She stopped at the bathroom door to thank Ben and let him know that she would be fine on her own from there. Ben refused to leave. He moved across the room and planted himself in a chair. Caeli closed the bathroom door and heaved up her non-existent stomach contents once more. She could not force much water through the tightness in her throat. Great! She wondered what would happen if she couldn't give her body the water it craved.
"You will have more problems. That's what will happen."
"You again? Why won't you leave me in peace, Rika? What more do you want?" Caeli inquired in a weak and irritated voice.
"I still want to be your friend. It would benefit you greatly to accept my friendship rather than oppose me. I can relieve your pain if you would only place yourself in my care."
"You are persistent, but I will not give myself over to you. You claim to want friendship, yet you plot against my family and friends. You say you can cure me, yet you amplify my pain. You bother me now when I am clearly not feeling well. You are too fickle to be a friend, and I do not trust you. I refuse to negotiate with you. Please go away."
"I tried to warn you about this, but you would not heed my council. Now it is not only you who is suffering, and you will bring pain on many more if you continue to resist me. Can you not feel the storm brewing? I will not stop it. I will let it destroy this entire island and everyone on it if that is what it takes."
That single statement turned Caeli's irritation to anger. She would not allow such idle threats to go unanswered. Momentarily ignoring her pain, Caeli rebuked Rika's threat with an assertion of her own.
"I know what you tried to do to Vin. If I hadn't noticed, what would you have done with him? Would you have let him drown? Did you think that would change my mind? Don't you dare threaten me or try to force my hand. It won't have the effect you intend. I won't let you hurt Vin or anyone else. I promise that I will find a way to make you regret any such action."
"Oh how quaint! You think I'm referring to your precious husband. He is much too interesting to harm. I have no doubt that once we bond, I will enjoy his company immensely. No. You misunderstood my actions. I was merely attempting to learn more about him while I had the opportunity to reach him."
"And how did he end up in the water? What did you do to arrange that?"
"I was not the one who caused the damage at the levee, but there is much I can tell you about the ones who did. Would that be helpful? Would you trust me then? No? Well, just remember, Vin jumped in of his own accord; and it was you who jumped to the wrong conclusion."
"Stop this! Leave me alone," Caeli did not have the strength or inclination to continue arguing with Rika. She wished Rika would move on to someone else and leave her alone to deal with her illness. Her last bit of endurance rapidly waned. With all of her remaining determination, Caeli made her way unsteadily out of the bathroom, unaware that her portion of the conversation had been overheard.
Ben still waited for her. Out of curiosity, he had moved closer to the bathroom door when he heard Caeli talking. From the tone, Ben determined that it was more of an argument than a conversation. He almost decided to go in and find out who was on the other end of it when Caeli opened the door. There was no one else inside. Ben noticed Caeli's deteriorating condition immediately. He reached her just in time to catch her as she fell unconscious.
"Salma!" Ben yelled loud enough to get Salma's attention from the other room. She had finished the last round of tests when Max found her and was already on her way to Caeli's room when she heard Ben shout. She ran the short distance that remained and rushed to help.
"Ben, what happened?"
"I don't know. She was outside and got sick. I helped her get back to the room. She has been in the bathroom for the past ten minutes. When she came out just now, she passed out," Ben explained.
"Put her on the bed. I know how to treat her now. That last test was successful. I will get some medicine to calm her immediate pain, and then get her hooked up to an IV. If I am right about this, she will respond rapidly. I only hope we have caught it in time. If so, she will be fine. If not, the damage could be considerable and perhaps irreversible."
"For her sake and Vin's, let's hope for the better, Love," Ben said.
Ben placed Caeli on the bed and backed away to give Salma room to work. Salma instructed Ben on a few tasks to help her get the treatment started. After the IV was in place, Salma bathed Caeli's arms and face with a wet washcloth, which she left across Caeli's forehead. Then Salma moved to the other side of the room where she could talk to Ben without disturbing her.
