Eventually, the shooshing seems to do its work, and he chokes back his words with a hiccup. His throat is sore, but he ignores it- it's easy to ignore a lot of things because he hasn't known anything else for a while now. It takes some breathing, rasping down through his throat and into his lungs, for him to craft words again.

Why w0uldn't y0u h4t3 m3 1f y0u w3r3 r34l? He can't understand it.