Shaken and stirred

Marcus, oblivious to what was happening next to him, was somehow able to retain consciousness through his extreme agony. The intensity of the machine’s output into his wounded head took his mind off his bleeding body. It seemed the itching had now eased into an extreme but essentially more manageable torture.

On the bed, what had been Rufus, continued to twitch for some minutes, before emitting a loud exhalation of gas from somewhere, followed by a sharp, noisy intake of what appeared to be breath. Could he possibly have been resuscitated by the machine? And what might he be like?