Brittany was nearly crying. Santana was yelling about an exorcism. Mr. Schue looked like something had pulled out a remote control and hit the PAUSE button - he gaped at Artie, evidently having forgotten he was the one adult in a room of panicking kids. Mercedes huddled near Tina, also staring at Artie as if he were a science experiment gone wrong. Even Dave Karofsky had come in to see what was the matter. And was... holding Kurt's hand? Someone (Blaine?) said something about an ambulance. Artie processed what was going on in the room in a matter of seconds.
Humiliation was the only word for what he was experiencing. He tried to sit up, but the muscles in his back had gone stiff. He used his arms to push himself up anyway, choosing to ignore his back, which was yelling at him.
"No ambulance," he finally said, hoping that by speaking, it would calm them down. "Please. I'm okay, I'm okay."