wrath of the Sea Queen (13 page)

Salma read the letter again as she sat at the small desk in her living room.  She
had
received it nearly two months ago, but
did
not respond.  There was nothing that she could do.  Her hands were tied,
which
upset
her deeply.  She was not permitted to treat anyone with her new vaccines
or medications
, and she was not
allowed
to directly participate in the testing either.  This was to prevent any possibility that the results might be biased in her favor. 
Protoc
o
l was
strict
and had
to be followed or else the medicine might never reach the public. 
Knowing this medicine's potential for decreasing suffering on a global scale,
Salma did not want to take that chance.  She
had
shared
Maku's
letter with the committee that selected the test groups, but they never told her if the man
's brother
was
chosen
or not.  S
alma
desperately
hoped
that
he
was receiving treatment
.

"
The letter again?  You
wi
ll only upset yourself.
"

Ben
came up behind Salma and placed his hand gently on her shoulder.  Salma reached up and covered
hi
s
hand with her own, leaning her head
gently on top
.

"
I know, Ben.  There is som
ething about it that tugs at m
y heart strings
, makes me curious.
"

"
Yes
. 
I
a
m curious to know how he got your unpublished home address.  But let
'
s not worry about it right now.  If you don't get moving, you
a
re going to miss your flight.
"

Ben
had
already
loaded
her
luggage
into his jeep
and
was waiting for Salma to finish her last minute items.  He
had been
sitting on the sofa watching her sign papers, flip through charts, and fiddle around for the last fifteen minutes. 
W
hen
she
pause
d
with the letter in her hand, Ben knew he was going to have to nudge her away from it.

"
C
a
eli would never forgive me
if I let that happen
.  And
,
as much as I will miss you,
there are
some fish
anxiously
waiting for me to pluck them out of the water.  Besides, I've got to teach that man of hers how to relax and enjoy a bit of
down
time,
"
Ben said cheerfully.

"
Thanks, Ben.  What would I do without you?
"
 

"You
woul
d miss your flight, that's what.  Come on, Doll."

Ben and Salma started dating after the incident with Vin and C
a
eli six months earlier.  There
was
a spark between them from the
beginning
.  Salma
t
ried to deny it as first, but only briefly, because she had been worried about C
a
eli at the time.  It
was
an
instant romance
. 

Both Salma and Ben had
lived
alone for most of their
adult
lives, neither having found the right person
with whom they could
settle down.  Each focused on their work as a substitute for the family life
that encompassed their friends'
time. 
In a stroke of good luck, f
a
te finally intervened
, and t
hey were thrown
together at
exact
ly the
right time.  Ben proposed
to Salma
after
only
three months, and Salma knew they would spend the rest of their days happy together.  Ben gave up his long-time bachelor's apartment and moved into Salma's
small
house. 
A
few weeks
later
, they were married and enjoying
their
new life.

Salma put the letter back in its envelope and
laid it on top of her desk
. 
She and Ben
made their way to the door, locking up the house
before
they left for the airport.  She was headed to a medical conference for the week, and C
a
eli was going along
to keep
her
company
.  Ben was glad that he did
n
o
t have to spend the week listening to medical speeches or sitting in the hot sun on a sandy beach.  He was
even more relieved
that Salma was not one of those women who needed him to be present at every event.  Ben
was
more than happy to let the ladies enjoy this trip together while he and Vin spen
t
a more peaceful week at Ben's lake house fishing and playing cards. 
Luckily for him, he and
Vin
were as close of friends as were Salma and
C
a
eli
.  As Ben helped Salma into the
jeep
, he was smiling at his incredible good fortune. 
She
was more than he ever dared to hope for in his life.

An hour later, Vin and C
a
eli were standing in the airport lobby saying goodbye. 
Vin took a good, long look at C
a
eli in her jeans and
baby
blue blouse and smiled.

"You lost a few pounds while you were in New York, but
you
still look
amazing in those jeans
."

He smiled and kissed her again
.  Vin was attempting to distract her from thinking about
another week's
separation
. 
She
did not deal well with parting from those she loved
. 
Vin had seen it once
over
ten years ago when her grandmother left on a trip to Egypt.  It had upset C
a
eli considerably.  Then, a few weeks ago, Vin
actually
felt he
r
distress
t
hrough their special
connection.  He
was surprised to
fe
e
l the physical ache that the separation caused C
a
eli
when she left for New York
. 
Vin attributed it to the fact that C
a
eli had experienced so much loss in her life
at such a young age
, and h
e underst
oo
d how that
had left
its mark on her. 
He
did not want
C
a
eli
to
let
that
sadness
ruin her trip
and
was trying to occupy her with more pleasing thoughts until Salma arrived.
  Admittedly, he derived as mu
ch
pleasure out of the distraction as he offered C
a
eli.

"You
'
re hopeless, Vin."

"That's what you keep telling me.
  What's this?"  Vin looked down at a sealed envelope that C
a
eli pressed into his hand.

"It's another surprise.  It is even better than t
he outfit I showed you earlier."

"Somehow, I seriously doubt that words on paper can top that," he smiled at the remembered image and the sudden color on
C
a
eli
's cheeks.

"Ok,
but don't read it until after our flight leaves," C
a
eli flashed him her best mischievous smile.

"I'm
definitely
intrigued.  You know I'm going to read it as soon
as I get to the parking lot."

"I know.  You have absolutely no patience."

Despite her best attempts to smile and be happy, C
a
eli could not hold back a single tear
as it
slid down her cheek. 
Though she was not normally
quick to
tear
s
,
she was unable to stifle
her emotion
. 
Vin reached
out
and wiped the tear away.

"
Now cut that out.  This is supposed to be a fun vacation,
"
Vin laughed as he hugged her
tightly
once more.