Stone Circle Momma is there for you

When he arrived, Steph said something he nearly missed. His name? It was difficult to tell with the strange ringing in his ears he got whenever he exerted himself, lately. Even the short jaunt had left him breathless.

"How are you doing?" he asked quietly, not quite sure what to say. He felt as though he'd been ejected from the circle of her affection, and looking at her now, could feel little aside from detached anxiety and and edge of nausea. But that was probably from the pain, now from Steph.