wrath of the Sea Queen (115 page)

"
That's an i
nteresting name.  Does it have anything to do with the festival?"  Vin asked
curiously
.

"My father named the place
, so I'm not certain
. 
However, t
he
folk lore of the
Sea Queen has been around
much longer than our festival. 
The name would
only
be
related to the festival because the festival is based on that same folk lore,"
Apela
explained briefly.

"I see.  Well, wish me luck.  Tell C
a
eli I will call her if I
can
."

With that, Vin watched Apela walk out into the lobby as the doctor closed the exam room door.
  As he did, the electricity flickered and went out.  It only took a moment, however, before the backup generators kicked on and restored the power.

Salma walked up to C
a
eli's bedside as she open
ed
her eyes
and tr
ied
to shake off
he
r
lingering
letharg
y.

"
H
i,
Salma
."

"Hello
, Dear
.  You look much better than you did two hours ago.  Did you sleep well?"
  Salma began to remove the IV line from C
a
eli's arm.

"Did I have a choice?"

"
D
on't be like that.  You know as well as I do that you needed
to sleep
and probably still
do
."

"
What I don't need is
to be drugged into oblivion
.  I mean it, Salma. 
Please don't do it again
. 
What I
do want
i
s to see Vin. 
Are you still keeping him in the lounge
?
  I've had enough of that, too.
"

"He
i
s at the hospital."

"The hospital?  I thought we healed him.  Did we miss something?  Why is he there?"  C
a
eli sat up in a
larm
.

"Easy. 
Get up slowly. 
Vin is fine.  They are running tests on him.  They don't know what we did
for him, and Vin can't very well tell them
.  It would be negligent of the doctors not to give Vin a thorough exam before releasing him.  I imagine since his injuries are not critical, he
got
bumped down
on
the triage list.  He
could be there for
quite
a while," Salma explained.

"Then I want to go.  I haven't seen him since we
arrived
last night.  So much has happened. 
I need to talk to him. 
Will you
let me see him now
?"

"No."

Salma's unwavering reply caused C
a
eli to stop halfway out of the bed and look up at her.  Salma st
ood
directly in front of C
a
eli with her hands on her hips, staring down at her with a serious look that C
a
eli knew well.  Salma had a kind and generous heart, but she did not like it when her patients disregarded
their own health for what she deemed
unacceptable reasons.  C
a
eli, realizing another one of Salma's famed lectures
rode the horizon
, tried to preempt it.

"I know what you're going to say, Salma.  B
efore you start,
you don't
know the whole story
.  There is more going on
with me than
you know
.  I need to talk to Vin."

"Really?  Will talking to
Vin
right this minute change the fact that you are not well?
"

"No, but
this is
…"

"
Will it tell you what was wrong with you to begin with?
"

"No, but it
will
…"

"
Maybe it will tell you why
those protestors
shot
both of
our husband
s
?
"

"No,
talking to
Vin
won't do any of those things, but…"

"But nothing.  I am not blind or deaf C
a
eli
.  I know there
is more going on
here
than either of us
comprehend
s
.
  I fear for my husband as much as you do for yours.
"

"I'm sorry, Salma.  I didn
'
t mean to imply that Ben's injury
was any less
terrible
than Vin's
.
  It's not
about
that at all. 
W
hat I need to discuss with Vin is
confusing, tied to my gift, and indirectly involves him.  It is
sort
of
personal
and not about the baby
.  It's…Salma, why is it so dark in here?"  C
a
eli finally noticed that the lights were out as she stood up and started to move toward the closet
and a fresh change of
clothes. 
The
t-shirt and shorts had been
fine at the time, but
they were
grimy and uncomfortable
now.

"The power
went out
about five minutes
ago
.
  The storm seems to be kicking up again. 
I was watching t
he news
before the outage, and they were
reporting
that
the area near the conference hotel is
really
getting
slammed
."

"Isn't that
near
the hospital?"  C
a
eli seemed to recall someone mentioning the proximity of the hospital and the
ir original
hotel.

"Yes.  Even if I were inclined to let you visit Vin, which I'm not, you would not be permitted to travel
to
that part of the island.  In fact, authorities have asked everyone to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary.  I was surprised to see Apela pull up in a taxi when Max came to
get
me
to
check on you
," Salma answered.

C
a
eli had been considering getting a shower and changing her clothes
.  After the brief rest, she
did
feel
much better.  B
ut
,
as
C
a
eli
listened to Salma's response, she also heard another nagging voice
det
err
ing
her
actions
.

"
She is marvelous!  Here I
went to the trouble of
keep
ing
you two separated
, and it
seems
I may not have needed to
waste
the effort
,
" Rika stated.

"
Salma is not keeping us apart for your benefit.  What did you do, Rika?  A
re you responsible for getting Vin shot?
"  C
a
eli demanded.

"
No.  I am merely using the resultant situation to my advantage.  You would do the same
in my place
.
"

"
I would not. 
The storm?  You are causing all of th
is
turbulent weather
just to keep me away from Vin?
 
What's the point?  I can still talk to him
.  We can wait out the storm
.
"

"C
a
eli, are you all right?’"  Salma had come up behind her and placed her hand lightly on C
a
eli's shoulder.  C
a
eli stoo
d
still beside the closet and had not replied when Salma twice called her name.

C
a
eli shrugged Salma's hand off her shoulder and indicated with her hand for Salma to
let her be for a moment
.

"
You can try to talk to him.  I will stop you as easily as I did before
.  By the time this storm ends, your decision will be made and there will be no
further
reason to keep him from you
.
"