Jeremy awoke in a daze. His vision was blurred, his tongue felt numb, and all sound was drowned out by the rushing of blood through his ears. He tried to get a grip on his sense of touch, but all feeling eluded him. Resorting to using the human body's weakest link to its surroundings, he sniffed in an effort to escape the clutches of his disoriented state. Metal. All he could smell was metal. What else he noticed was the flowing fluids in his nostrils; a fine, thick ooze streamed through his nose at a steady pace. He couldn't tell what it was. An illness? He had been fine before, he was fairly sure. An injury? He felt no pain. Nay, the sensation which enveloped him was only confusion. A maddening confusion, with no end in sight.
He struggled to move an arm. He couldn't feel it, but he could tell that, when he did manage to move it, it was shaking uncontrollably. It didn't go far. His body refused the orders given to it by his brain. He was stuck; incapable of organized cognition, incapable of sensory perception, and incapable of even the most basic movements. He knew not where he was. He wasn't even sure who he was. Everything started to go black.
Jeremy awoke once more, slightly sharper than before. He was able to make out movement above him. Whatever the surface beneath him before was, this new one was softer. He could hear a loud, high-pitched blaring. But still he could make out no shapes. Then, the faintest of sounds met his ears. Though impossible to make out, it was unmistakable as human speech.
"...we'r... ...ing... ...to... ...ge... ...f... ...he..." he heard.
Jeremy was elated to hear another human's presence - or at least what he thought was another human. He nearly laughed in relief. He tried to speak, but in place of his words, only a rattle escaped his throat.
He couldn't take the confusion anymore. Using all his mind's power, Jeremy tore his arm from his side. He realized then that he was lying down on his back, as the fight against gravity only made the struggle worse.
"...no!... ...Don...!" he heard the voice call out.
Jeremy was determined. He couldn't continue like this. The human mind cannot handle such a state of disorientation; the need to understand and feel right with oneself is too heavily ingrained in our essence. There is no greater madness for a man than an inability to comprehend his surroundings. With great perseverance, Jeremy slowly but surely guided his numb arm upward. As he did so, feeling began to return to his body. Such a feeling brought a wonderful release to him. He was going to be okay, he thought. Whatever happened to him, he was recovering. He was ecstatic that he could now fully tell that he was in motion. He was overjoyed that he now could more clearly see a human figure above him. He nearly cried from happiness when he could finally make out the voice yelling at him to stop; and he reached his much-desired understanding when he could feel the cold, wet, squishy mess where the front of his skull used to be.
