The pain eventually starts to get better. His neck and stomach hurts less and the wounds stops looking so repugnant and gnarly, with two scars soon taking its place.
Sarawat tries to convince Captain that he can come to work again, which leads to a conversation in his office that makes Sarawat worry about the status of his job.
Captain's tone is sharp and his eyebrows are furrowed and Sarawat thinks Captain is going to be mad at him for not following procedures and protocol that day and essentially, letting the shooter get away.
He's wrong, though.
Captain doesn't mention the afternoon once, except in making sure that Sarawat is certain he can return to work. It's precautionary, when hundred-and-ten percent is what he needs, and hesitation is the enemy as much as the perps they chase after are.
Sarawat's leg bounces up and down under the table, and his hand trembles when he shakes Captain's hand gratefully, upon realising that his job is intact and he gets to start working again today.
He leaves the office and returns to his team and tries to pretend that everything is normal, hunky-dory because that's what he wants, more than anything else.
Normalcy.
His wife left him for another man. She's pregnant. Kunlatorn is dead. Tine and him are friends again. Friends.
Yeah, normal.
____________________
"Yeah, why?"
"I saw them. In City Hall."
"Oh."
That was quick.
____________________
It's a little shaky, getting back into the groove of working, but Sarawat manages. He goes to physical therapy as directed and takes all the necessary precautions because he doesn't want to lose his job over carelessness.
It's all he has left.
No wife. No kid. No family.
Funnily, he misses people visiting him at his apartment , getting what he imagines to be a taste of true normalcy — actually seeing his house, sleeping regular hours, all of that. Workworkwork has become more of a challenge. He loses focus, gets distracted, and it's nerve-wracking and makes him work twice as hard to pay attention, because this is what he needs.
A distraction.
His partner asks him now and again if he's okay. Sarawat lies and says, 'Just fine,' and, 'Thank you,' and, 'Yourself?' and tries to ignore the way he looks at him with concern, like he's filing away Sarawat's reaction in his mind, saving it to analyse when the time is more appropriate.
Fortunately for Sarawat, appropriate times rarely occur, because when they're not discussing a new crime or murder, they're interviewing families, or looking at crime scenes, and taking notes and discussing more about it and there is little time to worry about anything that isn't related to the case.
On a long car ride back to the station following an unsuccessful lead, A is asleep but not them. His partner seems to exploit this with ease. He's the one driving and Sarawat sits on the front passenger seat next to him. His leg taps Sarawat's foot once, and then twice, and Sarawat decides to look up from his phone. He shuts it and places it in his pocket and looks at his partner curiously.
He says, "I think we're getting closer to him. He knows we are. He's getting nervous, sloppier." Sarawat nods in agreement, because sloppiness is the best they can ever hope for, because that's when their perps start to mess up.
YOU ARE READING
Don't Leave Me
Fanfiction"I missed you. When you were gone I felt like dying. I couldn't smile. Couldn't live happily. I became the most miserable person in the world. I couldn't love anyone like I loved you. If people talked to me about fate, I'd laugh in their face. That...
