Adult-FanFiction.org : Movies

Alone	By : kattanon Category: M through R > Mummy, The (All) > Mummy, The (All) Views: 14674 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own The Mummy movie series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 14
- 15
- 16
Disclaimer: - I don�t own any of the characters of The Mummy, I�m just borrowing them to play with.
Alone Chapter 15

Ardeth felt exhausted. Not only was it the tiredness brought about by not enough sleep � time spent by Jonathan�s bedside using the healing knowledge of his people, which had been past down throughout the millennia, to save his life, and time spent with O�Connell the two of them prowling the back streets of Cairo hunting the evil that had endangered that life in the first place. But it was also a bone-deep weariness brought about by the emotional turmoil he�d been experiencing.
After their adventures at Hamunaptra, defeating Imhotep and saving the world, Ardeth had never expected to see the Carnahans or O�Connell again. As far as he knew they were returning to their world just as he was returning to his. It had been with a deep pang of regret and unfulfilled, barely explored, feelings that he�d bid farewell to the handsome man he�d watched and grown to have feelings for. Ardeth smiled to himself when he remembered how he hadn�t been able to resist leaning down from his camel and resting his hand on Jonathan�s shoulder, savouring the heat from his pale skin that bled through the thin cotton of his shirt. He�d savoured it and committed it to his memory. Now he could remember precisely how Jonathan had jumped at his touch and with a shout had stumbled away flustered. Since that day that treasured memory had often brought a smile to Ardeth�s face, and if his hand had burned a little from the recalled warmth it had touched, and if his heart had ached a little from the loss he�d felt he had accepted it as the way things had to be.
When a message had arrived from Cairo from the friends of the Medjai there to say that something had happened, to say that Jonathan, the man who�s face still haunted Ardeth�s dreams, had been hurt and was ill Ardeth hadn�t hesitated for a moment. The message had indicated that the illness was a grave one and Ardeth had known deep down in his soul that he was needed.
Ardeth�s mother had been as wise as she had been beautiful and graceful and had known many things about the medicinal plants and the remedies of the pharaohs and had passed her knowledge onto her son. While there were many things to admire about the civilisation from the West, Ardeth knew that the medicines of his people which were so casually dismissed by Western doctors were steeped in more wisdom then anything that would be being used to help Jonathan. He�d been right.
That first night in Cairo after he�d met O�Connell outside Fort Brydon his internal emotional battle had begun. Ardeth had felt the rising tide of his rage after O�Connell had told him in a hushed voice full of his own pain what had happened to Jonathan, and he�d seen guilt lurking in O�Connell�s eyes, the guilt of a warrior who hadn�t been able to protect one of those in his charge. Then he�d felt further cut to his very soul when he�d seen how distraught Evy had been and how ill Jonathan really was.
Fighting for Jonathan�s life had been one of the hardest and most important battles Ardeth had ever fought. When he�d gotten there Jonathan had been maybe a day away from death and he thanked Allah that Jonathan�s sister had been open-minded enough, and trusted him enough, to allow him to use his knowledge despite the protestations of the Western doctor who had been looking after Jonathan before he�d arrived. But it had been a close run thing. Despite the poultices he�d used to draw out the infection and the draughts he�d gently trickled between Jonathan�s slack lips which had helped to lower his temperature Ardeth had nearly lost him. For days Ardeth had been painfully aware that death stalked the sick man�s bedside. Sometimes in the darkest hours of the night as Jonathan burned with fever Ardeth was sure he�d caught a glimpse of a dark figure waiting patiently in the shadows to claim it�s prize.
The mere thought of that apparition made Ardeth shiver despite the afternoon heat and he couldn�t stop himself from glancing towards the bed where Jonathan slept peacefully. He had to reassure himself that it was real, that the man he�d come to care so deeply for was still with him, that he was still alive, that the dark figure had had to slip silently away empty handed when Jonathan�s fever had finally broken.
Night�s spent watching Jonathan fighting his demons in his unconsciousness, watching him fighting for his next laboured, panting breath, fighting to live, had deepened Ardeth�s feelings for the other man so much that it had been as though his own life had depended upon Jonathan�s survival. Because if he�d lost him, if he�d failed him and his medicines hadn�t worked Ardeth was sure his own soul would have followed Jonathan�s into the afterlife.
Not for the first time Ardeth felt a sharp pang of guilt and regret as he looked at Jonathan. If only he�d been swifter that night back in Hamunaptra this might never have happened, Jonathan might have been spared his ordeal.
As soon as O�Connell and the Carnahans and the group of Americans had approached Hamunaptra Ardeth and his men had been watching them. It hadn�t taken long for Jonathan to stand out for Ardeth and more and more his eyes had sought out the slim figure. Then the night-time attack when the situation had demanded action and if possible for the foreigners to be driven from the ruined city before they awoke the unspeakable evil that had slept it�s unquiet slumber for so many centuries. During that attack Ardeth thoughts had been filled with the handsome stranger and when he�d seen Jonathan standing behind the wall clutching a bottle and firing at his men caught up in the battle Ardeth had been seized by a wild idea. He�d envisioned himself riding by and leaning down from his saddle and sweeping the other man up and over his lap and riding away with him into the desert. He�d wanted to claim the other man as his, to ride away with him into the night and keep him safe and cherish him. The idea had been like a bright fever in his mind and suddenly the sights and sounds of the battle had faded into the background and all that Ardeth had been focused on was Jonathan. He�d urged his horse forward intent only on achieving his goal, heedless of what went on around him. He�d jumped the wall and had been close to coming alongside Jonathan as he�d fled from him, it would�ve been an easy matter to just reach down and seize the fleeing man around his waist and haul him up and over the front of his saddle. But Ardeth had paid for his single-minded pursuit of Jonathan and had been surprised by O�Connell�s sudden leap that had knocked him from his horse. The moment had been broken and with O�Connell being insane enough to be waving lit dynamite under his nose Ardeth had known he�d have to leave before there was even more bloodshed. The thought that Jonathan might be one of those hurt had made his decision to withdraw a little easier.
After watching all that Jonathan had gone through and knowing that they�d nearly lost him Ardeth wished he had managed to sweep him up into his arms that night so that he could have kept him safe.
At least he could do that now � watch over him. It was too late to spare him from what he�d already suffered, but Ardeth had vowed not to leave Jonathan�s side until he knew for sure that he would be safe. Until the creatures that had done this to him had been caught and punished as the ancient laws of his people demanded. From the cold, dangerous look in O�Connell�s eyes when they tried to hunt the perpetrators down Ardeth was fairly sure he wouldn�t object when the form of the punishment was explained to him.
A slight groan and a movement from the bed signaled that Jonathan was awakening again. Since the first time he�d awoken with Evy present he�d woken up briefly several times, but never for longer then a few minutes, enough time to sip some water and blink up at them in confusion before he�d fallen asleep again. What they wanted was for him to wake up long enough, and for him to be coherent enough, so they could ask him who had done this terrible thing to him, so they could exact retribution. Still, despite the fact Ardeth wanted Jonathan to be able to remember and to tell him and O�Connell what they needed to know he was still uneasy at how Jonathan would react to that remembrance.
Ardeth had his answer when he approached the bed and the now awake man and was greeted by a cry of fear and eyes that were filled with torment. As he gazed into their depths Ardeth felt a little bit of his heart break.
- 14
- 15
- 16
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Alone