"I can never thank Caeli enough for her selfless act. If her injuries are the result of what she did or from this careless piece of metal, I am truly sorry."
Apela was nearly overcome with the strong emotions surrounding the tale. Max sobbed full force now. Vin sat there looking back and forth between Apela and Max for a minute, trying to process this new information. It could account for some of Caeli's behavior and a few of her symptoms. It definitely answered some of Vin's questions.
"See Papa, I knew he would be mad at me," Max whimpered.
"No, Max. I am not mad," Vin finally spoke in a soft voice and now wore a slight smile on his face. Having imagined much worse injuries, this was bad, but not as awful as it might have been. This, Vin could handle.
"You're not mad?" Max hiccupped.
Usually, adults got angry whenever Max did something he wasn't supposed to do, like running to Caeli instead of sitting in his father's lap like he had been told to do.
"Come here, Max, please."
Apela placed Max on the floor and gave him a gentle nudge to get him moving toward Vin's outstretched hand. A soft breeze soothed the air in the lounge.
"Thank you, Max. You and your dad were very brave to tell me about this. It was the right thing to do and it helps me a lot. It will help Caeli, too."
"It will?" Max brightened at the possibility.
"Yes. Now, Dr. Salma will know what to look for and how to fix it. Ben, would you mind letting Salma know about this?" Vin tossed the metal rod across the table to Ben, who turned it around in his hand.
"Sure, as soon as Caeli wakes."
"You mean I didn't hurt pretty Caeli by falling on top of her?" Max asked.
"No, I don't think so, and it would not matter if you did. You see, Caeli loves kids. She would never let a child get hurt. If she had to make the same choice all over again, knowing what would happen," Vin looked quickly over at Apela to let him know the words were meant for him as well, "she would do exactly the same thing. Caeli would never let someone as special as you get hurt, Max. She chose to help you. You cannot be blamed for her choice. Besides, I think Caeli is sick from more than the plane crash. Something else is making her sick. Dr. Salma is trying to find out what that might be so that she can make Caeli better. In the meantime, we have to keep a close eye on her. She has a tendency to get into mischief." Vin was not aware that his eyes had become watery until a tear slid down his cheek.
A small hand reached up, wiped the tear away, and rested on Vin's cheek.
"It's ok, Mr. Vin. I will help you keep an eye on her."
Vin hugged Max but could voice no further reply.
"Ok, Max. It's time to run along. Vin and I have to be leaving. We'll be back around lunchtime. You behave and don't bother the ladies."
Apela and Vin headed off to the worksite after getting Ben's promise to keep an eye on everyone. Vin experienced his first sigh of relief, knowing now that Caeli was improving and having heard the details that Apela shared. Once Salma found out about the metal rod, he was certain that she would be able to help Caeli further. Vin left the hotel still anxious, but on a more positive note overall.
"Well, Max, it looks like it's you and me for a while. What do you want to do, young pup?" Ben asked.
"Do you know how to play Go Fish?"
CHAPTER 21
At the levee, Apela and Vin were greeted warmly by some of Apela's friends and neighbors as well as members of the guard unit. Vin located Jeremy among the crowd and made his way over to talk to the young man. He wanted to thank him again for his help the night before.
Vin and Apela were assigned to the upper section, along with Jeremy and some of Apela's friends. They were near the edge of a fifteen foot drop into the waters below and were cautioned to watch their step. The current on this stretch was unusually strong and fast, even without the storm to bolster it. However, because of the way the tides ebbed and flowed, this region is primarily where flooding began during severe weather. The large population in the nearby city depended on the protection of the levee. It was vital that the damage be repaired as quickly as possible.
As Vin looked at the churning water below, and then stepped away from the edge, he could understand why it was so dangerous. The ground beneath the tides was rocky. Anyone who fell in could easily be killed on those rocks if the current didn't get them first. Even the rescue swimmers couldn't likely respond fast enough to reach a person who fell in time to be of much aid.
