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As he neared the only guest room with an open door, Rick found it puzzling that Alex was nowhere in sight. However, Ardeth was getting much too heavy to worry about it. Rick shuffled quickly towards the room, feeling his friend beginning to slip. Barely making it to the bed, he slung the Medjai onto it with a lot less care than intended, provoking a weak moan from the unconscious warrior.

"Sorry about that, old buddy," Rick muttered in response. "And this."

He felt his friend tense against the pain as he pulled him into a sitting position. Gingerly easing the Medjai out of his robe, Rick heard the warrior gasp when he jostled the injured shoulder. Carefully laying Ardeth back down onto the mattress, Rick saw that his eyes were open.

"Hang in there, Ardeth," Rick whispered, not sure if the Medjai was in any shape to understand him. Ardeth blinked sleepily a few times and closed his eyes.

Thinking he'd lost consciousness again, Rick started to rise, wanting to find something to slow the bleeding with until the doctor arrived. He'd considered using Ardeth's tattered robe, but it didn't seem right to use the ceremonial garment in such a way without asking. Towels would do the job. Rick had no more than shifted his weight when a hand grabbed his arm. It startled him, and he flinched.

"'Eh-sif." ("Sorry.")

Rick gave his friend a concerned smile. "S'all right, buddy. Just startled me, no need to apologize."

Ardeth closed his eyes, taking a painful breath and letting it out with a shudder before opening his mouth to speak again.

"Hey, don't try to talk, okay," Rick told him, almost pleadingly. Taking in Ardeth's ashen complexion and the pain emanating from his eyes, listening to him try to speak almost physically hurt. Rick silently screamed at the doctor to hurry.

"Ana 'eh-sif," Ardeth repeated weakly, ignoring his friend's request. He didn't realize he'd reverted to Arabic. His brain felt fuzzy, making it hard to think, but he could still clearly remember the rage on Evy's face. Ardeth tried to focus, to pinpoint what he'd done, but his brain was too weary. Whatever his offense, it had caused her to attack him with the Devourer's dagger, placing not only her life, but also her soul in danger. ("I'm sorry")

As Ardeth struggled to speak, Rick grasped that there was more to it than an apology for startling him. It seemed as though it were taking everything the Medjai had to get the words out. Rick prayed he would stop trying, but could see determination mingled with the pain on the warrior's face, and knew that he wouldn't.

"'Eh-sif geddan, sadiqi. Min fadlak…yi...seh…mih," Ardeth gasped out the last word, his eyes closing tightly as wave of pain washed over him. Arching his back against it, his fingers dug into Rick's arm as his other hand clenched the bedding. Collapsing back down as the pain momentarily receded, Ardeth found himself without the strength to force his eyelids to open again. ("I'm very sorry, my friend. Please, forgive me")

"Min fadlak yisehmih, sadiqi," he repeated in a barely audible whisper, before finally succumbing to the darkness. ("Please forgive me, my friend.")

Rick sat stunned. The desperation in Ardeth's plea was heartrending, but that wasn't what he found shocking. The Medjai's apology, combined with Evy's hysterical mutterings, had Rick's head spinning. The obvious conclusion – that Ardeth had done something to provoke Evy – was difficult to comprehend. The Medjai was one of the most honorable people Rick knew.

"Here."

Rick glanced up to see Alex standing next to him with an armload of towels. Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he smiled at his son, relieved to see Alex acting more like the irrepressible child he knew.

"Can I help?"

Rick was tempted to send him away. He knew he blocked the full view of Ardeth's injuries. Remembering Alex's reaction downstairs, he wasn't so sure it was a good idea to let the child have a closer look. However, Rick understood what it was like to have to stand by helplessly. He also knew that, as bad as it was, the child's imagination could come up with worse.

"Sure, buddy. Hop up on the other side," Rick replied, calmly. As Alex scrambled up onto the bed, Rick wadded up a couple of towels and pressed them against the wound near Ardeth's waist. The Medjai moaned softly, tossing his head and reflexively shifting a hand toward the injury.

