Love's In The Water ~Jake Nolan~

Chapter Thirty

It's been three years since I lasted visited Bondi. Every day I wonder what my life would be like if I stayed there. If Jake and I would have lasted? If Dad would have forgiven me? How good of a lifeguard I would be? "You coming, E?" Piper asks walking into my room "Yeah, coming" I say picking up my bag and heading out the apartment door and lock it before heading down to the basement to Piper's car and we start the car drive down south.

"How does it feel to be home?" Piper asks as we grab the surfboards from the boot of her car "Feels great" I say smiling and we head down to south corner and paddle out and wait for a decent sized wave to appear.

"Do you guys see this chick with the purple hair? She's good" Jesse says as he eyes the stranger working wonders on the water "Why does she look so familiar?" Maxi asks agreeing with Jesse "Her technique...it's like Eve's almost -" Jesse observes, still watching the mystery girl "It's exactly like Eve's" Jake cuts Jesse off, still not over the heartbreak from the much younger girl "Oi! You three knuckleheads! You've got a beach full of forty thousand people and you're worried about some surfer chick" Harries yells taking charge of the tower and the younger boys scurry to their positions.

"Piper! I think we should go in" I call as we've been bashed by the waves and other surfers by accident for a while now "Do you want to?" She yells back "Yeah. It's getting rough and we're running into people and we've probably run over a dozen!" I yell "Last one!" She says and I smile as I've gotten her into surfing and now she loves it. Piper points to a wave and I agree that's the one we catch back to shore. I stand up on my board and do a few tricks when a person pops up beside me, taking me by surprise I lose my balance and fall into the water. I try to surface but there's a set of rough waves coming through so I get mouthfuls of water every time I try to get some air. One particularly big wave, turns me over under the water so I have no sense of direction and my foot got lighter meaning my board had snapped free, I stretch my arms out in front of me and kick what I think is up, but really it's down. I reach the reef when I feel my hand and arm collide with something sharp and spiky. Knowing that I'm swimming further from the surface, I turn myself around and swim up when the current pushes me back towards the reef. I feel my head hit some coral before it stinging from the salt water. Eventually, there's a break in the set and I use that to my advantage and resurface.

I look around and Piper has gone back to shore for what I hope is to get help. I feel something grab onto my leg and more pain than before. As I tread water, I look down and there's a shark attached to my lower leg and right foot "Oh sh*t!" I scream, attracting the surfer's attention "There's a f*cking shark on my foot" I said panicking. In all my times I've gone surfing and been in the beach, I've never been a victim of a shark attack. The surfers start paddling over to me and help get the shark off my leg. Once it's off, I'm screaming in pain, but I haven't lost a limb so that's a positive. "Where's your board?" One lady asks "It broke free," I say clutching onto a surfer's board "Come on. I'll take you in" The one whose board I'm holding onto and he paddles in with me laying on his board. The surfer helps me off his board and I hop out of the water screaming as the water hits my bleeding foot. The lifeguards that are on duty have made their way down to the shore and are waiting for the injured to make their way over to them.

"Hey guys," I say to Jake, Whippet and Maxi as I have an arm slung around the surfer's shoulder and he has his around my waist helping me walk "Eve?" They ask in disbelief "Yeah, so, um, I got attacked by a shark. Wanna help me out and call an ambo?" I question and Whippet was the only that reached for the radio to call for an ambulance as the other two stood there in shock. "Is no one going to clean me up?" I ask as that's one of the first things to do in the bleeding protocol and Maxi and Jake snap out of their trance and take me from the surfer and sit me on the back of the buggy. "So you dyed your hair purple?!" Maxi asks as he treats my head injury "Yeah, you like it?" I ask playing with the end "Yeah, it looks great. It's a lot longer too" Maxi comments and silence falls over us again. "What brings you back to Bondi?" Whippet asks as he wraps tape around my ankle to stop the bandages from slipping as Jake holds them "Piper wanted to go for a day trip somewhere and go surfing and I suggested Bondi" I answer "Kinda a bad idea now" I laugh as I turn my head to see the bandages Jake and Whippet are putting on. "So what's new with you guys?" I ask and they all avoid eye contact with me and look at each other "How's married life, Maxi?" I ask as I left shortly after he had proposed to his girlfriend "Yeah, it's alright. Got a little a boy and another one on the way" He says as finishes cleaning my head wound "Congrats" "Thanks" He says and it gets awkward. "How about you Whip, how are you?" I ask looking down at him while he bandages my ankle "Yeah, alright. Same old, same old" He says "What about you, Jake, what's new with you?" I ask "I moved out from Harrison. Got my own place" He says "Nice" I say "E! I'll be back soon!" Piper calls as she holds the two surfboards. "So you and Piper are pretty close now?" Whip asks as he cuts the last bit of tape off and the paramedics show up on the shore. They put me on a stretcher and carry me up with Maxi and Jake's help and place me on wheels. Piper sits in the ambulance "Please don't tell dad I'm here or about this" I say as the paramedics push the bed into the back of the vehicle "No promises Eve" Whippet says and the doors are closed to the ambulance before it starts moving to the hospital.

Once there, I'm put into surgery to close the bite wounds and to clean it out of all the sand and salt. I wake up and Piper isn't in the room.

**Not the chapter you were probably hoping for, but it will come together soon. All in good time. Leave vote and a comment if your enjoying the story so far and follow me on Instagram: non_important_social ~ Byeeeee Charlie**