With a flick of his wrist, Dr. Latif slid two large, plum-colored pills out of the vial, and once they were both in the palm of his hand, he handed them to Mr. Hamid, who was sitting with his wife on the side of the bed.
''Take care, one pill now and another tonight,'' she reminded him in Arabic, as she slipped the vial into her lab coat pocket.
Mr. Hamid, an elderly man with a long white beard, swallowed the pill without protest.
"Before or after dinner, doctor?" Mrs. Hamid asked him, adjusting the hijab on her hair.
For a split second, a shadow fell over Dr. Latif's face, but it disappeared almost immediately, dissipating as quickly as it had appeared.
''Before sunset,'' he replied simply.
''Will there be anything to eat, doctor?" asked Mr. Hamid politely, suspicious of the evasive answer.
''We should be able to put something together,'' Dr. Latif specified in a vague tone. ''In the meantime, if you notice any more blood in the urine, let me know immediately, okay?''
Mr. Hamid nodded.
''Of course
"Doctor!" shouted a female voice outside the room. ''Doctor!''
Looking up, Dr. Latif gave a short sigh.
''Please excuse me,'' he said as he bid farewell to the couple sitting on the bed.
When he stepped out onto the second-floor balcony and had closed the door behind him, the doctor saw no one, but it was enough for him to lean over the railing to track down the author of the call. Uma was standing in the center of the sunset-lit courtyard looking around bewilderedly. At the sight of Latif, however, her expression seemed to become less tense.
"What is it Uma?
It was only when he had asked her the question that the doctor noticed that something was strange. The metallic rumbling in the background had forced him to scream.
''That Mr. Kama is back,'' Uma informed him, cupping her hands together in front of her mouth to be heard above the din. ''He is now outside the gate and has brought....'' She suddenly interrupted herself, as if ashamed to finish the sentence. ''A van.''
''Did he bring a van?" repeated Latif incredulously, fearing he had misheard.
''Come and see for yourself and you will understand,'' Uma urged him, motioning for him to join her.
The doctor hurriedly descended the stairs leading to the courtyard on the first floor, and from there he and Uma set off in the direction of the gate at the entrance. He had not yet made it to the covered passageway when he heard Fatima's voice booming behind him.
''If we get robbed again I swear I'll kill someone this time!''
Uma opened the gate with her own set of keys, but let Latif precede her outside. Now the din produced by the running engine was much closer. Once in the street, the doctor immediately looked to the right, and it was then that he understood the reasons behind Uma's hesitancy.
The van of which the nurse had spoken was stationed along the edge of the roadway, and on its wide rear body was lying a gigantic white shark at least five meters long. Its gaping jaws bristling with sharp teeth hung together with its huge head out of the vehicle, to which it was secured by countless bundles of straps.
Alessandro sat on the edge of the box next to the animal's body, his hand clasped around the menacing dorsal fin. The moment he crossed his gaze with Latif a broad smile lit up his face.
''Where would you prefer me to unload it?" he asked aloud, so that he could be heard above the din. ''Is front here okay
The doctor, however, did not respond. His face was contracted into an expression of utter bewilderment and his eyes were out of their sockets
Suddenly, a man with a thick black mustache leaned out of the cockpit and addressed Alessandro a few words in Arabic. Judging by the tone in which he expressed himself, he seemed quite impatient.
''I think he wants the money,'' Alessandro speculated, turning to Latif. ''Excuse me for asking, but could you pay for the transportation?''
***
Biting his lip in anxiety Alessandro continued to stare at Latif out of the corner of his eye, silently waiting for him to shove the spoon into his mouth. The doctor sat with him on the wooden bench leaning against the wall on the south side of the courtyard.
The metal plate he was clutching in his hands had been filled with a hearty dose of a brothy stew with a bright red hue, in which several irregularly shaped cubes of fish were the mainstay. A small white sphere the size of a tennis ball stood submerged in the center of the tomato-colored stew.
