wrath of the Sea Queen (79 page)

"
What do you want me to do?
"
  Vin
readily
offered his assistance.

"
There's n
othing
for you to do
yet
, Vin
.  Be patient.
"

Vin, on more than one occasion,
openly admitted that patience was not one of his best qualities. 
Additionally, h
e was of the same opinion
as Salma
about taking C
a
eli to the hospital. 
That noted, Vin
knew that there was no better person to treat his wife than Salma. 
Salma was the only doctor that
both
C
a
eli
and Vin
trusted completely
. 
Right now, the location of that treatment did
n
o
t matter.  Vin watched
intently
as Salma began her exam.

"
C
a
eli,
look at me please
,
"
Salma
's
calm
voiced
prompted
.

A
nother voice chimed in
C
a
eli’s mind
, unheard by Vin or Salma
.

"
You will regret your choice once you realize what it has cost you.  Then you can suffer with the knowledge that you could have prevented it. 
All of this is
your fault.
"
  Rika's voice
held the fury of a storm unleashed.  She
was relentless in her accusations and assignment of guilt.

"
Go away!
"
  C
a
eli
,
un
aware
that she said it out loud, surpris
ed
both Vin and Salma.  Though her voice was weak, the intended vehemence
in
her words was clear.

"
Must be a bad dream,
"
Vin commented, knowing
C
a
eli's
words could not be meant for Salma.
  C
a
eli rarely spoke to anyone like that, much less her aunt.

"
She
is
not dreaming, Vin
.  She's awake
, but her mind is probably clouded. 
There is no telling what
C
a
eli is
seeing or hearing at the moment
. 
High fevers can cause hallucinations. 
C
a
eli,
o
pen your eyes for me.  Come on, I need you to talk to me,
Dear
.  Ah, there you are. 
That's better. 
C
a
eli, I need to take a look at your stomach.  You are going to have to move your arms away.  Can you do that now?
"
  Salma encouraged her.  Aside from opening her eyes, C
a
eli did
n
o
t move.  She look
ed
around as if to ensure that her surroundings were real.

"
C
a
eli, please
,
let Salma help you,
"
Vin interjected.

"Vin, did you hear her?
  It can't be true.  I have to tell you.
" 
C
a
eli
responded to the sound of his voice
, but she was upset
.

"Calm down, Honey. 
What's not true
?"  Vin tried to understand.
 

"
It's ok, Vin.  She needs a minute to shake off the aftereffects of the medicine. 
She probably doesn't know what she's saying. 
This is a process.  Let me work through it with her,
"
Salma re
plied
, keeping her voice soft.

"
Oh.  S
orry.
"
 
Vin
hung
his
head.  The last thing
he
wanted to do was cause delay in C
a
eli's treatment
.  While he was confident that he could protect her from most physical threats, this was
completely
out of his league.  Vin
greatly disliked feeling
useless.

"
It's ok, Vin. 
L
et me do this my way. 
C
a
eli
? 
C
a
eli
, look at me."  Her voice was calm and kind, but a bit more forceful this time.

C
a
eli
turned her head to face Salma.

"Salma, it still hurts."

"I know, Dear.  H
ow bad is the pain right now?
"

"
Bad,
"
C
a
eli whispered in a sleepy voice.

"
How bad
is it
?  C
a
eli, I know
this is difficult
, but you have to talk to me.  I
wi
ll make it easy for you.  On a scale of one to five, with five being the worst, how bad is it?
"

"
Five.
"

"
Is it as bad as it was when you were
at the arena
?
"
  Salma continued.

"
No.
"

"
Did the medicine that I gave you help at all?
"

"
It made me sleepy and
then
sick.
"

"
What was the medicine you gave her?
"
  Vin asked.

"
Vin, please…
"
  Salma admonished him again, quietly.  Each interruption broke the connection she was building with C
a
eli. 

"
Ok, C
a
eli.  Does it hurt all the way across your belly?
"

"
Yes.  No.
"

"
What do you mean?
"

"
The p
ain
started
on my left
. 
It
i
s worse in my
stomach
, but I hurt all over
.
"

"
That’s
good, C
a
eli.  I'm going to
rest
my hands on your stomach
now
.  Can you
slide
your arms
down far
enough to let me do that
?
"

"
Yes.
"
  C
a
eli very slowly turned onto her back, bringing her closer to Vin, who
sat
near her on the opposite
side of the bed. 

"
Vin?
"

"
I'm right here.
"
  Vin reached out and moved her sweat-drenched hair out of her face again.  C
a
eli
eased
one arm away from her stomach and reached for Vin's hand.  He held
her smaller
hand gently in his.  She was scared the pain would get worse and needed to feel the support Vin offered as Salma b
egan to examine her midsection. 
C
a
eli
flinched visibly at each of Salma's movements.

"
I'm a
lmost done
,
Dear
.  Now,
let's
try the other…Vin, stop helping.
"

Vin
had
reached out and tried to pull C
a
eli's other hand away.  She reflexively
jerked both
hand
s back
as another wave of pain coursed through her.
 
Salma noted that t
he medicine
appeared to be
wearing off too quickly
.
  That should
n
o
t be happening.  C
a
eli had a very low tolerance to medicine of any kind.  That last dose should have worked
much
better than this.