Alone and afraid

It was all so strange to him - the only way he was coping was by blocking all of it out, and only focusing on what lay directly ahead of him. Currently that was Gloom, not the thick fog and the voices that seemed to follow, and certainly not the damn mushrooms or crystals that had been popping up everywhere. When she reacted with a bit of aggression he flinched away from her, ears flattening on his head in apology for startling her. He didn't blame her in the slightest - he had snuck up on her and if she wasn't feeling well her reaction was totally warranted. "Oh... oh Gloom, you don't have to apologize," he assured her gently, his stutter all but disappearing as the worry flooded him and seemingly short-circuited his brain, somehow erasing the speech impediment that he'd struggled with since he was a child. Bright liquid was pooling from her face and had dried on her paws, he saw upon closer inspection. "How long has this been happening? Have you seen a healer?" Surely he wasn't skilled enough but he could find someone who was, someone who could help her.