wrath of the Sea Queen (7 page)

"You like everything about her, but go on," Ben replied with a grin.

"Anyway, Vicki's computer emergency
turned out to be nothing more than
a ploy to get me alone.  She made a pass at me twice.  After
I
reject
ed
her
the second time
,
she
threw herself at me and
kissed me
as I was leaving
.
 
I would not want to be in
Vicki
's shoes
if
she ever
runs
into
C
a
eli
after I've told
her
about it.
  I'm not sure what C
a
eli would do, but I wouldn't mind being a fly on the wall to find out,
"
Vin was amused at the thought of C
a
eli defending his honor and her territory.

"
Oh
!
 
You're right. 
She
i
s not going to like that at all.  F
or your client's own good, perhaps you better not tell C
a
eli about it,
"
Ben suggested.

"
Vicki is no longer my client, and I don't keep secrets from C
a
eli. 
Although
, I think I will wait for a better time to tell her,
"
Vin said as they were
nearing
the nurse's station.

"Besides, I'd hate to think what C
a
eli would do to
me
if she found out from someone else
.
"

The somber mood lifted slightly as the two men shared a chuckle over the thought of sweet little C
a
eli
turning
K
ung
F
u warrior
on the would-be home wrecker.  The laugh put Ben in a more positive frame of mind as he conti
nued toward Salma's room with a
smile on his face.

C
a
eli sat beside Salma and watched her
as she
sle
pt
.  She didn't
know how else to think of it, and she did not like it one bit.  It reminded her too much of the incident a few months earlier when Vin was a patient in a hospital bed.  He
ha
d been in a coma for a week, though everyone thought he was dead.  C
a
eli
shuttere
d
at th
e memory and Salma's current resemblance to it.  She desperately wanted her aunt to wake up. 

Her wet hair kept falling in her eyes until
C
a
eli
finally walked into the small bathroom to look for a towel. 
All s
he could find
were paper towels
, so
she
twisted her hair in a long spiral and
pushed
it
b
ehind her shoulders before returning
to
the opposite side of
Salma's bed.  From
here
, C
a
eli could clearly see the cut above Salma's left eye.  It
was
still bleeding
beneath the
useless,
gauzy bandage
which C
a
eli gently removed
.  She grabbed a few tissues from the box on the bedside table and gently dabbed at the area around the wound. 
When
it
was relatively clean, C
a
eli pressed a folded tissue over the
cut
and rested her hand on it gently to hold
the compress
in
place for a minute or two. 
She wanted to prevent any blood from dripping down Salma's
brow
or into her eye. 
C
a
eli wanted to
do more
for
Salma
.  If such a thing were possible, C
a
eli would simply will Salma's wound to heal and for her to wake up, but that was
merely
wishful thinking.

As C
a
eli
leaned closer to
t
end to Salma's cut
, her wet hair fell forward and
swiped across her own hand and Salma's wound
.  C
a
eli quickly pulled her hair back, but felt an odd sensation pass
from her hand into Salma
before she could
dry up the water that
dripped from her hair.
 
The sensation
reminded C
a
eli of the static charge she often
received
after walking sock-footed across her carpet and reaching for a doorknob.  Only, there was no jolt,
simply
a current passing from her into Salma.  Had she really felt
it? 
C
a
eli
decided
that it must have been because her hair was wet and Salma was hooked up
to all the electrical devices.
  The last thing C
a
eli wanted to do was shock Salma and cause her more pain.

C
a
eli glanced
around at the monitors and various machines.  She would have to be more careful. 
She
was
already
feeling guilty
for asking Salma to work the late shift so that they could go shopping later this afternoon.  Salma would
n
o
t have been at that intersection if she had
n
o
t agreed.

She
looked at the cut on Salma's head again. 
The bleeding
had
finally
stopped.  It even looked like some of the swelling
had gone
down
.  That's odd, C
a
eli thought.  A minute ago
,
it
was
bleeding freely and
quite
swollen.  Perhaps the electrical shock
did
something to it. 
Through her carelessness,
C
a
eli might have accidentally helped Salma,
although
she
could
just as easily
have
caused her greater harm.  She would definitely be more careful.  C
a
eli's guilt
swept over her
.

"
Sorry about that, Aunt Salma.  The last thing you need right now is my clumsiness,
"
C
a
eli whispered.

"
What did you do now, young lady?
"
  Salma
's voice
asked
in response
.

As Ben and Vin passed the nurses' station, a blond
e
lady stopped them and handed Ben an unsealed envelope.

"
I know I'm not supposed to do this, but since you
ha
ve been working on them already, I thought you might want to see it.  It
arrived
this morning.  S
alma
was upset and told me to
set it aside
.  She didn't want to deal with it until after her vacation.
"

"
Thanks, Molly.  Salma won't mind.  She knows you
'
ve been keeping me in the loop.  Besides, this is officially an on-going investigation. 
Y
ou
'
re
supposed
to keep me posted,
"
Ben replied graciously
and
glanced at the c
ontents of the large envelope while he and Vin
took a few steps away from the counter
.  When they were
out of earshot
, Ben
resumed
their conversation.

"
You see?  This is what I was talking about.  It
i
s another of those letters from the government.  They demand that
Salma
meet with them to discuss her research, but refuse to identify themselves specifically.  I don't know who they think they are, but I intend to find out.
"

Ben walked a bit faster,
aggravat
ion over
the whole ordeal
returning along with his
worr
y for
Salma.  Vin increase
d
his pace to keep up. 
They only got a few steps
further before
Ben stopped again, quite suddenly
,
to
watch a breaking news story
on the
TV
in the corner of the waiting room
. 
The face and name which flashed on the screen
caught his attention.  Three prisoners
had
escaped from the state peniten
tiary an hour earlier.  T
wo were still at large.