Vladimir gasped himself to consciousness, his mind still shrouded with a few shreds of fog. What had happened...?
He remembered, and was ashamed of himself.
The man swallowed hard and opened his eyes. His surroundings were unfamiliar - but he spotted Daniel, and realised he had bigger issues to concern himself with.
'Um, so, you're awake,' the younger man said, rather lamely. He wouldn't look at Vladimir directly, for whatever reason.
'I...' Vladimir started to reply, only to be interrupted by a coughing fit that doubled him over. Blind with pain, he didn't see or hear the other half-ghost come up beside him.
'Vlad!'
Some time later, the coughing died down. He blinked to clear his vision, only to look down at his hands to see that they were covered in blood. Stupidly, he stared at them, then the boy. 'What's going on...?'
Daniel swallowed, hard. 'After our...fight, you...you stopped breathing, and your heart wasn't beating. I...had to bring you back here, you've been out for a couple of days...' He trailed off uncertainly.
Vladimir stared at his hands again. His heart had stopped? That was impossible, he was still alive...wasn't he? He was never sure, these days, never sure of anything and the fog swirled around him and threatened to engulf him once again but he beat it back with a desperate effort. Unsure, he raised one still-bloody hand and tried to find a pulse in his wrist - when that failed, he tried the other, and then his throat. 'Oh...' he whispered.
He closed his eyes, and buried his face in his hands.
