He jerked beneath the touch, groaning roughly. "Howard... don't..." He tried to pull away, leg shifting weakly.

It hurt, but the pain was helpful. It dragged him closer to the surface, forced him to become aware again of his surroundings. To remember that figments of imagination couldn't grab a hold of him.

Realization hit him like a bolt of lightening.

"Howard!" He tried to sit up, to turn to look at him, but only succeeded in pulling on his stitches, ripples of pain stopping him in his tracks.