But fever had weakened him.
Could the "fever" be a metaphor for guilt, and Mersault has beem effected so much that it has effected him physically, hence the name of part two beimg concious death as in part 1 it shows how everyone grows and is happy in life and therefore happy in death. However the detrimental impacts of guilt Mersault has effected him so much that he is aware of the time passing, therefore not being happy. This idea does also tie into when Mersault couldn't pay for the hotel room (or chose not to due to price) as the aforementioned idea of money buying time and time buying happiness and therefore Mersault is stripped of the chance of a happy death (due to his actions) and now he is living in a concience death.
