Crack of Sunlight (Ereri/Riren)

•~Chapter Six~•

I might've gone a bit overboard with this...heh.

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*~Levi~*

This was bad.

And that was the understatement of the century.

He'd been sound asleep when the peak of withdrawals hit, violently tearing him from his slumber. If he thought they were bad before, if he thought they couldn't get any worse, he had another thing coming. This was absolutely excruciating.

Everything came at once this time - not one or two at a time, and they weren't in waves. It was constant. His entire body was in total agony.

His muscles twitched and spasmed. His entire frame shook. He was alternately hot and cold. His stomach heaved despite being empty and his head spun. Breathing was next to impossible; the only thing allowing oxygen into his searing lungs was the cannula. Every tiny movement amplified the pain. With coughing came blood.

He unintentionally ripped the IV from the back of his hand several times, and there was always someone around to replace it. He was hooked up to a heart monitor, the irregular beeping of it something he was vaguely aware of. There were voices, too...some he could only just make out past the whirling of his mind as he tried to will the pain away or beg for death. He knew he was never alone, but who was with him he had no idea.

Eventually, the screaming started, coming from an unknown source. Aside from wishing for death or relief, his only coherent thoughts were to shut that damn noise up; it only served to make his head pound ruthlessly. It took at least six hours for him to realize his own throat was the source of the agonized wailing.

"Add more morphine to his IV!" barked a female voice.

"It won't help," responded a male. "The vast majority of his pain only exists in his mind. There's no physical trauma that morphine will help."

"Then we'll have to sedate him!"

"No." The sound of the voice was deep, firm, and authoritative. "That will only delay the symptoms and they'll start back up as soon as he wakes again, perhaps ten times worse."

"We can't just leave him like this, Smith. And his screaming is disturbing the other patients. If we don't-"

"Add this to his IV," said the male. "It won't stop his pain, but it should calm his mind. And this..." A pause. "...will help his lungs. He's losing his voice, so the screaming should cease soon. And I need someone in this room at all times until this ends. Do not leave him alone."

That conversation was all Levi's mind made out in thirty-six hours. During that time he didn't sleep or eat. His only movement was the involuntary spasms of his muscles as his body begged for release - the monster. When his voice ran out of stamina, someone coaxed a straw past his lips and he drank thirstily. The cool water did well to soothe his throat, and whatever had been put into the drip did help his lungs.

Eventually, the rest of the pain slowly began to ebb as well. The world came back as it faded away, and he heard the deep male voice say, "Go ahead and put him under. It's over now. His body needs rest."

That was the last thing he heard before the world faded out once more, this time by unconsciousness rather than pain.

When he came to once more, he felt lighter than ever. Breathing seemed so immensely easy, and his head was so much clearer. He was still sore, his lungs still ached and he was almost sure his voice was still shot. Still, this was better than he'd felt in eons. He let his eyes flutter open.