"Don't say things like that! This isn't your fault," Arnold sighed, patting Kayla's back. "If Mr. and Mrs. Fuller saw you like this, they would be heartbroken."

"Arnie, can we keep this quiet for now? Don't tell my parents, please. They wouldn't handle the shock well. Let's wait a couple of days, and if we still can't find Felicia, I'll tell them then." She needed time to deal with Shawn. His revival and questioning posed a risk of exposing her involvement. This would be over in two days; if Felicia was truly gone, nothing could be traced back to her.

Tears streamed down Kayla's face as she pleaded. Arnold hesitated, then agreed. "Alright. I'll tell the vice principal to hold off telling your parents for now." "Thank you," she replied, curling into his embrace with a faint smile.

Under normal circumstances, the vice principal would have immediately notified Dexter and Myra. But Kayla's request and Arnold's support prompted him to wait.

By midnight, the exhausted students had gone to rest, leaving only the Alverton locals to continue their search. Lucas, the child Felicia had saved, had a fever. The cold, his fright, and the long night had left him pale and flushed. Feverish and disoriented, he mumbled, "Felicia fell... I'm scared..."

"Shh, it's okay. Mommy's here," Janiyah Mercado whispered, heartbroken, tending to him, patting his back and giving him his medicine. Overwhelmed with gratitude and sorrow for Felicia's sacrifice, she heard him murmur, "There was a man too... he fell with Felicia..."

"What?" Janiyah leaned closer, unsure if he was delirious. She hugged him tightly. "It's okay, baby. Mommy's right here."

The moon hung silently above. The mountain river rushed past, carrying branches and leaves downstream. Some debris caught on rocks; others continued, their destination unknown.

Heavy coughing shattered the silence as Felicia clung to a rock, struggling to pull herself up. Barely managing to climb out, she turned and extended her hand to the man in the water. "Hurry! Grab my hand!"

Stephan eyed her hand skeptically. Could she pull him up? Ignoring her, he braced himself between rocks, attempting to pull himself out.

But she grew anxious. The current was dangerously strong; anyone fighting it could be swept away or knocked unconscious hitting a rock.

"Take my hand—quickly!" she urged. After hesitating, he reached for her hand. Their palms, large and small, clasped firmly.

Felicia didn't relax, fearing a slip would send him back into the water. Using all her strength, she pulled him onto the shore, then collapsed from exhaustion. Her tension easing, she realized she had only a minor back injury from Shawn's attack; otherwise, she was unharmed.

She considered this, a mix of emotions flooding her. With so many rocks, how had they both emerged relatively unharmed? She understood then—Stephan had shielded her, taking most of the blows. She had dragged him from the cliff; they'd both been swept into the waterfall, yet he had protected her.