wrath of the Sea Queen (77 page)

"
I'm sorry.
"

"Wh
y
are you sorry
?"  Vin wondered.

"
I didn't make it the full hour.
"
  C
a
eli answer
ed.

"
Oh, Honey, that's not important. 
All that matters is getting you well.
"
  A cool breeze stirred the air around them.  It was comforting and
eased some of C
a
eli’s
tension, if not her pain.

"
N
ice.
"

"
If it helps, I
wi
ll keep it around you constantly. 
You're going to be ok
, C
a
eli.
Salma
i
s getting medicine to help you
. 
She will figure this out, and y
ou
wi
ll feel better so
on,
"
Vin assur
ed her as he looked down at her slight form sitting curled up before him
. 
He hoped
he was telling her the truth
and
wondered if the
new medicine Salma
was getting
would work
any
better than the last. 
Vin started to stand up to wet more paper towels.  The ones on her neck were already dried out
by
the heat her body was producing.  C
a
eli's hand weakly clinging to his arm stopped
him
.

"
Please don't leave
me alone
.
"

"
I'm not going anywhere.  I promise.  I'm
staying
right here with you.
"

Vin sat down and eased himself
close
to
C
a
eli
so that she could rest her head on his shoulder.  Unfortunately, another wave of pain hit her and she could not raise her head up off his forearm.  Her left arm
remained
wrapped aroun
d her stomach and her right arm
clinch
ed
his tight enough to cause him
some
discomfort.  It barely registered in Vin's
worry-clouded
mind.  He gladly let
C
a
eli
have whatever she needed to get through this. 

"
Hang on,
H
oney,
"
Vin whispered as he kept a steady hand
on
her shoulder.  What was keeping Salma?

Salma returned a few minutes later carrying a syringe and knelt down beside C
a
eli.  She injected the liquid into C
a
eli's left arm
about an inch
above he
r
elbow.  Within m
inutes
, the medicine began to
take effect
and C
a
eli
enjoyed
the first bit of
real
relief since she s
poke with
Rika. 
A
s Salma intended, the strong
concentration
not only brought pain relief, it also dull
ed
C
a
eli's senses. 
It was intended to knock her
out for
about
an hour.  C
a
eli
's
eyelids gr
e
w very heavy
.  Finally,
she might
get some sleep
.

"
It isn't much, but it
i
s
very
strong.  It should take the edge off he
r
pain and let her sleep long enough to get to a hospital.  I don't want her out for too long or I won't be able to get the information I need
when I examine her
.  Vin,
c
an you carry her?
"
  Salma didn't even need to voice the question.

"I've got her," Vin replied.
 

Vin scooped C
a
eli up sideways, across both of his arms
,
before she could even think about
objecting
.  Another jolt of pain almost caused Vin to p
lace
her back on the floor, afraid that he might be hurting her.  Thankfully, this wave passed quickly.  Afterward, C
a
eli rested her head on
Vin's
shoulder and drifted off to a
fitful
sleep. 
Vin
could not believe how unusua
lly frail she
felt
wrapped in the strength of his arms
. 

"
Salma?
"
  Vin's question was obvious.

"
I don't know yet, Vin.  I need a chance to examine her
properly
.  I don't even know all the details of what happened to her
during the
crash
. 
I need more information. 
Right now, her pain is
much
too strong
to
reveal
anything. 
Any
test I run
would hurt her. 
I couldn't even reach through her pain with my gift. 
Knocking her out is the best thing for her at the moment. 
I wi
ll ask Apela to find a nearby hospital so that we can check for things my gift can't tell me.  In the meantime, let her rest.  There
i
s no need for
C
a
eli
to endure that kind of pain while we travel. 
Let's
go check on our ride.  Apela and I can load the bags.  You and Ben see about getting
C
a
eli
and Max into the car.
"

"
Thank you, Salma.
"
  Vin followed her out of the restroom and over to the arena door, careful not to let anyone near C
a
eli as they moved down the hall.

Jeremy
had
already
loaded
their bags into the back of a large
, custom,
military SUV.  Apela and Max were
waiting
inside, seated
up
front next to the Lieutenant so they could
provide
directions.  Salma climbed into the side seat next to Ben, and Vin carried C
a
eli into the back and cradled her on his lap, refusing to
sit
her down.  When Ben raised a questioning eyebrow, Salma p
laced
her hand over his and shook her head negatively, letting him know that now was not the time to talk about it. 
Ben
understood.

It
was almost too easy.  Of all
the
people
on that plane
, her brother
had
befriended Dr. Erickson and C
a
eli
.  That
meant Lorrie would be able to find out anything he might have learned about the good doctor during the trip.  The more details Lorrie collected, the better the end result would be.

When Max
experienced
another one of his fits, Apela
habitually
move
d
him
to the open door where the fresh air would calm
him
down.  Lorrie took advantage of the opportunity and made her way over to talk to him.  She greeted her brother and inquired about Max's health.  It gave her a chance to talk to Apela privately, subtly manipulating him into revealing details about the doctor and C
a
eli that he might not otherwise have mentioned. 
Lorrie
learned a
bout a portion of
their plans for the next day. 

Their proximity to the door also placed them directly beside the luggage belonging to
the group
.  Lorrie noted the name
tag
on one of the bags and
, while Apela was
moment
arily distracted with Max,
Lorrie
slip
ped
a manila envelope into the top zippered compartment without anyone noticing.  Lorrie expected that the discovery of its contents would stir up more drama in an already tense situation.
  At least, that's what she hop
ed
to do.

A few minutes later,
Lorrie
caught a
glimpse of Vin
from
her place at the medical station
across the arena
as he carried C
a
eli outside.  She did not look well at all
. 
Vin was clearly in misery with his worry for her.  This caused Lorrie's grin to grow.  At the very least, C
a
eli looked like she
might
suffer for several days yet.  She would not have the carefree vacation
originally
plann
ed
.  Dr. Erickson would try to help her, of course, but would find it difficult to determine the cause of C
a
eli's illness.  Lorrie, on the other hand,
was
quite
familiar with C
a
eli’s symptoms and believed she knew
the exact cause of her current condition
.  No
,
she would not share her knowledge with
Dr. Erickson
, but preferred to
let
the
doctor
agonize ov
er the solution. 
Moving to
look
out a large window
, Lorrie
's eyes followed
the military SUV
as it
pull
ed
out of the arena parking lot.