"Great! Put the guy up front who can't swim," Jeremy confided to Vin, who stood behind him in the line. Jeremy joked, not believing there was any real chance that he could fall into the water. There were two sturdy men in front of Jeremy who would have to fall in first, and then drag him along for the slide.
"Don't worry, Skinny. The earth would have to shake me loose before it could knock you into the sea," the man in front of him said. Maku was one of the men to which Apela had introduced them. He was an island native, five feet ten inches tall, thickly built, and well-muscled. He and Apela had been friends since childhood. They played on the same sports teams and worked many of the same summer jobs, mostly at the hotel.
Apela explained to Vin that Maku's younger brother, Pete, was sick. Maku worked odd jobs to help make enough money to pay his brother's medical bills. Pete contracted a serious illness several months earlier and was now too frail to work. Despite his busy work schedule, Maku still came forward with the first volunteers when the community needed help with projects like this levee. Maku knew how important it was to the safety of the entire island. Vin already liked this man and joined the laughter as Maku and Apela teased Jeremy.
Vin's laugh was only half-hearted. His mind was not completely on the task at hand. His thoughts kept drifting back to Caeli. He went through the motions of passing the sandbags up the line, one after the other. They seemed to be making good progress, and the gap in the levee rapidly closed. Perhaps they would be done before lunch. Vin had not actually seen Caeli in person since the night before and was eager to get back. As he mentally reviewed the events of the previous day, it occurred to Vin that he had heard the name Franks recently.
"Jeremy, are you any relation to Colonel Franks from the local guard unit?" Vin asked the younger man.
"Yes, actually, I am. He's my dad. Do you know him?"
"I don't; not directly. I recall my wife meeting him yesterday. He rescued her and her aunt from a media mob at the hotel."
"Oh, dude! That was your wife with Dr. Erickson? You are one lucky man! I mean, I didn't really get a chance to see her on the ship, and didn't get a good look at her during the car ride last night because she was sick and all. But, I saw a news clip from your hotel late last night. Man, she is one hot ticket! No wonder you came all this way to help her. If I could land a lady who looked like that, I would never let her out of my sight."
"I'm beginning to consider that very notion," Vin replied only half joking.
It seemed to him that whenever he and Caeli were apart, bad things happened to her. He remembered when she went out of town on an overnight trip to help a client set up for a grand opening event. She had gone down to the hotel pool that evening for a relaxing swim. As she lounged in a poolside chair with a book, Caeli watched a grade school girl jump into the pool alone. The girl had difficulty keeping her head above the water. Caeli helped her to safety, and then got back in the pool to teach the girl a few swimming basics. They had been there about twenty minutes when a piece of electrical equipment in the nearby maintenance room caught fire and triggered a subsequent, huge explosion. That entire section of the hotel had been destroyed. Had it not been for the water in the pool, Caeli and the girl she sheltered would have been killed in the blast.
Another time, Vin was running late as he drove to meet her at the bank. Caeli was waiting for him to sign some paperwork on their mortgage. In the meantime, the bank was robbed and a teller was shot. Caeli rushed to help the lady despite the thief's orders for everyone to stay put. Thus, the gunm
an chose Caeli as his hostage to make his escape. In a fortunate twist of fate, the robber sped his vehicle through an intersection and crashed into Vin's car a few blocks away. Neither she nor Vin had been seriously injured, but it was another example of how her good nature repeatedly put Caeli in harm's way.
Now that Vin thought about it, he could think of several incidents in which Caeli had been helping someone when she was threatened or hurt. Trouble seemed to have a way of finding Caeli when Vin was not at her side. Jeremy's notion started to sound better and better the more Vin considered it. Of course, Caeli often joked with Vin that he was already overprotective. Nevertheless, she truly appreciated his concern and thoroughly enjoyed his company. Caeli had been through enough mayhem in her life to welcome the fact that Vin wanted to keep her safe.
"Actually, I think I should extend that compliment to include the doctor, too," Jeremy continued.