Since Jaleel, Latif's helper, had not been able to find even a single sack of rice or bread during his usual patrol, they had finally had to make do with what little cassava flour remained. The result of Uma's efforts was called fufu, and it was a kind of quite thick and compact polenta with a fairly bland flavor, but which in return absorbed very well the seasonings to which it was juxtaposed.
And indeed it was this aspect that worried Alessandro. If the shark he caught turned out to be disgusting, guilt would surely kill him.
''So?" he asked hesitantly, as soon as the doctor had finished chewing the morsel.
''We are probably eating our annual maximum mercury limit in one dish,'' commented Latif in a joking tone, ''but right now worrying about such a thing seems to me to be the least of our problems.''
Comforted by the answer Alessandro breathed a sigh of relief and began to eat as well.
''You know, I'll tell you, it reminds me a lot of swordfish,'' commented Latif, as he chewed gingerly. ''Maybe just a little drier.''
''I'm sorry, but that's all I could find,'' Alessandro said contritely.
''Are you kidding!" blurted out Latif looking at him as if he had just said something absurd. ''It's definitely the best thing we've eaten in weeks. By the way, where exactly did you find it?''
''I told you, stranded on the beach,'' Alessandro replied vaguely.
''Okay, but where exactly?''
''Near where that big sail-shaped hotel was,'' Alessandro lied, citing the first location that came to mind.
Latif became thoughtful.
''Very strange,'' he commented puzzled.
"What?" asked Alessandro, trying to show himself naively oblivious.
''That you were the first to find it,'' Latif revealed simply. ''I thought that area was heavily traveled.''
''You can tell I got lucky,'' Alessandro said, stretching his lips into a nervous smirk.
''Apparently,'' Latif conceded to them, setting himself to stare at the starry sky above them.
It was a magnificent early May evening. As darkness fell, the mugginess that had marked most of the day had finally reduced its oppressive grip, and the warm breeze that swayed the palm fronds outside the clinic contributed in spreading a pleasant sense of coolness.
Since they absolutely could not afford to waste electricity, almost all of which was used to keep the life-saving devices of critically ill patients active, the only sources of light available were a few oil lamps hung at various focal points of the facility, which were essential for finding one's way around at night without running the risk of falling down the stairs or banging one's head against a doorframe.
One of them was right above the bench at which Latif and Alessandro were dining, and its faint light managed to penetrate the darkness just enough to illuminate the surroundings within a radius of a few meters
Although the occasional echo of a cough from the infirmary reached the courtyard, apart from the chirping of crickets and the rustling of the wind, the only audible noise was the clinking of cutlery. As he voraciously brushed his own portion of stew and fufu, Alessandro looked up from his plate and stared at the upstairs balcony. The door to the Akter family room was barely ajar, and a faint orange glow escaped from it.
Fortunately, Abhay seemed to have calmed down. Ever since he had seen the shark he had been as if crazed with joy, so much so that it had taken two hours just to convince him to stop touching the giant fish's head, sneaking treacherously into the kitchens when least expected.
At the thought of how the child would react if he happened to see it turn into an animal in front of him, an amused smirk surfaced on Alessandro's lips. He was about to stuff another spoonful of stew into his mouth when he felt something rub against his leg. The moment he lowered his eyes he saw a tabby kitten with two-tone fur, intent on purring while keeping its tail straight pointed up.
''Meet Hunar,'' Latif said with a sneer. ''Our private exterminator.''
Perhaps because he had heard his name, the cat leapt onto the bench and began rubbing against the boy's thigh. Mindful of his experience at the bus station, and the many others that had followed in the months since, Alessandro tried to divert his attention by using a shark morsel retrieved from his own stew.
"What, are you hungry baby?" she asked him in a sympathetic little voice, waving the red-dyed fish cube just inches from the edge of the bench.
For a few moments Hunar seemed undecided whether to continue his affectionate rubbing or to break away from Alessandro's leg to retrieve the morsel. In the end he chose to opt for the latter, although even as he voraciously chewed the fish, he did not stop purring for a second.
''Looks like the hunting trip went badly,'' commented Latif smilingly. ''Consider yourself lucky that you didn't end up in yesterday's mystery meat stew.''
Alessandro widened his eyes.
