"My eye. I know." At first, he was sardonic and cold, but after he took a second to calm down, he sounded more guilty again. "I...didn't want you to see that, either. You had enough to worry about with your father. You shouldn't have had to worry about me, too."

He hated lying to Kiara, but he really wanted her to think he was okay. Even...if he wasn't quite as okay as he wanted to be. "It's just a scratch." Saying that contradicted the way he'd answered her at first, though.