Broken Boulder ten detected, nine in a wreck and

Aside from treating her symptoms when he was able, Alarian had been avoiding @Lily since her return. He didn't know what to say to her— could hardly even stand to look at her anymore. It was, without a doubt, his fault that she had fallen into the river; it was his fault she had left in the first place, after all. As far as he was aware, Lily had no issue with anyone else in the Sanctuary.
Of all the things he had destroyed, he regretted this most. There was simply no fixing it— no taking it back. He had taken a life before, but he had felt justified in that, and it had been so much more straight forward. This— this felt as if he had burned the life from her, clumsy and careless with the flames of his own wreckage. She could never speak again, and without speech, would they ever know if there was other lasting damage to her mind?
Did he want to know?
He shuddered, pausing his herb-collecting as his chest started to tighten. The things he had taken from her had not been his to take— had never been his desire to take. Happiness, a home, mobility, her voice. Alarian swallowed hard and bent to resume picking the flowers; he'd shake out the seeds later, when he had collected enough.