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Jerking awake, Evy was momentarily disoriented and her eyes darted around the room for a few seconds before settling on Ardeth. Noticing that the damp cloth had slipped from his forehead, she scooted forward enough snatch it up and dunk in the basin. It wasn't until she turned to place a fresh one that she noticed the blueness of his lips.
"Ardeth?" She whispered, hesitantly. There was no response, and Evy found herself placing a hand on his chest. Was it moving? She couldn't tell. Fear sent a wave of adrenaline surging through her, making her head spin, and she closed her eyes. Beneath her fingers, she felt a sudden movement as she heard a quick, strangled gasp, and her eyes flew open.
"Arde...," Evy's voice trailed off as she realized she was no longer in the guest room. Instead, she was in a tent - an enormous one.
Feeling a jerking movement beneath her fingers, she glanced down to see that her hand still rested on Ardeth's chest. Evy would have been relieved if she hadn't immediately noticed the desperate way he struggled to breath. Her heart skipped a beat when, after battling to inhale, the breath seemed to catch in his throat, as though he hadn't the strength to expel it.
"Ardeth?!" She gasped, shaking him none to gently. Her stomach clenched as the breath was finally, painfully, forced out and the struggle to inhale another began. The battle seemed to drag on for minutes, not the second she knew it had to really be, and Evy started to doubt he was going to manage it at all. Beginning to tremble, tears welled in her eyes as she grasped what was happening. Ardeth was dying! Right there...right before her eyes...he was gasping his last breaths.
"LA! IMSHEE!" Evy stumbled as she was angrily shoved away. Landing on the hard ground, she stared up, stunned, and saw a young man - more of a boy, actually - glaring down at her. Grief and anger seething from his eyes, Evy didn't need to be told who he was. ("No! Get away!")
"Fathi?!"
"YOU GET AWAY FROM HIM!" The boy raged, venomously, not bothering to confirm who he was. Left momentarily speechless, Evy just stared at him. "YOU DO THIS! YOU!"
She was about to object to the accusation when a low, agonized wail assaulted her ears. Jumping up, Evy saw a young woman standing behind the boy, staring down at Ardeth, who was blocked from her view. Suddenly 'Fathi' spun away from her, dropping to his knees beside his brother, and Evy was able to see clearly what was happening. Ardeth's battle for another breath had been lost. He lay lifeless, the flush of the remaining heat in his body visibly draining quickly away, leaving behind the ashen pallor of death.
'Nonononononononononono," Evy muttered under her breath, taking a step towards Ardeth. "He didn't die. Nononononononono."
She froze as she heard Fathi's pained whisper. "Leyh?"
"NONONONOOOO...AAAARDETH!" Evy screamed, jolting awake.
On the bed, Ardeth was startled awake, as well. "Evelyn?!"
Evy didn't answer, instead she studied him for a moment, unsure whether to trust what her eyes were seeing or not. Her stomach knotted as she noticed the cloth had slipped off his forehead. Snatching it up quickly, she felt that it was dry and realized she must have been asleep for a while. Remorseful tears welled in her eyes; Dr. Hamilton had trusted her to tend to him...and she'd fallen asleep.
Seeing Evy's eyes dampen with tears, Ardeth frowned. Pausing for a sleepy blink and a breath, he croaked, "Evelyn? What is wrong?"
"Shhh, everything fine," Evy responded, having only vaguely heard him, as she placed a fresh cloth across his forehead. Distracted by the realization that she should probably have woken the physician a while ago, Evy wasn't as carefully as she might have been and water dripped into Ardeth's eyes, causing them to close. When he opened them again, she'd left the room. So, with a sigh, he let his eyelids slip down.
"Ardeth, you okay?" Alex whispered, rising up on his knees, after poking his head up and noticing his mother was gone.
"I am fine, young O'Connell," the Medjai answered, sleepily, opening his eyes and peering at the young face hovering over him. Despite its sleepiness, Ardeth's voice sounded stronger and his eyes seemed less dazed, allowing Alex to smile at the warrior's predictable response.
Ardeth also smiled, but it wasn't just a response to Alex's. The warrior was pleased that, although he was still weak and tired, the fog in his brain had eased and he could almost think clearly again. The smiled faded, however, as he remembered the circumstances that had landed him in the O'Connell's guest room.
"What the matter? You need something?" Alex inquired anxiously, seeing the Medjai frown.
