New Start, New People - Bondi Rescue fanfic

Chapter 5

The surf with Mouse is probably going to be the absolute highlight of the trip (if I do go home). We did go on the rescue board and I never stood up but, it was still fun.

"Come on. One more wave and then I have to get back to work." Mouse tries to convince me and I laugh.

"Fine. But it's not my fault if Hop fires you for doing this instead of your job." I joke and he laughs before we go back out into the rip except this time was different. Because he decided to flip me off the board, straight in the middle of backpackers rip. "Mouse!" I shout and he laughs at me before turning at a wave to make sure he doesn't catch it in.

"How's the rip going for ya?" He laughs and I flip him the bird.

"Strong. Why?"

"Wanna see if you can get out of it." He teases. So, I look around me, before realising that I can't be bothered trying to get out of the rip since it sounds like too much work. So, I simply and quickly, jump on the rescue board and face Mouse.

"I'll get out of it the old Bondi way. A good looking lifeguard surfing me in." I say before giving him a quick kiss and laying down on the board, allowing him to catch a wave in and start the rest of his day.

"Hey, what do you think Hop wants to talk to you about?" Mouse asks me and I shrug, wiping the saltwater off my face.

"Not a clue." I say simply.

"That's all you got?"

"Yep." I say with a grin before we make our way back up to the tower, bunny hopping along the sand. "That sand is way too hot." I comment and Mouse laughs.

"It's been worse."

"Oh shush." I laugh.

When we get into the tower, I notice that Jethro and Singlets were in the tower watching. Jethro, I hadn't technically met yet.

"Ah so you're the girl Cloud here has been blushing about." Jethro comments, making Mouse hit him. "I'm Jethro."

"Y/N." I say simply.

"OK first of all, Jeth shut up. Y/N, I'll take you over to Hop's office." Mouse orders and I nod, waving bye to the boys and walking across the promenade. "His office is just here, I gotta get back on the beach, these are my keys. Just bring them down to south when you're done." I nod in understanding then walk in, bidding bye to Mouse.

Once I reach Hop's office, I knock on the door before hearing a 'come in' from the boss man himself.

"Hey Hoppo." I say quietly and he looks up with a smile and waves his hand, gesturing me to come in.

"Hey Y/N."

"So, uh. What's up?" I ask him and he gives me his full undivided attention, leaning forward on his desk.

"Well. I heard you talking to those girls earlier."

"Yes..."

"And it seems as though you had a fair bit of knowledge on the topic. You could've asked me, but you didn't."

"Uh huh..."

"I was wondering if you had shown an interest in becoming a lifeguard or just watch too much TV." At this I kinda laugh.

"Uh both. Technically." He looks at me, practically with a question mark above his head. "I do watch a lot of TV, I have looked before at becoming a lifeguard but don't think it'll ever happen." I say honestly. Mouse doesn't even know this, why am I telling Hoppo.

"Why not?"

"So many reasons." I laugh and he looks at me as if to say 'go on'. "First of all, I'm from northern Vic so it's about as far from beaches as you can get on the east coast of Australia. I can't surf to save myself and physically, I'm not there." I say, once again, honestly. Hoppo's response to this was to give me an application form and slide it across the desk.

"Prove yourself wrong then. I'll see you later." And with that, the meeting of some sort was over and I was walking out. Incredibly confused by the whole situation. 

As I made my way back down to the beach I saw Mouse just out of the buggy and run to the side before sprinting in with the board and it was there that I realised there was a guy stuck into the rip where we were 15 minutes ago.

Once I reached the buggy, Mouse was riding a wave straight back to shore. But the guy on the board didn't look too good at all. Staying where I was, I looked at Mouse as if to ask if I can do anything.

"Get the oxy ready!" He shouts at me and I turn and look in the back of the buggy. Assuming the blue bag was the right one, I ran it up to him and got the mask out, allowing him to do the rest.

"Did you swallow any water matey?" Mouse asks him and the man nods, coughing into the mask, making us take it off him so if he needed to throw up any water, he could. "Can you grab my radio please?" Mouse asks and I nod, going over to the buggy and grabbing the radio before walking back and giving it to him. 

"South to central, yeah boys. This guy isn't too good, can you call an ambulance?" Mouse requests.

"Yeah sure mate. Are you going to bring him up to the tower or stay where you are?" I recognised the voice as Singlets.

"Nah I'll bring him up. I have help anyway." He says, looking at me for the last part, making me smile. During this exchange, I was kneeling next to the man, making sure he was OK, and taking off the mask whenever I saw he needed to throw up. His breathing though, was still quite shallow. "Are you able to help me for a quick sec?" Mouse asks me.

"Yeah sure. What do you need me to do?"

"Just hook your arm under him and hold it with your other hand," He says first and I do that. "then just pull him up gently and we'll both support his weight. Just walk him over to the buggy." Once we did that and he was safely seated in the back of the buggy, Mouse took off up the beach. At the same time, we heard the sirens of the ambulance.

"Ambos are here mate. You'll be OK." I try to assure him and he nods. Holding the mask as a way of trying to get the oxygen closer.

As the ambos took him away, Mouse put his hands on my shoulders while I stood in the tower watching the water. It was quite peaceful.

"What did Hop want?" He asks and I look up at him before looking back to the water.

"Tell ya later." I reply before my phone rings. It was liv.

"Hey babes. What's up?" I ask her.

"Hey. Nothing but I'm afraid I have some bad news for you."

"What did you do now?" 

"I have a family emergency and need to leave. I've booked the flights for late tonight but-"

"Are you serious? You didn't want to tell me sooner? When did you find this out?" By now I was standing outside the lifeguard tower, less than impressed.

"I found out last night after I called you. I thought I'd be able to figure something out and finish the trip but I can't. I'm so sorry." She apologises and I sigh.

"Where are you now?"

"The motel."

"I'm on my way." I say before hanging up the phone, just in time for Mouse to open the door, concern written on his face.

"Everything OK?" I shake my head, angry tears threatening to spill at any given moment.

"No because I knew she'd do this. I just had blind hope." I say, trying not to go off at him. "Did you want to come over tonight? I can tell you about what Hoppo wanted." I offer and he nods.

"So I take it you need to go now?"

"Yeah I'm sorry. I had a great day though."

"I'm glad. I'll see you tonight." He says before giving me a kiss on the forehead and walking back in the tower. Leaving me to walk back to my temporary home just up the road.