“Drowsy,” Marzban says. His eyes don’t focus.

Jesmin nods. “Let’s try this again.”

This time the man doesn’t flinch but simply sits still as Jesmin does his work.

“Tell me when your vision becomes brighter,” he says.

After a few seconds, Marzban says, “Now.”

Jesmin removes the needle, holds a cloth to the man’s nose and instructs him to blow. “This drains the phlegm,” he says to me. Then he binds the eye well with bandages.

A few hours later, Marzban is back to normal. He has newly washed clothes to wear, and a small amount of money. Jesmin and I see him to the door, where a rosemarked woman named Estir waits. She’s here every time Jesmin has a new patient to settle in the compound.

Jesmin nods a greeting. “How are things with your people, Estir?”

Estir is a strong-looking middle-aged woman with a stern mouth. “Well enough. Lost a few recently, but we’re doing fine for food and shelter.”

“Marzban will have to tend to the eye until it fully heals,” says Jesmin. “But I trust you can get him settled.”

Once the two have left, I turn to Jesmin. “Is Estir some kind of official?”

“Just one of the leaders of the myriad groups that form in this lawless place. Estir leads a band of settlers along the north wall. They distribute supplies equitably among themselves and defend each other against the unsavory. I may not be able to control much here, but at least I can keep my patients from falling into the wrong hands.”

“If Estir leads a good group, who leads the bad groups?”

“That changes as well, since the population shifts so quickly. Right now there’s a gang led by a woman named Anahi. Many of the injuries that come in the mornings are from run-ins with her people.”

The name sounds familiar, and I think back to the one time I wandered the compound at night. “Is she older than Estir, with a slight limp?”

“Yes. Have you seen her?”

“I have,” I say.

Thankfully, Jesmin doesn’t ask about the circumstances. “The gods strike without prejudice when it comes to the rose plague, but if you survive, your status in this world still matters. Mehtap, like the other aristocrats who fall ill, lives in a nice villa with personal guards. The less fortunate have to be shrewder about their survival.”

For a moment, neither of us says anything. Then Jesmin turns to me. “But let’s not dwell on the negatives. That incense of yours was impressive. Easiest surgery I’ve done in a long time. We should be sharing knowledge, seeing what we can learn from each other. That was the original plan, wasn’t it? I lost sight of it in the day-to-day business. Forgive me.”