he was no angel , and though he nearly died and did touch death for a little while and saw lights and heard deep omniscient voices giving him directions upward , and all of that , he still felt physical feelings such as nausea and drowsiness from the side effects of the pills he took for whatever his parents thought was wrong with him , like he was being gently asphyxiated , and good things too , like how a warm bath felt after walking home from school in the cold .