"S'all right, big guy. Take it easy," Rick soothed, gently stopping Ardeth's hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he'd seen Alex cringe as Ardeth moaned. It made him reconsider letting the child stay, but he didn't want Alex to feel like he was letting him down. Glancing up, he gave his son a reassuring smile. "You know your mum's pretty upset. She could probably use some company."

"Please, dad. I'm not a baby. I can take it and I really want to help," Alex responded, a little wisp of desperation edging his tone. Rick heard it, and it worried him. There seemed to be more to it than concern for Ardeth, but he realized that it would have to wait. For the moment, his son obviously needed a task to focus on.

"Think you can keep pressure on that for me."

Alex nodded, glumly, putting his little hands in place of his father's, as Rick moved on to the shoulder wound. He watched his father pull Ardeth up enough to place a couple more wadded towels under him. Beneath his hands, Alex felt the warrior stirring. Ardeth continued to shift restlessly, muttering incoherently, as Rick pressed against the front of the shoulder wound.

"Shhh. It's all right, Ardeth," Alex soothed, his voice wavering as tears welled in his eyes. Shifting, he tenderly placed a hand on the warrior's feverish cheek. "Don't be frightened. We're going to make it all right."

Rick felt a little teary as he watched his son remove his hand from the warrior's face and focus his attention on pressing on the towels. Ardeth moved his hand toward the renewed pressure, and Rick was about to intervene when Alex placed one of his little hands in the warrior's big one. Ardeth continued to stir restlessly, mumbling the occasional word in Arabic, but made no further attempts to relieve the pressure.

Hearing a soft tapping, Rick peered over his shoulder to see Evy clinging to the doorframe. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Alex tense and frowned at the reaction as he studying his wife. She appeared calmer, but he could tell it wouldn't take much to send her over the edge.

"How is he?" she inquired, hesitantly. Beneath his hands, Rick felt Ardeth tense at the sound of her voice. He heard Alex whispering soothingly as the Medjai's stirring grew increasingly agitated.

"Doc on his way?" Rick asked, intentionally avoiding her question. Before Evy could answer, they heard a car squeal to a quick stop, and she fled towards the front door to meet the physician.

Rick could hear her grow increasingly agitated as she escorted the family doctor upstairs, trying to explain to him on the way what had happened. Doubting that the man had been able understand much of Evy's rambling, it didn't surprise Rick when the physician gasped and came to an abrupt halt as he got his first eye-full of the patient.

"Evelyn mentioned there'd been an accident," the physician finally stated, after pausing for several seconds to absorb the scene before him. "This isn't exactly what I'd pictured. Perhaps you'd care to elaborate while I have a closer look."

Evy slipped around the physician and moved towards her son. "Come on, Alex! Let's get out of the man's way."

"No way! I'm not going anywhere! Ardeth's needs me!" Alex shouted, squirming away from his mother's attempt to touch him. Rick noted that the child determinedly kept his eyes anywhere but on Evy.

"Alex!" he chastised, not understanding what was going on with his son, but not wanting to let him get away with shouting at his mother.

"But Dad, I promised him I wouldn't leave. Promised, Dad!" Alex implored. "Please! Don't make me leave. What if he wakes up and all he sees is the doctor? He'll be scared! Please, don't make me leave him, Dad!"

The vehemence of the child as he neared hysterics stunned Rick. It was uncharacteristic of Alex to lose it so badly. Rick thought back to the family's recent Ahm Shere adventure, remembering how amazed he'd been by his son's composure through it all. Suddenly, it occurred him that perhaps that had something to do with this. Perhaps seeing Ardeth again had brought it all back for his son. Deciding that might explain it, Rick felt a little better. He was still worried, but at least he could understand. Although still reluctant to give in to Alex, he decided it wasn't the time to push it.

