"To take care of me, Father," she said simply.
"But, Rina- " he began to protest.
She cut him off quickly.
"After all, Father," she said, "you yourself said there wasn't anything I could do to take care of myself.
Wasn't that why you sent me out there?"
He didn't answer.
There wasn't anything left for him to say. After a few more awkward moments, they parted.
He stretched out on the narrow cot in his cell and stared up at the ceiling.
He felt a cold chill creeping through him. He shivered slightly and pulled the thin blanket across his legs.
How had he failed her?
Where had he gone wrong?
He turned his face into the hard straw pillow and the hot tears began to course down his cheeks.
He began to shiver as the chill grew deeper within him.
Later that night, they came and took him to the prison hospital, with a fever of a hundred and two. He died of bronchial pneumonia three days later, while Rina and Jonas Cord were still on the high seas.
14.
The pain began to echo in her temples, cutting like a sharp knife into the dream.
She felt it begin to slip away from her, and then the terrible loneliness of awakening.
She stirred restlessly. Everyone was fading away, everyone except her.
She held her breath for a moment, fighting the return to reality. But it was no use.
The last warm traces of the dream were gone. She was awake.
She opened her eyes and stared unrecognizingly for a moment around the hospital room, then she remembered where she was.
There were new flowers on the dresser opposite the foot of the bed. They must have brought them in while she slept.
She moved her head slowly.
Ilene was dozing in the big easy chair near the window.
It was night outside. She must have dozed the afternoon away.
"I have a terrible headache," she whispered softly. "May I have some aspirin, please?"
Ilene's head snapped forward. She looked at Rina questioningly.
Rina smiled. "I’ve slept away the whole afternoon."
"The whole afternoon?"
It was the first time in almost a week that Rina had been conscious.
"The whole afternoon," Ilene repeated.
"Yes."
"I was so tired," Rina said. "And I always get a headache when I nap during the day.
I'd like some aspirin."
"I’ll call the nurse."
"Never mind, I’ll call her," Rina said quickly. She started to raise her hand to the call button over her head. But she couldn't lift her arm. She looked down at it. It was strapped to the side of the bed. There was a needle inserted into a vein on her forearm, attached to a long tube which led up to an inverted bottle suspended from a stand. "What's that for?"
"The doctor thought it would be better it they didn't disturb your rest to feed you," Ilene said quickly. She leaned across the bed and pressed the buzzer.
The nurse appeared almost instantly in the doorway.
She walked quickly to the bed and stood next to Ilene, looking down at Rina.
"Are we awake?" she asked with professional brightness.
Rina smiled slowly. "We're awake," she said faintly. "You're a new one, aren't you?
I don't remember you."
The nurse flashed a quick look at Ilene.
She had been on duty ever since Rina was checked into the hospital.
"I’m the night nurse," she answered calmly. "I've just come on."
"I always get a headache when I sleep in the afternoon," Rina said. "I was wondering if I could have some aspirin?"
"I'll call the doctor," the nurse said.
Rina turned her head.
"You must be exhausted," she said to Ilene. "Why don't you go home and get some rest?
You've been here all day."