A Life Down Under (South of the Border Sequel) Zac Efron Character x Reader

Prologue - Greatest Love Story

Present Day
August 30th, 2023

"Open your eyes, baby. Come on, you can do it," Zac pleaded with his wife. "Please...honey, please. I can't live without you. I need you. The kids need you," he begged as tears filled his eyes.

Feeling all hope might be lost, Zac began to process what transpired the previous two weeks. Wondering how he managed to go from the happiest man on the planet to a man clutching his wife's hand as she clung to life at Cedars Sinai Medical Center.

After marrying in a private, beachside ceremony at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, he and Y/N had relocated to a small, beach cottage in Australia. There, they welcomed two beautiful, healthy children. Sadie was first, arriving in the wee hours of the morning, after nearly 36 hours of labor. Dylan, named after his brother, arrived a year later. He arrived two weeks early, and so quickly they barely made it to the hospital in time.

The young family savored the calm and privacy their little beach oasis afforded them.

But, as the world returned to normal, Zac's parents were eager to have their grandchildren close by. So, as the world learned they had become a family of four, they settled into a secluded 1920s bungalow, nestled in the Hollywood Hills. It was about a ninety-minute drive from each of his parents, which afforded them their own space as a young family while having their relatives nearby.

Their life together had been absolute perfection. It should have been a warning sign to both of them of what was to come.

The morning it happened, Y/N drove Zac to the airport, so he could fly to Georgia, where he would be filming his next movie, A Family Affair. The plan was for his family to join him in two weeks' time, before they transitioned to New Orleans, for him to film another movie.

When they arrived to the airport, several camera men approached. Still shy and nervous around papparazzi, Y/N barely touched his lips as she kissed him goodbye. It was a moment Zac was completely fixated on. One he couldn't forgive himself for. He never could have imagined, in his wildest dreams, it could have been their last kiss.

After she dropped Zac off at the airport, Y/N planned to spend the day with their children, before meeting their friend Ashley for dinner. Zac was comforted in knowing his friends had welcomed her with open arms, and easily settled in for a nap on his five-hour flight.

After turning his phone back on, he was alarmed to see several missed calls from their night nanny. He called her back immediately and he could sense the panic in her voice. The gate to their estate was locked, and she couldn't get ahold of Y/N.

"Ok, maybe she changed her mind and took the kids with her. I'll give her a call right now," Zac tried to remain calm, but panic was starting to set in. Before he could call Y/N, Ashley was calling him.

"Have you heard from Y/N?" Ashley questioned, and Zac immediately sensed her panic.

"No! What's going on?!" Zac was already headed to the nearest ticketing agent.

"We were supposed to meet for dinner an hour ago and she isn't answering any of my texts or calls."

"Hang up. Hang up and call 9-1-1 right now! Then, go to the house. I'm getting a return flight now. Ash, 9-1-1, right now!"

Zac wasn't able to form a clear memory of what took place. The next thing he knew, he was on a private plane back to LAX. He agonized over the unknown. It took almost an hour for Ashley to text him that the kids were ok. Y/N was being rushed into surgery, and she didn't have any more information.

'What the hell happened?' Zac kept questioning. When he left her, she was fine. No signs she wasn't feeling well or that the day would be anything other than ordinary. His Uber hadn't even come to a complete stop in front of the hospital and he was darting inside. He found Ashley in a waiting room. His mother and Dylan were on their way. He had agonized over whether to contact Mary or JP, but didn't want to alarm them until he knew what had happened.

As Ashley went to find a doctor to talk with Zac, two uniformed police officers approached him.

"Excuse us, Mr. Efron?"

"Can someone tell me what happened? Where are my children?"

"Your kids are just fine. They've already been checked out and are ok. Your dad is with them now."

His head spinning, Zac took a moment, "Can we go see them? Please?" The officers led the way down the hall to a small exam room where Sadie was sitting on a hospital bed while Zac's dad cradled a sleeping Dylan in his arms. As soon as Sadie saw Zac, her arms immediately outstretched for him.

"Dada!" she reached for him as he picked her up and held her close.

"How's my angel?" he kissed the top of her head. "It's ok, I'm here now," he reassured her.

Turning back to the officers, his daughter snuggled tightly against him, he repeated, "What happened? My wife? Is she going to be ok?"

"We should let a doctor talk to you," the younger of the two officers started.

"We've just started our investigation into what happened to your wife. When was the last time you saw her?"

"Um...ten this morning. She dropped me off at the airport. Our nanny was at home with the kids. She was going to go home, spend the day with the them, and then Olga, our other nanny, was going to come over so she could have dinner with a friend."

"Do you know what time the nanny would have left?"

"I'd have to check with her, but most likely before noon, depending on how bad traffic was on the way home from the airport."

"Do you have her contact information?"

"Yes, of course."

"And when did you realize something was wrong?"

"When Olga called and said her code to the gate wasn't working, and Y/N wasn't answering her phone. Then...Ashley called and said Y/N never showed up for dinner."

"And that's out of character for her?"

"Completely. I mean, she runs a well-oiled machine at home. She's always on time. She'd never be running behind, or late, and not call first."

"Excuse me, Mr. Efron?" a tall man wearing surgical scrubs entered the room. "Can we talk privately?"

Zac looked down at Sadie in his arms, hesitating to put her down or let her out of his sight.

"It's ok, a nurse can stay with her," he ushered Zac into the hallway. Zac set Sadie back down, kissing her forehead and running his fingers through her loose curls that were starting to form.

"I'll be right back," he reassured her. "Are you the doctor operating on my wife?" he stepped into the hall.

"One of them," he hesitated. "Her condition is very serious."

"How serious?"

"Well, she has numerous injuries. Right now, we're working on controlling internal bleeding, but she has numerous fractures and other injuries that will need repair," he shifted back and forth.

"Is she going to make it?" Zac immediately was choked up.

"She's fought this far. We're doing everything we can. I should really get back in there."

"I don't understand...how could this happen? What happened?" Zac begged the officers for answers.

No amount of time could have prepared him for what they told him.