Bondi Rescue [harrison reid fanfiction]

prologue

It was surreal. 

Standing on the beach that meant so much to my father, I felt my heart swell in my chest. Tears pricked my eyes, for the seventh time that morning, as I gazed at the vast horizon. The sun was no longer peaking over the breaking waves, but was fully erect and shining with its upmost glory. But at just past nine in the morning, the blaring heat of the Australian sun had yet to exhibit its scorching effects.

It was calm, with only the crashing sounds of the waves audible. 

With a bitter-sweet sigh, I paddled my surf board to face away from the horizon, and back towards the shore. After surfing for nearly three hours, I was finally brought back to reality. No matter how much I enjoyed the open sea, and the positive mental space it put me in, I knew that I had to return to land. 

But as my mind faltered back to my father, I found my throat tightening with emotion. Pushing the thoughts aside, I laid on my stomach, and began paddling towards the sandy beach. With my mind clouded with thoughts of my father and of the reality that looms on the sand, I nearly missed the sounds of a panicked scream for help.

My head snapped towards the sound, with all previous emotions and thoughts escaping my mind. My heart swelled in my chest, but this time, for a different reason. A good 50 meters away, my eyes were met with flailing arms and a frantic cry. I couldn't specifically see a face, over the crashing waves, but I immediately turned my surfboard in his direction and began aggressively paddling.

In the rip, of course, I thought to myself. With a good bit of effort, and expertly avoiding any precarious waves, I managed to get to the voice within moments of the cry for assistance.

But when I approached the man, who appeared to be in his late twenties, I was met with no sound, no cries, and no screaming. It was silent, and as I paddled closer, I realized that he was faced down in the water, with no movement or signs of life.

Shit.

I was off my board in a second, paddling towards the man and immediately turning him over. 

"Hey! Hey, buddy! Can you hear me?" I screamed, my voice remaining calm, although my hands shook as I attempted to keep his head above water. A wave crashed against us, temporarily submerging us under water. While under water, my feet got knocked out from under me. 

With my feet out from under me, my arms carrying a man that weighed a good 185 pounds, and the continuous crashing and pulling of the rip, many, if not all, would have panicked. But with over twenty years experience in the water, and a naturally calm composure, I knew what I needed to do.

With a few powerful strokes and readjusting my feet against the sand, I used every ounce of strength I had to push us both out of the water, and surface our faces just near my surf board. After another wave, I placed both hands under the man's armpits, and submerged myself temporarily, to get enough leverage to push the man onto my board. Luckily, the attempt was successful. 

"Hey! Hey, I need you to stay with me!" I shouted, slapping the man's back, with no response in return. I checked the artery in the man's neck, with no pulsation detected. "Well fuck me...."

Securing the man on the board, as another wave crashed against us, I barely avoided the man being pulled off the board and into the rip. Hoisting myself back onto the surf board, I positioned myself so that I was laying on top of him, my abdomen against his back, with both hands attempting to paddle with the current.

"Dude, hey, I need you to stay with me, okay?" I screamed over the waves, which fell on deaf ears. In the process, I inhaled a bucket of water, causing me to cough. "Jesus, I am going to die straddling an unconscious man, and they are going to find me with my boobs pressed against his back and a lung full of--"