wrath of the Sea Queen (103 page)

Ben
, as usual, came up with an impromptu solution
, doing the only thing that he could imagine if this were Salma in
C
a
eli
's situation
.  He reached over and pulled C
a
eli into his arms, hugging her close
.  He held her tightly until she began to settle down
. 

"
C
a
eli,
listen to me.  I talked to
Vin
on the
phone,
"
Ben's stern voice got through to her.

"You did?  Is he all right?  What did he say?"

"
First and foremost,
Vin
said
that
you needed to rest.  Then Vin also said
I should
give you a hug
on his behalf
.
 
There now. 
Vin
is fine. 
He
will be back soon. 
Now, mind you,
I'm
only
filling in
for Vin until then
,
so
don't go getting any fancy ideas.  My heart still belongs to your
A
unt
Salma
.
"
Ben held onto C
a
eli as he
r
efforts
to get
up
subside
d
and her panic diminished
.

After
a few moments longer
, C
a
eli
finally
calm
ed
down.  Ben didn't know if it was
his repeated
use
of Vin
's name
or just the fact that C
a
eli was too weak to continue struggling, but the ploy worked.  Ben held her for several minutes to ensure that she w
ould remain
calm, and then laid her back onto the pillows. 
C
a
eli
let herself
settle
into the covers
.  She
was
too
tired
to argue the matter
any
further
.  At least Vin was sa
fe, and he sent her a hug.  That was
exactly
the sort of thing
Vin
would do.  C
a
eli
gave in to the pull of the darkness
and slept
again.

"
V
ery clever.  You never cease to amaze me,
Ben
,
"
Salma
whispered
after watching him handle the situation.

"
It's good to know I haven't bored you yet, Love.  I'm g
lad
I could help,
"
Ben winked at her.

"Would you
do me a favor
?  Could you
get my
medical
bag
from
our
closet
,
please
?
 
And maybe you better see if you can call Vin.  She is going to be very upset if she finds out that you lied to her."

"
It might not be a
lie
.  I simply haven't spoken to Vin to find out if it's true. 
Besides, i
t
'
s
what she needed to hear
.  C
a
eli will forgive me, and Vin should be returning soon."

"Well,
I'm going to get her into some dry clothes
while you step out.  The last thing she needs is to catch a cold on top of everything else
," Salma
said
.

After Ben left, Salma walked over and pulled the curtain across the back entrance and closed the front door.  Picking up C
a
eli's robe from where she left it earlier, Salma redressed C
a
eli
with the practiced efficiency
of
her
profession
, leaving the arm with the IV out of the robe.  She placed two pillows under C
a
eli's head and pulled the sheets up to cover her
lightly shivering body
.  B
efore
Ben returned, Salma
had
finished and s
at pensively
in
the
chair beside the bed.

As Ben stepped into the hall, he
heard
Apela talking t
o Max in the lounge.
 

"I thought I told you not to bother her," Apela was saying as Ben walked up.

"But Papa, I
only
took her a flower to make her feel better.  She said it was pretty, but then she was
all red
-faced.  Uncle Michael said…," Max protested.

"Michael was here?"

"Yes Papa, but then
the
S
ea
Q
ueen took over. 
She
i
s not
so
tough. 
Uncle Michael made her go away.  Pretty C
a
eli came
back and asked me to get help.  Mr. Ben went to help her."
  Max was fidgeting as if he was in trouble.

"What's going on
around here
?"  Apela
asked
as
he noticed
Ben
.  He
had been
trying to
determine
the current situation
from Max
for the last ten minutes
.

Ben explained about C
a
eli and asked what brought
Apela
back from the levee earl
ier than expected
. 
And, more importantly, why wasn't Vin with him? 
Apela
, in turn,
r
elated the details of
the
explosions
at the levee
and told Ben
of the dangerous rescue and
why Vin
had
stayed
behind
.

"We thought we were going to lose them both.  Somehow, Vin hung on until the sea finally spit them out
further down the beach
. 
Colonel Franks
and a few of his men showed up to investigate.  Vin
wanted to return
right away and check on his wife, but I
convinced
him to
stay
.  He only agreed if I promised to have you or C
a
eli call him
right away
.  I gave him my cell phone since
he
lost
his
in the ocean
during the rescue effort
.
"

"It has certainly been an
eventful
morning.  Did Colonel Franks have any idea what caused the explosions?"  Ben asked as he rubbed his chin.

"No.  His first
notion
was that
the conference
protestor
s
might be responsible
, but he couldn't figure out why they would want to blow up the levee
,
unless it was an attempt to get the conference cancelled. 
The
C
olonel
had
only
just
beg
un
his investigation when I left.  He may find an entirely different cause
by the time he's done
."

"I see.  Well, you better let me call Vin then.  C
a
eli is in no shape to talk to him right now," Ben said.

"Is she all right?  Max
told
me that she
was
sick
again
."

"I think she
wi
ll be
better
soon
," Ben replied
.

He spoke with Apela for a
few
minutes
longer
before
dial
ing
the
phone
number Apela
provided
.
  Ben
stepped further
into the lounge to talk to Vin privately.  Apela took Max down the hall
to
play in
his room.

Vin was beside himself with worry once
again when
Ben related what happened
to C
a
eli
, though he
gave
Ben credit for
his quick thinking and a
ssured
him
that he had not lied to C
a
eli.  Vin
was
more
determined
than before
to
leave the levee and
return to the hotel
immediately, but Ben dissuaded him
this time
.  Ben
told
Vin
that his decision to stay
and help
had been
a
good
one
and
,
had he been in a better physical shape to do so, he would be at the levee helping himself.  Meanwhile,
C
a
eli was resting
, and there was nothing Vin could do for her
.  She would probably be out for several hours
yet and likely not
even know
if
Vin
returned
.