Wrath of the Sea Queen

by Cynthia Woods

  "Must be a bad dream," Vin commented, knowing Caeli's words could not be meant for Salma. Caeli rarely spoke to anyone like that, much less her aunt.

  "She is not dreaming, Vin. She's awake, but her mind is probably clouded. There is no telling what Caeli is seeing or hearing at the moment. High fevers can cause hallucinations. Caeli, open your eyes for me. Come on, I need you to talk to me, Dear. Ah, there you are. That's better. Caeli, I need to take a look at your stomach. You are going to have to move your arms away. Can you do that now?" Salma encouraged her. Aside from opening her eyes, Caeli did not move. She looked around as if to ensure that her surroundings were real.

  "Caeli, please, let Salma help you," Vin interjected.

  "Vin, did you hear her? It can't be true. I have to tell you." Caeli responded to the sound of his voice, but she was upset.

  "Calm down, Honey. What's not true?" Vin tried to understand.

  "It's ok, Vin. She needs a minute to shake off the aftereffects of the medicine. She probably doesn't know what she's saying. This is a process. Let me work through it with her," Salma replied, keeping her voice soft.

  "Oh. Sorry." Vin hung his head. The last thing he wanted to do was cause delay in Caeli's treatment. While he was confident that he could protect her from most physical threats, this was completely out of his league. Vin greatly disliked feeling useless.

  "It's ok, Vin. Let me do this my way. Caeli? Caeli, look at me." Her voice was calm and kind, but a bit more forceful this time.

  Caeli turned her head to face Salma.

  "Salma, it still hurts."

  "I know, Dear. How bad is the pain right now?"

  "Bad," Caeli whispered in a sleepy voice.

  "How bad is it? Caeli, I know this is difficult, but you have to talk to me. I will make it easy for you. On a scale of one to five, with five being the worst, how bad is it?"

  "Five."

  "Is it as bad as it was when you were at the arena?" Salma continued.

  "No."

  "Did the medicine that I gave you help at all?"

  "It made me sleepy and then sick."

  "What was the medicine you gave her?" Vin asked.

  "Vin, please…" Salma admonished him again, quietly. Each interruption broke the connection she was building with Caeli.

  "Ok, Caeli. Does it hurt all the way across your belly?"

  "Yes. No."

  "What do you mean?"

  "The pain started on my left. It is worse in my stomach, but I hurt all over."

  "That’s good, Caeli. I'm going to rest my hands on your stomach now. Can you slide your arms down far enough to let me do that?"

  "Yes." Caeli very slowly turned onto her back, bringing her closer to Vin, who sat near her on the opposite side of the bed.

  "Vin?"

  "I'm right here." Vin reached out and moved her sweat-drenched hair out of her face again. Caeli eased one arm away from her stomach and reached for Vin's hand. He held her smaller hand gently in his. She was scared the pain would get worse and needed to feel the support Vin offered as Salma began to examine her midsection. Caeli flinched visibly at each of Salma's movements.

  "I'm almost done, Dear. Now, let's try the other…Vin, stop helping."

  Vin had reached out and tried to pull Caeli's other hand away. She reflexively jerked both hands back as another wave of pain coursed through her. Salma noted that the medicine appeared to be wearing off too quickly. That should not be happening. Caeli had a very low tolerance to medicine of any kind. That last dose should have worked much better than this.

  Salma looked across the bed at Vin, knowing that he must be feeling a heavy, emotional pain of his own having to watch Caeli go through this and not be able to do anything. Yet, Salma also knew that he would not be able to restrain his impulse to help. His efforts, unfortunately, were only making it more difficult for Salma to do her job. Salma needed Vin to leave the room.

  "I'm sorry, Salma. I don't mean to interfere. I just want her to feel better," Vin answered Salma's look with a near match to her thoughts.

  "I know, Vin. It would be easier for me to focus on Caeli if you would step outside. Give me time to find out what is going on and how to fix it. I will call you back when your help won't disturb me."

  "I can't do that, Salma. Even if I wanted to, I promised Caeli that I wouldn't leave her; and I won't."

