The Protagonist's Poisoning and Recovery

Key Insight

The protagonist endured 'sheer, concentrated agony,' with the mere act of breathing becoming an ordeal. Her stomach hurt 'like it's about to digest itself,' feeling bruised internally by intense pain, causing several moments where she was 'sure that this is the end.' She describes experiencing torment that no living being could sustain, welcoming the 'blissful release of nothingness' before something, later identified as Lowe's desperate voice, pulled her back from the void.

Dr. Averill, the Collateral's official physician with diplomatic passage into Human territory, diagnosed her condition. He explained that her organism was dealing with a poison and that she would 'gradually slip into a healing trance,' appearing very still, leading observers to worry she might be dead. However, this stillness is 'simply the Vampyre way.' The trance was expected to last 'several hours. Days, maybe.'

Upon waking, the protagonist emerged 'all at once, like a salmon bursting from a stream,' clammy, breathless, and disoriented, but without the expected pain. Her body was 'intact, ultimately,' and healed, though she felt 'wobblier than a newborn calf.' Dr. Averill's post-trance instructions included making her comfortable and ensuring she would 'need to feed—more than usual, in quantity and in frequency,' requiring 'blood at her disposal, the fresher the better.' The clock indicated she had likely 'skipped a day' during her unconscious state.