wrath of the Sea Queen (88 page)

Vin
anticipated being
away
at the levee
all
morning.  Even though
C
a
eli
seemed to
improve considerably overnight, he knew from her previous episode that her condition could change on a dime; and it probably would when the medicine Salma gave her wore off.  He was not
deceived
by the temporary
re
duction
of
her symptoms
. 
Vin
wanted to
stay with her.

Yet, he
did
promise to help with the levee.  Vin
gave
his word.  Besides, he
reminded himself, he
would only be gone for a few hours.  Perhaps C
a
eli would
,
indeed,
sleep most of that time.  She certainly needed the rest.  Maybe she would be feeling better
when she woke
.  If
this
was
a bad case of
food poisoning,
which Vin seriously doubted,
Salma would take care of it. 
If it was a
nasty,
twenty four hour bug, then
C
a
eli might even be fine by the time he returned. 
Still
, no matter how he tried to justify it to himself, Vin
could not shake the feeling that
he was deserting
C
a
eli
when she needed him
most
. 

Moreover,
the
ir conversation
about
the events of
the day before
was still pending
.  Vin could not set aside that fact that there was
a lot he did not yet know and
something
specific
that C
a
eli needed to tell him.  It played on his mind, as did the memory of the tingling sensation he
encountered each time
he
ran
his
fingers across
her stomach. 
His
desire to have
an immediate
answer
reminded
Vin
of his
most obvious
shortcoming
.  In fact, if it had been anyone other than C
a
eli,
Vin
might already have
th
at
answer.  But,
he
could n
ever
be that way with her. 
Vin
reminded himself to be patient. 
C
a
eli
had been
in no condition for a lengthy or serious conversation last night.

Vin
finally got up
and
found his clean clothes and toiletries in a pile at the end of the couch with a note.  He looked over and saw Ben sitting at a counter drinking a cup of coffee and reading a newspaper.  Vin read the note in Salma's script, which told him to use the shower in their room so that he would not disturb C
a
eli.  After a few words with Ben, Vin
grabbed
his
clothes and went into the
other
bath
room
. 
He
brushed his teeth, shaved, and went through his morning routine as quickly and quietly as he could
,
omitt
ing
the workout he usually did each morning. 
He finished up t
hirty
minutes later and dressed in lightweight jeans and a pale blue, polo shirt.  The material of both pieces would not only help keep him cool while working in the
tropical climate
, but also protect his skin from
excessive
sun exposure, if the sun
should happen to
venture out from behind the
storm
clouds
today
.

Vin
returned to the lounge and
sat down in a chair
to
wa
i
t. 
He wanted to look in on C
a
eli before he left, but he knew that Salma would not permit it while she slept.  Instead, Vin used a trick the angels had taught him.  He closed his eyes and focused on his connection to C
a
eli.  He pulled on that connection and move
d
his mind into their room.  He could see C
a
eli as if he were s
tanding at the foot of the bed. 
To look at her,
C
a
eli
seemed fine. 
There was no obvious sign of the suffering she endured yesterday.  The only clue C
a
eli gave that something was wrong was the fact that she slep
t still
.  Most days, C
a
eli happily brought Vin a cup of coffee and a
kiss
when he wok
e
.  She always
w
o
ke before Vin
no matter how early he got up
.  He
was accustomed to waking up to her smile.  He missed that smile today.

Vin
tore himself away and returned his mind to the lounge.  He
got up and
poured himself a cup of coffee from the pot on the counter near Ben. 
Apela
joined them as Vin sat on the stool next to Ben,
and Salma
slipped out of Vin's room a few minutes later to update them on C
a
eli's condition
. 
She
relayed C
a
eli's
continued
improve
ment
.

"
I will keep an eye on her, Vin.  The
final
tests
should be
nearly
finished.  I
expect to
have s
ome definitive answers within a half
hour or so,
"
Salma stated. 

"
Thanks, Salma. 
I know s
he's still sleeping.  I
won't
wake her.  I'm sorry if I was a bit overbearing last night.  You know that I am grateful for everything
you do
.  Thank you for taking care of her.  You're a peach.
"
  Vin kissed Salma on the forehead, in gratitude, as Ben
looked over the top of the newspaper
.

"
Hey, what's this?
  Are you trying to hone in on my territory?
"
  Ben joked.

"
Never
;
I'm merely
offering
a token of appreciation,
"
Vin answered with a wink to Salma.  Salma
grabbed a cup of coffee,
kissed Ben
good morning, and returned to her post at C
a
eli's side
.

"
Well, then I suppose I owe your wife one as well.  Salma
came out for a while last night while C
a
eli was sleeping and
finally got me stitched up
;
but
,
after so much time
had
gone by
, she said the
handi
work C
a
eli
performed on me m
ade it almost unnecessary,
"
Ben explained.

"
How are you doing this morning?
"
  Vin inquired.

"
I may be moving a bit slow, but
I
could be a lot worse for having
had
a hun
k of metal pierce my lower back
less than twenty four hours ago
,
"
Ben replied earnestly.

"
I'm glad you're all right, Ben.  I wish I could say the same for C
a
eli.
"
  Vin's gaze
drifted toward
the closed door
of his room
.

"
Do you want to talk about it?
"
  Ben asked.

"
If you
two
want to wait
here
, I
wi
ll get us some breakfast before we leave,
"
Apela offered them a few minutes of privacy in which to talk.

"
Yes, let's do that,
"
Ben accepted
for himself and
Vin.  Apela walked off down the opposite hall.  Vin
got up from his stool and carried his coffee mug over
to
look
out
through one of the screen
ed windows
at the ocean tides not far away.