Is the three-day fasting for expiation conditional upon being consecutive?

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When one cannot afford feeding ten poor persons, clothing them, or freeing a slave for expiation, the obligation shifts to fasting three days, according to the verse: 'But whoever cannot find [the means for] it, then a fast of three days' [Quran 5:89]. The apparent position of the Madhhab is that the fast must be consecutive, a view held by Ibrahim Al-Nakha'i, Al-Thawri, Ishaq, Abu 'Ubayd, Abu Thawr, and the Ahl al-Ra'y, with similar reports from 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). The evidence supporting consecution is the reading by Ubayy and 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud which mentions 'three consecutive days' (thlathata ayyamin mutataabi'atin), which, whether considered Quran or interpreted by the Prophet (peace be upon him), serves as binding evidence.