wrath of the Sea Queen (65 page)

"
Vin?
"
 
C
a
eli
looked over at him sitting on the edge of her chair once more.

"
If you go to the hospital to wait, then you won't have to move again if
you need to be
treat
ed
.  I can make sure that no one disturbs your rest."

"
Vin, I understand your concern, but now is not the time to increase her
tension
.  You know how much she hates being in the hospital.  There is not much they can do for her at the hospital that I can't do for her while we wait for the test results.  Let her have the hotel so that she can relax.  Can't you see how scared she is?
"  Salma kept the request strictly between her and Vin.

"
I can feel her concern, Salma.
It matches my own fear for her
.
  I only want what's best for her
.
"

"
That makes sense. 
I will go
, Vin
,"
C
a
eli
replied after considering the comment he
had
made out loud.

C
a
eli was doing her best not to be a burden, but both Vin and Salma insisted that her illness required
further
attention
.  C
a
eli could not deny it
. 
She
was as miserable as she could ever remember
. 
Still
,
more than anything else,
C
a
eli
was sure that
she
would
feel
better
if
she
could
just
get
some
sleep
.

"H
er symptoms
are most likely a
flu
that has gone untreated for too long, and the
stomach
pain is likely from her cut.  I need to look at it and
get that
patch
ed
up.  I can do that at the hotel.
"

The
combination of
medicine
s
Salma gave
C
a
eli
was a
comparatively
weak dose
due to her low tolerance to medications
, but it
w
ould reduce her fever
,
decrease
her
muscle
pain
, and make her sleepy
.

Unfortunately,
C
a
eli
was nauseous
again
and got sick five minutes later.  After a second wave of
stomach
pain
,
as intense as the first, she finally began to settle down. 
Once the
medicine
had been in
her system
for ten minutes
, C
a
eli
finally
appeared to be slightly more comfortable
.  It was
all
Salma could
offer without access to supplies that would
only
be
a
vailable
at a
medical facility
.  S
alma
tried to reassure Vin that C
a
eli would be all right
and did not need to go to the hospital right away
, determining that it would be better to wait and see how she responded to the medicine first.  Vin
pac
ed
with worry
until Salma finished
checking on
C
a
eli
, and then he was by
her
side again
.

Vin gave
C
a
eli
some more water to drink and replaced the cool washcloth on her neck.  Salma
not only
agree
d
, but insisted upon
e
xamin
ing
her
thoroughly
once they reached
their new destination
.
 
Vin sat with C
a
eli for the next ten minutes, making sure she was not g
etting any
worse.  When she seemed
relatively
stable,
Vin
left
C
a
eli
to rest while he crossed the room to talk to Ben and Salma.  Salma wanted to know the specific details of Vin's plan. 

"
Would you join me for a walk
, Auntie
?
"
  Vin
t
ried to lighten the mood in order
to help ease
his
tension.  He placed
Salma's
arm in his and escorted
her
toward the door
, turning back to wink conspiratorially at Ben
.  Vin knew Ben
would look after C
a
eli
while he
took Salma
downstairs to make the
remaining
arrangements
.

Vin and Salma
walked down the hall to the elevator.  When it arrived, they stepped inside the empty unit and waited patiently as it carried them down to the ground floor.  They walked across the large, grandly decorated lobby
, noting
the extravagance of the setting.  The furnishings included plush red and gold sofas, several leather armchairs, and a scattering of coffee tables covered with newspapers and magazines.  The floor was white granite tile with twelve feet square area rugs placed strategically to designate separate areas without using physical boundaries.  The
conference committee chose
a luxurious venue.
 
What
a shame that the beautiful views were being blocked as the windows were boarded in preparation for the massive storm that was forecast to hit the island in the next few days.

As they walked, Vin explained to Salma that he wanted her to get them checked out without letting anyone
other than the reception clerk
know they were leaving.  He wanted her to keep one room key
for them
to use until they left,
which they would place in the night drop
box on their way out. 
Vin had no intentions for any of them to return to the rooms once they departed. 
If asked, she
would
say the reason for their departure was to accept an offer to stay with friends.  Since the
conference
was sponsoring he
r
room
s
, Salma would ask them to hold the invoice until the end of the
week.  S
ince she wo
uld
still
be
presenting at
the conference
, nobody would know that she
left
the hotel until
Friday evening.
  Vin hope
d
that would be enough to mislead anyone making casual inquiries.

Salma walked up to the counter, alone, to
handle their departure details
.  The clerk confirmed her information, made notes in the computer, and thanked her for letting them know the situation.  They invited her to keep the room keys.  They said they could not release the room, and that perhaps she might want to freshen up while attending conference events.  Salma thanked the helpful clerk and returned to the elevator, which she then rode up to the correct floor.

Vin, in the meantime, went
off in another direction to rent a car.  He found an ATM along the way and made several transactions, pulling out as much cash as he could from
their
bank account.  He wanted to make sure that his movements from this point
forward
could not be traced electronic
ally
.  Vin continued on to the other end of the lobby where two car rental kiosks could be seen.  There
, he
also
located
a
local
information booth
which he
headed for first.  He inquired about the plane crash and the location of the center where the survivors had been taken.  It turned out to be an arena only six miles up the road.  Vin thanked his good fortune as he stood waiting
impatiently
in a rather long line at one of the car rental agencies.  The intermittent rain
and impending storm were
apparently forcing people to drive rather than walk to their destinations tonight.

Almost as soon as Vin and Salma left the room, C
a
eli jumped up from the chair and
stumbled
into the
bath
room, closing the door behind her.  Ben could hear that she was sick again.  The water in the sink ran for several minutes
afterward
. 
When she still hadn't come out after ten minutes
, Ben
considered
getting up to check on her
.  As he
prepared to do so
, she finally returned.  C
a
eli actually looked like she might be feeling a little better, but she
kept her
arm
pressed
across her stomach and lean
ed
heavily against the wall to steady hers
elf. 
Though s
he obviously wasn't well, the medicine must be providing
her with
some relief.