Paradise Falls 'til I'm in the grave

For @Chan RE: Finley You tear away the gift wrap to reveal: You find a secluded cave, perfect for a moment of rest.
Late evening, Broken clouds, 57F/14C

The Kane woman’s ear still itched something fierce, and she noticed the concerned glances from packmates when she missed what they were saying - but she continued to insist that everything was fine. No need to worry. Just a little tired and sore from her trip. She wasn’t sure she believed it at this point and wasn’t dumb enough to think that she had convinced the others either. At least things weren’t getting any worse, she could keep things going like this at least until Jethro came back.

The woman had been heading back to see if either of her children before she turned in for the night. Suddenly the world began to swim around her and her paws slowed, blinking furiously as she tried to clear her vision. Exhaling hard, her head began to tilt inadvertently and then suddenly the world filled with black spots and her skull felt like it might explode. Pain shot from her ear down into her brain, throbbing and ripping her into pieces.

The woman’s voice cried out in panic and pain, green eyes clenching shut in an attempt to make the throbbing subside. It didn’t work, and by feeling she managed to limp her way into a nearby cave, stumbling once or twice. As soon as she was tucked inside the woman collapsed on the rocky floor, trying to hold in tears and force her breathing to steady.

Chan had picked up Finley's trail while patrolling, following after to check in with her. He'd offered her help, started leaving helpful remedies at her den, but there was only so much he could do if she refused to acknowledge that the problem even existed. He wished he could just chalk the hearing loss up to old age and call her denial pride, but every now and then he'd catch the faintest whiff of infection... He was worried, to say the least.

He paused briefly in place as the softest of sounds reached his ears, something he might have written off if his thoughts weren't where they were, then kept going at a slightly quicker pace. Once she was in view, albeit amongst the shadows of a small cavern, it was clear something was wrong. He could really smell sickness now, and he was pretty sure the scent was mixed with blood. Chan rushed forward and crouched down at her side, concern clearly scrawled all across his features.

"Finley?! Your ear?"

He grit his teeth, and placed a paw over one of hers. This wasn't good. At a minimum, it made recurrent infections for the rest of her life highly probable. At worse...

"I'm here, I'm going to help, okay? I can, I'll have to..."

He'd have to go get medicine if he wanted to ease her pain quickly. If only he could be in two places at once.