised you've agreed to do this."

Tharn nodded slowly. "Yeah, well, when you start getting calls every single day from Klong Prem Prison, you get desperate to make it stop."

Saengthong's gaze turned sympathetic, an earnest frown bowing his lips. "I'm really sorry I couldn't do anything about that on my end. Legally, it's almost impossible to get an approved order to deny an inmate access to daily phone calls."

"It's fine. I know your hands are pretty much tied," Tharn said. "I'll just have to handle this myself. I'm not sure how yet, but... I guess I'll need to figure that out in the next couple of minutes, won't I?"

"Tharn," Saengthong started, firm yet sincere, "you don't have to do this. Really. You can just change your phone number and be done with it. You don't have to talk to him."

"Actually... I do," Tharn replied, breathing a tired sigh, pensive rumination in his eyes. "I need answers. Some semblance of closure. Otherwise, I'm afraid that even just the memory of him and everything he's done to hurt me and the people I love will continue to hold me back. Type promised me the rest of his life, but I can't truly promise him the rest of mine until Lhong is no longer following me everywhere I go and invading every aspect of my life. It needs to end, and I don't see that happening any other way."

Saengthong nodded his understanding. "Well, you're much braver than I am, I'll tell you that. Follow me, then," he said, motioning for Tharn to follow him down one of the various hallways that branched out from the main lobby.