The Price of His Ambition

The dust and the agony were my first sensations-my right leg a grinding hell, Lily clutched tight against my chest as growls surrounded us.

Then, the thumping. A helicopter, David' s face. He knelt, his suit dirty, grief etched on his face as he saw our daughter, limp in my arms.

I woke to the sterile hospital, a dull throb where my leg had been. And then, I heard voices from the hall-David and his mother.

"The leg is gone," David said, his voice cold, stripped of sorrow. "It' s cleaner this way. She' ll live."