Raulph was bathed in fire. They had opened the curtains and turned on the florescents. All was light and all was pain. He tried to scream but his throat was dry and there was no air left in his lungs. He arched his back in the vain hope he could free himself from the the restraints and hide in the cool darkness beneath his bed.
Raulph could hear people in his room. Fumbling around. But that did not matter. All that mattered was the light, the pain and the secret. The agony came to a sudden stop as a nurse plunged a needle filled with liquid calm into his hip.
Raulph could feel the world drifting away as the light disappeared. The fire slowly died down and was drowned in the cool darkness of his slumbering mind. His thoughts came to a rest on soft silk bed cradling the secret close to himself and whispering reassurances into its tiny ear.