He shifted slightly, eyes still closed. In his barely waking mind, he felt uncomfortable, rigid. As his consciousness rose, the discomfort intensified. His ribs were sore, and his head ached like…well, it hurt.
     He lifted his hand to his forehead.
     Bang.
     His elbow hit something hard, something metal. He started violently, eyes opening at once.
     Darkness, complete darkness, enveloped him.
     Be logical, he thought, you’re a logical man, so be logical.     
With a jerkiness that surprised him, he lifted his hands to feel the space around him, begging his panic to allow reason to keep him calm. The pain in his head intensified, and reason started to lose it’s grip.
     An unnamable fear forced it’s unwelcome way into his confused, foggy mind.
     Smooth, cold metal surrounded him like a box. The sides of his prison were inches away from his sides, and the ceiling…so close…He became aware that he was laying on his back, on more coldness. He began to move his stiff limbs, to search for an exit with increasing alarm. He could sense no way out.
     No way out.
     Trapped.
     Buried alive?
     Logic and reason were gone, leaving in their wake some of the baser terrors of man.
     He started to thrash, the beat on the walls that surrounded him.
     He screamed, but his voice failed him.
     Of the words silently screamed in the heights of his mindless horror, not a one was heard, or heeded.
     His flailing had costs unforeseen. The pain in his side became sharper, his head and mind slipped into blinding agony. Blood came to his lips.
     Still he continued, uncaring, beyond for the first time in his life any semblance of the clear reason he’d considered his best aspect. He carried on until he was spent, almost completely unable to move.
     His eyes began to slide close, he feebly fought against it.
     No…not dead…let me…out…
     With a last effort, he raised a hand left bloody and bruised from his struggling. It rapped once, twice, on the ceiling of his prison before it dropped onto the chest of its owner.


     The hospital morgue was unattended for an hour.