Warmth embalmed him from all sides; rolling waves of soft heat caressing his skin. Fog drifted past, dipping and diving over the waves. Sound murmured from somewhere, just on the edges of his hearing. He pushed it away and let the waves rock him. They rolled and rolled and rolled until...

Cold.

Why...why was it cold? The draft skittered around him, chasing away the heat and replacing it with something soft, sold, and unmoving. Where...?

The sounds came again, more insistent and pressing into his mind as if he should recognize it. When he tried to grasp it and pull it closer, it slipped through his fingers, momentarily fading into the chill settling in his chest. As soon as he left it alone, it came back, pushing harder at his conscience. It was constant and annoying and...and he didn't want it.

Ached. Something ached. He ached. Everything ached. No...not everything, just a part of him. Where...was it? Fralith cast about for it, senses jumbled and muffled by the fog sloshing in his mind. The ache...the ache...he had to find it. Had to make it stop. Where was it? He couldn't...there. The center of him — his chest — throbbed like a string pulled over a singing bowl; one long vibrating note that shook up all your insides and reordered them.

Why...why did it hurt? Why did he hurt?

Memories flashed past, disjointed sounds and colors flaring briefly before winking out, leaving a vague impression of...of... the sounds came again, this time burrowing into the fog and stretching towards him.

Beep, beep, beep.

What...what was that sound? Why did it...why did it beep?

Beep, beep, beep.

Beeping. The...BeepCorner. BeepCorner. The memories flared, information snapping into place. The shower. Tim. The SleepySilver blob. What had happened this time? It felt different — it was different; he hurt. All the other times when he'd fallen asleep by the SleepySilver, he hadn't woken up hurting. Why did he hurt now? Where was Tim?

Gathering his straight, Fralith pried his eyes open. Blurry. Blurry blobs of light and shapes. He blinked rapidly, clearing his vision. White. White ceiling. Bright. Beeping. Something clear pressing around his nose and mouth.

Tim...? He turned his head. Green. Light-ish green in the place where the wall would be, but it wasn't all wall. It hung like a sheet and rustled as a breeze scuttled by.

Shadows curled in his stomach and he inhaled, breath stuttering. A stab of fire lanced through his chest. Ouch! Biting his lip, he turned his head the other way, hot needles pricking the back of his eyeballs. Tim? Where are you? It...it hurts.

Hunks of metal hunched in the corner next to him, harsh dots of colored light glaring from their forms. The metallic taste in his mouth soured, his guts twisting. BeepCorner. There was a new BeepCorner. But where was Tim? Wasn't he...wasn't supposed to be here? Wasn't he—

Footsteps. Rapid, hurried ones. The green curtain rustled and a form rushed in, going straight for his bedside. Fralith turned his head and a cascade of relief tingled through him. Red hair. Tim. Tim was here. It was safe. He was safe. Everything was going to be okay.

"Brave Bud! You're awake!" Tim leaned over him, grasping his hand and putting his other hand on his face. "Oh, thank God you're awake."

Fralith leaned his face into Tim's hand, half closing his eyes and taking careful breaths. His insides stilled and the shadows ceased. Tim was here. It was okay. Opening his eyes fully, he glanced up at his friend and paused.

Tim's hair stuck out at peculiar angles, tousled and unkempt — a hard contrast with its usual smooth, tamed appearance. Worry lines creased his forehead and tilted his eyebrows, adding to the tired droop of his eyelids and weary sag of his shoulders. Tim looked...tired. And greatly relieved.

A smile — small and heavy — curved Tim's lips and...tears glistened at the corner of his eyes. "Yes, that's it. Rest; you need it after all your body's been through. Excuse me." He stopped to clear his wavering voice and wipe at his eyes, a little laugh escaping him. "Sorry, I'm being emotional but — my brave, brave little survivor, I am so glad you're alive. So, so glad. I thought— I thought I lost you there."

He shook his head slowly, chuckles interrupted by little half sobs. "I should've known better; you're Brave Bud! You've survived on the streets all on your own for what? Months? And you still had strength to stop a kidnapping. A little heart failure and medically declared death couldn't stop you."

