Summary

At the hospital, the doctor addresses Sera instead of Maya. When he takes Maya back to the clinic, she looks scared and begs Sera to go with her. Sera does not want to go. Before she can say so, the doctor says that no one is allowed in the clinic except the patient and staff.

Sera sits in the waiting room. There are two other well-dressed women there. She thinks there is nothing money cannot buy. She is glad Viraf’s friend was able to arrange the appointment, so Maya did not have to go to a government hospital. She has heard stories about the way women are treated there.

Sera realizes she did not ask how long the procedure would take or what Maya’s condition would be when she was done. The doctor had not seemed like someone she could...