Backing away, Evy stood wide-eyed with her arms wrapped around herself. Too near her own hysterics to begin to deal with her son's continued refusal of her touch, she shrugged her shoulders helplessly at her husband.

"Doc, would..." Rick began. The physician stopped him with a compassionate squeeze of his shoulder.

"I'm sure Alex can manage to stay out of the way," he commented, tossing the child a friendly smile. He wouldn't normally have approved of exposing a child to this sort of thing, but he'd been the O'Connells' physician long enough to know Alex had seen worse.

"All right, Alex," Rick acquiesced, frowning a little. "But you hop on out of the way if the Doc tells you to, you got it."

Alex nodded.

"Evelyn, I could use some water and fresh towels," the physician requested. The matter of the child's continued presence settled, he shifted his gaze from Alex to Evy. By the look of her, it was apparent that she needed a distraction.

Evy nodded in response and practically ran from the room.

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"Evy? Everything all right?"

Evelyn heard her brother's voice float up from downstairs and moved to the banister. Below her, she saw Jonathan examining the bloody mess left in Ardeth's wake. He looked as though he were about to faint.

"Evy? Rick? Alex? Anybody home?"

Hearing the near panic in his voice, Evy realized that he didn't know whose blood he was staring at.

"Jonathan, up here," she called out, waving to get his attention. He looked up, visibly relieved, but it didn't last.

"Rick? Alex?"

"They're both fine. Ardeth's the one who's injured."

"Ardeth!" Evy heard her brother groan. "What in bloody hell is he doing here? Don't tell me that damn Mummy's back again!"

"Unfortunately, he didn't get a chance to say." Evy paused, for some reason remembering that reminded her of what she'd read in the journal. It occurred to her that it was something her brother had a right to know. "Jonathan, you'd better come up. I need to talk to you."

Jonathan paled further as he studied the look on Evy's face. A little hesitant, he climbed the stairs toward his sister. As he reached the top and approached her, he caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye and glanced toward the banister. His brow wrinkled at the sight of a bloody dagger lying on the carpet. Swallowing hard, Jonathan quickly glanced away, wondering what had happened, but not entirely sure he really wanted to find out.

"You sure I really want to know...whatever it is?" he asked, as he approached. Evy responded with a sympathetic squeeze of his arm, which only made Jonathan more certain he didn't want to know...whatever it was.

"Don't run away...I'll just be a minute." Jonathan nodded and watched her as she fetched a basin of water from the washroom. "Oh my...Jonathan, I needed to grab some clean towels and I seem to have run out of hands. Would you mind...?"

"Oh, um...sure, Evy...I'm right behind you," he responded, a little flustered. Quickly fetching the towels, Jonathan fell in behind his sister.

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"Um…what happened…" Rick started, stepping aside to allow the physician a better look at Ardeth's injuries. "I'm not real clear on that myself, Doc. I know he's got a shoulder wound, went all the way through – from a broadsword."

Peeling the blood-soaked towels away from the shoulder wound, the physician raised an eyebrow at the mention of the broadsword. He didn't get many sword wounds, even with the O'Connells.

"And another stab wound, don't know how deep," Rick added, nodding toward Alex. The physician briefly glanced over to see the child keeping pressure on the other wound, before rolling Ardeth's shoulder over enough to get a peek at his back.

"He hit his head, too," Evy added, remembering the 'smack' she'd heard. Squirming past the physician, she set the basin of water on the stand next to the bed. The Doc let Ardeth's shoulder roll back onto the bed as he shuffled out of her way.

"Rick. Alex. Doctor," Jonathan greeted, entering the room behind Evy. The blood-soaked towels immediately caught his attention, and Jonathan swallowed hard. "Here."

Rick had to lunge for the fresh towels, barely catching them before they hit the floor. Shaking his head, he smirked as he watched his brother-in-law flee from the room.

"He been conscious at all?" the physician asked. Ignoring Jonathan's brief appearance, he frowned at the additional piece of information Evy'd provided. Checking Ardeth's pupils, he saw signs of a concussion.

