wrath of the Sea Queen (75 page)

"Vin?"

"I'm the one
you need
right now. 
Can you move your arms away
and let me have a look
?
"
  Salma asked, reaching to help C
a
eli gently remove her arms from her abdomen.

"
It hurts
so much
, Salma
.
"

"
I know,
Dear
, but I need to see what's going on,
"
Salma replied calm
ly.

She knew that the reflexive holding action was the body's way of comforting the mind.  It didn't
actually
help reduce the symptoms, but it was a strong reflex to overcome.

"
C
a
eli, I
need
you to trust me as your doctor and your friend. 
You know that I'm trying to help you," Salma continued calmly.

"Yes."

"I wouldn't do anything to hurt you."

"I know."

"Please, m
ove your arms away," Salma gently encouraged her.

"
I
want to, but I
can't
make myself do it.
"

"Can I?"

"D
o what you have to, but I can't move
,
"
C
a
eli's voice
carried so much fear that it
almost
sounded panicky
.

"
Ok, ok.  Not yet then.  Calm down.  It's all right.  I
a
m going to help you, C
a
eli. 
You don't have to move your arms yet. 
Tell me what
you're feeling
.  Does it feel like
a
stabb
ing pain
or like a pulled muscle?
"
  Salma distracted C
a
eli with
questions
while she slowly inched her hand far enough away to be able to place her own hand against C
a
eli's stomach.

"
Both and l
ike the worst cramps ever
.  Salma
,
I'm worried about the baby.
"

"I
understand,
Dear. 
Give me
a few more minutes.  I need to
discover
a bit more of what you
a
re experiencing before I can do anything."

"
I
t feels like
something inside of me is breaking
apart
,
"
C
a
eli answered
a
fter
a
nother wave of
nearly unbearable
pain coursed through
her body
.

Salma kept her hand over C
a
eli's abdomen
and
gave the matter her full attention
, trying to imagine what could have happened to
her niece
.

"
H
ow long
did you say it
has it been like this?
"

"
Since the crash
, I think
.  I thought I pulled
a muscle
when I was thrown from my seat
.
"

"
Thrown from your seat? 
I don't remember y
ou mention
ing
that.
"

C
a
eli apologized for the oversight.
  There had been a lot going on at the time.

"
Was there anything else? 
You said something about a cut.  How bad w
ere you hurt? 
Actually, n
ever
mind. 
I'm going to need to check you out more thoroughly than I can do here.  I'm afraid we
really do need to
get you to a hospital. 
I know you don't like the idea, but y
ou might be bleeding internally.  If so, I'm not surprised that it's getting worse
, and
you
ha
ve been walking around
in pain
all this time.  C
a
eli,
you should have said something.
"

"I
told
you I was sick
;
but it wasn't this bad before."

"
T
his could be very serious.
"

"
I'm
well
aware
that it's
serious
.
"
  C
a
eli did
n
o
t
intend
for it to sound mean, but her pain and exhaustion were getting the better of her
at the moment
.

"
Of course
you are
. 
I'm sorry. 
That was a
thoughtless
thing
for me
to say.  Fir
st thing we have to do is
see if we can reduce
your pain
level
. 
We won't make any progress if I can't examine you
properly
. 
I need to
find
some pain medicine
.
"

"No more medicine."

"What?  C
a
eli, you aren't thinking clearly.
"

"I don't want to hurt the baby."

"I would never give you anything that would do that.
  I
am going to
ask Dr. Jacobs if he has any
thing
, but I'm not leaving you alone.  Call for Vin
again
.
"

"
I can't
.
  I tried twice, but he didn't answer.
"

"
C
a
eli
, this is important.  I know it's difficult, but focus and try again.  I heard your call.  He should be able to hear you if
that's what you want
. 
I think your mind might be misleading you
because of your pain
. 
Try
it
again.
"
  Salma
would
not accept her refusal.

While Salma could easily have called Vin on C
a
eli's behalf, she did not.  She wanted to know if this problem involved C
a
eli's special talents.  This was a good way to test it.  If it failed, then Salma would call Vin.  She
knew C
a
eli would feel better once Vin was
t
here.  Salma
also
wanted Vin to
prevent
C
a
eli
from doing anything foolish, like trying to get up and walk while Salma went to fetch the medicine.

"I
t won't work.
  I
wi
ll be fine until you get back.
  T
he water
helped
a little
.
"
  C
a
eli was
struggling to get each word out
through her continued pain. 

"
Humor me and try anyway.
"
  Salma
was
stern with C
a
eli in order to let her know that she was
not going to back down
.  In this situat
ion, Salma would not permit
C
a
eli to
second guess her.  Salma's instincts
told
her that C
a
eli was in trouble.  Vin needed to be here.

"Ok, I'll try."

"
How did your talk with C
a
eli go?
"
  Ben asked casually.

"
We were interrupted by the
agent from the
car rental
place
before I could get any
definite
answers.  We
had to
put the conversation on hold
again
. 
All I know is that there is definitely something wrong with her and that she was injured in the crash.

"She was?" 
That surprised
Ben
. 
C
a
eli
neglected to mention that during their brief chat.