"She is not so hard on the eyes either. I wouldn't mind seeing her fine face every day either."
"That doctor is Caeli's aunt. Tiptoe lightly around the family tree," Vin teased.
"Geez, there are some good genes in that tree."
Jeremy's words caused Vin to recall an image of Caeli in her favorite pair of jeans, and he had to agree with the play on words that he kept to himself; yes, very good jeans.
"Does your wife happen to have a sister or even a cousin?" Jeremy ventured.
Vin merely tossed Jeremy another sandbag. It made him smile to know that, even on a bad day, Caeli could still turn heads. Ben would be pleased to hear the same about Salma.
"Hey Maku! There's an idea for you. Why don't you use these two lovely ladies in your Sea Goddess contest? You know Max only takes a liking to the real, pretty ladies. He is nuts about these two. They would certainly draw a crowd," Apela suggested.
Maku knew Max very well. Max even tried to set him up with a lady once, not as a date, but to get married. The boy meant well, but did not exactly understand the finer details of adult relationships.
"Well, if Max thinks so, then I certainly have to get a look at them. The boy has impeccable taste in women. Do you happen to know where Vin is keeping them?"
Apela was about to answer when his ribs were nudged by Vin elbow, and he remembered why Vin brought them to his hotel in the first place. He quickly adjusted his intended response.
"Oh, I'm sure it is some place where they won't let riffraff like you step foot. You will have to wait with the rest of the media vultures to catch a glimpse of them at the conference. Or, if you are lucky, you might be able to convince Vin to bring his lovely wife and her aunt out for a drink one night this week. Otherwise, you will probably have to pester my sister again." Apela hoped that Maku would conclude that they were staying at the conference hotel where Dr. Erickson would be speaking.
Apela went on to relate to Vin how his sister, Lorrie, had been crowned the previous festival winner. She was a pretty woman, but could not seem to find the right sort of guy to give her cause to settle down. Lorrie insisted that all the good ones were taken. Now it was Jeremy's turn to have some fun with Apela, and Vin welcomed the change in the conversation before he had to answer any more direct questions.
"Maybe it's you, Apela. Maybe you scare all the good ones away. You would certainly scare me off," Jeremy joked.
"I wouldn't have to scare you away. You could only wish that my sister would go out with you. Sea Goddesses don't dally with sea rats," Apela returned, laughing.
"What exactly is a Sea Goddess anyway?" Vin asked.
"Oh, it's part of the festival we host every five years. In fact, Maku is in charge of picking the female contestants who will be the main characters in the contest. We call them Sea Goddesses. He will film some candid moments, usually on the beach, of several lovely ladies during the week. Each night, some of the footage is aired on television during the local news and people vote for a winner. It's a huge marketing event. At the end of the week, there is a final vote, filmed live at a local landmark. I think it will be held at the lighthouse this year. Anyway, one of the ladies is named the festival Sea Queen. There's a crown and prizes and all sorts of free stuff provided by the festival sponsors. It's generally a lot of fun," Apela explained.
"I would certainly vote for Vin's wife," Jeremy replied enthusiastically.
Vin smiled and tossed him another sandbag.
Moments later, a bright flash, followed by an explosion, rocked the area where they were working. Most of the islanders knew instinctively to drop flat onto their stomachs. This had been ingrained in their culture over centuries of living in a volcanically charged region. The foreigners, however, including Jeremy and Vin, did not know how to react. They stood their ground, trying to keep their footing.
The strong explosion came from somewhere below the gap they were attempting to close in the flood wall. As fate would have it, the ground where Maku and the other man in front of Jeremy were standing crumbled, and they fell over the edge. Both managed to find sturdy branches and vines in the cliff wall to prevent them from falling into the sea. The ground continued to shake and Jeremy was jostled closer to the precipice. Another flash streaked across the inlet followed by yet another explosion, only a minute after the first. This one sent the guardsman tumbling over the edge and plummeting into the rushing waters below. Vin, unable to reach Jeremy before he fell, dove in after the young Lieutenant without hesitation.
