wrath of the Sea Queen (261 page)

"
You look
lovely
; almost good enough to eat
,
"
Vin winked.

"
Thank
you
, but I'm still not going.  I agreed to go to the awards ceremony
out of respect for
Salma, but I do
n
o
t want to go
out
tonight
.  Please try to understand
, Vin
,
"
C
a
eli answered.

"
I do understand, but
I wish you
woul
d change your mind.  Ben and I
heard about
this great place.  I would really like to take you.  It will be good for you to get out and enjoy a normal evening.  What can I say to convince you?
"

Vin could tell that
her mind was made up
.  Last night
,
after the party, when Vin first mentioned it, C
a
eli said that all she wanted
to do
was go home.  She had enough vacation to last
a lifetime
. 
C
a
eli
was still
suffering
deeply
. 

"
Vin,
I'm
very
sorry. 
I appreciate what you're trying to do, but
I
just
don't feel like it.  I know it's
almost
the
end of
vacation, but I'
ve had enough
.  Why don't you go along with Ben and Salma?  I
wi
ll
stay
in and watch TV or something.
"

"
Not a chance.  I won't
leave you alone, and I won't
be a third wheel if you aren't going.  But, I'm
also
not giving up
on this
.  You haven't had one good day since you've been here, and I want to do this for you.  Eventually, you aren't going to be able to resist m
e
.  Y
ou
wi
ll have to say yes,
"
Vin walked over and
spun her around playfully
.

"
You may be irresistible, but your
dinner
invitation is not. 
You'
re
wasting your breath
,
"
C
a
eli answered.

"
Well, it's my breath to waste
.
  I'm not giving up.
"

C
a
eli
appreciated
Vin
's attempt to cheer her up
, but could
n
o
t bring herself to go out to a crowded restaurant with people
all around
. 
The
mere
idea of a room full of strangers made her nervous.  She did
n
o
t want to feel like this, but after all that
had
happened, she didn't know whe
n or from whe
re the next
threat might materialize. 
Her
raw
nerves
couldn't
handle such stress
. 
C
a
eli wanted
p
rivacy
; she wanted solitude.
  She wanted to be alone with her thoughts, though Vin wouldn't hear of it.  At the very least, she
would have
his
near-
constant company.  That was more than enough for her. 
In fact, if she could have found a viable reason for skipping Salma's banquet,
C
a
eli
would
n
o
t
even
be going out right now
.  However
, she owed Salma the courtesy of attending.

"
Let's
go.  We don't want to make Salma late for her ceremony,
"
C
a
eli said, leading Vin out of their room.

The awards ceremony was held in the grand ballroom of the hotel
where
the
conference
guests
had been
relocated
after the fire.  The place was enormous and lavishly decorated.  The front half of the room
contained
the stage and dinner tables, while the back was an open dance floor with a band off to one side.  It reminded C
a
eli of a mansion in one of those
old,
black-n-white movies
.

Salma received her award to the resounding applause of nearly
five
hundred of her medical colleagues and
four
members of her family sitting at the front table where she could see them.  Ben stood up and applauded the loudest of everyone present.  The pride and love in his eyes was unmistakable.  Salma gave a quick speech, thanking those who
supported
her
, but then did something nobody
expect
ed
.

"
I can stand up here and thank
a lot of
people for this recognition, but I wouldn't be standing up here at all if it weren't for one person who literally gave me a bit of herself
in order
to make this possible.  Without the knowledge I gained f
rom studying her blood, none of
my work would have been possible.  Without her, the people who will benefit from my work would otherwise continue to suffer.  I
woul
d like to ask you to join me in thanking her.  She is sitting up front and, if you help me, maybe we can get her to stand up and be recognized for her part in this as well.  Thank you, C
a
eli Harding.
"

A spotlight suddenly beamed directly onto C
a
eli as she sat between Vin and Ben at the table
. 
Surrounding her in the remaining seats at
the table w
ere
Apela, Max, Maku, and Jeremy, whom Salma
had
invited to join them. 
Each of them now looked at her. 
C
a
eli was startled at the announcement and sat unmoving as the room burst into another round of applause.

"
Please, stand up, C
a
eli,
"
Ben whispered to her.

Hesitantly, she complied.  This time, it was Vin who applauded loudly.

C
a
eli sat down as quickly as she could
without being rude
,
greatly
relieved when the spotlight finally went
dark
.  C
a
eli
never
wanted Salma to tell anyone that she
was
the
anonymous blood donor.  She certainly did
n
o
t
want
hundreds
of strangers
knowing who she was and
giving her credit for a
simple
trait of birth
that she had no control over
.  C
a
eli found nothing remarkable in
the act of
donating her blood, but was seriously considering not doing it again if this was
going to be
the result. 

She
squirmed under the scrutiny of
the unwanted attention.
  To her surprise, her hands were trembling as she kept them hidden in her lap.  C
a
eli was suddenly
very
uncomfortable in the crowded room. 
Her back was to the door and there were
rows of
tables
and hundreds of
people between her and the
distant
exit. 
She felt exposed. 
C
a
eli
barely resisted the
strong urge to get up and run from the room. 
She
had no idea why she was
so
scared all of
a
sudden. 

In the next moment, a warm breeze surrounded her and
Vin's hand
gently squeez
ed
hers
support
ively
.

"What's wrong?  You're shaking like a leaf and look like you're going to be sick," he leaned close and whispered.

"I'm ready to leave now
,
please
," C
a
eli replied quietly.

She and Vin excused themselves
as soon as
Salma returned to the table.  They called for a taxi to take them back to the hotel.  Everyone else would be staying for a while
or
heading o
ut
on other tasks
.  Ben wanted to dance with Salma and
celebrate
the
rest of their
afternoon
in the grandeur of the hotel
.  Apela and Max were going to run errands. 
Jeremy was going to tag along with
Maku
to help
set up for the festival conclusion later that evening
, provided the rain continued to hold off
.  Vin and C
a
eli would have several hours to themselves
.