The Infection Progresses

Jon found it very difficult to sleep that night; he was kept awake for hours by strange aches and pains unlike any he'd felt before. He tried masturbation, but without much luck; his little soldier was refusing to salute, so to speak. It actually seemed to him like the longer he was at it, the less he was feeling it; as if his penis was becoming more and more deadened. Even worse, though, was the mental agony. Jon felt like his entire world-view was melting around him; he started to lose all of his old certainties and, out of nowhere, have thoughts that he never would have had before. He thought about angels and demons and magic and the darkness of the world. Everything that had formerly seemed so important to him-- his sports teams, his favorite movies, suddenly didn't matter anymore. He felt like he didn't know who he was anymore. But finally, out of shear exhaustion (*something* seemed to be burning his calories at both ends), he drifted off to sleep.