''Would you really have done that?" he asked incredulously, crossing his eyes with the doctor.
Latif tilted his head to the side and shot him an eloquent look.
''He weighs just over a pound and is skin and bones,'' she pointed out to him with a hint of impatience as she returned her focus to her own plate. ''To do so would have been simple meanness.''
''Ah, right,'' Alessandro said, smiling.
The doctor detached with his spoon a piece of the little remaining fufu and after dipping it well into the sauce, he took it to his mouth. Wishing the discussion would die there, Alessandro also resumed eating the stew in silence.
The sound of an approaching car overpowered the chirping of crickets for a few seconds, but after a fleeting transit on the road outside the clinic, the car became less and less audible until it disappeared into the distance.
Having finished eating in the meantime, Hunar went back to rubbing himself against Alessandro's pants, who this time decided to let him. Anyway, even if he offered him his whole portion, the cat would still not stop bothering him.
"You're not from around here, are you?" asked Latif point-blank.
Caught off guard by the question, Alessandro had to cough to prevent his stew from going sideways.
''Yes, that I am,'' he retorted firmly, striving to appear convincing.
''Then why do you talk as if you came from a place where food is within reach of a supermarket?" the doctor slyly urged him, without taking his eyes off his own plate.
Realizing that it was useless to try to deny , Alessandro decided to answer truthfully.
''I just arrived recently,'' he confessed in a not too loud voice.
Latif's brow furrowed.
"Are you a smuggler?" she asked him, staring into his eyes.
''No,'' Alessandro immediately replied.
"Mercenary?
''I don't care about money,'' Alessandro said, shaking his head. ''I'm just here to try to help out.''
Latif bent the edge of his lip in a smile.
''Well, if nothing else, you certainly gave it today,'' he commented affably, before scooping up the last piece of cassava porridge with his spoon. ''Although I fear it is only a drop in the ocean.''
''Are you referring to the war?" asked Alessandro cautiously.
Dr. Latif finished chewing his mouthful and then turned a nod in the direction of the Arabic writing in the center of the courtyard.
''Do you know what it says on there?''
Alessandro shook his head.
''Wounded civilians, don't shoot us,'' Latif revealed simply, flashing him a bitter smile. Alessandro said nothing and the doctor continued. ''We also wrote it on the roof and also in the streets around the clinic. But all it would take is for some of the military officers to be convinced that ours is merely a cover and ...''
He stopped short, letting the sinister silence that followed finish the sentence for him.
''Sometimes I dream that the Saudis enter the city, but all they find is an open-air cemetery, with mountains of skeletons emerging from the sand.
Alessandro swallowed, but his lips remained sealed. Latif let out a deep sigh.
''No matter who comes out on top, I just want this damn war to end''
''Would you be okay with either one or the other winning?" asked Alessandro in amazement.
Latif stifled a laugh.
''In all honesty, I find it hard to feel sympathy for someone who for the past six months has done nothing but starve me, bombard me and provided for the disproportionate increase in the number of my patients.'' He crossed his gaze with Alessandro and shrugged his shoulders. ''However, my opinion on the matter here counts as Humar's.''
The smile on his face disappeared, being replaced by a decidedly less unhinged expression.
''I took an oath. To save people. The more the merrier, but I would certainly rather treat cases of malnutrition and hepatitis than severed limbs and blast trauma. If tomorrow morning the Emirati army recaptures the city I will cheer them by raising the flag, but I would rather they lose than have to get by for another year and a half like this.''
His voice suddenly dropped, reducing to little more than a whisper.
''To celebrate a victory you have to be alive''
Not knowing what to say, Alessandro lowered his gaze to his own now nearly empty plate. Humar curled up in his lap, where he continued to purr blissfully dozing.
''Did you expect a different answer?" asked Latif, raising an eyebrow.
Alessandro sketched a smile and shook his head.
''No, no, it's not about that, it's just...'' He looked the doctor straight in the eye. ''You're not Emirati, are you?''
''I don't recall saying otherwise,'' Latif reminded him in a practical tone.
''But then how did you end up here?''
