wrath of the Sea Queen (163 page)

"Her fault?  Why would she think that?"

"
I could not get her to
tell me. 
Whatever happened
to her today
has left a terrible mark on her mental state.  She i
s pretty
upset
right now
, and
I'm not sure the full impact of
this
h
as hit her yet. 
I'm afraid of how she will cope when it does
. 
So remember what I said, go gently.  Be
extremely
patient with her
, even on
the
simple
st of
things
. 
She may not be in a clear state of mind for quite a while. 
She absolutely should not try to get up and walk around on her own. 
I left her
sitting
on the sofa
by
the window.
"

In his worry, Vin
did
not notice the bundle
of towels
that Ben and Salma carried away.

It was Salma's own experience that gave her such a keen understanding of what C
a
eli was feeling
and the ability to provide Vin with the proper instruction
on how best to
help
C
a
eli
.  S
alma
never told anyone, not even her father, but she once lost a baby of her own
.  The physical circumstances of Salma's loss were surprisingly
similar to C
a
eli's own, though the situation
was
much different. 

S
alma
met a
fascinating young man
when she was in college
,
though
t
he
ir
romance
was
short-lived
, and t
hey parted as friends.  The memento of that brief fling
revealed
itself
a
little over a
month afterward. 
By then,
the baby's father
had
already
transferred to
a
college in another state
. 
Salma decided to have the baby and raise it herself. 
She even found herself looking forward to the unplanned
development
in her life.

Unfortunately,
Salma
was mugged
during the second month of her pregnancy
.  She was
on her way home from a late study session
and
took a
n
often-used
shortcut
. 
A man jumped out from behind a dumpster and grabbed her. 
S
alma
was
badly b
eaten and left, near death, beneath a cardboard box.

Thankfully, the
all
e
y
was
by
the campus library
.  When
Salma
wasn't home the next morning
, her
roommate
went looking for her
bright and early
.  She found Salma very near
dea
th.
  Salma woke up in the hospital three days later with a broken wrist, several bruises, and no longer pregnant. 

The incident completely changed her life.  That was when the empathetic portion of her gift gai
ned most of its strength.  It was
what made her such a good doctor now.  It was how Salma
could relate to
exactly what C
a
eli was feeling, physically and emotionally.  Salma only wished that C
a
eli had not
been made to
suffer such an unkind fate.  Thankfully, C
a
eli would have Vin to help her through the worst of it.  Salma had been alone at school at the time.

Vin took a deep breath to steady his nerves and went inside, closing and locking the door behind him.  He did not want any interruptions.  He wanted to be alone with his wife.  Vin looked to the left, expecting to see C
a
eli on the sofa,
but she was
n
'
t there.  He
glanced
at the bed.  It was empty except for a large, red bloodstain on the sheets.  Tears, alrea
dy in his eyes, overflowed
at the sight
. 
Vin walked over and lifted the towel from the screen of the ultrasound machine
to see t
he
blurry
image.  Vin stared at it for several moments.  There was something odd about the way it
appeared
, but
Vin
wasn't exactly sure how it was supposed to look. 
He was
still
having trouble comprehending the loss of his child on the same day he
learned
he
w
as going to
be
a father. 

He and C
a
eli
had n
ot want
ed
to have kids when they first married.  They wanted to spend time sharing their lives together before deciding if they w
anted
to be parents.  It was only in the last few years that they agreed it was time to let nature decide about children.  They were ready and willing to be parents.  If it was meant to be, then they would let it happen. 
Vin put his hand to his chest, suddenly racked by
a
s
trong and unfamiliar
pain
.  If he was
hurting
this bad, he could
n
o
t even begin to imagine how
much
grief and pain
C
a
eli must be
suffering
. 
This was in addition to everything she had already been through in the last few days
.

Vin
noticed
something else as he looked at the screen; something
unusual
.  He couldn't quite put his finger on it and did
n
o
t want to dwell on it
any further
just then
.  He needed to find C
a
eli.  Vin re
placed
the towel and walked away.  He moved slowly through the room, searching for
C
a
eli
.  She was neither in the main room nor out on the
back
porch. 
But, as he walked by the
open
bath
room
door
,
Vin
heard water running
in the shower
and
turned
in that direction. 
W
ater was splashing o
nto
the
floor
, but Vin still did not see
C
a
eli
.

"
C
a
eli?
"
  Vin called to her in a quiet voice. 

She did
n
o
t answer.  He walked up to
the shower and looked inside.

The shower was a large, rectangular, one piece unit
without doors
. 
The
hanging curtain
that
covered
the front opening was
pushed
all the way over
toward the faucets to
Vin's
left.  There was a built-in seat directly beneath the faucets, but it was empty.

C
a
eli was huddled in the op
posite corner, wearing his
robe.  She had her knees draw
n
up with
her
arms wrapped around them, and she was crying.  The sound of the
water streaming
from above
hardly
disguised
her sobs.  The ice cold water pour
ed
down the back of her head as
she
kept her
f
ace
buried
i
n her arms. 
C
a
eli
did not look up when Vin spoke again. 

"
C
a
eli, give me your hand. 
Let's
get you out of there,
"
Vin offered gently.

"
Yes, stand up so he can see the marks of your disgrace.
"
  Rika's voice
sounded
cold and accusing
as s
he taunted C
a
eli.