wrath of the Sea Queen (189 page)

"
Please l
et me
get you something else if you don't like the soup.  You really need to eat
.  How about something simple,
maybe some
toast?
"
Vin offered.

"No thanks.  Tell Ben his soup was
good
.  I'm
just
not hungry."

"Then perhaps a glass of milk or juice?  You need something to help you
regain
your strength," Vin insisted.

"
Honestly
, Vin, I can't.  My stomach is already turning flips at the
mere
thought of it.  It was all I could do to get the soup down."

It was then that
C
a
eli spotted the picture frame
on the bedside table
.  Vin explained about Max's rescue attempt and their subsequent
meal
.  Vin repeated Max
's story
about his third birthday and his mother, and how Max insisted that Vin bring her the photo to make her smile.  C
a
eli was moved by the boy's concern for her.

"
He probably blames himself. 
I should really go see him,
"
C
a
eli said, but made no attempt to get up.
  Her mood continued to spiral downward.  Her emotional depression
began
to
produce
physical signs.

"
No
t now.  Y
ou
go ahead and
rest.  I
have already
talked to
Max
.  He is
handling the situation
very
well
. 
He understands
more than most kids his age
. 
If you're feeling up for it
later
, perhaps I
wi
ll
bring
him
in
for a
brief
visit before dinner.  How's that sound?
"

"
Agreeable. 
Be
fore I fall asleep again, will you please tell me what Salma found?  She insisted that I
had to
stay in bed
for
a while
.  Neither one of you will let me
move
on my own
. 
Granted, I'm not planning to run in a marathon, but not being able to walk a
round
is ridiculous. 
Salma was so serious
, and I have been imagining terrible things; but y
ou said it would cheer me up
.
  I could really use that.
 
Besides
,
I
can't
stand
not knowing.
 
The stress of it
i
s fraying my nerves.  Please
, Vin,
tell me what's
wrong with me
this time
,
"
C
a
eli looked over at Vin, who returned all of the dishes to the serving tray and t
ook
up her hands once again.

He didn't answer her
question
right away. 
Instead,
Vin leaned in and
kissed her
to
beg
i
n th
e
conversation
on a different note.

"
Ben said you mentioned
something about our
son
when you were
talking in your
sleep
.  Did you know
the baby
was a boy?
  Is that why you chose baby blue colors
for your clothes?
"

"
Yes.
"

C
a
eli dared to look into Vin's eyes.  She did not see the blame or anger that Rika trie
d to convince her Vin would harbor
.  All she saw was love.  How could she ever have let herself believe Rika's lies?
  Even Max
, a mere child,
had known better than to listen to Rika.

"Did you know
t
h
at he
was sick
? 
He was p
oisoned
,
the same as
you
.
"

"No
,
but
that's not why this happened.  Salma said it was stress and
my
injuries t
hat triggered the miscarriage;
but
those were caused by another source. 
I
would have done anything
or given anything to save him
, Vin.
 
God knows I would
; I tried
. 
I
a
m
so
sorry
that I couldn't
.
"

"I know
you would
, and
I know you tried
.  Don't apologize. 
I
just
wanted to make sure that you understood
that the poison reached him
, too
.
  Whatever harms you also harms the baby.
"

"
I
do understand
. 
When I got on the plane Sunday,
I had already taken
one of those
drug
store test
s
.  I
was so excited.  I
just knew that
I was pregnant
.  Unfortunately,
the
test
results were
un
clear
. 
S
o S
alma was going to confirm it before you arrived.  But, t
hen, what
I
thought was morning sickness
got
much worse
.
"

"I suspected the morning sickness," Vin smiled.

"I assumed as much, but I still wanted to surprise you.
"

"You succeeded."

"
B
y the time we reached the arena, I was no longer
c
onfident
about the
pregnan
cy
.  I certainly
didn't think my problem was as serious as it turned out to be. 
After you told me about the poison
,
I
was terrified for
the
baby
.  He was getting his
nourishment
from me, and I
had been
feeding him poison
.  Salma
told me earlier
that I would be fine, but
wanted to wait until you got back
from the hospital so she could
tell us
both
the
details
.  When she didn't mention the baby, I got scared.  I worried all day
," C
a
eli confessed, taking full responsibility for her consumption of the
tainted
bars.

"
I'm sorry.  I wish I had known.  Why didn't you say anything
to me then
?"

"I
intended to tell you that night, but then I got distracted with worry for Lara.  After that, I took another store-bought test and got confirmation from Salma's lab work. 
It all happened so fast.  I
was excited once again.
  But,
now
I've had time to stop and think about
everything that has happened since then. 
I'm starting to sort it
all
out.  I'm even beginning to accept the loss of our baby."

"Try not to think about that right now.  I want you to focus on the fact that
the baby gets it strength and its health directly from you
. 
If you
a
re healthy, he
i
s healthy.  When you
a
re happy, he can feel that as well. 
He also feels the stress that you feel. 
Keep that in mind when I show you this." 
Vin
smiled as he
reached over and retrieved the ultrasound photo from the bedside table
where Salma
had
placed it
.  He
handed
the image
to C
a
eli. 

"
What do you see?
"
  Vin asked
, still smiling
.

"
A blurry picture of the ba
by, but it looks…I don't know, like the camera was shaking
.
"
 
C
a
eli
started to hand it back, unwilling to look at it any longer.  Vin
held
the photo in front of her.