"No, I am fine," Ardeth restated, distractedly. He realized that time was quickly passing and knew he had to act soon if Evy was to be saved. However, the Medjai was painfully aware that he was in no condition to do much of anything. Ardeth sighed and closed his eyes, hoping to fall back to sleep. Perhaps a few more hours of rest would be enough to get him on his feet.
"Are you now?" Dr. Hamilton asked, rhetorically, entering the room just in time to hear the last couple words. Startled, Ardeth flinched and opened his eyes, glancing toward the physician. "Sorry."
"Do not concern yourself, Doctor," Ardeth responded, politely, giving the physician a weary smile, despite not being particularly pleased to see him again.
"Well, let's have a look and see if you really are as fine as you say, shall we?" Dr. Hamilton quipped, returning a sympathic smile. He was pleased to see that his patient was more coherent than he'd last seen him, but was certain that Ardeth was still far from 'fine'.
Ardeth simply nodded slightly, knowing the physician was going to examine him regardless of his wishes. He closed his eyes as he felt Dr. Hamilton's fingers brush against his flesh.
Moving past the physician to stand at the bottom of the bed, Evy closely scrutinized Dr. Hamilton's expression as he peeled back the bandage covering the shoulder wound. Relief washed over her when he didn't frown, as he had last time.
"He's doing better?" She inquired, hopefully, still feeling guilty for having fallen asleep.
Dr. Hamilton glanced up long enough to give her a reassuring smile, but didn't really respond. Having only just begun the examination, he wasn't comfortable commenting. However, he was pleased to note that, although he was a still warm, the Medjai's temperature seemed to be down a bit. Deciding he wanted to know exactly where things stood, the physician re-covered the wound and grabbed a thermometer from the medical bag he'd left near the nightstand.
"Open." Ardeth cracked his eyelids enough to see what the physician wanted and then complied. "That's a good lad. Now if you could roll over just a bit."
While he waited for the reading, Dr. Hamilton checked the other side of the shoulder wound. After slowly peeling back the bandage, he was pleased to see that, although there was still some slight swelling, it had diminished from what it had been earlier. Re-covering the wound, the physician gently helped Ardeth roll back onto the bed and snatched-up the thermometer. He frowned slightly, noting that it read 102.1 - higher than he would have liked.
After setting the thermometer on the nightstand, Dr. Hamilton moved down to the abdominal wound. He cringed as Ardeth stifled a moan. Biting his lip, his patient shifted restlessly in response to his slight touch as he removed the melted ice pack. Dr. Hamilton better understood the reaction as he peeled back the bandage. His frown growing, he noted, grimly, that the swelling had increased enough that it threatened to tear the remaining stitches. The idea of opening the wound back up again to re-clean it didn't appeal to him at all, however, especially with his patient finally showing signs of improvement. Since the swelling was, at least, preventing continued bleeding, Dr. Hamilton decided to give it until morning before deciding what to do, if anything.
Alex frowned in response to the disapproving look on the physician's face. It was obvious that there was a problem with the wound, but he resisted the temptation to ask. He didn't want to alarm Ardeth, who'd closed his eyes again and seemed to be dozing.
Evy also frowned, once again, feeling guilty for falling asleep and not putting fresh ice in the compress. She glanced remorsefully at Dr. Hamilton. Busy rechecking Ardeth's ribs, he didn't notice.
"Well, I wouldn't really say that you were 'fine', but you're doing better than you were," the physician announced, before checking Ardeth's pupils. "I suppose, we'll take what we can get and let you sleep."
"You keep saying that, Doctor," Ardeth muttered sleepily, giving the physician a skeptical glare. "But then you come back."
"I won't make any promises, but I'll do my best not to bother you again until morning. All right?" Dr. Hamilton responded. Chuckling, he gave the Medjai a sympathetic pat on the hand.
"Shukran, tabeeb," Ardeth's responded, smiling appreciatively, and closed his eyes.
Assuming that the Medjai had fallen back to sleep, Dr. Hamilton glanced over toward Evy and nodded his head towards the door.
"Alex," Evy called out.
"But...," Alex protested.
"It would be a good idea to leave someone with him, and since Alex seems to disturb him the least..." Dr. Hamilton suggested, coming to the child's rescue.
Evy frowned, pondering the situation for moment before reluctantly nodding her head. "All right, Alex, but do be careful not to jostle him about, will you. And come get one of us if he needs anything. All right?"
"Yes, mum," Alex responded, carefully keeping his gaze anywhere but on her.