"It was the energy bars, wasn't it?" Ben asked.
"Yes. It seems we were both right. Caeli was being poisoned, and those bars were the source."
CHAPTER 23
"Vin, are you all right?" Jeremy's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Yes, I'm fine. You?"
"Only my pride is hurt. Listen, I wanted to thank you for jumping in after me like that. I would not have made it if you hadn't been there. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you," Jeremy was grateful for Vin's quick reaction and admired his new friend's heroic heart.
"You're welcome, Jeremy. It's the least I could do. Without your help, I might not have reached Caeli in time. Besides, if we had lost you, who would Apela and Maku have to tease?" Vin joked to dispel his lingering tension regarding Caeli. He was rapidly forming a bond with Jeremy that he likened to what he imagined it would be like to have a younger brother, and it helped distract him.
While they talked, Vin walked out of the water in search of Apela. He wanted a ride back to the hotel immediately to check on Caeli. He spotted his new friend and a few others near the truck, talking to another man Vin did not recognize. They walked up and waited a few paces away from the group. When Apela noticed Vin standing there, he offered him a rest in the back seat of the truck's extended cab. Vin politely declined, not wanting to open the door for idle chat, as he could hardly wait to return to Caeli.
"Vin, this is Colonel Franks, regional commander and head of the local guard unit," Apela introduced Vin to the white-haired man.
"Franks?" Vin looked over at Jeremy with an inquiry on his face.
"Yes," Jeremy nodded to confirm the identity of his father.
"It's nice to meet you, Sir. Did you come down to see Jeremy?"
"I came out because of the explosion. I only found out about Jeremy's ordeal when I arrived. He is safe and sound. Thanks for asking." The colonel did not make the connection that Vin was the one who saved his son. He thought Vin was another one of the many levee workers who helped with the rescue.
"Any idea what caused the blasts, Sir?" Vin asked as he leaned against the truck.
"Blasts? There was more than one?"
"There were two," Vin confirmed.
"I was about to get to that part, Colonel. The first one shook the ground, but the second one caused all the damage. It will take all afternoon to get back to where we started; and look at the sky. We will be lucky to get any of it finished before the next storm hits. Most of us are done with our shift. I can't ask any of the morning volunteers to work any longer. You need another crew out here." Apela added.
"I'm staying," Maku announced.
"Me, too," Jeremy joined the newly developing team.
"I'm sorry, but I have to get back to the hotel and check on Max. I need to get Vin back to his hotel as well." Apela managed to maintain Vin's secret, even under these circumstances.
"Vin, we sure could use the help. Are you sure you won't stay? We can always find you a ride later," Colonel Franks asked.
"I wish I could. I can see that this is important. But, like Apela, I have people waiting on me. My wife is very sick, and I need to be with her."
"Vin, could I talk to you for a minute?" Apela motioned Vin away from the others.
"Yes?"
"If you really want to stay and help, I can check on Caeli for you. Do you have a cell phone? I can call you."
"I promised
her I would be back soon. She will be expecting me," Vin replied.
He knew that Caeli was in pain. However, he could not explain that to Apela. He did want to help at the levee, but Caeli was his first priority.
"I can call if she needs you. Maku can give you a ride. In fact, I can have Caeli call you as soon as I get back, if that will ease your worry."
"I doubt my cell phone works. It went in the water with me." Vin reached into the front pocket of his jeans only to find it empty. Apparently he lost his cell phone in the ocean. Vin shrugged. It was as good an excuse as any not to stay behind.
"Here then. Take mine. I will ask Maku to drop you off at the lighthouse when you are finished. You can walk up the beach from there to the hotel. It's less than half a mile. I know it's an imposition, but since I can't stay, I would like to have someone competent to fill the gap. I wouldn't ask if this levee weren't crucial. What do you say?"
