"The collapse was rather determined to keep me," he replied.
"Don't joke about this!"
Her voice cracked so sharply that he fell silent.
Tears gathered in her eyes again. She shook her head, struggling to reconcile the man in front of her with the father she had feared she would never see again.
"You lost your arm because of me."
Lucius's expression changed.
"No."
"But—"
"Olivia, look at me."
She obeyed reluctantly.
"That arm was mine to risk. The decision was mine to make." His voice was tired, but there was no uncertainty in it. "You did not force me to fight for you. You did not ask me to sacrifice anything. I chose to come for my family, and I would make the same choice again."
"But you—"
"I would rather learn to live with one arm than spend the rest of my life knowing I had abandoned you beneath those stones."
Olivia's face crumpled.
Lucius raised his remaining hand and wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb.
