wrath of the Sea Queen (188 page)

"
I understand.
"
  Vin saw the look on C
a
eli's face change.  H
is question
hurt her feelings
,
and
he
immediately regrett
ed the
unintentional
accusation
it implied
.

C
a
eli looked ashamedly down at her hands
and
avoid
ed
looking directly at Vin.  This was yet another
f
ail
ure
on her part
. 
This trip had been full of them. 
C
a
eli found
herself
use
less
to everyone
,
even herself. 
She was weak and
n
ow
,
with her physical condition
up in the
air
again
, she
considered herself a
huge
burden
on Vin and everyone else
. 
An
ever-growing
guilt
gnawed
at her.

"
C
a
eli, look at me. 
I
'
m sorry
. 
That did not come out the way I
intended
. 
I
was
only
asking to make sure that they
had not done anything to you to
prevent you from calling.
 
I wanted to make sure that
they didn't hurt you.
"
  Vin reached out to push her hair out of her eyes so he could see her face.

"
They
weren't
interest
ed
in me. 
They only wanted Salma.
"
  C
a
eli was not finding comfort in Vin's
attempt to
backpedal
.

"
Good.  Then
let's
f
orget about
it for
now
."

"Vin, can we forget this whole trip?
  I
w
ant
to
go home
.  Can we
just
leave?
"

Vin read
the
seriousness in
the
look on her face.  She'd had enough.  He wanted nothing more than to grant her request, but he could
n
o
t.  Salma would never clear C
a
eli to fly. 
The weather would prevent it
even
if he should decide to disregard Salma's
advice
. 
Besides, C
a
eli had unfinished business
here
. 
Vin
would help her complete it before they left.  At the moment,
however,
he set all
of
these matters
aside. 
Vin wanted to cheer
C
a
eli
up and hoped the news he
was about to
share would accomplish that.

"
Honey,
I have something
to tell you.
"

C
a
eli didn't need an explanation for his quick avoidance of her question.  She understood that V
i
n could not take her home, as much as he might want to accommodate her.  C
a
eli knew she could not leave yet.

"I know."

"You do? 
Did Salma tell you?
"

"
No, she
refused to
say
.  She
told me
th
at
task was reserved for you, but she
did
share
a few poignant comments.
  I know it has to do with what's wrong with me.
"

"
I
'm glad she didn't tell you.  I wanted you to hear it from me
.  I
think it
is going to
make you feel better.
"

"
Really?
 
I would like that. 
What is it?"

"
How would you like to get off this floor first?
"

"Yes,
please
. 
W
ould you
mind
giv
ing
me a hand?
" 

"
I will give you two. 
You
wi
ll
have to endure me carrying you again
; d
octor's orders.  Otherwise, you stay right where you are.
"

C
a
eli looked up at him for a moment,
recalled
Salma's
instructions about bed rest
, and then agreed to Vin's terms.  After folding down the covers of the recently made bed, Vin lifted C
a
eli
as if
she was nothing more than a feather, and placed her in the center.  He put several pillows behind her so that she was propped up enough to eat.  Vin brought the serving tray
in from the hall
and sat it on the
bedside
table.  As Vin ladled some of the
still
warm broth into the small bowl
,
he explained how Ben made the special meal for her.  When the bowl was half full, Vin replaced the lid on serving
dish
, put a spoon in the soup bowl, and handed
it
to C
a
eli.

"You must be hungry.  I c
an't
remember when you last ate.  How long has it been?"

After calculating it in her head, C
a
eli reached the same conclusion as Vin. 
Her last meal or food of any kind was
dinner Monday night, but she was not hungry at all. 
J
ust
thinking about eating made
C
a
eli
feel
queasy.  However, she knew that Vin would not be happy if she
refused to
eat.  Ben would be insulted if she didn't at least taste
his soup, even though soup was not high on her list of favorite foods.

C
a
eli held onto the bowl with both hands.  It
seemed
unusually heavy.  After a moment, her arms began to shake
.  V
in took the bowl away,
realizing
that she was much weak
er than she
appeared
.  C
a
eli
, herself,
could not believe that she
had become
so feeble, and she did not like the feeling of helplessness.

"
Why don't I hang onto the bowl for you? 
I
will
bet good
money
that you
can still conquer the spoon,
"
Vin tried to
lighten her mood
.  He knew C
a
eli did
n
o
t like
be
ing
forced
to rely on other people to do things for her. 
Though this week was an extreme exception, C
a
eli was generally independent and
seldom
required
help
with normal tasks
. 

"
I learned a long time ago not to bet against you, Vin
," C
a
eli tried not to let her frustration show.

She
sipped
three or four
spoons
of the broth before she
gave up
and left the spoon in the bowl. 
She
simply
had no appetite
and could not force herself to eat any more.  D
espite Vin's encouragement
, she did not raise the spoon again
. 
Instead,
C
a
eli
slowly
leaned forward and kissed Vin before
slid
ing
down in the bed
,
s
uddenly
very
tired
again
.