Vin thought about it. Caeli was hurting severely, but Salma would be there to take care of her. She wouldn't want Vin hanging around and probably would not let him see Caeli. Salma would likely put Caeli to sleep again. Ben was there, too. He would keep an eye on Caeli and Salma until Vin returned. Apela was kind enough to let them stay at his hotel and keep their residence a secret. They were as safe as possible, and Caeli was in good medical hands. Vin decided that he could not refuse Apela's request.
"All right, I will stay, but please have Caeli call me the minute you get back. If Salma gave her more medicine and she can't talk, then have Ben call me instead," Vin set terms that he could handle.
"That's fair enough. Thank you, Vin. Let's go tell the others."
Colonel Franks was relieved that almost everyone from the morning crew would be staying. He wanted a chance to talk to each of them, individually, to gather as much detail about the explosions as he could. After making arrangements for Maku to drop Vin off, Apela headed home. Vin and the others set to work repairing the most recent damage.
"Vin!" Caeli came to and tried to shout, but was so weak that her voice came out as a soft cry, obviously upset.
"He's all right. Hold still now." Salma motioned for Ben to move to the other side of the bed in case she needed help restraining Caeli.
Ben noticed that Caeli was still favoring her right arm, but seemed otherwise unhurt.
"Please, I need to see Vin," Caeli insisted and tried to sit up.
Ben placed a gentle hand on Caeli's shoulder, preventing the movement.
"There now, Lass. Vin is fine, but he will be quite upset with you if you don't take care and do as Salma says. Vin is at the levee helping fix the damage. Remember?"
"But you don't understand. He's hurt. They fell in the water. She tried to prevent…" Caeli began to panic and attempted to get up again despite the pain it caused her.
"Vin said he was coming back. Why isn't he here?" She wondered how long ago that had been.
"Caeli, Dear, you have to calm down. Everything is fine. Please, you are going to rip the IV line out of your arm. Settle down."
Salma's words fell on deaf ears as Caeli futilely tried to evade the hands holding her down. She was determined to get out of bed and find Vin. Salma tried to talk to Caeli silently, but Caeli's mind was chaotic. There were so many things rolling around in Caeli's head that she didn't even realize Salma was speaking to her. Salma had no idea how else to reach her.
Ben, as usual, came up with an impromptu solution, doing the only thing that he could imagine if this were Salma in Caeli's situation. He reached over and pulled Caeli into his arms, hugging her close. He held her tightly until she began to settle down.
"Caeli, listen to me. I talked to Vin on the phone," Ben's stern voice got through to her.
"You did? Is he all right? What did he say?"
"First and foremost, Vin said that you needed to rest. Then Vin also said I should give you a hug on his behalf. There now. Vin is fine. He will be back soon. Now, mind you, I'm only filling in for Vin until then, so don't go getting any fancy ideas. My heart still belongs to your Aunt Salma." Ben held onto Caeli as her efforts to get up subsided and her panic diminished.
After a few moments longer, Caeli finally calmed down. Ben didn't know if it was his repeated use of Vin's name or just the fact that Caeli was too weak to continue struggling, but the ploy worked. Ben held her for several minutes to ensure that she would remain calm, and then laid her back onto the pillows. Caeli let herself settle into the covers. She was too tired to argue the matter any further. At least Vin was safe, and he sent her a hug. That was exactly the sort of thing Vin would do. Caeli gave in to the pull of the darkness and slept again.
"Very clever. You never cease to amaze me, Ben," Salma whispered after watching him handle the situation.
"It's good to know I haven't bored you yet, Love. I'm glad I could help," Ben winked at her.
"Would you do me a favor? Could you get my medical bag from our closet, please? And maybe you better see if you can call Vin. She is going to be very upset if she finds out that you lied to her."
"It might not be a lie. I simply haven't spoken to Vin to find out if it's true. Besides, it's what she needed to hear. Caeli will forgive me, and Vin should be returning soon."
"Well, I'm going to get her into some dry clothes while you step out. The last thing she needs is to catch a cold on top of everything else," Salma said.
