Page 45 of The Circle of Exile
“It’s fine,” he continued walking, leaning over his bag to dig out the pouch. He held it in his stiffer left hand and unzipped it with his right. Her hand came and dug inside the pouch, pulling out the chlorhexidine bottle he had been looking for.
“Sit.”
He sat down on the edge of the bed, turning his arm towards her.
“When did this happen?” She tipped the liquid on a cotton pad.
“Impact with the ground when they pushed me from the handheld missile.”
“Did you clean it properly?”
“Yes.”
“With saline?”
“I don’t have saline here.”
“Where is Dr. Rao? He travels with you wherever you go…”
“He is here but he is not coming in here.”
Iram’s eyes snapped down to his. He saw the functional part of his wife back. Her fingers holding the cotton pad, hovering over his tricep, her expression forbidding, angry even. It was like she was the same woman who had dunked him under a bucket of antiseptic water after a fight with Samar and patched him up like a pro. And yet she was not.
“Give me,” she gently pulled his arm close and sat down beside him, blowing on the laceration that actually was as big as it had initially looked. The red, angry wound wasn’t deep though, even if it extended from the ball of his shoulder right down to his elbow.
“Did you and Begumjaan have dinner?”
She applied the stinging antiseptic to the edges and it burned like hell’s worst fire. “Begumjaan had eaten.”
“You?”
She tipped more chlorhexidine on a new cotton pad and went down his wound, turning his arm into a forest fire.
“I am asking something, Iram.”
“I’ll eat with you.”
“Let’s order then. You have to leave by 2. Get some sleep.”
“You are sending me on that secret plane.”
“There is no other way. It’s as safe as I can make it. Altaf is going with you. It’s a 25-minute flight. The Pakistani airspace will open up, as will the Indian airspace. Amaal and Captain Husain will meet you there. Officially, this plane is going to bring Yathaarth’s medicines and milk.”
“Then why disable all that ATS…?”
He grabbed her hand that was busy taping gauze on his tricep. Her eyes came to his — “I would not put you on that plane if I was not sure that it would land safely on the other side.”
“I know.”
“We are disabling ADS-B while leaving Pakistan so that if, by any chance, something goes wrong on the ground after take-off, you are safely able to cross the airspace without detection. You will anyway be out of their radar in the first seven minutes of take-off.”
She swallowed — “And if something goes wrong on ground, you will get stuck here.”
“I am here on diplomatic immunity. Nobody can touch me.”
“Still this morning happened. How is everything so quiet?”
He inhaled, eyeing his arm as she finished taping it and picked up a shirt from his pile in the bag. It was like routine. Like the last four months had not happened as she began to unbutton the top button, then held it out to him. Atharva stood, turned and pushed his arms into the sleeves, the left one feeling tight and warm. He hoped he wouldn’t need oral antibiotics tonight. He was staying away from painkillers for the time being but if a fever set in, he would have to succumb.
