Adrenaline jolted through her drugged and weakened body when the door to the fire escape banged opened. Straightening up abruptly hurt and Alyssa hissed as the world blurred at the edges. Bracing one hand on the wall, she started to turn around--
--only to have her feet swept up from under her. She cried out in pain and surprise, and whipped her head around fast enough that the medical mask she'd only managed to secure around her ears fell off. Her eyes widened when she recognized Karl. For a moment she was completely off balance as a sea of contrary emotions crashed over her - relief, anger, confusion, comfort. She sagged against his chest for a moment, an instictive reaction to the relief and safety that she felt.
Then Alyssa got her feet back under her, figuratively speaking. She straightened up as much as possible in his arms. "What the hell, Whedon? Ow, damn you! Put me down!"
She blinked as she glared at him. The edges of his face seemed sharper than normal -- it wasn't hard to see that he was as mad as she'd ever seen. She felt light-headed about as dangerous as a wet kitten, which made her furious. But Alyssa wasn't afraid.