"In and out. Seems pretty coherent when he awake," Rick responded, and the physician's frown lessened a bit.

Taking a deep breath, he pondered silently for a moment. Letting his breath out in a long sigh, the Doc locked eyes with Rick. "You realize your guest should be in a hospital?"

Rick broke the eye contact and shrugged slightly. "Just do what you can, Doc."

The physician nodded, grimly, and refocused his attention on Ardeth.

"Rick," Evy whispered to her husband, as the physician fell silent. "I need to talk to Jonathan. Can you manage without me?"

Rick nodded, pleased that Evy was excusing herself. Having no idea what had happened between her and Ardeth, he preferred putting some distance between the two until he figured it out.

"Well, Alex, what do you say we get to work," the physician quipped, as he nodded to acknowledge Evy's departure. He smiled reassuringly at Alex, who returned a half-smile in response and moved out of the way so the Doc could roll Ardeth onto his side.

The shift increased the pressure on the abdominal injury, and Ardeth moaned softly. Tensing, he grasped at the bedsheet, reflexively planting his uninjured shoulder and elbow against the bed to resist further movement.

The physician sighed. He'd gotten him over enough to work on the injury, but wasn't certain how long he'd stay in the position. Briefly, the Doc considered giving his patient something for the pain, which would conveniently relax him, as well, but he vaguely recalled some sort of Arab prohibition against intoxicants. Not sure if the pain medication would be considered an intoxicant or not, he decided he'd better not use it without permission.

"Rick, I'll need you to hold him for me."

Rick nodded. He was still considering the best angle to go at it when Alex scooted over and rose up on his knees enough to take hold of the Medjai's shoulder, holding it steady for the Doc.

"I've got him, Dad."

Rick exchanged glances with the physician, then shrugged his shoulders and positioned himself to lend a hand if needed - which it was. The Medjai immediately reacted as the wound was probed. Even unconscious and in a weakened state, Ardeth was a lot to handle as he struggled to escape the physician's touch.

Alex glanced down at Ardeth's face as the warrior's feverish mumbling grew more agitated. To keep from focusing on his pain-contorted expression, Alex studied the tattoos decorating the Medjai's forehead and whispered soothingly, until Ardeth abruptly stopped struggling and fell silent. Letting out a relieved sigh, Alex closed his eyes for a moment and didn't notice as Ardeth's eyes briefly flittered open.

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"All right, Evy, let me have it," Jonathan prompted, as she finished guiding him into her bedroom and closed the door. Unsure of how to begin, Evy turned and studied her brother.

"Evy!"

"Yes, yes…I'm getting there, Jonathan. Let me see…where to begin?"

Jonathan found himself tempted to strangle his sister as Evy paused to gather her thoughts. He was just about to prod her along when she took a deep breath and spoke.

"Mother and Father were murdered by the Medjai!" Evy blurted out, having realized there was really no easing into it. She steeled herself for her brother's reaction, but it surprised, more than a little, when it came.

Dumfounded, Jonathan stared as his sister for a good minute before bursting out in laughter. "Don't be ridiculous, Evy."

As her face wrinkled with confusion, Jonathan realized she was serious and tried to stifle his laughter.

"I don't know where you got that idea, but I can tell you with certainty that no one murdered Father and Zarina."

"But…but…I…,"

"They died in a car accident, Evy. They were driving to some oasis in search of some fabled tribe and were caught in a storm. Father crashed the car, and they died. That's all there is to it."

"You're absolutely certain?" Evy asked, warily.

"Yes, old mum, absolutely!"

"Oh, Jonathan!" The color suddenly drained from Evy.

"Evy?! What is it!" Jonathan asked, alarmed by his sister's reaction.

"Evelyn?!" he shouted, when she failed to respond.

"Jonathan…I…I can't explain now. Please….I need to think….need to be alone."

"Yes, of course. I'll just….uh….I'll just see if Rick needs as hand," Jonathan offered and nervously backed out of the room.

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