Apela and the others pulled Maku and the first man to safety as they watched Vin dive in after Jeremy. They alerted the rescue swimmers immediately. Watchers tried to keep an eye on the two from above, hoping not to lose sight of them in the rapid waters below.
Vin could not reach Jeremy right away, but tried to close the distance between them. He saw the young man get pulled under twice and then lost sight of him entirely. As Vin himself was pulled down at the next strong turn of the current, he caught sight of Jeremy right next to him. Vin managed to grab hold of Jeremy's arm, and then get his left arm around the younger man's chest. At least they would not get separated.
Vin struggled to get himself and Jeremy to the surface. Once Vin accomplished that, Jeremy drew air into his lungs, sputtered and flailed. It was all Vin could do to get him to calm down and stop fighting against him. Vin was having enough trouble dealing with the powerful current. As Jeremy calmed down, a large wave forced them up against a towering rock. Vin's right arm smacked forcefully against the stone. As bad as it hurt, Vin thought it must certainly be broken. There was nothing he could do about it now. Thank goodness Vin was left-handed and still held Jeremy securely with his left arm.
Rescue lines were tossed at them as often as possible, but the strong current prevented either man from grabbing hold of them before they were swept out of reach. The two were rapidly being pulled farther away from the land. Vin made a valiant effort to regain some of the distance, but he was losing the battle. If Jeremy couldn't help, and the rescue swimmers couldn't reach them against the current, Vin began to doubt whether or not they would get out of this. Vin briefly considered not being able to return to Caeli and doubly renewed his determination. He would not put Caeli through that experience again.
"Jeremy, you've got to help me! I can't do this on my own!" Vin shouted.
"But I can't swim!" Jeremy's voice reflected his panic.
"It doesn't matter. I need you to kick your feet. Just kick your feet as hard as you can. Move them the same way mine are moving. I need the extra push to get us to shore. The current is too strong for me to do this alone. Come on, Jeremy. You can do this. Don't think of it as swimming. Think of it as a foot race. Now kick!" Vin kept encouraging him, and they made a little progress.
Vin looked to the shoreline and back toward the portion of the levee where they had been working. He could see shapes moving about, but they seemed far away. He suspected that it would not take long for the strong current to carry them beyond the reach of any assistance from shore.
"Jeremy, you're doing great. Watch the shoreline. We need to k
eep an eye out for people trying to help us. If they throw us another line, you are going to have to catch it. I busted my arm, so it will be up to you to pull us in, ok?" Vin knew the others, especially Apela, would be trying to help.
"Yes, Sir."
Vin's steady manner finally got through to the young guardsman, and Jeremy's military training took over. The one thing he could relate to was following orders.
"That's a good man." As Vin replied, another large wave caught them and pulled them under, only to spit them out even farther from shore.
Apela ran to his truck and followed the pair along the shore as fast as he could. Several men, including Maku and a few of the rescue swimmers, jumped into the back of the truck as they noted Apela's direction. The others stayed behind to work on new repairs and to find out what caused the explosions.
Apela guided his truck through the wet sand as fast as it would go. He did not want to lose sight of his new friend despite the fact that he was barely able to keep up with the men as they were pulled along by the rapid current. Apela was not about to let the lady who saved his son lose her husband. He would find a way to rescue Vin, who courageously and foolishly attempted to save the young Lieutenant. Apela had never met a more selfless, albeit reckless, couple.
Finally, Apela noticed that Vin managed to stop their down current drift, yet was unable to make his way to shore. He tried valiantly, but was slowly losing ground against the relentless sea. The rescue swimmers tied lines to Apela's truck and moved as far out as they could. It was not far enough to reach the two men, even when they threw extra lines. They needed to find a way to help the two men soon. Vin would not be able to maintain their current position for very long.
Wrath of the Sea Queen Page 28