wrath of the Sea Queen (83 page)

Salma and Ben walked by in time to hear Max's question and understand Vin's reaction.

"
I
t's ok.  I
took care of it, Vin,
" Salma told him silently, watching Vin return unhappily to his vigil at the window
.

"
Max, what makes you think water will make C
a
eli feel better?
"
  Salma asked
, he
r own curiosity
arous
ed at the boy's uncanny insight.

"
Pretty C
a
eli is
a
S
ea
G
oddess. 
Didn't you see her eyes? 
Sea
G
oddesses need water. 
W
ater helps,
"
Max returned with conviction.  He honestly believed C
a
eli
to be
one of his fairy tale characters.  He
stubbornly
stomped his foot and refused to
admit
otherwise when Apela again tried to correct him.

"
Well, it doesn't hurt to let him think that, does it?
"
  Ben asked, feeling bad that Max's well intended offer met
with
such harsh rejection.

"
I suppose not,
"
Apela conceded.

"
Max, it is very nice that you want to help C
a
eli, but she is very sick. 
I don't think a glass of water is going to fix her
this time
. 
I
a
m going to check her blood
so that we can
find out what is making her sick.  Then we
wi
ll know how to make her better,
"
Salma explained, also taking pity on the boy's hurt feelings.

Max
intrigued
Salma
.  She asked Apela if
he
would
agree to let her test his and Max's blood while she was
testing
C
a
eli's
sample. 
She said
the request
was
simply
out of curiosity
about Max's ability
, but
Salma was
more than
curious about Max's unusual tendencies.  S
alma
wanted to know if it
might have
anything to do with his bloodline. 
However
, she could not explain that part of it to Apela.  S
alma
merely
explained
that she wa
nted to know
if
Max's
special
talent
c
ould
be detected
in his blood work.  Apela readily agreed.

Max, on the other hand, was hesitant.  He did not like the idea of having a needle stuck in his arm.  Salma promised him that it would not hurt more than a
tiny
pinch
and,
when
he was done, Max could watch
the machine
r
u
n the tests
as long as he promised not to touch it
.  Th
at
was enough of an enticement
to get
Max
to
agree.  Afterward, he compl
i
mented pretty Dr. Salma on how good of a doctor she was and how little of a pinch he
had
felt.

"
What was that really about?
"
  Ben asked when he and Salma
were alone
in their room
a
few minutes
later
.

"
I am curious about Max's heritage,
"
Salma whispered.

"
Salma, it's not polite to invade their privacy like that.  Don't you think you should
tell
Apela
what you are testing
first?
"

"
That's not what I mean, though I have wondered if Max is Apela's biological child or not. 
Max
doesn't look a
t all
like him.  No,
I
am
wondering
if Max
is carrying o
ne of the bloodlines.  His talent is ver
y strong for someone so young, so I suspect that it
must be
inherent rather than acquired.  However,
I don't think I should
tell Apela
un
til
I
have proof whether or not
Max is
gifted
by inheritance
,
"
Salma explained.

Ben agreed.  He helped Salma get
all of
the test
s
r
unning
in their own room
, and Max soon joined them to watch the process.
 
Nearly
forty minutes later
,
Salma was content that everything was working to her satisfaction
, and s
he left
Ben in charge of the equipment. 

"I need to get back to C
a
eli now.  If I don't, Vin's impatience will get the better of him, and he will go
sit with her
so that
she is not alone.
"  With a parting kiss from her husband, Salma
headed back to check on her niece.

Salma
returned to find C
a
eli sitting on the floor by the bathroom door.

"What are you doing?"

"I was hurting so bad that I felt sick again.  I couldn't find the trashcan.  And I'm so thirsty,"
C
a
eli explained
.  Salma had moved the trashcan away from the bed earlier and mistakenly left it across the room
, and Vin had not returned with
the promised
water.  C
a
eli had call
ed
both Vin and Salma for assistance. 
When neither answered, her
last resort
was to crawl
,
since she was not able to
walk
. 
C
a
eli
had
attempt
ed to reach
the
bath
room in between the waves of pain
racking her body
.  She had only
just made it to the
bathroom door
a minute before
Salma returned.

"
I distinctly remember telling y
ou not to get up for any reason," Salma chastised as she helped C
a
eli up and into the restroom.

"I didn't want to make a mess," C
a
eli offered as justification.

"
Bah,
poor excuse
!
  I said not to get up for any reason, and that's
exactly
what I meant."

"I'm sorry,
Salma, but you weren't here. 
Nobody answered when I called. 
I thought I could make it on my own
.
"
  The pain in C
a
eli's voice softened Salma's
next
words.

"
I didn't hear you call.  I
don't think
Vin
did either. 
H
e
would have been in here
in a heartbeat
if
he
h
ad
. 
The state you
a
re in, perhaps
you
only
thought you called
us
.
  Regardless, you should have stayed in bed.
 
I can tell you are going to be a difficult patient.  I shouldn't be surprised with as much influence as Vin has on you."
  Salma helped
C
a
eli
move into the bathroom.

"
Vin
says
his influence
is good for me
.  I
completely
agree
," C
a
eli tried to carry the banter, but could not muster enough energy to make it genuinely amusing.

Her stomach chose that moment to heave again,
though
it was painfully empty as she hung her head wearily over the commode.  The muscle spasms her body endured only caused C
a
eli more pain during this episode.  By the time it
ended
, she was sweating
again
and lightheaded.  C
a
eli could barely raise her head without assistance.