After Ben left, Salma walked over and pulled the curtain across the back entrance and closed the front door. Picking up Caeli's robe from where she left it earlier, Salma redressed Caeli with the practiced efficiency of her profession, leaving the arm with the IV out of the robe. She placed two pillows under Caeli's head and pulled the sheets up to cover her lightly shivering body. Before Ben returned, Salma had finished and sat pensively in the chair beside the bed.
As Ben stepped into the hall, he heard Apela talking to Max in the lounge.
"I thought I told you not to bother her," Apela was saying as Ben walked up.
"But Papa, I only took her a flower to make her feel better. She said it was pretty, but then she was all red-faced. Uncle Michael said…," Max protested.
"Michael was here?"
"Yes Papa, but then the Sea Queen took over. She is not so tough. Uncle Michael made her go away. Pretty Caeli came back and asked me to get help. Mr. Ben went to help her." Max was fidgeting as if he was in trouble.
"What's going on around here?" Apela asked as he noticed Ben. He had been trying to determine the current situation from Max for the last ten minutes.
Ben explained about Caeli and asked what brought Apela back from the levee earlier than expected. And, more importantly, why wasn't Vin with him? Apela, in turn, related the details of the explosions at the levee and told Ben of the dangerous rescue and why Vin had stayed behind.
"We thought we were going to lose them both. Somehow, Vin hung on until the sea finally spit them out further down the beach. Colonel Franks and a few of his men showed up to investigate. Vin wanted to return right away and check on his wife, but I convinced him to stay. He only agreed if I promised to have you or Caeli call him right away. I gave him my cell phone since he lost his in the ocean during the rescue effort."
"It has certainly been an eventful morning. Did Colonel Franks have any idea what caused the explosions?" Ben asked as he rubbed his chin.
"No. His first notion was that the conference protestors might be responsible, but he couldn't figure out why they would want to blow up the levee, unless it was an attempt to get the conference cancelled. The Colonel had only just begun his investigation when I left. He may find an entirely different cause by the time he's done."
"I see. Well, you better let me call Vin then. Caeli is in no shape to talk to him right now," Ben said.
"Is she all right? Max told me that she was sick again."
"I think she will be better soon," Ben replied.
He spoke with Apela for a few minutes longer before dialing the phone number Apela provided. Ben stepped further into
the lounge to talk to Vin privately. Apela took Max down the hall to play in his room.
Vin was beside himself with worry once again when Ben related what happened to Caeli, though he gave Ben credit for his quick thinking and assured him that he had not lied to Caeli. Vin was more determined than before to leave the levee and return to the hotel immediately, but Ben dissuaded him this time. Ben told Vin that his decision to stay and help had been a good one and, had he been in a better physical shape to do so, he would be at the levee helping himself. Meanwhile, Caeli was resting, and there was nothing Vin could do for her. She would probably be out for several hours yet and likely not even know if Vin returned.
"Trust me. She would know," Vin stated confidently.
"I'm sorry. Of course she would, but it won't change anything. Finish what you are doing there, then come back. She might be awake by then. In fact, while she's resting, I am going to take Salma out for lunch. She has been on call all night and needs a break. We won't be gone more than an hour and will be within walking distance. I'm taking her to the lighthouse about a half mile up the beach. Apela will watch Caeli until we get back."
Ben shared all the details with Vin except what he and Salma had discovered about the poison. Salma asked that Vin not be told about that until he returned. Vin finally admitted that it sounded like matters were under control. By the time he hung up the phone, Vin's strong urge to rush to Caeli's side had been quelled.
Ben quietly re-entered the room. The lights were off, except for a small nightlight near the bathroom door. Salma got up from her chair and motioned for Ben to follow her out onto the porch where they could talk. Ben related what he learned about the incident at the levee, then asked Salma for the prognosis on Caeli's recovery.
"At least now we know what's wrong with her. I can't believe I didn't see it sooner. Maybe I could have prevented it from getting this bad," Salma regretted that it took so long to discover such a serious problem.
Wrath of the Sea Queen Page 31
