wrath of the Sea Queen (181 page)

"
Thanks, Vin
."
  She received his special smile in response; the one he wore only for her.

"
Do you want me to leave the room?
" 
Ben asked.

Vin looked at C
a
eli,
who
shook her head no before closing her eyes.  Only
her stomach would be exposed, and nothing more than if she were wearing a swimsuit. 
Ben and Salma were their closest family.  The
four of them
had been through a lot together.  So Ben stayed, although he did
move
far enough away to allow a modicum of privacy.

"
Salma, I'm not so sure that machine is working properly,
"
Vin said quietly as Salma started to work.

"
What
makes you think that
, Vin?
"

"
I glanced at the image on the screen last night.  Aside from being a little blurry, something about it didn't look…
"
  Vin found that he could not finish the sentence.  He choked on the emotion that suddenly welled up
into
a knot in his throat.  Hearing the pain in his voice, C
a
eli reached out and took his hand, but
did not open her eyes
.  Salma explained
to Vin
that sometimes the image
quality
improved
when
printed, especially on
these
older machines.  She asked Ben to press the print button an
d then reset the unit.  Ben placed
the printed image on top of the machine as Vin walked off toward the bathroom to get a towel for Salma to use and to regain his composure.

As
Vin
walked away, a light breeze sent the photo wafting down to land on C
a
eli's stomach.  Salma picked it up and turned it around so she could look at it.  She stared at it for several minutes.  There was definitely something unusual about the image.  Then Salma gasped as she realized what she was looking at and what it meant. 
It
couldn't be. 
It should
n
o
t
be
p
ossible
.  Nonetheless, the picture didn't lie.  Instead, it
defied normal
medical
explanation. 
Then again,
C
a
eli
,
herself, was anything but normal. 
Silent t
ears rolled down Salma's cheeks as she understood the implications.  Ben's hands
came to rest
on her shoulders as he leaned over to look at the photo with her.

"
Salma,
Love,
what's wrong?  Do you see something on the
image
?
"
  Ben whispered in her ear, so C
a
eli would not hear.

"
Yes, but wait a moment.  I need Vin
to hear it
.
"

Vin returned a few minutes later, carrying a towel. 

"
Oh, Vin
,
I
don't need that
towel
.  Ben, could you roll th
e
machine away
please
?  We won't need it either.
"

"
What is it, Salma? 
Do you know what's wrong
with C
a
eli
?
"
  Vin asked softly,
al
so
not wanting to disturb
C
a
eli, who appeared to be sleeping again.

"
Actually, you
found
it.  You just didn't know what
you were seeing
.  It took me a minute to
recognize
it
and another
before I
believe
d
it
.  I
t should
n
o
t be possible
.  But, yes, I understand what's going on with C
a
eli and this picture.
"

"
What's the bad news
?
  Though, I'm not sure we can take any m
ore
.
"
  Vin held his breath, hoping it was something he could
deal with
and help C
a
eli through
.

"
Sit down beside C
a
eli and take her hand.  Let her know that you are beside her in case she can hear
us
.
"

Vin was
even more
scared now, for both of them, but he gladly held C
a
eli
's hand
. 
Salma turned the photo around so that Vin could see
the image
. 

"
L
ook closely.  What you are seeing is
not a blurry image
.  It i
s
one baby on top of
an
other.  You can barely see the second one, but it
i
s there.  C
a
eli was carrying twins. 
By some
mirac
le
of the way her womb was cut
or damaged
,
she only miscarried one of them. 
I don’t
know how it's possible,
Vin,
but
C
a
eli is still pregnant,
"
Salma explained.

Vin couldn't believe it
either
.  It was good news
,
though
Salma wasn't finished.

"But?"

"
Unfortunately, the
second
baby is going to be
very
high risk.  Listen to me, Vin.  You need to understand th
at t
here is a good chance that
C
a
eli
will lose th
e second child
, too
, and very soon
.
 
B
leeding is one of the first indicat
ions
of trouble.
"
  Salma stopped to giv
e Vin time to absorb the news.

His tears
were
already
spent
,
though
h
is emotions were all over the place. 
Vin
didn't say anything.  The wind in the room, however, picked up considerably.
  The chaotic
air currents
reflected his
feelings
.

"
There now,
Vin
.  Don't blow us all away.  That won't do her any good.
"
  Ben placed a firm hand on Vin's shoulder, and the strong wind returned to a soft, warm breeze. 

"
That's better.  Now, ease up on he
r
hand.
"

Vin
glanced down.  He
had not
realize
d
that he was
squeezing
C
a
eli
's hand
so ti
ghtly.  His knuckles were white
from the pressure of his grip
, though she didn't seem to notice.
 

"
I'm sorry, C
a
eli.
"
  Vin loosened his
grip
, but did not let go.  He sought that special connection to her
and
could not find it. 
C
a
eli
was no longer
simply
resting
.

"
Salma, she's out again.  What
do we do
now?
"
  Vin
asked
quietly.

"
I think she is
excessively
tired and
repeatedly losing consciousness
because she has lost so much blood recently.  Her body hasn't
been given
the time or
care needed
to replenish it
self
. 
The first thing w
e need to
address is her bleeding.  It's important that
she doesn't lose any more
blood
. 
C
a
eli
is
also
dehydrated.  She needs more fluids
and
needs to
build
up
her strength.  I believe
she
wants us to
think that she
i
s doing better, but her body is telling a different tale.
"