"What did you eat today, Pippin?" asked Captain Faramir, still sitting on the floor next to where the young hobbit lay.

"Not much Captain, I haven't had time," Pippin admitted. "I snacked on desserts when I got a chance and I also a few cups of wine during the day."

Then he noticed that Faramir and Beregond seemed be looking at each other knowingly.

"It wasn't much wine", he added anxiously, remembering what they must have been thinking when they found him in the hall. "I only drank enough to take the edge off my hunger and thirst and that was about four hours ago."

Strangely, they didn't question him about it or seem to be judging him. In fact, they looked more looked concerned about his well-being than they had before. Pippin felt he was safe with these men. He had no reason to doubt it and the room felt warm and comfortable. Why was he still trembling? Looking down at his body, he noticed too that he was sweating profusely, even though his vest and jacket had been removed. Greatly upset, he started to apologize for his dishevelled appearance, but Faramir cut him off reassuringly.

"That's to be expected with this condition," he said gently. "No need to be troubled by it."

"What exactly is this condition, sir?" Beregond asked, for Pippin's benefit.

"Hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar," the captain replied. He started to explain in medical terms, but Pippin clearly didn't understand so he said, "Have you ever seen a candle burn right to the bottom?" Pippin nodded, his strength was starting to fail again.

"With no more wax to burn, the flame starts to flicker and quickly burns out, doesn't it?" When Pippin nodded again, Faramir explained, "Your body has been burning energy quickly and you haven't been eating properly to make up for that. The sugar in the desserts you've been snacking on gave you energy quickly, but that energy source wears off quickly and the wine no doubt added to that. So basically, you burned out."

When Pippin heard that he didn't know whether to laugh or cry but he felt greatly relieved. What had happened to him was a physical reaction and there was a word for it. He wasn't losing his sanity as he feared.

"You were completely unresponsive in the hall," Faramir went on, "so we had to slip a lump of sugar inside your cheek which caused your blood to raise enough for you to regain consciousness." Pippin's eyes grew wider when he heard that. His condition sounded serious.

"We knew the orange juice would help too," added Beregond, "but you really need something to eat."

"And speaking of something to eat," said Faramir rising to his feet for the first time,"where..." There was a knock on the door. "About time!" he said, speaking to himself. Then he turned to Pippin and said, "Excuse me."

Pippin could hear some activity on the other side of the room but didn't know exactly what it was because the open door was blocking his view. He lifted his head and tried to prop himself up so he see what was happening, but quickly fell back down. The benefit of the sugar and the juice had worn off.