Latif looked away and scanned the starry sky. His expression suggested that he was lost in his own thoughts. After a few seconds of pause, however, a faint smile returned to light up his face.
''When I was much younger my father brought me and my sisters here from Islamabad,'' she recounted as she picked up a spoonful of stew. ''He traded in textiles and we lived well. Very well, in fact.''
He popped a cube of fish dipped in the sauce into his mouth and chewed it with obvious satisfaction.
''Dad would have wanted me to follow in his footsteps, but I wanted to become a doctor, so he put me in the best university money could buy. I got my degree, did my masters...''
He sighed.
''And then I saw how people lived around here. You know, the ones who are behind the scenes, and they're in charge of running this huge playground.''
At those words Alessandro's gaze instinctively went to the sliver of sky beyond the courtyard, beneath which he knew the downtown skyscrapers stood majestically between the sand-swept streets. Seemingly lost in his thoughts, Latif took another spoonful of the stew, and as only the brothy part remained, he merely swallowed it without even chewing.
''This is not uncommon for people from outside. Many tourists are misled by jewelry stores or high-fashion boutiques...''
He stopped suddenly and lowered his gaze to the concrete floor, his eyes alight with a strange light.
''But I had lived here all my life and never realized it except at that moment,'' he confessed bitterly. ''Looking back, I'm still ashamed of it.''
"And how did your father take the news?" Alessandro asked him curiously.
''I would say all things considered good,'' Latif replied, shrugging his shoulders. ''We haven't spoken to each other for about 15 years.''
Faced with Alessandro's astonished face, the doctor reacted with a sympathetic smile.
''I bought the clinic through the loan of some friends,'' he explained with surprising serenity. ''Although at the time it was very different. It took a month just to make the upper floor habitable.
He had just finished saying the sentence when one of the last doors facing the gallery suddenly opened, letting out an ebony-skinned boy of about seven years old. The little boy walked down the uncovered hallway until he stood in front of the Akter family roomat which point he knocked on the door.
Abhay came to open the door a few moments later, and welcoming his friend with manifest cheerfulness, he immediately invited him in. A moment before pulling back the door, however, he decided to take the opportunity to extend an arm salute to Alessandro and Dr. Latif. Both responded to the gesture by waving their hands in turn
As the door to the room closed behind the two children, Humar stretched contentedly on Alessandro's left leg, continuing to purr with his eyes closed
''Has a bomb ever fallen around here?" asked Alessandro to Latif, placing the empty plate on the bench.
''Since we are still alive, fortunately not,'' the doctor replied wryly, trying to downplay, ''however, a couple of weeks ago a building came down about three blocks from here. It was not a sensitive target so I don't think they did it on purpose, although I doubt the poor wretches inside will have been much consolation to know that.''
Alessandro frowned, but tried to hide it by petting Humar behind the ears.
''If you had the chance, how would you stop the war?
''Does defeating the army seem too trivial an option?" asked Latif jokingly, just before shoving a spoonful of broth into his mouth.
"What if I don't want to kill anyone?" insisted Alessandro.
''Well, I guess I would talk to Mr. Big Shot up there in Riyadh about it,'' Latif admitted in a practical tone. ''Besides, if there is anyone who can stop this crap without killing anyone, it's your man.''
''Doctor
Alessandro and Latif immediately turned to the left. Fatima had just emerged from one of the rooms on the first floor, and was advancing toward them with a worried air. When she had reached them she leaned slightly toward the doctor and began to speak to him in a low voice.
''Sorry to bother you, but Mrs. Dhanda says the pain has returned to her.''
"How strong?" asked Latif simply.
''She's sweating cold, shivering, and I think she's having a panic attack,'' Fatima replied bluntly.
Latif nodded, emitting a short sigh.
''I'd better go.'' And having hurriedly swallowed the last spoonful of broth, she immediately sprinted to her feet, only to set the cleared plate on the bench. ''Good night Kama,'' she said to Alessandro, a moment before going after the nurse.
''Night,'' he echoed.
The moment he saw them disappear over the threshold of the room, Humar snuggled up against his shirt, purring loudly.
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