He he...um, apologies...if you have complaints about how long it took me to update, take it up with my professors...midterms are afoot!

Anyway, no, it's not a dream, sorry...whatever will they do now?!?! [insert dramatic music]

Chapter 8

Wishing

It took all of Evy's strength not to faint when she saw him through the bars. It broke her heart, to see him in such a state. A bloody gash sliced across his left temple, and his striking blue eyes had lost their sparkle. He looked so sad. Evy couldn't ever remember seeing him so exhausted, even after Hamunaptra. She nearly ran the rest of the distance across the courtyard, stopping short when she reached the cell. His eyes lit up slightly when he saw her coming, but they still seemed so cold...distant.

"Evelyn, what are you doing here?" Rick tried to look disapproving, but once again his eyes betrayed him. He was glad she was there, he had to be.

"I had to see you," she whispered.

"You didn't come alone, did you? This place is dangerous."

"No, no, Jonathan is just behind me."

"Good."

"What did they do to your head?" She reached for the injury but he pulled back. Rick could tell that upset her, so he took her hand instead, wrapping her small one in both of his. God, it felt good to hold her hand again. "Nothing," he replied. "It's nothing." He didn't want her know how bad the injury was. He couldn't tell her that his head throbbed so badly that he could barely see her straight.

"Well it doesn't look like nothing, Rick, it looks like it needs stitches." Her voice shook slightly, but it wasn't because she was about to cry. She was furious. How could this have happened? It wasn't fair! They'd just found each other, and now he'd been taken away from her. Evelyn wasn't going to let it happen. She was going to take control of her own life, for once.

"I'm going to get you out of here," she said, to convince not only him but herself, as well. "By the way...why exactly are you here?" It occurred to her that she didn't know what the charges were, but she tried not to let it dampen her resolve.

"I don't know, they still won't tell me. The warden said something about stealing, I think, but he was speaking in Arabic, I couldn't really hear over the-"

"Stealing? What did you steal?"

He pulled his hands away. "I didn't steal anything!" he said sharply.

The wounded expression on Evelyn's face looked as if it rivaled the pain of Rick's injury. He regretted his words immediately, though he'd just been defending himself. The last thing he wanted was to hurt her any more than he had already. She didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve her. He knew he had to tell her to turn around, to walk out of the prison, to forget about him. If his previous experiences had been any indication, proving his innocence in the Cairo court system would take forever. Cairo Prison was not exactly the ideal place to spend an eternity, and Rick knew the chances of a foreigner with a previous record getting out alive for a second time were slim.

But he couldn't get the words past his lips. For once, his knack for saying the wrong thing failed him. All he could say was, "I love you."

Evelyn's face crumbled. This wasn't happening! She had to be strong. She wasn't going to cry again. If she started, she knew she wouldn't ever stop. She wanted to stay strong for Rick, she had to. She leaned through the bars and kissed him gently. They were both reminded of another day, another cell, another kiss. This one was different, softer, not to mention that it was a mutual embrace this time around. And yet, somehow it hadn't changed. Evelyn felt the same chill run down her spine, her stomach flipped, her lips burned. She'd been in love with him since he'd kissed her, that first time. She was determined not to let the bitter irony get the best of the situation.

Rick pulled back slightly, and took her hand once more, fumbling in his pocket. While Jonathan had been busy showing Evy the treasure, Rick had noticed the ring and quietly slipped it out of the stash, planning to give it to Evy later, as a belated engagement ring. It was perfect. The center stone had reminded him of her personality--fiery, full of life. He still wanted her to know that he loved her, to remind her of him when he was gone. He needed her to remember him.

Evelyn looked down at the ring that he slipped on her finger. Tiny aquamarine stones lined the edges, the shining gold of the center strip interrupted by a single, dazzling diamond. It had come from Hamunaptra, she knew. Her scholar's mind couldn't help but analyze it while her heart was busy breaking into a million pieces.

"Remember me, Evelyn. Please. Just remember." His head cleared as he memorized her face one final time.

