Bondi Rescue

Crisis Averted

I quickly dove into the water, and grabbed her underneath her shoulders, pulling her up to the surface. She started to thrash about, trying to expel the water from her lungs as I turned her around and started to pound her back, helping her to cough.

As I tread in the water holding her up, she turned to face me, her wet hair clinging to her face. I tried to reassure her. "Hey, darling, it's alright, my name's Emilie, I'm going to help you get back to shore, okay sweetheart?" She nodded, which I hope meant she'd understood me. "Can you tell me your name?"

"My name's Christine," the girl said, and I sighed in relief that she spoke English. "Alright Christine, I'm going to turn you around and hold you under your arms and we are going to start going back to shore ok? I need you to stay calm," I said as she nodded in understanding.

I immediately laid back and started treading water, making my way back to shore. I tried to glance around and see if there was a lifeguard coming, but it was too difficult to do that and hold Christine up.

I really hoped someone was coming to assist because it could take me up to an hour to get Christine back to shore without a board. Suddenly, I heard water splashing behind me, and in my peripheral vision, I could see a blue surfboard pull up alongside Christine and me.

I adjusted so we were vertical in the water and not horizontal, and I kept one arm around her as I grabbed the board. The surfer was a lifeguard thank god, but even though his lips were moving I couldn't hear what he was saying. I shook my head a little to get rid of the water, and all of a sudden I could hear him.

"Alright, are you guys okay, is everything alright?" The man who was talking had a slight look of panic on his face, but he quickly schooled his features into a mask of calm.

"Yeah, I saw Christine here in trouble and I ran in to help her, she was completely alone," I told him, disgust coloring my tone, how could anyone let their child get that far out? "She may have swallowed some water, but she coughed a fair bit when I first got to her."

The lifeguard also looked upset at the fact that Christine was alone in the water. "Okay then, can you help me get her up on the board?" he asked, and I nodded as I helped to swing her legs up so she was lying on the board.

Another lifeguard reached us, I turn to grab his board so the other lifeguard can get little Christine back to shore. As I took in the new lifeguard, one thought fleetingly crossed my mind.

Jesus Christ, this man is attractive.

He was shirtless, showing off his tanned chest. His dark hair was plastered to his forehead from crashing through the waves, and his eyes seemed to be constantly switching between blue and green. I shook myself mentally a bit as I realized he was talking to me. "Are you ok there, you want a lift back to shore?"

"Yes please, I would really appreciate that," I said as I used what little strength I had left after the paddle to get to Christine to climb onto the board. As I faced forward and felt him lay down behind me and start to paddle us back in, my mind started to wander. This was the first rescue I'd done since Hau's death, and I'd managed to save a little girl from the same fate.

As I lay there, I realized how exhausted I was. I'd forgotten how tiring it is to do a rescue without a board, and I'm pretty sure if I was standing right then, I'd have collapsed on the sand. It didn't take us too long until we were back at the shoreline. I rolled off the board and quickly looked around for Christine.

I spotted her being treated by the other lifeguard for some scrapes on her hands and knees. When she saw me, she got up and ran over to me as fast as she could. Her body crashed into my legs, and I nearly fell over.

I could hear her mumbling under her breath, with her face buried in my legs. "Christine, sweetie, I can't understand you," I murmured, kneeling on the sand and hugging her back.

"Thank you so so much for saving my life, I thought I was gonna die," She sobbed, and my heart nearly broke in two. "Oh darling, you don't have to thank me, I wouldn't have let you drown, it's alright," my voice lowered as I continued to murmur calming words in her ear to calm her down.

Suddenly, we all looked up as we heard a kind of screeching noise. Across the beach, a woman was, well she was trying to run to us, but her 6-inch heels made it kind of difficult in the sand. She was yelling, and when we realized what she was saying, the lifeguards and I looked at each other in shock.

"You bums, you get away from my Chrissy, get your filthy hands off her!" She yelled, and I could feel Christine start in my arms, and then start to tremble even more. I could hear her whispering to me, "No, don't make me go with daddy's girlfriend, she doesn't like me, please I don't wanna go!"

I wrapped my arms even more tightly around her, and a third lifeguard, one who hadn't come in the water to save us, stepped in front of Christine and me to block the woman's path.

"Ma'am, do you know this child?" The man questioned, and I could hear the disbelief in his tone at the fact that Christine and the woman might be related.

"Yes, I do, that is my daughter, and I demand you hand her to me, who do you think you are trying to keep her from me!" The woman's voice was an unpleasant thing to listen too, especially when she was yelling from a close proximity. The lifeguards all looked similarly unimpressed.

"My name is Bruce Hopkins, I'm the head lifeguard. Do you mind telling me how exactly your daughter got nearly 100 meters out in the ocean without you noticing, and why you didn't realize that she was drowning?" I was gobsmacked, I hadn't realized how far out Christine had been in the water.

The lady stood there with her mouth hanging open, a dumbfounded look on her face. Then Christine looked at me, "She isn't my mommy, I don't wanna go with her!"

Even though Christine hadn't spoken to her, the woman heard loud and clear and looked as though she had been slapped across the face. "Well dear," the lifeguard who had rescued me made eye contact, and his facial expression clearly said, "Is this lady for real?"

"Your daddy and I are going to get married, so I'm nearly your mommy, so why don't you say thank you to the nice lady and come on back with me." The woman finished with a sickly sweet tone of voice, one that made my insides clench with disgust.

Christine's lower lip started to tremble, and I realized I had to say something, "No, I'm not going to let her go with you, because when I was running out to get Christine, you were nowhere to be found, and you are just now coming onto the beach, which means you likely sent her down here on her own. That is clear child endangerment, and I cannot in good conscience let you take Christine."

Again, the woman looked as though she had been slapped, and I could hear the lifeguard next to me whistle lowly under his breath. My cheeks turned pink, but I refused to back down. I turned to Christine and asked her if she knew her daddy's phone number. She did, so I walked away from the group to call him.

After a short conversation with Mr. Addams, I returned to the group, unable to keep the slightly smug look off my face. "Well, Ms. Bairns, I just got off the phone with Christine's father. He is on his way here to pick her up and take her to the doctor, and he said that you better not be here when he gets here. He also said that you need to clear all of your things out of his home and be gone by the time he gets back. I believe his exact words were 'I never want to see that bint again'."

I didn't think it was possible, but the woman's mouth opened even farther, and just stood there trying to process what I had just told her. After a full minute, the head lifeguard told her to vacate the beach, or he would have the police escort her off.

As she reluctantly left, I felt joy fill me, knowing that woman was out of Christine's life and couldn't endanger her again.

Hello all! Again, I am sorry about the cliffhanger in the previous chapter, but everything turned out all right! I should be updating this story every Thursday and Sunday, so stay tuned for the next chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed it, don't forget to comment and vote!

~_mindless_ramblings_