Cutting for Stone Chapter 3: The Gate of Tears Summary

How It All Goes Down

  • Dr. Kaplana Hemlatha, a.k.a. Hema, the actual ob/gyn at Missing, is out of town, flying above the Horn of Africa, while Sister Mary Joseph Praise is in labor.
  • Hema's returning to Ethiopia from a holiday in her home country of India, and she's thinking about Dr. Ghosh, a fellow doctor at Missing who has a crush on her.
  • Hema's plane begins to dive unexpectedly, and a little boy falls on Hema, breaking his leg. In what could be her final moments, she realizes she wishes she'd had a child.