She looked up again as the guards took him away, shoving him back through the door and out of Evelyn's sight, forever. "I can't live without you," she whispered. It was then, only then, that she allowed herself to cry.

It was two days before she would even let Jonathan in her room. As a last resort, he'd tried to break the door down. Oh, he knew he'd never succeed, but he also knew it would make her pay attention to him, and maybe get a little laugh out of her.

Wrong. All it did was remind her of Rick.

Everything reminded her of Rick. Everywhere she turned his face jumped out of the crowd. Hieroglyphics seemed to spell nothing but his name. When she tried to sleep, she saw his eyes, distant and lifeless, their icy vibrancy replaced by nothing. Just nothing. Even the stars seemed to have lost their sparkle. The black night made her shiver. Daytime was even worse. Bright sunlight tried to force its way into her room, but she shut the curtains tight and tried to block out the world.

Unfortunately, Jonathan would not take no for an answer. When she finally answered his cries (mainly due to the pain in his arm from trying to break her door down), he simply sat with her. It felt good, just to have someone there. After a few hours, though, Jonathan got antsy. "Evy?" he asked, quietly. She didn't answer. "Evy?" he tried again. "Are you hungry?" She shook her head. No. "Don't you want to go take a walk, or something?" No. "We could see a picture, maybe? I'll take you to dinner. I'll pay this time, I swear." This drew a small smile, but still the answer was no. They sank once again into a companionable silence. Jonathan chided himself for wanting to leave. It broke his heart to see his baby sister so devastated. He'd practically carried her from the prison. He'd heard the crying through the door, late at night. Great, wracking sobs, so violent that Jonathan had seriously considered fetching a locksmith. Instead, he'd come up with the bloody "knock down the door" plan, and was now wishing like hell for a brandy to dull the pain. But he wouldn't leave her. He couldn't.

Jonathan almost missed Evy's first words, he'd become so absorbed in his own thoughts. "Jonathan," she said, barely audible. "Why did this happen?"

Jonathan racked his brain. What did she want him to tell her? Was there anything he could possibly say to make her feel better? He remembered when their parents had died, three years ago, and she had asked him the very same question. At the time he had mumbled something incoherent about fate and God and the natural order of things, and now he found he still hadn't come up with a better answer. So instead, he settled on the most ambiguous thing he could think of.

"I don't know, Evy." What a stupid thing to say!

"You know, I keep thinking...I mean, it happened so fast. So suddenly. Maybe it was that way because we were only meant to have a short time together. Maybe that's why I loved him so much."

"Love, Evy," he reminded her. "Not loved."

Her eyes welled with tears, but they didn't break the dam. "Oh, Jonathan. What am I going to do? I can't just leave him there! They said he won't go to court for a month! We don't even know what he's accused of! What if he never gets out? What if he..."

Speech finished, the tears came. Jonathan felt his own eyes grow misty, not out of any sort of love for O'Connell, but for his sister. His poor, sweet baby sister was in pain and there was nothing he could do about it.

"The lawyer said he'd take care of it, Evy," Jonathan said, trying to sound reassuring. "He was fairly confident that they'd dismiss the charges, I told you that."

She didn't say anything else. Jonathan knew what she was thinking. What he was thinking, and what O'Connell was certainly thinking, too. An extended stay in that place was not exactly conducive to one's health. The death sentence that was Cairo Prison was not kind to the guilty...and even more cruel to the innocent. Jonathan made a silent vow, and simply squeezed his sister's hand as they cried together.

Another three days passed before Evelyn felt like she could through most of the day without breaking down completely, and she'd decided to go to work to get her mind off it. She had spent most of the morning sniffling, sitting on the floor in the library, pretending to catalogue the new shipment but really only staring at her ring finger. The shimmering blue stones looked exactly like Rick's eyes when he laughed. They twinkled happily at her, winking a mischievously, dancing in the lights. She wanted so badly to look into those eyes again, to caress his face, know that he was still there. But Jonathan had insisted very firmly that she couldn't go to the prison again. He told her she wouldn't like what she saw, and she knew it. She called the lawyer they'd hired every day, dreading any sort of news. Nothing came. The only thing for it was to wait, and pray. And oh, she prayed.

