Oh, cats. Normally Cedric would need all the catnip in the world to get them to leave Howard's side for him. At any other time, this would be adorable. Not now.

"I'll live. I don't even need a hospital. Nothing's broken, and there's no blood gushing out." It almost sounds like he's trying to be happy about this. It is something to celebrate---no hospital means no hospital bills.

But there's no hospital in this world that can fix what he's lost. That knowledge weighs heavily on his mind, too heavily for him to be able to bear acknowledging.

"It was a random attack." There. He can start there.