wrath of the Sea Queen (173 page)

"
Forgot to eat? 
Is t
hat why
pretty
Dr. Salma looked mad?
"
  Max couldn't quite grasp the concept of forgetting about food.

"
Yes, but she wasn't mad
;
not really.  Thank you for rescuing me though.  That was
brave
of you.  I better g
et b
ack
now
or she really will get mad.
"
  Vin turned to leave.

"
Mr. Vin
, is
pretty C
a
eli
still
hurt? 
Nobody will tell me
."

Vin stopped.  He turned around to
glance down
at Max, sitting on his bed, looking
hopefully
up
at
him
with his bright, green eyes
.  Vin walked over and sat down next to
the boy
.

"
Max,
C
a
eli was hurt very bad
ly
.  She is trying to get better, but it might take a while
,
"
Vin
answered
honestly.

"
I know
t
he
bad
man
hurt her, but
pretty C
a
eli
can be tough when she needs to be, right
Mr. Vin
?"  Max quoted Vin's previous assertion of C
a
eli's ability to
call up an inner strength when needed
.

"Yes, she
certainly
can.  I'm sure
C
a
eli
will eventually be fine."  Vin tried to reassure him.  He didn't want Max to be overly concerned.

"
What about
pretty C
a
eli's
baby?  Papa and Mr. Ben
were
out in the grass where my Mama and my sister are resting.  There is a new cross
out there
now.  Is
her
baby resting there, too?
"

Vin was not surprised by Max's
question
.  The boy was perceptive.  He picked up on a lot of things that others thought he was too young to understand. 

"
Yes, Max.
"
  Vin had not known they buried the baby
's remains
and was deeply touched by the sentiment.

"
W
hat about your baby
, Mr. Vin
?"

This question,
Vin did
n
o
t understand.  Max must be confused about
t
he finer details of pregnancy, and Vin was not about to
tackle that topic
.  That was a discussion Max should have with his father.  Instead, Vin tried to give Max a simple explanation that he
believed the boy w
ould understand.

"Max, C
a
eli's baby was my baby, too."

It was all
Vin
could do to
speak
those words
without letting the crushing sadness crack his voice
.  He
stood up to leave again and
noticed a framed photo on the table beside Max's bed. 
Vin
reached down and picked it up
for a closer look
.  It was a
n image of a
woman perhaps a few years younger than Apela. 
Her hair was a
shoulder length, light brown
that matched her
brown eyes.  Max bore a bit of a resemblance to
this woman, which made him
look even less like Apela
by comparison
.  In the photo, the woman carri
ed
a younger Max along the shore and wav
ed
at the person
taking the
photo.  There were large waves rolling in the waters behind them and an odd, white streak off to the side of the photo.  It must have been overexposed
during the developing
.

"
Is this your M
om
?
"
  Vin asked as he handed the picture
frame
to Max.

"
Yes.  Papa said th
is
was
on
my third birthday.  Mama had to keep pulling me out of the water.  Papa said every time they turned around, I ran down and jumped in the water.  He said Mama called me a water bug,
"
Max grinned.

"
I'll bet she did.  Well, I better get back to the kitchen.  Do you want to join me for
a very late
breakfast?
"
  Vin asked
and watched
Max's face li
gh
t up at the
prospect
of food.  Vin didn't think the boy ever turned down a meal
.  As
Apela
had commented
, Vin had no idea where the skinny child put it all. 

"
Do you think we can take
my
picture to pretty C
a
eli?  Maybe if
she sees it
beside her bed, it will make her smile, like it does for me. 
Papa says I can't visit her yet. 
Will you take it to her
for me
, Mr. Vin?
"
  Max asked seriously.

"
No, Max.  This is your photo.  You should keep it here in your room.
"

"
But
pretty C
a
eli w
on't keep it.  I
wi
ll let her borrow it until she feels better.  Please?
"

Vin was touched by the gesture.  He could not refuse the
sincerity
of Max's offer.  Vin was amazed that Max was willing to share his most treasured photo to help C
a
eli.

"
Ok, Max.  I will take
the photo
to
C
a
eli
and let her know that you want her to feel better.
  If she is feeling well enough, maybe you can stop by and talk to her for a few minutes later.  We'll have to wait and see.
"
  Vin picked up the picture frame and carried it with him as
Max clasped his other hand and walked out of the room with him
.  By the time they got to the kitchen, Salma
was finished making
toast, heat
ing
up a few pieces of bacon leftover from earlier, and scrambl
ing
some eggs.  Vin thanked her and insisted that he would clean up when he and Max were finished.  Salma left the two to enjoy their meal.  Vin ate to fill his stomach, but the food
was fl
avor
less
.

Salma spent a good deal of time reading through the lab results of the blood
she
dr
e
w from Pete, as well as his previous medical records
.  He
brought
them
along
thinking to use them to
help
convince
Salma
to get him into the drug trials. 
S
he
compar
ed
her new tests with the older records.  The effects of the contaminated blood were devastating the man's body.  It was tearing him apart.  The part
Salma found to be odd
was
the specific chemicals that contaminated his
blood.  Salma had seen
the
unusual
combination
before
; q
uite recently
,
in
fact.  It was identical to the poison that
C
a
eli
had
endured
.  S
alma did not believe
that to be
a coincidence. 

Borrowing
Vin
's computer, Salma used her credentials to gain access to the incident report
that the hospital
filed
with the medical review board
.  She carefully re
ad
the details as outlined and the subsequent findings.  By the time she finished
her
review
of
the file
,
Salma
had more questions than answers.  However, now she
had the
names of a
few
people who might be willing to talk to her about
the incident
.  Salma made
some
phone calls.  The first two were unsuccessful, but the third call put her in touch with the head nurse, Ella Marlata, who worked the emergency room the night of Pete's accident.  When Salma explained that she was trying to help Pete, the veteran nurse was more than willing to
answer her questions
.