  "Vin."

  He looked down upon hearing Caeli's tired yet determined voice.

  "Yes Caeli?"

  "It's ok. Would you mind getting me a glass of water?" Caeli struggled over her pain to get each word out.

  Vin looked down at her and smiled slightly.

  "Even when you're sick, you still try to keep me out of trouble. Yes, I will get you some water, but I have to go find a glass. There were none in the kitchenette when I looked a few minutes ago." Vin leaned over and kissed Caeli before walking heavily out of the room, glancing back once. The cool breeze remained even after he was gone.

  Out in the open hall, Vin was met by Ben and Apela. Apela helped him locate a bottle of water, but when they returned, Ben was casually leaning against the door frame, blocking the doorknob. He asked Vin to stay and talk with him for a few minutes. Vin recognized Salma’s attempt to keep him out of the room a while longer. He decided to give Salma the time she requested, for Caeli's sake. Vin paced back and forth in the span of about fifteen steps. There was absolutely nothing more he could do. His tension would not be eased until he knew what was wrong with Caeli.

  "I can't tell you not to worry, Lad, but she is in good hands. Salma will take care of her. Nobody is better equipped to figure this out."

  "I know," Vin replied flatly, not missing a step in his pace. Ben dropped the fruitless attempt at conversation and let Vin continue his therapeutic pacing in silence.

  "Apela, I noticed when Max cried out earlier, it looked like something that has happened before. How often does he hear the thoughts of others? Or does he feel their emotions?"

  "He hears thoughts. How did you know?" Apela was surprised that Ben had noticed. Most folks generally dismissed Max as an unruly kid.

  "Did you happen to notice my wife's reaction? She has both gifts. She can hear and feel the emotions of others. It is part of what makes her such a great doctor. She can feel another person's pain and figure out where it is coming from. It is very useful for her, especially when the patients cannot tell her," Ben explained.

  "That's incredible. Perhaps theirs was not a chance meeting after all. Max might have sensed the kindred gift in your wife. Perhaps he mistook her gift as coming from Vin's wife, since she has a similar, though different, talent," Apela let slip his awareness of Caeli's gift.

  Vin interrupted, but did not stop his pacing.

  "Doubtful. Caeli does have a special talent of her own, but she can also hear as Salma can; and kids are often drawn to her. Max probably sensed both." Until Vin's reply, Ben had not realized that he was listening.

  "Both of the ladies are gifted in such a way? Incredible! I have never met anyone, aside from Max's mother, who even knew about the real gifts. Most people only know the ceremonial stuff they hear about during the festival. And both of your ladies have such gifts? This is truly amazing! Yet here you stand talking about it as if it is a perfectly natural occurrence. Is this more common on the mainland?"

  "It is not more common; but rather a family trait that the ladies share and perfectly natural. It is familiar to us; that's all. Don't worry about Max's secret. It is safe with us. I wanted you to know that we understand. You don't have to hide Max's ability from us," Ben explained.

  "Thank you both. That will be a nice change. I usually have to keep Max away from the guests for that very reason. He frequently picks up on things that my guests are not so happy to have shared aloud."

  Ben and Apela continued to chat idly while Vin paced. Vin intentionally left his own ability out of the conversation.

  Nearly fifteen minutes went by before Salma finally removed her hands.
<
br />   "Caeli, I can't sense anything physically out of place, but there is definitely something going on inside of you. It's odd. Everything seems to be functioning correctly, albeit severely strained. That's good, but also what I feared. That means it has to be a virus or toxin running through your system. It's much worse than the flu. Unfortunately, I can't detect the specific details of that sort of thing with my gift. All I can tell is that your pain is centered near your midsection, which we already knew, and that your body is trying to fight it. And, what exactly is this white circle on your skin? How did it get there?" Salma asked.

  "From the crash," Caeli seemed to be falling asleep again. Salma thought that perhaps the full force of the medicine had merely been delayed. She wanted to learn what she could before Caeli succumbed to its effects again.

  "What is it?"

  "It used to be a hole. It's almost healed."

