...Marian is eventually too bored of ONLY watching him like a hawk, and starts checking Internet sites as well. 

Belrun peers over her shoulder a little while she works on her breakfast.

Marian is reading some website which is mostly text, inscrutable to Belrun, and occasionally tabbing back over to Leareth's chart. 

About forty-five minutes after Marian paused the sedation, Leareth seems to maybe be a little less deeply asleep; he's still calm, but there are more tugs through the lifebond, and a few vague flickers of emotion - mostly confusion. 

:He's starting to wake:

:Starting to? Is it at the point where I should get Nayoki, or...?:

Marian is already hauling her chair over to park herself right next to Leareth's bed, opposite Belrun, where his arm is within easy grabbing distance. 

:I'm not sure how quick he'll come around, but maybe:

:I guess better to get her too soon not too late. ...And then if we're lucky he won't freak out at all, since you're right here... I'll be back in thirty seconds: 

Marian darts off to ask Nayoki's nurse to wheel her back over. 

Nayoki arrives a couple of minutes later, and is parked in her wheelchair at the foot of Leareth's bed. 

She frowns at him. :He is still not very awake but I can see what I am doing a little more, if you want me to go ahead now: 

Marian frowns. :- How fast can you do it if he starts to freak out? I - figure it'll be extra confusing to him, waking up with extra magic done to his head, and maybe we should at least try giving him a chance and see if he's calm with Belrun here...: Glance at Belrun. :Can you tell if he's awake enough to be thinking anything yet?: 

:Yeah -: She widens her Thoughtsensing a tad.

At a quick skim, Leareth isn't quite having fully-formed or verbal thoughts yet, but his surface mind has some movement. Mostly scattered sense-impressions, some of which she's also getting via the lifebond; he's cold, he's thirsty, his throat hurts. Other than that, he seems minimally aware of his surroundings, but he's starting to reach for her more insistently. 

:Nothing very coherent yet, mostly just feelings. He's cold: She snugs herself in against him.

:Aww, poor thing. I can fix that, at least: Marian gets him another blanket. 

Leareth tries to reach for her - this time with his hand, not just mentally - and catches against the restraint, and struggles against it muzzily for a moment before relaxing again. 

About a minute later he stirs and tries the exact same thing with no more success.

Some level of drowsy interpretation is starting to join the pure sense-experiences. Leareth is hazily confused, though not alarmed, yet. For some reason he can't move, and various things hurt, but Belrun's there - 

- something wrong -

- he was going to tell her, has to tell her, there was something, it was urgent - 

...He remembers dying. It's a very unmistakeable feeling, for him specifically, the experience of leaving his body, being yanked back to safety - except this time it wasn't safe because Belrun - 

Leareth has absolutely no idea what's happening, right now, but he reaches frantically for her - is she there, is she safe, is she scared, is she hurt - 

She's fine, she's fine, everything's fine, he just needs to stay calm stay calm stay calm -

If Belrun is fine and calm then Leareth can stay calm. While he figures out - what - something - his thoughts are still mired in glue -

He starts by trying to count to fifty in his head, and is somewhat surprised to feel that he can, though it takes a while. 

All right. Focus. What are the actually important thoughts to have...

He tugs on the threads of memory; the picture is incomplete and he keeps losing hold of it... 

Eventually, laboriously, he manages to both formulate words and get Mindspeech to work. :How long was I dead: 

:Just a few seconds:

:How...?:

:Lots of machines. I couldn't get a link to you at all till they got you back. I don't think it did any permanent damage. Will it have done any weird things to your soul situation?: Is he maybe too out of it for this question, oh well, if he is she can ask later.

:...No idea. That was - not among scenarios I considered: 

He snuggles up against her - or tries to, he doesn't exactly have much leeway to move. :Can check. Later: 

:Okay. It would be really bad if you pulled out your breathing tube so the plan is for Nayoki to do a set command about it, okay?:

:Oh: This doesn't exactly fill Leareth with delight. :I - will try not to - but. Makes sense to - be careful...: 

:Yeah. Don't die, it was bad: