wrath of the Sea Queen (161 page)

"Sure, but where is this headed
, Vin
?"
Ben asked.

"
W
hen we stopped on the side of the road and C
a
eli was sick, she
fell and
hurt
herself
again.
 
She hit her
lower
back in nearly the exact same spot where you were shot
, and it
bled
quite a bit
, just as your wound did
.
"

"
I remember you
cleaning h
er up when you returned to the van. 
What exactly are you trying to say?
  D
o you think
she t
ook
my injury onto herself?  I would never have permitted it if I had known,
"
Ben
thought he
had
finally hopped on
to
Vin's train of thought.
  It was
,
indeed
,
frightening if it was true.

"
I know, Ben.  I don't think she realizes
that
it is happening
. 
But
,
after the third incident, I can't ignore it any longer."

"What was the third?"  Ben was curious.

"
I was in trouble at the levee.  I busted my right arm on the rocks.  It was banged up real bad
, and
C
a
eli fixed it with her gift. 
You told me that
she
was
favoring her right
arm
afterward
.  I don't think it was a coincidence.
"

"
I
only mentioned h
er arm
so that you would be aware of
it. 
Given
C
a
eli's
condition
,
I assumed
that
she hurt her arm
when she fell
.
  I
had no idea that
you
were
injured.  You seemed fine when you arrived
at the lighthouse
,
"
Ben said.

"
By then, I was.  She
had
already he
a
l
ed my arm
.  Ben, I
do
think that
during each of these
instances
,
C
a
eli
's
gift
transfer
red
the p
ain or the injury to her
through the water
. 
She was around water each time.
  C
a
eli was soaked at the hospital from the fire hydrant; it was raining on deck when she worked on you
;
and we were both in water when she fixed my arm.  I won't pretend to understand it, but I'm
scared about
her taking on those types of injuries, if that is what's
really
happening.  I guess I was wondering if you
had
noticed anything along those lines.  I was hoping you might have some further insight
or, better yet, a way to disprove my theory
.
"

Ben caught a glimpse of Max running across the other end of the hall, stopping halfway to look toward C
a
eli's room. 
Ben nodded in that direction.  Vin followed his eye
line and also
saw
the young boy
. 
When Max
noticed
the
two
m
en
looking at him, he
rushed off to
continue
his current
adventure.

"
No, I didn't notice
the pattern
, and I can't give you any a
dvice
.  I wish I could. 
However, I have noticed someth
ing special about
young
Max
and our ladies
.  Have you
seen it
?
"
  Ben replied.

"
Yes,
it would be hard to miss.  Max
seem
s
to have staked a claim on
our wives
.  I do believe we might have to tie him in his
bed
in order to leave here with C
a
eli and Salma.
"
  Vin
found enough amusement to smile
a
s he pictured
the scene Max was likely to make
as
he tried to stop the ladies from leaving
at the end of the week
.  He also noted to Ben that they would have to check their luggage for stowaways before heading home.

Salma
placed her hand on C
a
eli as she waited for the digital display to tell her the ultrasound machine was ready to use
.  She
sensed,
through her gift
,
the enormous amount of pain C
a
eli was suffering
in her abdomen
. 
Salma feared she might know the reason for this, but prayed that she was wrong. 
Salma
chose no
t
to
share th
is
with
Vin
right away
.  He
knew C
a
eli was hurting, and
Vin
was already
worri
ed enough
about her visible injuries
and the men
tal terror she was experiencing
. 

C
a
eli woke about the time Salma
squirted
the
clear gel onto the bare skin of
her
midsection, careful
ly
avoid
ing
the open cuts.  C
a
eli immediately began to
suffer outward
displays of
he
r
internal
pain.  Salma tried to comfort her and ease the pain as best she could
without strong medic
ation
s that would cause drowsiness
.  Unfortunately
,
Salma knew
the pain was not going to subside. 
In fact, it
would
probably get worse. 
The best
Salma
could do was give C
a
eli one of Vin's shirts, which she grabbed off the back of a chair
.  Salma rolled it up
so that
C
a
eli
would have something on which
to bite down.  This would keep her
pain-filled
s
houts
from reaching
Vin's
ears out in the lounge.  Salma talked to C
a
eli as she worked,
trying to distract her mental link to Vin.  Salma's voice, however,
did not have the same soothing effect on
C
a
eli
that Vin's
voice
achieved
.

"
I know it hurts
,
Dear
.  I
a
m doing my best to help you. 
You've got to
hang in there
with me for a little longer
.  Try to lie
still. 
If you need to, s
queeze my hand.  I
understand that
you
don't want
any
pain
medicine
that will make you sleepy
. 
Therefore,
I
ha
ve to finish this test
while you are awake
.  H
old on
for
a few more minutes.
"
 

C
a
eli
nodded that she
underst
oo
d.  She knew Salma was trying not to alert Vin, so she bit down harder on the shirt as pain racked her
midsection
.  She could smell
the scent of Vin's
cologne lingering on the shirt
, and it provided a small bit of comfort to help endure the
agony
. 
Salma ran the stainless steel wand slowly back and forth across C
a
eli's
abdomen
. 
Even that soft movement stung, but she endured it
well enough
.
 
She
knew what Salma was checking and suspected what the result might be.
 
The screen of the unit was turned so that both
C
a
eli and Salma
could look at it.  The slightly blurry image on the screen brought tears to
Salma's
eyes.