Chapter ten. - Conscious thoughts.
Four days later Evelyn sighed and dropped the book she was reading into her lap. She was bored. Her position by the window did nothing to improve her jaded attitude; the fact that the scene outside was ever changing just reminded her of her own confinement.
As it had happened, all her declarations to Rick as to what she wanted the future to be, were wildly optimistic. She had not been able to forget Imhotep; he inhabited every moment of her sleep, and often tried to break into her conscious thoughts.
Consequently, due to her nightmares and both Rick and, surprisingly, jonathans overprotective streaks, Evelyn had hardly left her hotel room. To be honest, she was lucky if she was allowed out of her bed.
Although sometimes grateful for the bed rest, because of great tiredness due to the disturbed nights, this was not Evelyn's idea of getting on with her life.
Sitting in the wicker chair, Evelyn began remembering the day after her revelations.
"Please," she had begged, "Rick, just let me go to the library, I want to look up-"
"No," Rick had cut her off, using his forceful voice. "You're hurt, you're tired, and you're going back to bed."
She had humoured him at first, but a couple of hours later she had tried again. Creaking her bedroom door open slowly, she had been surprised to see Rick lying on one of the daybeds located in her reception room.
"Bed!" he had shouted, without even moving. Surprised, Evelyn had frozen in the doorway. "Evie, bed," he had commanded again, sounding for all the world like a parent talking to a rebellious child.
Eventually unfreezing she had crept back into the bedroom and begun wondering what to do next, and as her fingers tapped on the book in her lap, she was still wondering.
Rick had spent every night since in her reception room, and every day within earshot of her. When he was forced from her side, Jonathan was called in to take over, what seemed to Evie like guard duty.
For Rick his reasoning for staying close was simple; he never wanted to put Evie through the experience of not having him respond to her crying for him ever again.
Several times over the last three days Evie had woken from nightmares screaming his name, and every time Rick felt his vigil become justified by the fact that he could be there to comfort her and remind her of his love.
Holding her in his arms, he had let her cry her worries away. Bit by bit she had begun to tell him more about her dreams, and about the ordeal itself; how she had felt, and exactly what had happened.
Although Rick found it hard to hear, he was pleased that she felt able to confide in him, even if it did necessitate more trips to the gym.
Evelyn's best chance to get out of her room had come today, when Rick had unexpectedly been forced to leave her in the company of Jonathan. Having thought he was not needed, Jonathan had spent the morning in the reopened bar.
He had been reluctant to cease his comfort making activities, however, when brotherly duties dictated he leave the bar, and consequently he had arrived in Evelyn's room with two large bottles of alcohol, and made himself comfortable.
After having drunk approximately half of one, he promptly fell asleep and began snoring gently. Upon hearing the familiar noise, Evelyn had crept from the bedroom were she had been pretending to be asleep. Instead of using the freedom, she now had to leave the room; she sneaked to her brother's side and 'borrowed' one of his bottles, and hid it under her bed.
Over the last few days Evelyn had seen both the men in her life turn to alcohol for solace once or twice. Seeing her own opportunity she had decided to give it a try.
Standing up, Evelyn placed her book on the chair and edged towards the door. Rick had returned just before dusk had fallen, which was some time ago now. Deciding now was the perfect time to put her plan into action, as she could hear no noise emanating from the other room, she moved towards the bed and retrieved the bottle from its hiding place.
Pausing briefly as she sat cross legged on the bed, Evelyn listened once again for any noise. Hearing none she wasted no time in unscrewing the lid of the bottle, and sniffed deeply at the opening.
The alcohol fumes took her breath away, and she had to clasp her hands across her mouth in an effort to mask the impending cough.
"Whoa," she whispered a few minuets later, taking deep breaths to calm herself. "Why would anyone..." The thought stopped dead in her head as out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of her self in the full length mirror.
Although the long black nightgown Evie was wearing was one of the plainest she owned, the image blurred before her eyes into what she had worn at Hamunaptra.
I like your dress, Imhotep's voice suddenly tormented her. Your body will make a fine vessel for my love.
"Of course," Evie whispered to herself, realisation kicking in as fear gripped her as tightly as she held the glass bottle. "To forget." Quickly and without any more thought she pressed the bottle to her lips and took a deep swig.
"Alcohol," Evie could practically hear Jonathan saying, "is the best way to forget," and although she had always scoffed at him before, she was now forced to re-evaluate her opinion. That first single slug had wiped Imhotep's voice from her head so efficiently, and she was left wondering if there was something that could wipe away the physical memories that he had left her with just as efficiently.
As she wondered what could clean away the invisible trails that burnt into her skin where Imhotep's large, dirty hands had touched her, another voice entered her head.
"If I could change things, I would." It was Rick.
Suddenly she realised she didn't need to remove them completely, perhaps just replace them; if the memories were of someone else's touch, it would be easer to deal with.
Evie began blushing as she realised what she was thinking, but as a little more alcohol burnt the back of her throat, she decided it was what she wanted to do.
Slowly she slid off the bed and stood up. Her feet felt heavy but her head felt light as she stumbled towards the bedroom door, clutching the precious bottle.
When Evie had a plan she was nothing if not determined, and nothing or no one could stop her- not even herself. So when she slid the door open and began to have second thoughts, they just drove her further forward, and she strode confidently into the room.
Once fully in the front room, she froze instinctively for a second, expecting Rick to respond, but his voice never came.
Slowly she began to creep towards the couch, where as her eyes grew accustomed to the dusk she could see a large pair of boots hooked over the end. Waving the bottle in the air in an effort to keep her balance as she walked, she spoke softly.
"Rii..." she began to purr, but stopped short as she peered over the top of the sofa and realised the adventurer was asleep.
Looking down, Evie watched as shadows danced across Rick's stubbly face, and even though his hair was messed up, and she was pretty sure he had been wearing the same clothes for a good few days, she felt her love for him only grow.
"Ahh..." she couldn't help but whisper quietly as she heard him begin to snore gently.
Unlike Evie, Rick had hardly slept in the last week. It was partially voluntary, due to him wanting to be with Evie as much as possible, and partially involuntary, due to the graphic images fuelled by Evie's ordeal that plagued his quieter moments.
Now he had finally succumbed to the tiredness, his mind and body had forced him into the deepest sleep possible.
Rick's slumber didn't force Evie to abandon her plan, however, just adapt it a little. As quietly as possible she moved around the far end of the couch, were she could see his sleeping form fully. Standing there, she realised she would have to put the bottle down before moving again. Reaching out she eventually found the table and placed one hand flat on it, and with the other firmly around the neck of the bottle, she tried to get the two to meet. After a couple of near misses she eventually succeeded and managed to land the bottle on the table top in relative silence.
Relieved that that ordeal was over, she turned back to Rick and thought about her plan. A small blush crept across her ivory cheeks, and she whished she had the bottle back. Quickly she gripped the sofa and forced herself to begin, before she lost her nerve. Gently she moved on to the sofa, and with one leg either side of him she slid into Rick's lap.
Pausing for a moment as she tried to get used to her unusual seating position, she wondered what to do next. As she considered her next course of action Evelyn fidgeted to try and get more comfortable, and was extremely surprised to hear Rick groan pleasurably in his sleep.
Confused, Evelyn squirmed again, and sure enough Rick groaned again. Suddenly realising what she was doing Evelyn began blushing furiously. Even though she was embarrassed she smiled; her plan was working. Unstably she leant forward and began to undo the buttons on his shirt.