Karkat only realizes that they've reached the outside when he's blinded by the light from the cafeteria. He struggles for a moment to adjust and finds a strange burst of adrenaline he hadn't had in the previous room. Almost frantically, he tries to sit up, only to find that all the blood he's lost is finally catching up to him.

He panics and launches into a coughing fit, muscles seizing up in pain as the cerulean struggles to breathe. Karkat's pupils dilate and his eyes widen in a desperate attempt to keep them open. He knows what will happen if he lets them shut, and he's so afraid -- so scared to die, even after flirting with the line so many times before now.

Karkat can't speak, can't even get his breathing under control. The wounds aren't healing -- in fact, they're still bleeding out from very vital veins. He struggles to grab onto anything he can, though his grip is insanely weak.