  "Do you mean a puncture? Caeli, can you give me more details? I need to know what injuries you sustained."

  "I bumped my head, and then pulled out the metal rod."

  "What metal rod? Where did you pull it from?" Salma considered the puzzle as she tried to put Caeli's words into a coherent frame of reference.

  "The circle; the water stopped the bleeding. That's how I knew I could help Ben," Caeli continued.

  "What water? What does that have to do with Ben? Caeli, you're not making any sense."

  "The rod was the circle," Caeli offered what she thought was a coherent explanation as she rubbed her fingers over the area, remembering the strange occurrence.

  Salma was confused, but she did not want to continue to press Caeli for details. She could tell that Caeli was trying her best and having a difficult time ordering her thoughts well enough to answer even simple questions. Whatever she was trying to explain, Salma would be able to see it when they ran some imaging tests on her later. The actual details of how it happened could wait, especially if Caeli insisted that it was not an issue.

  "Ok. It is so strange though. It almost feels like you are struggling with more than one problem. Regardless, I can't discover the cause of either one yet. I will give you a little more pain medicine…"

  "No more medicine, please. My head is clouded enough already. She bothers me when I'm too drowsy to ignore her," Caeli interrupted, suddenly clear and insistent.

  "It's not as strong as the last dose. It will merely supplement it and should help lessen the severity of the spasms. It will definitely knock you out again. At least, I hope it will. I thought that last round would have worked better than it did, but don't you worry about any of that. You just try to rest."

  "It's because you are weak! You require all this medicine, and you will kill your child with it," Rika taunted her further.

  "No, Salma. The baby; I need to talk to Vin. Where's Vin?" Caeli noticed Vin's absence.

  Salma refrained from commenting and approached Caeli with a newly filled syringe. Caeli began to panic.

  "No! Please, Salma." Caeli tried to scoot away, but was overcome by another wave of pain.

  "I'm sorry, Dear, but I have to insist. It's for your own good. Don't fight me. There you go. Now, I'm going to draw some blood for testing, and then I will let you rest. I'm going to stay with you while the test is running. I will find out about the local hospital and make arrangements to get you treated a little later," Salma said as she prepped the materials to draw Caeli's blood.

  "Salma, you shouldn't have…ow! Medicine will hurt…, I need Vin." Caeli had to grit her teeth to bear another wave of pain.

  "Don't worry, Dear. The medicine will not hurt you or your baby in any way. You know better than that. We've already had that discussion. You worry too much. Lay as still as you can please. If you behave yourself, I might even tell Ben to let Vin come back inside in a little while."

  "Salma, you didn't?" Caeli was initially shocked, but then realized that she shouldn't have been. It was exactly the type of thing that Salma was known to do if she believed it was necessary to help a patient.

  "I most certainly did. I knew Vin would hover. I knew he would want you to answer all of his questions. And you would want to talk to him when what you should be doing is resting. What I did not know was how I was going to get him to leave. I made Ben promise to keep Vin out there if I could make it happen. I never imagined that you would send him out."

  "Oh, I like her! That's a great idea. I believe I will help her," Rika added for Caeli's ears alone.

  "Ow!" Caeli flinched at the unexpected pinch in her arm as Salma began to draw her blood. She hadn't been paying attention to what Salma was doing. The needle surprised her more than it actually hurt. Caeli was, instead, thinking about Vin standing outside, probably pacing. What did Rika intend to do to help Salma keep him there?

  Vin must think that she did not want him to come back. Oh, but she did. Now that Caeli was no longer certain of her possible pregnancy as the cause of her nausea, she desperately wanted Vin by her side. His steadfast support helped ease her fear; and Caeli really did want the water he went after as well.

  "I will call him," Caeli grinned weakly in defiance.

  She did not want Vin to think that she couldn't beat this illness, whatever it turned out to be. Caeli wanted him to know that she was determined to do exactly that. She closed her eyes and fought with all her remaining strength, through the haziness in her mind, to find her special connection to Vin. It took all of her concentration to manage it, but she succeeded in poking a tiny hole through her pain so that she could call him. Caeli did not have the strength or inclination to prevent Salma and Ben from hearing her this time. She didn't care. She just wanted Vin. She needed Vin.

