After Gamini’s wife left him, he rarely stayed in their home, preferring instead to sleep at the hospital, when he did sleep. He was already using pills and protein drinks to keep himself awake, trying to treat as many war casualties as he could. The only person he felt he could talk to during this time was Sarath’s wife, with whom he was in love. He recalls that bodies sometimes washed up onto the beaches. This is the one part of his job that he does not embrace, the identifying of bodies. He recalls his childhood with Sarath and how different they were. They were both expected to follow in their father and grandfather’s footsteps as attorneys, but neither did. Gamini’s old-fashioned sensibility drew him to medicine.

Once, sent home from the hospital for exhaustion, Gamini found another family was squatting there. This did not bother Gamini, who gave them one of his paychecks in exchange for a meal. Gamini then went on a retreat, exchanging his pills for alcohol, and woke up on a beach, surrounded by guerillas who pressed him into service caring for their wounded.

Gamini continues thinking about his relationship with his brother. The two have always been at odds.