Once again, I have to thank everyone who reviews...especially MBooker, I really appreciate your comments:) And don't worry, Deana, Ardeth is coming eventually...

CHAPTER 6

Revealing

He was dead.

He was dead, and there was nothing Evy could do about it. She could have saved him, she could have warned him, she could have held him back...could have. She couldn't even see him anymore, her vision was blurring, she felt like she was fainting, he was floating away from her and she didn't even have the strength to reach out to him--

And suddenly, once again, she was back in bed, back at the Fort, completely alone and scared out of her wits. She'd tried not to fall asleep, she really had, but she was so tired...closing her eyes for just a moment wouldn't invite sleep, would it? It wouldn't invite in the dreams that plagued her nights, and increasingly plagued her days. A tear squeezed out of her eye, but she fought it back. What was wrong with her? Why wouldn't the dreams stop? She would have chalked it up to trauma, to stress, but they were becoming so intense...and every time the story would go a little further, it would get a little worse, a little more terrifying...

Rick couldn't sleep. He was tired, sure, exhausted, even, but he couldn't sleep. He was too keyed up. He couldn't believe he'd actually done it--he'd asked her to marry him! And she'd said yes, which was even more thrilling. He felt like he was the luckiest man in the world--he was going to spend the rest of his life with Evelyn, the most amazing, intelligent, beautiful, sexy, kindhearted, stubborn, passionate woman he'd ever met. He'd never thought so many adjectives could describe one person. And if he'd thought saying the five words, "Will you marry me?" had been hard, the one that came at the end of the night, "goodbye," had been a million times worse. He wanted nothing more than for the morning to come, so he could look into her soft green eyes again, run his hand along her cheek. He yearned for the touch of her, even if it was just a fleeting moment.

A timid knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. He climbed out of bed and opened the door, and there she was, shivering, obviously holding back tears, her bathrobe hanging off her shoulder and her hair up in a hasty bun. "What's wrong?" Rick asked, alarmed. She tried to speak but the tears constricted her throat. As Rick tentatively pulled her toward him, the tears let loose and she sobbed into his chest, clutching at his shirt with her shaking fingers and twisting it into knots. Rick stroked her hair, murmuring reassuring words in her ear, but inwardly panicking. What could have possibly prompted Evy to fall so completely apart like this? She was always so in control, so confident. What could have pushed her so over the edge?

Eventually the sobbing subsided, and Rick sat the distraught Evy down on the couch. She still had a grip on his shirt, but he pushed her back slightly and began to wipe the tears from her streaked face. "What's wrong, Evy?" At that, she looked as if she might start the torrent all over again, but instead fell back into his arms and held onto him even tighter. Rick let her lie there, rocking her gently, wishing he knew what was wrong so he could go kill whoever had done it to her. Eventually, she began to speak. Softly, so that Rick almost had to strain to hear the words.

"I've been having dreams...nightmares, actually. Almost every night, and sometimes during the day...Imhotep is always there-he-he... He's going on about curses and death and sacrifices, and he's walking toward me and I'm trapped, in a corner...but suddenly you're there, you leap in front of me, you fight-with Imhotep-and he...he...." She bit back a sob. "He kills you. Every time, a different way. And I'm paralyzed, I can't move, I can't go to you...every time it gets a little longer, it gets a little more real..." This time she could not contain the tears. "I'm so sorry, Rick, I-"

"Evelyn, sorry for what? You haven't done anything," Rick said, trying to sound reassuring. "It was just a dream, it isn't real."

"But it feels real! It feels like I'm really there...and you're so cold, you... And then he comes for me. I don't know what happens, but I feel like I'm floating away..." Evelyn didn't continue. She was exhausted; she felt like she couldn't go on any longer. She felt herself drifting off, waking with a start when she realized that she was falling asleep. But then she remembered that she was with Rick, she was in his arms, she was safe. She heard him whisper faintly, "I'll never let anything hurt you, Evy," before she succumbed and enjoyed the first dreamless sleep she'd had in days.

Evy woke early the next morning, neck in a cramp from sleeping on Rick's couch. What must he think of her now? How embarrassing! She had completely fallen apart. Not to mention what others might think if they saw her creeping out of his bedroom in the early morning hours. It certainly wasn't proper for her to be spending the night on the same couch, though she supposed it hadn't exactly been proper to be wrapped up in his arms under those desert stars, either...

She tried to extract herself from his embrace without waking him, but the task proved impossible. Apparently he was a very light sleeper. Rick opened his eyes, slightly surprised to see her there, but then remembering what had happened the night before. "Are you okay?" he asked immediately. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, but otherwise she appeared to be fine. "Wonderful," she said. "All better, really. I was just...it was just too much. I guess I just needed to get it out."

Rick could tell she was telling the truth, although it still worried him that she could have gotten so upset. He wondered if she'd be plagued by those nightmares for the rest of her life...and he also knew that if that happened he would be there every night to hold her, to tell her it was only a dream. He desperately wanted to make everything right, to rid her of those nightmares. "You know I'll always be here for you, right?" he asked, wanting to make sure she understood.

"I know," she whispered. "But I really probably should leave, it's getting light out already."

Rick grinned. "You're right, what would people think?" he teased.

"What would Jonathan think?" she laughed. "He's very protective, you know."

"You're his little sister, of course he's protective."

Evy didn't hesitate this time. "Do you remember your sister?"

Seventeen years had passed. Rick felt as though he should have been able to move past it by now, but the pain still felt fresh. He would always remember the feeling of being ten years old, all alone on the streets of Cairo, helplessly calling his mother's name as she slipped from his grasp and into the churning crowd. Someone had yanked him up above the mass of bodies, holding him high above the mob and depositing him on a random doorstep. He was not afraid. The stranger had to hold him back from leaping into the fray to find his mother, his father, his sister. All lost in the stampeding mass of panicked citizens, leaving a little boy with nothing in the world but himself and his courage. It was a hell of a beginning to a biography, and Rick had always wondered how different his life would have been if he'd had a family. If he'd grown up in America, if all he'd known of Africa was through his sister's letters and postcards.

"Rick?"

"Sorry. I was thinking."

"I'm sorry, Rick, I didn't mean to pry-"

"No, no, it's just...hard."

"I really do need to go get ready for work. If you want to talk later..."

Rick kissed her briefly. Now he knew what would have happened. He never would have met Evelyn. "I'll see you when you get home?"

Evy kissed him back. "I'll try not to stay late. Although heaven knows what delightful duties Dr. Miller will have waiting for me today."

Dr. Miller was indeed waiting for her in the library that morning, pacing back and forth in between the piles of books, occasionally tripping over a stray, kicking it aside and continuing on his floor-wearing path. Evelyn tip-toed into the library, hoping he wasn't around, but soon after her entrance he leapt out from behind a bookcase and waved an accusing finger in her face. "What do you know about Hamunaptra?" he bellowed furiously.

After recovering from the double shock of Dr. Miller's sudden appearance and the unexpected question, she asked fearfully, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I know about Hamunaptra," he growled viciously. "That idiot curator told me all about it-"

"Curator? Who-"

"Well," he laughed, "I guess I should say he wrote me."

"Dr. Bey's papers," Evy breathed, panicking. Dr. Miller had backed her into a corner by now, and she was getting scared. What was he going to do to her? She knew Rick wasn't going to magically appear this time, she was going to have to rescue herself...

***

Okay, so I admit this chapter is a little short but it needed to be chaptered (is that a word?) this way. Just wait 'til Chapter 7, though, it's a doozy...hee hee hee...keep reviewing...and, sorry, won't have a computer 'til late Saturday, so I'll update again then (I love to tease you guys:)