Frustrated by her son's continued efforts to distance himself from her, Evy sighed. She was tempted to try to talk to him about it, but decided against it. There seemed little point in pressing the issue until they were all calmer and better rested. Turning away from him, Evy stepped toward the physician - unconsciously pausing to snatch the journal out of the chair - and took the arm extended her, allowing herself to be escorted from the room.
"How is he really doing, Doctor?" Evy asked, anxiously, once they were a few steps from the room.
Dr. Hamilton was hesitant to answer her. He knew Evy needed to get some sleep, and didn't want her too worried to do so.
"I mean...he's going to be fine now, right?" Evy stammered, growing more nervous as the physician remained silent.
Dr. Hamilton noticed her increased agitation and realized that his silence was being interpreted badly. Unfortunately, a truthful response wasn't likely to be comforting, either, since he suspected they'd only been granted a temporary reprieve. By the looks of the abdominal wound, the physician was certain that the situation was going to get worse, before it was better. However, he realized it would be harder on Evy if it came as a surprise than if she were prepared for it.
"Well, he's been lucky, thus far, and we can certainly hope that will continue to be the case. Unfortunately, I suspect the abdominal wound is infected, if so the worst may be yet to come."
Evy nodded, her eyes moistening a little. She'd suspected as much after seeing his face when he'd examined the wound, but had hoped she was wrong. Still holding onto the physician's arm, Evy gave it an appreciative squeeze, grateful that he was, at least, being upfront with her.
"Are you certain it's all right to..." Evy began to ask, concerned about having left Ardeth basically unattended. Guessing her train of thought, Dr. Hamilton interrupted.
"The more rest he can get, the better, and I truly do think he'll sleep better without us fussing over him."
Evy nodded again, and Dr. Hamilton patted her hand supportively.
"Try to get some sleep, Evelyn," he recommended, as they reached his door and she turned towards her own room. Evy tossed him a smile over her shoulder and continued down the hall.
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"Uhm-nmnn," Rick yawned, as his wife, still a little reluctant, climbed into their bed and snuggled into him. "How's Ardeth?"
"His fever's down," Evy responded, simply. Everything was still so up in the air, she wasn't really certain what else to tell him.
"There, see. I told you everything was going to be fine," he replied, wrapping his arms around her and enjoying the intimate moment.
Evy didn't respond. Burying her head deeper into the nape of his neck, she simply clung to him, desperately wanting to believe it would be all right - that she wouldn't end up being responsible for the death of someone they owed so much to...so much more than she could ever voice.
Feeling the tension in Rick's arms loosen as his breathing evened out, Evy realized he'd fallen back to sleep. Closing her eyes, hoping to follow his example, she felt some of her own tension ooze away. Lying in the security of her husband's arm, it was almost possible to forget the horrors of the day - of what she'd done - and, gradually, Evy slipped into a light slumber.
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"Ardeth, you still awake?" Alex whispered, after laying quietly in the dark for a few minutes.
"I am," Ardeth replied, drowsily.
"Would it be all right if I asked you something? I mean...I don't want to bother you or anything," Alex returned, hesitantly.
"You may ask."
"Who's Nameer?" Alex asked, propping his head up on his elbow to look at the Medjai.
"Nameer?" Ardeth questioned, growing a hair more alert as he wondered where the child had heard the name.
"Yeah. You've been calling the name in your sleep," Alex explained.
Ardeth didn't respond. Nameer had haunted his sleep since Ahm Shere. However, he had spoken of it to no one - not even Badi'a. To speak of Nameer, was to think of Fathi. To think of Fathi was to be reminded of the responsibility that Ardeth bore for his death. Had he recovered the Scorpion King's bracelet before it donned Alex's wrist, there would have been no battle, and Fathi would not had been killed. His heart weighed heavy with the burden of his failure.
Alex heard the Medjai sigh and wondered if he shouldn't have asked. "That's all right. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
"It is all right. I will tell you," Ardeth finally responded. Refusing to answer would not alter what was. "Nameer was my youngest brother."
"He died?" Alex asked, noting the past tense.
"Yes, many years ago," the Medjai answered.
"How'd he die?" Alex persisted, not really considering that it would be more polite to let the matter drop.
"Fever," Ardeth mumbled sleepily.
"Oh," Alex commented and fell silent. Laying still, listening to Ardeth's breathing even out as the Medjai succumbed to sleep, Alex struggled to imagine him with a brother, a mother, a father, and all the other ordinary things of life. He was still pondering it as he slowly dozed off.
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