Veena glanced at her watch. Report had never seemed to take so long. She was supposed to have been off at three-thirty, and it was already a quarter to four.

“That’s it, then,” Nurse Kumar said to the evening head nurse. “Any questions?”

“I don’t believe so,” the evening head nurse said. “Thank you.”

Everyone stood. Veena made a beeline to the elevator while the others erupted in casual conversation. Samira saw her and had to hurry to catch up.

“Where are you going?” Samira questioned.

Veena didn’t answer. Her eyes darted from elevator to elevator to see which one would be arriving first.

“Veena!” Samira voiced with emotion. “Are you still not going to talk with me? I think you are carrying this too far.”

Veena ignored Samira and stepped over to the door of the arriving elevator. Samira followed.

“I know it is reasonable for you to be angry with me initially,” Samira whispered after moving behind her friend. Several of the other nurses joined them, chattering about the day’s events. “But after you’d had time to think about it, I thought you’d understand I did it for you as much as for myself and the others.”

The elevator arrived. Everyone boarded. Veena moved to the back of the car, turned, and faced forward. Samira joined her. “This silence is not fair,” Samira continued in a whisper. “Don’t you even want to know the details about last night?”

“No,” Veena replied, also in a whisper. They were the first words she’d spoken directly to Samira since Monday, when Cal had revealed to Veena that he knew about her family’s problems. The only other person in the world who knew about it was Samira, so the source was obvious.

“Thank you for talking to me,” Samira said, keeping her voice low over the babble of the others. “I know I wasn’t supposed to tell about your father, but this seemed different. Durell told me our emigrating depended on it. I was also promised your problem would be taken care of and you’d be free, and so would your family.”

“My family has been shamed,” Veena said. “Irreversibly shamed.”

Samira didn’t say anything. She knew that Veena initially would be absorbed in thinking about her extended family and its reputation instead of rejoicing in her newly gained freedom and that of her sisters from a horrid father. But she expected her to promptly see the light. More than ever, Samira wanted to escape what she thought were the cultural shackles of current-day India. She couldn’t wait for Nurses International to help her emigrate.

With the shift changing, the elevator stopped on every floor.

“I’m not going directly back to the bungalow,” Veena said, keeping her eyes glued to the floor indicator. “I’m going to stop in and see Shrimati Kashmira Varini.”

“What on earth for?” Samira questioned in a whisper.