— Chapter Fourteen —
Normality and silence returned to the hospital after the earlier flurry of activity. Both Dam and Nick had been taken to their respective rooms. The operating theatre staff prepared for emergency surgery, and x-rays of both Dam’s shoulder, and Nick’s skull, had been taken and processed. Dam had been given a premeditation of Omnopon and Scopolamine, which would not only relax him and relieve his pain, but would dry his secretions ready for the operation to remove the bullet.
Dam was drowsy from the effects of the narcotic Omnopon, and he felt in no pain. He heard voices outside his room, and a heated discussion between a doctor and a police officer. The police lost the argument and was told to wait until Dam was stabile, before they would let him answer any questions, or turn him over to police custody. Dam heard the conversation, which seemed centred around a dead Arab, with the top part of his head removed. ‘Miguel must have run away,’ thought Dam, as he fell asleep again.The room was quiet with the exception of a slow constant beep from a bit-map E.C.G monitor, which showed his heart rhythm, which in his case had been a sinus rhythm usually associated with extremely fit athletes.
Dam sat up in bed. His shoulder had been pressure dressed to stem the flow of blood, and a bandage placed around it to keep the dressing in place. The nurse had just left the room after taking his vital signs and writing them down on the chart at the bottom of the bed.
“Just have to wait for the surgery team to get ready, then we will get you down to theatre,” she had told him.
Due to the narcotic drugs, Dam now felt in a euphoric state. He had thought a lot during the last hour or so, and now that he was alone once more, he thought about the happy times in Salaburi and of how his hopes and dreams had now been shattered. He thought about Andrew and Miguel, but mostly, his drowsy thoughts went back to Vitchae and the last conversation that he’d had with the Prime Master. He recalled how he’d pleaded with Vitchae to let him fulfil his destiny and become a warrior. He recollected the hurt that he’d felt on being rejected. But the worst pain of all came when the old monk, Vitchae, told him that Jinn, the boy he had always believed to be his brother, wasn’t, and for that, Dam could not forgive. The heartbreak washed over him again, which was spurred on by the face that now stared back at him from the bottom of his bed.
The figure was dressed in a Tinju monk’s robe with a sheathed sword held in his hand. Dam stared at Pon for several minutes and smiled.
“Have you come to send me on my last journey. . . . my brother” he said quietly.
Pon stared at Dam then moved closer into the light at the side of Dam’s bed. Pon had also realised a connection with his ‘duty’ when he first met Banti, the old woman in the village. He had stared at the drawing and photograph many times, but now his suspicions were confirmed as he looked into the face of Dam, and saw himself. The hate and lust for revenge still burned deeply in Pon, and he knew that this man must be sent on his journey and atone with Buddha, for his sin against his warriors.
“Yes, Dam I have. . . . where is the sacred relic?”
Dam closed his eyes again as the pre-med drugs bit deeper, he shook himself alert and spoke.
“I don’t know, brother,” and he briefly told Pon how he’d grabbed the box before he leapt out of the window. He said that maybe it was still in the alley.
Pon had been hiding in the alley and had seen Dam tumble from the window and, he was about to climb up and enter the room to search, when fate changed his course of action. He’d seen Stu and Spock aiding Dam and Nick and he had searched the alleyway after he’d dispatched Miguel, but there was no sign of the relic.
He then presumed that the foreigners must have it, either the ‘Phra farang’, foreign monk, Spock, or his small assistant, Stu.
Dam cut off his trail of thought and asked.
“Will you forgive me, my brother?”
Pon solemnly replied,
“You know I cannot. Only Lord Buddha can do that.”
To which a calm and composed Dam said.
“I am ready to atone for my sin against my family, brother.”
Pon took his sword, flipped the lid on the handle, and removed his Pitou, for the second time that evening.
Pon removed the bandage and dressing from the silent Dam’s shoulder. Dam put his arm around Pons neck, as Pon moved closer.
“Pray for me my brother.” whispered Dam.
Pon remained silent as he thrust the Pitou into Dams open wound and directed the instrument towards his heart and pierced through his myocardial muscle. He felt a pop as the Pitou pierced the left Arterial chamber, and felt the pressure of Dams heart as the blood forced against the Pitou. He never engaged the blades. After a few seconds the pressure on the Pitou ceased, and Dam’s arm fell limp from Pons shoulder. He removed the Pitou, and a trickle of blood oozed from the wound. He whispered to the lifeless body of Dam.
“You could never live as a warrior, but you died like one... my brother.”
Pon said a silent prayer for his brother’s safe journey to the afterlife and to make his peace with Buddha. Alarms and lights stared to emanate from the monitors, to alert the emergency teams that a patient’s vital functions had stopped. Pon replaced the pads, bandage, and left the room.
The hospital came alive again with nurses and medical staff converging on Dam’s room. Pon ducked into the shadows, his next step had to be, find the giant white monk.
Pon entered Nick’s room and saw Nick in bed, the air-conditioner was on full and Pon felt cold for the first time in his life. Nicks sidelight was on, but he was asleep; his head was bandaged, which looked like a thick white turban. By the side of the bed a woman slept with her head resting on the mattress, he drew his sword and replaced his Pitou, and made his way to the foot of the bed. He noticed the medical charts were written in Thai. Pon picked up a chart and noted the address ‘Siam Sawasdee hotel’, Soi Buchouw. He replaced the chart and eased slowly out of the room.
Nobody paid any attention to the monk as he made his way out of the hospital. Monks’ usually visited the sick and dying, and there had been to much activity going on in Dam’s room to pay much heed to Pon. He stood outside and looked up at the sky. He thought as to what higher purpose had he been allowed to survive, and his duty to have been his own brother. Was this a test by his god? He would surely continue until his duty had been concluded and the holy relic returned. He hoped his brother’s journey to the afterlife would be swift. Pon prayed for guidance and set off for the Sawasdee hotel, in the wrong direction.