Fralith turned his face towards Tim a little more, curling his fingers around his friend's hand. Why are you crying? Isn't things okay?

Tim sniffed and cleared his throat again. "Sorry, sorry. I'm okay." He smiled and leaned over, planting a kiss on his forehead. Pulling back he whispered, "Most importantly, you're okay."

Fralith stilled, blinking rapidly. No one...no one had done that to him before. No one except his mother — when she had still cared — and Davith. Why did Tim do it? Because Tim cares. About you, even when he's upset. A warm ball glowed to life inside of him, briefly shutting out the throbbing in his chest.

A smile spread across his face. It was...it was nice to be cared about. He looked up at Tim and squeezed his hand. It's okay. You're here now. I'm okay.

Tim smiled back, smoothing the hair back from his forehead and squeezing his hand back. "See? You're doing better already. You'll be okay; there'll be no more scares after this because your heart is fixed. I made sure of that. Well, the surgeons did."

Fralith made a small noise in response, letting out a small sigh. The clear thing pressing around his mouth and nose clouded as he exhaled, clearing as soon as he finished. He glanced down at the clear thing, now noticing the tube sticking out of it. The tube snaked to the right, ending in the body of one of the whooshing metal hunks.

Why was the tube connected to his face? What was the metal hunk doing? He took another careful breath, measuring how much air flowed in. His lungs expanded to their full capacity without trouble. Did the tube and the thing over his mouth and nose make the air thick?

He stirred, fingers twitching. Extra movement caught his eye and he tilted his chin down to investigate. A frozen stone slammed into the bottom of his stomach. Three small tubes protruded from his chest around a line of thick, black stitches over his heart. A strangled cry burst from his mouth. What. Had. Happened to him?!

"Woah, Brave Bud!" Tim grabbed his shoulders and held him back as he struggled to sit up.

Fralith bared his teeth at him, pushing against his hands. Get them out! Get them out! Get them out! He reached for one of the tubes, giving up his struggle. They should not be there!

"Wait, no!" Tim grabbed his hands and pushed them away. "Don't pull on those! They're inside your chest, draining out fluid. It will hurt like the — er — dickens if you pull on it. Don't."

"MAIO! Lammoniwo — rinumbslmagrast!" He shoved and twisted, fighting for his hands. Fighting to get the tubes in his chest out of there. The black bird pain stabbed his chest and his lungs failed to expand correctly. Fire raged under his skin and over his ribs, vengeful tendrils of agony darting in and out at his tender insides.

Fralith flopped back onto the bed, the world smearing around him and fire consuming him. Blood thundered in his ears, the wolf pup's paws pounding a war drum's rhythms into his skull. Struggling, he sucked in a breath, expecting the pup to take a tumble and knock it right back out. To his surprise, the wolf pup ran steadily beside him, not once stumbling or tripping.

The wolf pup had finally grown up.

Tim hovered over him, mouth moving rapidly and brows knitted together with concern. Fralith stared up at him through half closed eyes, heat and black feathers filling his senses. The big black bird on his chest — making each breath a struggle — and breathed more fire into his chest.

Get off, he snapped at the bird. It answered by stabbing him with its sharp beak. He couldn't help but moan. That hurt!

"Woe," the bird breathed. "Suffering."

Yeah, now get off. You're heavy.

The bird promptly sat.

Fralith groaned again and closed his eyes, holding back whimpers. It burned, it burned, it burned! The world narrowed down to each beat of his heart and stuttered breath, black feathers covering the rest of reality.

Gradually, ever so gradually, the fire burned down to smolders and PainBird's weight wasn't so heavy on his chest. Its feathers pulled away and he fluttered his eyes open, readjusting to the bright world around him.

Tim's creased expression eased and he sighed. "Oh, Buddy, you're back. That was...that was too soon." He chuckled breathlessly and put a hand to his heart. "Gave me quite the scare, you did. But... not one as bad as the first."

"Beep..." Fralith mumbled, turning his head away. Embers laid behind his ribs, searing him whenever he breathed too hard. "Beep...beep. Beep."

Another chuckle reached his ears. "Yes, beep indeed, Brave Bud. Beep indeed."