wrath of the Sea Queen (9 page)

"
G
oodness!  I'm sorry.  I wasn't paying attention,
"
Ben apologized.

Once she was steady on her feet again, C
a
eli smiled at him and waved him over to Salma.

"
Neither was I. 
I'm all right.  I was
on my way to
find you.  Look who finally decided to wake up.
"
 

Vin
followed
Ben
into the room
.  As
Ben
hurried
over to Salma, Vin
examin
ed
the
cut
on C
a
eli's forehead with a slight grin. 

"
What's so
funny
?
"
  C
a
eli asked.

Vin answered loud enough for Ben to hear.

"
It seems you
manage
d
to
get into mischief
after all
.
"
 

Ben couldn't restrain a laugh of his own
at Vin's observation
. 
Vin spent a few minutes
longer with Ben and
Salma, making sure that
Salma
was all right, and then decided it would be best to give
the
couple
some privacy.  Vin
understood
how he would feel in Ben's place.  He
did
n
o
t want to intrude
any longer than necessary
.  They were probably going to have to stay
at the hospital for a while.

"
I
a
m going to take C
a
eli home.  W
e
wi
ll
se
nd
the doctor
in
as we leave
.
"

After
giving Ben the information about
where she parked
his jeep and
a brief round of well wishes
,
C
a
eli
left
the room
with Vin
.
  Knowing that his friends were all right, Vin turned his thoughts to C
a
eli.  This was the first time he
ha
d seen her in two weeks.

"
Hey,
Doll
.  How are you feeling?
"

Ben was
alone
at
Salma's
bedside once again, smiling
this time.
  He noticed that the cut on her forehead
had
finally stopped bleeding.  In fact, he didn't think it looked as bad as when he left the room fifteen minutes
earlier
. 
Of course, he could
n
o
t see the wound beneath the
fresh
bandage, but the swelling
was
definitely
diminished
.

"
I feel fine, maybe a little sore.  I guess that's to be expected after a crunch like that. 
Ben, c
an you raise this bed up, so that I can talk to you without feeling like an invalid?  I can see why my patients don't like lying
flat
like this.  It feels like I
a
m being interrogated
,
though it
seems I
ha
ve the
right
man for the job.
"
  Salma smiled up at Ben as he used the electronic control to raise the upper portion of the bed. 

"
There you go.  Now I can see your lovely smile,
"
Ben said as he leaned over to give Salma a kiss.

"
Ben, when did you get here?  I seem to re
call
you
and
C
a
eli
being at my car right after the crash
.  Why was she all wet?
"

"
Easy,
Love
.  Are you sure you
a
re up for all this
conversation
right away?
"

"
Yes, really, I'm
perfectly
fine.
  It was
merely
a little bump on the head.
"

They were interrupted as
a
short
man in a white lab coat walked in with a medical file in his hand.

"
Well, this is certainly a change of pace, Dr. Erickson.  I
a
m not pleased to see you on that side of the chart, but it is good to see you awake.  How do you feel
?  A
ny pain?
"

"
No.  As I was telling Ben, I feel fine, Dr. Nelson
.  I'm
just
a little sore.
"

"
Are you experiencing any
dizziness or blurred vision?
"

"
No.
"

"
Headache?
"

"
No. 
I feel
good
, all things considered
.
"

"
Amazing
!
  Well, I
woul
d like to monitor you for a few more hours to be
on the safe side
.  I
woul
d say that physically, now that you're awake, you seem fine.  Aside from that cut on your head and the swell…well, would you look at that?  Even the swelling seems to have gone down.
"
  The doctor performed a few neurological exams and asked several more questions. 

"
You are very lucky, Salma.  This could have been a lot worse.  If
the swelling had not gone down so quickly; if you had not come around in the next few hours
…well, I'm glad you're all right.  I think you
a
re going to be fine.  Rest for a while, and I
wi
ll come back to check on you later.  If everything is still normal, I
wi
ll let this fine man of yours get you out of here later this evening.
"

"
Thank you, Mike.
"

The doctor walked out of the room, and Salma looked over at Ben, who
had
sat
patiently while Salma was being examined. 

"
Now, how about filling me in
on the details
?  How is it that you were
at my car
?
"
  Salma asked.

"
I was driving C
a
eli back from the airport.  We were
approaching the red light
to
your right
at the
intersection.  You were halfway through the left turn out of
the
parking lot
when your car was hit
by a van running the red light to your left
.  He hit you first
, which knocked your car out of the intersection,
and then
he
swerved over into our lane.  I
ran
up on the curb
to avoid
a
head on
collision
. 
The passenger's side of m
y jeep
busted
the fire hydrant in the process
. 
I was going to pursue the
van
, but
C
a
eli
caught sight of you first.  T
wo other
units
were already after it
, and
C
a
eli
hopped out
to rush to your aid.  That's when she got drenched
.  We
ha
ve been here ever since.  You
ha
ve been out for
well
over an
hour,
"
Ben explained.

"
The doctors were worried because I didn't wake up;
they
told you the longer it took for me to wake up, the worse it could be.
"

Ben nodded to confirm
t
he
prognosis he was given
. 

"
They were right, of course.  If they found nothing else wrong with me, the only other
plausible
explanation would be some sort of
damage to my
brain that they couldn't
fully
assess w
hile I was
unconscious.  They could only wait for me to wake up. 
That
i
s never good. 
The longer a brain injury goes untreated, the worse it could get. 
Since
I woke up
within
a few hours
, it
i
s actually a very
good
sign that I'm fine
.
"
  Salma seemed to be reassuring herself that she was not seriously injured, and that he
r
diagnos
is was correct
.