[Perhaps it's his memory of jumping, the way he'd screamed for Alexei and how he would have died to save him that what she says rubs him the wrong way. It could also be that he's juggling a lot and has been, and it always feel better, having a cause. Believing in someone or something is so incredibly grounding.]

If he could have been there, if she could have said goodbye herself, maybe she wouldn't have screamed. No one would ever know, because apparently that's how that story will always end.