Chapter 24 As the sun dipped toward the west, Katherine was getting ready to go home. At that moment, a piercing cry echoed from afar: "Oh my God! My child has fallen into the water!" Katherine's professional instincts kicked in, and she instinctively dove into the sea, swimming toward the two flailing children. Based on her previous experiences, Katherine thought today's rescue wouldn't be too difficult. But she never expected that the younger boy would struggle so violently that she simply couldn't keep him under con- trol. If this went on, not only would she fail to save him and his older brother, but even Katherine herself might be dragged under. Even though Katherine had already taken precautions before coming over and knew other lifeguards would arrive soon, she still felt helpless in this moment At this critical moment, a pair of hands lifted her and the boy, carrying them to shore, and then rescued the older boy as well. The children's cries, the mother's sobs of fear, and the father's angry scolding all erupted at once. Katherine shook her head, spat out two mouthfuls of sandy water, and tried to regain her composure. By the time she looked up, the younger boy's mother had already left in the ambulance with her son. Meanwhile, the father kicked the older boy and continued to berate him for leading his younger brother into danger. Katherine frowned and said, "I saw it very clearly just now. It was your younger son who wanted to play and insisted on dragging his brother into the water. "The older brother didn't want to go in, so he stayed close on the shore to protect him. But then the younger one lost his balance and pulled his brother into the water with him." Hearing this, the father stammered, took two steps back, and scratched his head. When Katherine was a child, she was often blamed by the Acrea family because of Cecelia. So now, hearing such baseless accusations, she felt a mix of empathy and a deep, unpleasant resentment. She looked up at the older boy, wanting to comfort him. But what she saw was him swaying unsteadily, coughing nonstop, and it seemed like he even had a nosebleed. 0.0 % 09:45 Katherine's alarm bells went off, and she called out to the others approaching: "Quick! Call an ambulance!" These people didn't know what had happened, but seeing Katherine so anxious, they hurried off to get an ambulance. The father looked confused and said, "He doesn't seem to be hurt. He probably doesn't need to go to the hospital, right?" Katherine had no time to answer him. She held the older boy's hand and called his name. But the next second, the boy collapsed, and the wound on the back of his head quickly stained Katherine's supporting hand with blood. Katherine's body trembled. "Where's the ambulance? Where is it?" She tried her best to stay calm, but the boy was bleeding more and more, and she felt as if she had returned to the mo- ment when she herself was injured. Her PTSD flared up, her vision began to blur, and her body swayed. The father's frantic and urgent shouts rang out, but Katherine started to hear ringing in her ears and couldn't hear any- thing else. It wasn't until a large hand took her place, supporting the boy's head, that she snapped out of it. A gentle voice said, "Let me do it. You should rest for a moment." At that moment, Katherine felt as if she had been struck by lightning. She stared wide-eyed in shock at the man be- side her. The man had just helped her rescue the two children, so there were still droplets of water clinging to his eyes and hair. There was a long scar on his neck, almost as if it had once been cut through, making it look quite gruesome. Katherine had never seen such a thin, mature man before. 57.7 % 09:45