She could hear voices. Yes there was a female voice too.
"Basel?" Ali whispered.
"Yes, my child, I am here" Basel said as she carefully sat down beside Ali.
Ali eyes fluttered open.
"Thank Allah you are awake."
"Oh Basel" Ali said as she tried to look around the room. Trying to raise up a little she immediately asked "Ardeth?"
"Hasnew is with him. He is doing everything he can, Ali. Now lay back down and rest dear."
Ali just nodded. She still felt so weak. "Basel, he will be alright, won't he?"
"Of course he will." Basel tried to find a way to change the subject, because she knew that whether Ardeth would be alright or not was far from certain. "Ali may I ask you a question?" Basel asked as she wiped off Ali's face with a cool rag.
"Yes"
"I can see by your bruised face and swollen eyes and by your broken arm that something horrible happened in Cairo. But I know there's more, please tell me.." As she asked the question she could see Ali's facial expression change.
Ali lay there for several minutes trying to straighten everything out. Finally she spoke "After Hudson shot Ahmen....wait Ahmen was with Ardeth. He is alright then?"
"Yes, he made a full recovery. When Ardeth found him out in the desert........" Ali touched Basel's arm to stop her.
"Why did Ardeth find him in the desert? I just assumed he made it back to the village."
"No my dear let me tell you".
After Basel told the story of Ardeth leaving the council meeting all Ali could say was 'oh'.
"So you see my dear, I do believe that you and my Grandson have a very strong bond"
"Maybe we do." Now it was Ali's turn to want to change the subject "I'm sorry Basel you asked me about Cairo"
"Yes my dear. Something that Akmun told us, well, had us worried and perplexed."
"What things?"
"Well the state that the room was in after you left the hotel."
Ali didn't know what to say. After several minutes of silence she finally said "Maybe I should start from when Hudson took me. The day he shot Ahmen and took me we went to somewhere outside Cairo. At that point and time I was blindfolded. But I could tell it was outside the city. There wasn't enough noise to be inside the city. We were there for several weeks. During the second week there...well I should have started my cycle, but I didn't." Normally talking of such things with someone would have embarrassed Ali, but her heart hurt and she was so worried about Ardeth that she just told it as part of the story. "I thought at first it was from the stress of being with Hudson again. But the more I thought about it, I realized that had never interrupted it before. Then one morning I woke up and I just knew. I was carrying Ardeth's baby."
"Oh, Ali" Basel said, sensing where her story was going.
As Basel took her hand Ali continued "so from that day on, I tried to do everything Hudson or any of his men wanted" Ali looked away for a moment trying not to remember it all, then she continued "Every night I would pray that anything they had done to me that day would not have harmed the baby. I walked the line enough to keep Hudson from hitting me once until that night at the hotel."
"What happened, dear?"
"We went to stay at the hotel because Hudson wanted to gamble with the money he took from me. He needed to win more money for supplies for the trip to Hamunaptra. Two nights before we left the hotel he came back to the room very drunk and very mad. I tried to appease him, but nothing worked. He started hitting me and punching me while he had me pinned to the bed. I was trying to turn and protect the baby. He grabbed me and threw me around the room. I was trying desperately not to hit anything with my stomach and finally he noticed. He grabbed me and pulled me to him and asked 'What are you trying to do?' As he said it he grabbed at my belly and I tried to turn away. He yanked me back around to face him 'You're pregnant. You're pregnant with the Madman's child, aren't you?' But I wouldn't answer him. He punched me square in the stomach. Then he hit me knocking me to the ground. He had me pinned up against the dresser, to where I couldn't move. He just kept kicking and kicking me over and over again in my stomach. I tried to get away but I couldn't." Ali stopped and wiped the tears that ran down her cheeks. "I felt my stomach contract. When I looked down I was bleeding. Hudson finally noticed I guess because the last thing I remember before I passed out was him laughing and saying something about beating that maniac's baby out of me." When she finished she turned her head away from Basel and cried.
Basel just sat there not knowing what to say. All she could do was pat Ali's hand.
Hasnew walking over to Basel, brought her back to the present. He reached out and put his hand on her shoulder "I have done all I can. It does not look good. The wound was deep. He will probably not see the morning."
Before either knew what was happening Ali had sprang from her bed. Half falling half running toward Ardeth's bed she screamed "No!!! He can't die. You have to do something."
As she sank onto the floor beside Ardeth's bed she frantically cried "Ardeth, please don't die. Please be strong. I'm here for you. Please"
"How did she know what I said?" Hasnew asked Basel.
Ali spoke to them never taking her eyes off Ardeth "Because I understand Arabic. I do not speak it very well, but I do understand most of it." Picking up a rag she gently wiped his face "Ardeth please. You have to get better. Please"
Hasnew and Basel walked over to Ali and Ardeth. Hasnew looked down at Ali and said "He has to want to survive. I think you might be the key to that."
Ali just nodded. "Please Ardeth come back to me, please."
"Ali you must take of your self too." Hasnew added.
"Yes you must, now back to your bed child" Basel stated as she extended her hand out for Ali.
"I want to stay with him. Basel. I want to be near him. Please." Ali could feel her eyes welling up with tears as she spoke.
"Alright, alright Ali. There is no need for tears. We will move your cot here beside the bed. I will bring another here and I will stay with you both"
Ali slowly stood. Her whole body ached from the beating Hudson had given her. Her arm throbbed even though Basel had set it and her face ached plus she had not recovered from the loss of blood either so as she stood she become very light headed.
Basel reached out to steady her "Here, let me help you sit down while Hasnew and I move your cot.
"Alright" Ali replied as she lowered herself into a chair.
Within just a few minutes they had her cot moved to where it was beside Ardeth's bed.
"I will check his bandages one more time, then I will take my departure for now" Hasnew said as he sat down on the edge of Ardeth's bed.
After he left Basel helped Ali into her bed. "I will be back in just a moment. I will retrieve a bed roll and return."
Ali lay absolutely still listening to Ardeth's ragged breathing. Gently turning to her side so not to put too much weight on her arm, Ali reached out with her free hand and took Ardeth's hand. "Ardeth I will be here. As long as you need me." With that said she laid her head back and slept.