When dream becomes reality (A Bondi Rescue FanFic)

Familiar faces

When Chappo realised what I had said, he got up like a shot and hauled Whip into the hallway where I couldn't hear what they were saying. Then, just as I thought the situation couldn't get any stranger, I hear Reidy pipe up.

What on Earth are they doing? I thought, and more importantly, how the bloody hell did they get into my house!?

As I was contemplating the options, I heard the front door open and close before Chap reappeared and came back into the kitchen. I just sat in my chair with my arms folded and gave him something that I like to call 'the Paddington bear stare'. This basically consists of me staring at somebody in order to get them to tell me something when they don't want to do so.

"What!?' He said defensively, whilst throwing his arms in the air as if he was surrendering.
"You know what!" I replied, still glaring at him,
"I don't have the slightest idea what you're on about?!" He said in a way that was more defensive than the first time,
"Don't give me that Chrisopher Chapman, I have a medical degree... I am not stupid! Now if you don't tell me what all that commotion was about then I swear to God that next time Hop wants somebody to go and check the Shark nets, I will put your name forwards."
"Go for it, I'll rise to the challenge," he said cockily,
"Ok, fine. I'm considering this to be our first domestic argument, and believe me when I say that I will not be losing any in the future!" I said sternly,
"Alright Charl, whatever you say," he said with a smirk before clearing out plates off of the table.

"Oh shut up," I snapped.

He went over to the side and returned with a delicious looking banoffee cheesecake, which is my favourite dessert of all time. We tucked in to some generous portion sizes, and I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't manage to stay angry with him for very long. I mean seriously, it's impossible to stay annoyed at a man who can cook and bake your favourite foods as perfectly as he can.

We polished off everything, including the wine and just as he had done after the main course, he cleared the plates from the table, and I helped by clearing the glasses.

"Oi!" Chap shouted, making me stop in my tracks,
"What!?"
"You, Miss Ellis, are supposed to be taking it easy..."
"Dr... Dr Ellis..." I said, correcting him,
"Miss, Mrs, Dr, Professor... whatever! You need to learn to do as you're told,"
"What are you going to do... get Whippet to tell me off like I'm a child again?"
"If you insist on behaving like a child, then yes, yes I will!"
"Bloody Hell, I was only carrying a couple of glasses, it's not a big deal... the fact that I'm going training tomorrow is a big deal, but this?... Not so much!"
"Yeah, yeah, whate- What!? You, Dr Charlotte Ellis are absolutely one hundred percent not going training, running, surfing, paddling, swimming, jet skiing, hand gliding, cliff jumping, nose scratching, or anything of the sort... You get me?"
I couldn't help it... I just burst out lauhing.
"What could you possibly be laughing at?" He said in a confused manner whilst throwing his arms up in despair.
"You... you... you didn't s...say that I couldn't t...c...carry glasses.!" I said in between sniggers.
"Oh shut up!" He chuckled.

As the laughter began to subside, I felt unwanted, yet familiar sensation of my chest beginning to get tighter. With every breath, my breathing became more laboured, and I could hear the iconic wheezing sound which is generally associated with asthmatics who are having an asthma attack. Also, I don't think the fact that I had a couple of cracked ribs helped with the situation.

I waited for a few seconds, just to see if the mild attack would pass on its own... it didn't, and by this time, Chap had noticed that something wasn't quite right.

He started fussing, which is something that he is really rather good at, but I didn't need a fuss, I needed my inhaler. During an attack, getting air in and out of your lungs is hard enough, and speaking is pretty much impossible. So, using the power of hand signals, I tried to tell him that I needed my inhaler and that it was in my jacket pocket, but he didn't get the message, meaning that my attempts were to no avail.

I could feel my chest getting tighter, my breathing becoming increasingly laboured, and my fingers starting to tingle. Just when I was beginning to think that he had realised that I had needed my inhaler, I saw him pick up his phone and start to dial triple zero. However, before he had the chance to type in the last zero, a couple of shadows came through from the hallway, took the phone from his hand, and began rummaging around.

Great, I thought, that's all we need... I'm sat here having an asthma attack, Chap is flailing around like a damsel in distress, and now we're getting burgled.

Then I realised that I couldn't have been more wrong.

Frustrated whispers were coming at me from all angles, and the so called 'burglars' were cursing and swearing here, there and everywhere. What the hell is happening? I asked myself, Why aren't they taking anything?

Despite the fact that only s few seconds had passed, it felt like I'd been sat on the cool tiles of the kitchen floor for decades. By hunching my shoulders forwards and breathing in through my nose, and out through my mouth, I managed to make my breathing a tiny bit better. However, I then got the shock of my life.

I felt hands grabbing at me from all directions, and I could feel myself starting to panic, which wasn't good, because the last thing I needed was to have a panic attack and an asthma attack at the same time... That really was not the dream. I tried to fight back against the strength of the limbs. It was no use, but I continued to put up a fight none the less.

I must have started to thrash around, because the next thing I knew I heard someone familiar speaking to me.

"Woah, woah, Charl, calm down," the recognisable voice whispered, "It's us, it's Nicola and some of the boys!"
"Yeah come on, take it easy Charl," said a voice which sounded very much like that of Harries, "Whip and Reidy are looking for your inhaler... Where is it?"

Gingerly, I raised an arm and pointed to my jacket, and they understood immediately. Without any hesitation, Whippet dove at my jacket, pulled the inhaler out and tossed it to Yak who was also beside me.

"Right, come on then, deep breath in, and hold it... Hold it... Alright, let it out... And again, deep breath in, hold it... Hold it... And breathe out. Good." Yak said gently as he coached me through the process.

I could feel the improvement in my breathing after no time at all, and I started to become more aware of my surroundings. Whilst continuing to breathe deeply, I lifted my head up and surveyed the kitchen. During my surveillance, I came face to face with at least 20 familiar faces, all of which belonged to the lifeguards of Bondi Beach.

"How you going Charl?" Harries asked, his eyes full of concern, but I didn't reply. I was too busy glaring at Chappo who was loitering over in the cornering and completely avoiding making eye contact with me.

Haha, Chappo's dead meat!" Maxi joked from the corner which brought about a few sniggers. I then switched my focus to the rest of the group, staring at each on of them individually before speaking.

"If somebody doesn't explain to me what the hell is going on in the next two seconds, then I swear that I will drop-kick you all into next week... And I'm not joking, so somebody better start talking. You get me?"

HEY GUYS,
HOPE YOU'RE ALL HAVING A GOOD WEEK, AND I ALSO HOPE THAT YOU ALL ENJOY THIS CHAPTER.
PLEASE KEEP OFFERING FEEDBACK AND IDEAS IN THE COMMENTS SECTION, EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING IS APPRECIATED!
AS ALWAYS, DON'T FORGET TO DROP ME A CHEEKY LITTLE VOTE,

MUCH LOVE,
Charlie x