  "Vin, please come back," Caeli silently called to him.

  There was no response. Salma did not look up from her work. Had neither of them heard her? How could that be? Then Caeli understood. That must be what Rika meant. As she had done at the arena, somehow, Rika prevented her from calling out to Vin. That did not bode well. Caeli gave herself over to the medicine, which was already starting to work. She was asleep within minutes, though her body refused to cease its spasms and fitful tossing so that she might actually rest while she slept.

  After an hour, the tests were well under way and Caeli had not stirred in the last twenty minutes. Salma decided to slip out into the hall for a quick chat. She rolled the medical cart with her.

  "Salma, how is she?" Vin was immediately in front of her when she closed the door.

  "I had to give her another dose of medicine, but she is finally sleeping, if you can call it that."

  "Good, then I can go see her. Did you learn anything?" Vin was clearly anxious.

  "Hold on, Vin. I only came out to move this cart to our room so that the noise doesn't bother Caeli. I have not learned anything helpful yet. I don't think it would be wise for you to see her. I am going to return and sit with her very shortly."

  "Why can't I go in?" Vin was not pleased with Salma's response.

  "There are several reasons. Foremost, you cannot help yourself around her. You will disturb her…" Salma began.

  "I would not wake her. I know she needs to rest."

  "Let me finish, Vin. You won't mean any harm, but you will hover and try to make her more comfortable. Caeli will know you are there. She will try to talk to you. Right now, she needs every minute of rest that she can get. Caeli, in addition to her pain, is exhausted and severely dehydrated. The best things we can do for her are let her be while she sleeps and build up her fluids when she wakes. I may even put her on an IV if Apela has the supplies here. But, while she is resting, it would be best if you stayed out here."

  "Then I will just peek in and check on her. I won't touch her. I won't make a sound, and I will only stay a minute." Vin moved toward the door, but Salma stepped over to intercept him.

  "I'm sorry, Vin. I have to say no; not right now. Although chemically induced, Caeli is already resting."

  "Salma, I need to see her. I waited out here against my better judgment;
but I can't endure it any longer. Please, move out from in front of the door." Vin's mild irritation reflected his deeper concern for Caeli.

  Ben sensed Vin's mood and stepped over beside Salma. He stood ready to defuse the situation if Vin decided to press the matter. He had faced many potentially volatile situations over the course of his years on the force. Although Ben knew without question that Vin would never harm Salma, he did not know what measures Vin would take to reach Caeli against Salma's wishes. Yet, what never ceased to surprise Ben was the way Salma was able to handle such situations herself. Apparently, her years working in the emergency room had given her a similar ability to smoothly maneuver emotionally-charged encounters.

  "I understand that you are frustrated, Vin. But, this is not about what you need. It's about what Caeli needs. Please trust that I am doing what I believe is best for her. I am not making this request lightly. You know that I would not keep you from her without good cause. Caeli is likely to wake up several times tonight. If you are still awake, I will call you in to visit with her for a few minutes during those times. For now, I think it would be best if you make yourself comfortable in the lounge. I will stay with Caeli in the meantime. I don't trust the way the medicine is wearing off so quickly, and I want to be there to see with my gift exactly how this trouble is hitting her. I promise that I will take good care of her," Salma assured Vin.

  "I know you will, Salma. I'm sorry. Don't worry about waking me. If by some miracle I do fall asleep, I want to see Caeli when she wakes," Vin relented.

  "I can give you something to help you sleep if you like," Salma offered. She thought it very unlikely that Vin would be able to sleep while Caeli's condition remained undiagnosed.

  "No thanks. I need to be alert when Caeli wakes up. I will be in the lounge." Vin took a moment to place his hand on the door to their room and rest his head against the door frame. Although the temptation to disregard Salma's instructions was strong, Vin would not take even the slightest chance that his action might make Caeli worse. Therefore, he complied.