The Wizard is a killer

One of The Wizard's goldfish (a nice fantail) had gotten a piece of aquarium gravel lodged in his mouth. I waited for a week, and the goldfish could not get the rock out. Last night, I decided to perform the extraction.

I wet 2 paper towels and place one on a plate, netted the fish and placed him on the paper towel. I then covered him with another wet paper towel, and using a blunt object, opened his mouth. My partner shone a flashlight inside the tiny mouth. I could see the gravel in there, but it was a lot further in than I had hoped.

I tried to get around the rock, but the process took too long and I damaged the gills. I was shocked to see him start to bleed onto the paper towel. Shortly after that, he expired. I feel really bad as it was I that killed him. I believe that he would have died anyway from starvation as he could not eat with the gravel stuck in his mouth.

Still, I feel like a murderer.