Silence. All Octavius could hear, was silence. He blinked his eyes, but only saw quick, blurry snippets of the scene around him. He saw the blurry image of Lucius standing above him, and saw Marcus lingering a few inches away, unsure of what to do. Blackness. And then, light. Then, blurry picture. And, once again, blackness.
It seemed like an endless pattern, with his vision wavy and unfocused. If he stared at something too long, his head would hurt, but he was afraid to fall into the darkness of sleep. He felt the pull of death dragging his soul away, but he refused to go. He wasn't ready. He wouldn't give up just yet. Suddenly, he felt a hand weakly grip his, and his vision began to clear. He felt himself being brought back to reality, and focused his eyes on Jedediah's worried face. He had saved him from the darkness.
"Jedediah," He whispered.
"Octavius," Jedediah replied, smiling slightly.
Slowly, Octavius pulled his knees underneath him, and heaved himself up on his hands and knees. He heard Lucius and Marcus' shouts of triumph, and the clapping of the town's people who had witnessed the miracle.
Then, the lights began to dim, and Octavius gasped, afraid that his world was growing dark again. But he was calmed when Marcus walked over.
"Easy now," he said, helping him sit down. "it is just the museum lights. They have been doing this for a while now."
"Oh. How long have I been out?" Octavius asked.
"About tirty minutes. But you sure had us worried. Especially Jedediah. Lucius says he cannot be stressed by anything else, or he could go into shock again."
Octavius frowned. "We certaintly do not want that again."
Suddenly, Octavius felt an immense burning on is back, and screamed.
"Hold still," Lucius demanded from behind, dabbing his cuts with a cloth soaked in vinegar.
That's when Octavius realized he'd been stripped down to is tunic, and that the stinging liquid was being dabbed on his back through the tears caused by the glass. He took a deep breath and bit his lip to keep from wincing as the cloth gently traveled over the bloody tunic.
"How bad is it?" Octavius asked, fearing the answer.
"Not bad. Not bad at all." Lucius replied, adding more vinegar.
"It hurts a lot."
"I know. But the vinegar will help clean the wounds so that they do not become infected."
"Right. Is Jedediah alright?"
Lucius frowned. "I do not know. The falling glass was a shock for him, and the possibility of you being killed by it scared him half to death."
"But is he alright?" Octavius asked more urgently, turning his head to look at Lucius. He winced as the cloth was wiped roughly over his back.
"Hold still so you do not hurt yourself," Lucius said slightly annoyed.
"Sorry, but is he alright?"
Lucius sighed, and paused for a moment. "I really do not know Octavius. I really do not know."