wrath of the Sea Queen (5 page)

The airbag
had
deployed and was still inflated. 
Salma's head was lying against
it
, and she was not moving. 
A steady line of bright, red blood ran from a cut above her left eye and flowed down onto her cheek. 
Ben fumbled in his pocket for his utility knife and slit the tough fabric
of the airbag
to slowly release the air.  He
carefully held
Salma's
head while
it
deflated, and then gently eased her down onto the steering wheel.  He did not want to move her any further until help arrived.

"
Salma
!
  Salma, can you hear me?
"

Her eyes fluttered a few times, and she began to
stir
.  Salma started to sit back, but Ben stopped her. 

"
Don't move,
Love
. 
L
ie still until you
ha
ve a chance to get your bearings.  You might be hurt more than you realize.  Just lie still.
"
  Ben kept his hand pressed gently against her back to let her know that he was right ther
e with her
.

"
Ben?  Why aren’t you at the airport?
"
  Salma was confused.

"
Shh.  Don't worry about that.  Here come some of your
doctor
friends.  They
a
re going to have a look at you, ok?
"

Salma didn't answer.  She
had lost
conscious
ness again
.

Ben stepped away from the car so the doctor
s
could move closer and work on Salma.  C
a
eli walked up beside Ben and silently took his larger hand in her own.  As the doctors put Salma onto a stretcher and began to wheel her
toward
the hospital, Ben looked down at C
a
eli, over at his jeep, and then back at the men rolling Salma into the hospital.

"
I need to check in with the station and make a report.  I
want to make sure th
ey ca
tch
that son of a bitch.
"

But Ben did
n
o
t move.  C
a
eli could tell that
he was torn between the duty he should
perform
, and had done without hesitation
for
many years
,
and h
is
new
w
ife
whom
he would give anything to protect.

"
G
o with her, Ben.  I
wi
ll take care of your jeep and wait for the officers to get here.  Go on.  Salma needs you to be with her
.
"

Ben smiled a quick thank you and ran to catch up with the stretcher as it was being pushed through the automatic doors of the emergency room.

Vin walked anxiously into the waiting
area
around ten thirty.  There were a dozen people s
cattered around the room, occupying
the square, red chairs.  He immediately spotted C
a
eli sitting in the
far
corner, pretending to read a magazine.  She looked up through sad eyes as she heard the
sound of the
doors
sliding
open
. 
C
a
eli
hopped up
and rushed
over
as
soon as
she
spott
ed
him
.  Vin
kissed her and
h
ugged
her tight before leading
her
d
own a hallway to the right where they could talk somewhat privately. 
Vin noticed that
C
a
eli
was wet, as if she
ha
d
been standing in the rain, though he had no idea how she got that way
.  He
took off his jacket and placed it around her shoulders.

"
How
i
s she doing?
  Are you and Ben all right?
"
  Vin asked.

"
We're fine. 
They don't really know
about Salma yet
.  She's still out.  It
ha
s been over an hour.  They say
she could be fine or it could be serious.  They can't tell while she's asleep.  The
doctor said
that i
f
Salma
wakes up soon, then she
wi
ll probably be fine
.  I
f not, they have no way of knowing how seriously she might be hurt.  She doesn't have any broken bones or internal
bleeding
that they could find
,
just a cut on her forehead and some swelling around it. 
The problem is that s
he won't wake up.  Ben
hasn't left
her bedside.  I've taken him some coffee, but felt
uncomfortably
like a third wheel
after sitting in there for a while
.  I
got the impression that
Ben
wanted to be alone with her, so I came out here to wait for you. 
Did you get stuck in traffic
?
"
  C
a
eli's
voice was laden with worry a
s she explained the situation to Vin
.

"
I stopped by the police station before I came down.  I knew Ben would want the latest update, and his friends
were happy to
shar
e
it with me.  Knowing that they caught the guy should make him feel a little better.  Don't worry.  I'm sure
Salma
's going to be
fine
.  Let me see if I can get Ben out of the room for a few minutes.  It will do him good to step away.  Come on, show me which room
it is
,
"
Vin said.  He put his arm around C
a
eli's shoulders
as
she led him
back the way they had come
,
passing t
he waiting
area
on
the way
to
Salma's room
.

The
interior
was dimly lit by a small, fluorescent light at the head of the first bed.  The second bed was empty.  Salma was lying flat beneath a white blanket, hooked up to several different monitors.  Ben
was sitting in
a chai
r pulled up next to the bed,
holding her hand
.  He
looked up
as
they entered.  Vin walked over and put a hand on his shoulder.

"
Any change?
"
  Vin asked quietly.

"
No.  I
ha
ve tried talking to her, but she hasn't responded.
"

"
Why don't you let C
a
eli sit with her for a few minutes?  Come get a cup of coffee with me, and I
wi
ll show you this report.  They were finishing it when I got there.
"
  Vin indicated the
large
manila
envelope
he
was carrying
.

Ben looked
down
at Salma, leaned over, and kissed her on the forehead.

"
I
wi
ll be right back,
Doll
.  C
a
eli
i
s going to
be here
. 
See if
you two
can stay out of
mischief while I'm gone.
"

Ben tried to smile, but did
n
o
t have it in him.  He followed Vin out of the room and
closed
the door.  They walked down the hall to the waiting room and kept going
, following the aroma of strong coffee and day old turkey dinner that was characteristic of the cafeteria's food.  When the
y reached the opposite end
of the hall
, they turned left
and continued until the hospital cafeteria
came into view
.
  The w
hite room
was filled
with several tables
and vending machines
interspersed throughout.  Along one wall was a buffet
station with a lady sitting in front of a cash register at the
nearest
end.  Neither
m
a
n
wa
s hungry, so Vin purchased two cups of coffee, paid the lady, and joined Ben at an
isolated table
in a corner of the room
.