Summary

In “A Brother,” Gamini remembers Dr. Linus Corea, a neurosurgeon in the private sector who was kidnapped by guerrillas to work for them. Kept busy by the work, Dr. Corea eventually no longer missed his family. At 34 years old, Gamini is standing by the doors of the pediatric hospital in the North Central Province, sorting and tagging incoming victims according to the wards where they need to be sent.

The narrative shifts to the present, where Gamini is now working in Emergency Services in Colombo. Anil reflects on the time she spent studying Guy’s Hospital in London, and her marriage at the time to a fellow Sri Lankan. She realizes that, after that marriage ended, she stopped speaking Sinhala to anyone. She thinks about the time she spent in the deserts of the American Southwest, learning about corpse decomposition and the different...