wrath of the Sea Queen (116 page)

"
Why
a
re you afraid of Vin
?  What
is it that you
don't
l
ike about him
?
"  C
a
eli was curious about Rika's
motive
.

"
On the contrary, I like him very much.  But, as your aunt pointed out, he distracts you.  Until you give my offer appropriate consideration, the fewer distractions you have, the better.
"

"
And you believe you can force my compliance to that extent?
"

C
a
eli
w
alked over to the sliding door and opened it.  The rain outside now pound
ed
against the sand.  The loud crash of the waves against the shore carried the sounds of violence along the beach.

"
I already have
.  I am merely maintaining it now
.
"  Rika was confident of her control o
ver
the situation.

"C
a
eli, where are you going?  Stop!  What are you doing?"

"It's all right, Salma.  I will only be a minute," C
a
eli glanced over her shoulder at Salma before stepping out into the rain.  She quickly trotted down to the water's edge where the water lapped up to her knees.

"
I don't believe you can do that,
Rika
, and
I
a
m calling your bluff
.  If you can start the rain that is keeping Vin at the hospital, then I can stop it and
allow
him
to
return.
"

"
Well
,
well, look at
you
.  You do have some spirit in you
.  Go ahead
.  Tr
y
if you must
.  I will relish your failure.  It will bring you another step closer to
understanding your limits and
accepting my offer,
" Rika taunted.

"Ben!"  Salma
called as she
rushed over to the interior door and looked
down the hall, searching
for her husband.  She
found
him talking to Apela near the small reception desk
in
front of the lounge
.  He turned at the sound of Salma's voice.

"Ben, come quick.  C
a
eli
i
s behaving very strangely."

"What do you mean?"  Ben asked as he
followed Salma into the room.

Apela trailed a few steps behind.  None of the three
paid any attention to
Max
as he
walk
ed
away
by himself. 
Ben stood at the sliding door
,
watching C
a
eli
from a distance
.  She merely st
ood
unmoving
in the water.  After hearing Salma's description of C
a
eli's behavior
,
Ben could not decide if he should go after her.

"
What is she doing?"  Apela asked from behind Ben.

"I have no idea.  Let's give her a minute before we interrupt.  I want to see what happens…"

"Max!
  Come back here!"  Apela pushed his way
around
Ben as he caught sight of Max
,
who was already halfway down the beach
,
running headlong toward C
a
eli.

The backup generator restored emergency power to the hospital within minutes of the initial failure.  Vin noted the changeover with a passing interest, not giv
ing
it much thought.  His mind was occupied with other matters.  Specifically, he was trying to make sense of the thread of conversation that he overhead between C
a
eli and this
unknown
lady.  It was very unsettling.  He reviewed the words they exchanged while wait
ing
for someone to take him for the test
s
the doctor ordered.

"Nurse, please get the patient in exam two prepped and up to radiology.  I've written orders for imaging to check for internal bleeding."  Dr. Simmons handed the chart to the lady in
green
scrubs waiting at the nurses' station in the emergency room.

"Sure, Doctor."

She took the chart in hand and began to walk
toward
the second exam room as she thumbed through the file.

"Vin Harding?"  Lorrie
's surprise registered as she
read the name out loud
and
approached the exam room door.

The door was cracked
open
about two inches, and Lorrie peeked quietly inside.  Vin st
ood
with his back to the door
,
looking at a chart on the wall.  The way he drumm
ed
his fingers against his left thigh made it obvious that he was impatient to be on his way.
  Lorrie surmised that C
a
eli's
illness
had something to do with that. 
Based on what she
witnessed
at the arena, Lorrie guessed that
C
a
eli should be reaching the worst of her symptoms
by
now, and it must be tearing Vin up not to be with her.

"Well, let's see if I can drag this out a little longer
and have
some
fun with him
," Lorrie said to herself.

She grabbed a wheelchair from outside the next
room
and entered Vin's room boldly, careful to keep her face turned away so that Vin would not get a good look at her.

"Mr. Harding, they are ready for you in radiology.  If you would take off your shirt and put on this hospital gown, then I will get you up there straight away."

"Fine."  Vin changed
clothes
, but kept his shirt firmly in hand.  He was not about to leave anything behind.

"And any jewelry you have on.  I
wi
ll need your wedding ring, Mr. Harding," Lorrie added to see if he would comply.

"No."

"Sir, it
i
s hospital policy to collect…"

"No.  You can either run the test as I am or not
at all
.  Frankly, I don't much care either way.  I am
not removing my wedding ring."

That was the final straw for Vin.  From his time around Salma, Vin knew that
unless the metal was blocking a crucial x-ray,
the only
other
machine that required removal of metal objects was the MRI, and that was not the scan Dr. Simmons ordered.  Vin did not care what the hospital policy stated, nothing short of his death would get his wedding
band
off his finger.

"All right
;
t
here's no need to get upset.  We can't force you to take it off.  I will make a note in your chart.  There you go
; a
ll
done."  Lorrie scribbled a few words at the bottom of a page in the front of the chart.  Vin could not see what she wrote.

"Now,
would
you would be so kind as to have a seat
,
or are you going to fight me on this, too?"  Lorrie asked.

"No, I understand this
rule
, and I know that yo
u will get in trouble if I walk,
"
Vin willingly climbed into the wheelchair.

"Thank you, Mr. Harding."

Vin looked out th
rough th
e
glass
as Lorrie wheeled him
much too
slowly
along the
windowed
hall.  It was as dark as midnight outside, and the rain pound
ed
against the glass with such force that
the panes
shuttered.  In the distance, Vin thought he could faintly hear the call of sirens being carried by the strong wind.

"That's quite a storm.  Are you sure we
a
re safe here?"  Vin asked casually.

"The hospital and all the businesses on this part of the island are already under lockdown.  They will evacuate us if it gets much worse, but only as a last resort.  They don't like to move patients unless they are absolutely certain that the storm is going to cause significant damage.  Typically, we just move to the storm shelter in the center of the building and wait it out," Lorrie replied.

"Lockdown?  When did that happen?  I was told I could leave after the tests were finished."

"I'm afraid not,
"
Lorrie smirked.

"What about the rest of the island?  Is the entire island getting hit like this?"  Vin worried about C
a
eli
and everyone else
at
Apela's hotel.  Surely Apela would take them a
ll
to shelter if the situation called for it.

"I don't know.  Since the power went out, we have not had any news reports to get an update on weather conditions
elsewhere
."