The energy had suddenly left all his limbs.

He sat with his head sunk, listening.

The familiar room, the familiar voice of his wife and his children--he felt weak as if he were dying.

He felt weak like a drowning man who acquiesces in the waters.
His strength was gone, he was sinking back.

He would sink back to it all, float henceforth like a drowned man.
So he heard voices coming nearer from upstairs, feet moving.