The Misadventures of Bondi Beach

2: The Wrong Type of Reaction

Fuck.

That is the only thought in my head as I search hurriedly through my bag. Fuck, fuck, fuck! Where are they?! After having emptied my bag three times, the reality finally dawns on me. I've lost my antihistamine pills. Fuck.

I have a quick scan round the surrounding area, desperately searching for that small shine of silver, indicating the casing of the pills. Nada, nothing, zilch. The panic begins to set in as the strange itchy feeling in my throat becomes more prominent. I grab my bag, shove everything back inside and rapidly make my way to the Bondi Beach lifeguard tower. The surprise would have to be forgotten. I need help now.

By the time I reach the base of the tower, I can tell that my lips have swollen up. Trying to push down the panic, I take the stairs two at a time and frantically knock on the door. The knock of death, the lifeguards would call it. The tower door swings open, revealing Harrison stood in his bright blue uniform. He eyes widen when he sees me.

"Please can you help me, Harrison?" I ask, frantic.

"Jesus, Cammie. Come in, you're ok." I met and made friends with the boys in blue two years ago thanks to a dare given to me by my friends. He leads my straight to the first aid bed. "What's going on?" He asks.

"I've got a bad brazil nut allergy, that I was supposed to outgrow but haven't. I ate some fudge that didn't have any allergy warnings on the packet so I assumed it was ok. But clearly not." I explain, rubbing my hands over my face. It instantly becomes itchy so I sit on my hands the prevent myself from aggravating the rash I knew would soon appear. Harrison nodded and spoke into his radio.

Central to boys, I've got an allergic reaction, here. You might wanna get here quick, 'cause you're not gonna believe it but it's Cammie~

Jesse's voice comes over the receiver.

Copy that, I'm with Jeff in the buggy. We're heading up now~

Great thanks~ Harrison responds. He turns back to me. "Do you carry an epipen?" I shake my head.

"No. Never have. It's not severe enough that I've needed to." My throat still feels dry and scratcy. "Harrison, could you grab me some water, please... And a bucket." I add on. He nods and fetches them.

Taking a huge gulp of water, I swirl it round in my mouth. I know that drinking now means there's gonna be more to throw up but this is necessary. Spitting into the bucket, I repeat the process until I'm convinced my mouth is has been thoroughly rinsed, and then take three sips of water. Looking into the bucket, I spot a two tiny chips of brazil nut floating at the bottom. "Fucks sake." I sigh.

Just as I place the bucket down, the figures of Jesse and Jethro burst into the tower. I nearly cried with relief. I met Jethro -and the rest of the lifeguards- two years ago, after my friends dared me to ask him to go on a helicopter tour with me. To everyone's complete surprise, he said yes and the two of us have been best friends ever since. He's like my older brother. Despite living on opposite sides of the earth, Jethro was and always is there for me when I've needed him. When I tragically lost my girlfriend to cervical cancer around 8 months ago, he actually bought a plane ticket and stayed with me in the UK. Helping me through the grieving process and only returning to Australia when he was sure I would be ok on my own. I was supposed to be surprising him later on (he didn't know I was coming back) but a different priority has reared it's ugly head.

Jethro speeds over and englufs me in a hug. He pulls back and looks at me worried. "Looks like we're gonna have to skip the pleasantries." He half jokes and I give a weak smile. "Epipen?" I shake my head again.

"I usually have Cetirizine tablets on me but I must have lost mine because they aren't in my bag." I say, slightly panicked. I do have a fear of not having my medicine there when I need it. "So 50mg tablets or the liquid medication works too. Oh and ring for an ambulance, but explain that it isn't an emergency, so they don't need all the sirens and speeding and other ambo shit." Jeff grins at my use of Aussie slang.

Jesse runs off to search through the medicine, Harrison rings for the ambulance and Jethro holds my hand, applying a small amount of pressure while he rubs circles into my palm. It's an action I normally do to calm my self down, but can't do myself without spreading the rash. He looks up at me concerned.

"You do realise that if we don't have the pills, we'll have to use the epipen." He states.

"They scare me, Jeff."

"I know, Cammie. I know."

Luck suddenly seems to be on my side. Jesse emerges victorious from the medical cupboard with the antihistamines in his hands and quickly hands me the packet. Harrison comes back over, informing me the ambulance is on it's way, and gently places a hand on his boyfriend's shoulder. Jethro smiles up at him and releases my hand as I quickly swallow the pill with a mouthful of water.
(A/N: I ship it. Sue me.)

A sense of relief washes over me, and I lean back against the wall. Relatively content with my situation now that I've taken my pill. It's only now, when I'm calm enough to really take in my surrounding that I notice the camerman. I groan and bury my face into my hands.

"Of course, this happens the day you guys are filming Bondi Rescue."

A couple of laughs sound around the tower. My laughter stops when a new realization dawns. "I'm gonna be sick." The boys look up. "Not now." I dismiss their worries with a wave of my hand. "But in about half an hour, once the medicine has fully taken affect. I pretty much go completely back to normal and then I'll be sick." I sigh. "I hate that bit."

Another twenty minutes go by. Jesse is called out for a rescue and Harrison goes back to work watching from the tower. Jethro sits talking with me, waiting on standby in case he's needed. I suddenly freeze over, panic mode engaged as fear wracks my body. Throwing up terrifies me.

"Could you turn around?" I ask the camera guy, frantically. "I'd rather the viewers didn't see this bit." He thankfully does as I ask, and I turn away from both him and Jethro.

Less than five seconds later, I throw up violently into the bucket. I feel Jethro's hands pull my hair out of the way, his voice gently soothing me and hear the sound of Harrison standing up quickly to check what was going on. By the time the whole ordeal is over, I'm crying and frantically apologizing.

"God, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry. I really really hate vomiting, you shouldn't have had to see that."

Harrison offers me a towel and a look of genuine sympathy. "You're alright. You're alright."

As I take the towel, the camerman, gestures quizzically to the camera still in his hands. I nod, allowing him to resume filming. I wipe my mouth and hands and just try to generally clean up a bit, still crying silently. "It scares me," I admit. "It absolutely terrifies me. You can't breathe, you don't know when or even if it's gonna stop and you have absolutely zero control of what happens in those moments."

I notice my finger nails digging into my palms and take a couple of deep breaths trying to calm down. Jethro glances down and spots the same thing. He looks back up and meets my gaze.

"Comfort clothing?" he asks, gently. I just nod. He leaves and comes back with a large black hoodie, that is way too big for me. I pull it on quickly and disappear into the safe and soft folds of the dark material. It's absolutely ginormous on me and probably too big to be Jethro's. I glanced at him confused. Noticing my curious look he laughs.

"Yeah, that's not mine. I stole it. Don't tell Harrison." He giggles. Said lifeguard walked over and planted a kiss in Jeff's curls, before wrapping his arm's around Jethro's shoulders from behind.

"I heard that!"

"Well, mine was at the flat so I couldn't exactly give her it now could I?" Jeff countered.

Harrison simply rolled his eyes, walking back to the upper level of the tower. "By the way, the ambo's here." Just as the words left his mouth, the paramedics rolled in.