She heard footsteps in the hall, and leapt up, hoping for a crushing, irrational moment that they might belong to Rick. Instead, Dr. Miller entered the library, clutching a stack of papers in his hand, a scowl contorting his long face. Good Lord, what had she done now? Evelyn thought. Dr. Miller shoved the papers into her hands, snarling, "More filing."

Evy nodded, not wanting to get into another confrontation with him. She began to turn away, but Dr. Miller noticed the handkerchief in her other hand. "Something wrong?" he asked viciously, eyeing her red nose and tired features.

"Allergies," she replied just as coldly. Damned if she was going to let him see her cry. Evelyn felt a rage rising in her throat, pushing against the tears that so desperately wanted out.

"Oh, that friend of yours, O'Donnell," he said, as if it was just a passing thought.

"O'Connell," she interrupted curtly. "Rick O'Connell."

"Right, right. So has he confessed?"

She looked at the curator blankly. "What? Confessed to what?"

He appeared to be just as confused. "What do you mean, what?"
"What did you do?" she said, slowly, deliberately. "What did you do to Rick?"

Dr. Miller still looked vaguely confused. "What did I do? What was I supposed to do? That man is dangerous, Evelyn. I did some checking, and it seems that he deserted from the Legion a few years back. Litany of previous charges, too. It seemed like the thing to do, I didn't want any problems, what with him wandering around the museum lately-"

"It was you," she said quietly. "It was you." Her boss was still bewildered by her behavior. What was the big deal? That man deserved to go to jail, not be allowed to hang around delicate girls like Evelyn. Dr. Miller had half hoped she'd be grateful to him for ridding her of such a scoundrel. Instead, Evelyn turned on her heel, went into her office, and started stuffing papers into her bag.

"What are you doing?"

"I quit."

"Excuse me?"

"Look, Dr. Miller, I know you're new at this job, so let me give you a little helpful hint," she hissed. "Employees generally resent it when you send their fiancés to jail."

"Fiancé?" he asked, incredulous. "You're engaged to that man?"

"Not that it's any of your business," she said, her voice rising, "but yes! And as soon as he's out of there we're getting out of Cairo. Screw the Benbridge scholars! If the rest of them are anything like you I don't want any part of it!" Evelyn was slightly shocked at her own outburst, but continued to empty the paltry contents of her desk into her purse.

Dr. Miller came around the edge of the desk, advancing on her. "Evelyn-"

"Don't call me Evelyn." Yanking a stack of books off the desk, she wobbled under their weight as she stalked out the door. He followed her, grabbing her roughly by the arm, and the stack of books slipped from her grasp. Most of them landed painfully on Evelyn's foot, causing her to drop the purse, too. Dr. Miller still had her by the arms, he was shaking her. Evelyn began to feel faint.

"You're wrong, you know, Evelyn. The rest of them aren't like me. They'll never give your application a second glance, I guarantee that. But I might be willing to make..." he paused menacingly... "certain arrangements that might change their minds."

Evelyn's head dropped to her chest, then it snapped back up, her eyes flashing. A growl emanated from her mouth: "Do not hurt her. I still need her." She shoved Dr. Miller back into the bookshelf with a force that would have jarred his bones, if he'd been conscious. His head hit the shelf with a sharp crack, and he crumpled to the floor, a few books clunking unceremoniously on his head from the impact. Evelyn grabbed her purse off the floor, gathered her books, gave Dr. Miller a swift kick as she passed his unconscious form, and continued confidently on her way.

They found her just outside the library doors, books scattered, struggling to breathe as she lay on the hard marble floor.

****

Ooohh...suspense. Will be slightly longer in between updates because I'm having a bit of trouble with the conclusion...[slowly chips away at writer's block] And, as always, keep reviewing...