The Weight of Exhaustion

Chapter Fourteen: The Aftermath

It hurts to breathe was what Sabre was quickly realizing as every sense of his seemed to slowly fade out as black dots covered his vision.

Shadow was trying to talk to him from his side of the machine, but the words were becoming more and more muddled as Sabre's felt sleep grasped his mind and body with everything it's got.

Yet, no matter how hard his body fought to shove him into sleep, the pain stopped him from taking that final step off the cliff and into the ocean of unconsciousness.

Every inch of Sabre's body hurt. Occasionally he would feel a muscle twitch from the excessive amount of lightning his body was hit with. The worst however was his lungs and throat. Each exhale was a fifty-fifty chance of him coughing mildly, as if he suddenly got sick or something. Each cough upset his throat, causing the feeling of fire to spread up and out of his mouth.

A fire seemed to have made its home in his lungs, resting there and not smothering out. It seemed as if the longer he sat there, each breath struggling to enter and leave, the worse the pain was. Each inhale had the fire roaring and each exhale had the fire shooting up out his lung, up his throat, and out of his mouth. The fire burned, and he found himself coughing once more. The taste the lightning left him with seemed to grow stronger for a brief second, before mellowing out.

Something rattled nearby, the vibrations traveling through the machine to where he was slumped against the wall, prompting Sabre to crack his eyes open. Nothing looked different from what he could tell. He could hear banging. Why was Shadow banging on the glass?

—Anxious, frustrated, frightened...confusion—

How did he...?

More black dots appeared in his vision, and Sabre felt the last of the strength he had left him as he closed his eyes. He'll figure that out later. Faintly, over the muffled hearing he had, he could hear the door open. Sabre opened his eyes, only to close them seconds later. His vision was blurry through the dots, so he couldn't even tell who it was that entered.

He was tired and in pain, which was slowly fading away... all except his chest and throat. Everything felt muffled, yet every inch of him was sensitive at the same time.

Something shook the containment wall he was in. Why was he causing this banging again...?

—Terrified, perplexed, furious, hurt—

Maybe he shouldn't hold off on figuring out how he could seem to feel others emotions, but on the other hand, Sabre didn't think his body was going to allow him. His body was barely allowing the act of breathing.

Sabre could tell someone was moving him and picking him up. His body felt like it was being ripped into two. One part told him he was safe, that he could finally relax, while the other screamed to get away, danger was close by and he had to fight or flight.

—Terrified, worried, displeased, perplexed—

Something muffled past the cotton his head felt stuffed with. Someone was yelling. Sabre hoped they stopped soon, the yelling was causing him to have a worse headache.

Almost as if he spoke aloud, the yelling stopped.

—Terrified, worried, guilty, anxious, furious—

Sabre took a deep breath, only to cough some more. The pain in his lungs seemed to flare up, making him gasp, which caused him to cough some more.

—Panicked, worried, anxious, furious—