Khalid’s past: a jigsaw reading (2)

The Bosnia years: One day after a year at war, Khalid was battling Serbian snipers who were shooting into Muslim villages from a nearby mountain. Suddenly he came face to face with a Serb. The Serb got the jump, firing seven bullets into Khalid’s stomach, part of his guts leaked out into his hands. It took three injections of morphine to quiet his screaming. “You must be heavy drinker,” said the Medic from Bahrain. “No,” said Khalid. “I chew qat.”