When dream becomes reality (A Bondi Rescue FanFic)

Always have, always will

It was then, as I continued to lay under the masses of rubble, that I finally spared a thought for my family - the family that I loved so strongly and longed for so dearly at this time. When I was little, it was at times like this when my Dad would sing the song 'Just a spoonful of sugar' from the Musical Mary Poppins to try and cheer me up. To be quite frank, I miss being a child living in England where my biggest worry was which teddy bear I wanted to go to sleep with or how many smiley potato faces I wanted to have with my Turkey dinosaurs at dinner. I loved the simplicity of life, and I miss it. When you're a child you genuinely cannot wait to grow up and become an adult, but when you're an adult you would give anything to go back to being a child, and that is the said irony of life.

"Charl? Charl, you better not be drifting off again or I swear to the surf God that I will tell Hop to put you on shark net duty for the foreseeable future," Tom said with a hint of concern as he firmly, yet somehow gently shook my shoulders,

"Nah Tom,  wouldn't dream of it mate,"

"Ay I'll let you off then, how ya feeling anyway?"

"Well, I've been better to be quite honest, but thanks for asking."

As Tom leant down to wipe God knows what from my snot covered, tear ridden and blood stained face, I once again tuned into the action which surrounded me. Tom informed me that Whip was absolutely fine and was just being a 'big girl's blouse' about the situation. Apparently Harries had been ridiculing him endlessly as the paramedics did some vital checks before concluding that there was nothing wrong with him and that the 'stress of the situation had caused him to black out'.

Over the past half an hour or so, I had felt that the weight baring down on me had been getting gradually less and less, and I don't know whether that made me feel relieved or nervous. Obviously I was happy that my rescue was now imminent, however I was bound to have suffered some crush injuries as a result of the nature of the accident. The reason this worried me was that because of the amount of weight I had on top of me, any internal bleeding would have caused a build up of pressure and will not have caused any effect currently. When the weight is removed from on top of me, this will cause a huge release in internal pressure which will inevitably cause me to pass out, and depending on the severity of the bleeding, this type of injury can be fatal.

From my position, I could see the worried looks on the faces of the medical personnel, and could also see that on duty Doctors had been called to Bondi. That is when I knew the situation had the potential to be serious, because Doctors do not leave hospitals unless their presence at the scene of the accident is essential. I know this from experience.

In my short time as a Doctor, I have only ever left the safety of the hospital once during working hours, and that was for a lady who had been in a car crash. The car was leaking petrol, meaning that there was a high risk of fire, but the lady could not be extracted from the vehicle due to her right leg being trapped. Long story short, myself and another more senior Doctor had no other option but to amputate in the field. It was a question of 'Do you want to lose your leg or lose your life?', and I'm afraid that that is one of the harsh realities of medicine - sometimes your best just isn't good enough.

I once again laid my tired head back into the sand and asked "How serious is it Tom?"

"Ah it really isn't that bad Pom," he replied,

"Please don't lie to me, I know that I don't have any common sense and that I can be a bit of a moron and that I'm more than likely high on the green whistle, but I-" he cut me off,

"you have a medical degree and you're not stupid, yeah I know, I know, I'm sorry, it's just that I really don't understand what is happening. All those medical guys are speaking a load of jargon that a meager half lifeguard, half chiropractor doesn't understand. I'm just trying to make you feel better and keep you calm Charl, because at the minute that is all I can do. I just wish I could do more," he blurted. 

Oh for God's sake, now I feel awful, I thought,

"No Tom, I'm sorry. It's not your fault that I'm in this mess, it isn't anybody's fault; accidents happen when you least expect them. One minute you could be starting a new adventure after getting your dream job, moving to your dream country and meeting your dream boyfriend, and the next you could be trapped lying under a giant heap of rubble, with a snot covered face, wondering whether you're going to live or whether you're going to die," I sobbed,

"Don't you do that to me Charl, don't you go getting all upset and pessimistic. You're genuinely the most happy go lucky and optimistic person I know-"

"Apart from Harries," I said butting in,

"Nah, Harries is just a complete idiot," he joked before adding "and whenever you're in that tower, the atmosphere instantly becomes more vibrant. You can't possibly understand how happy you make Christopher Chapman, and let me tell you that everything that he just said to you is absolutely true. He loves you to absolute pieces, he has done for a long time, and don't think he ever will stop loving you. So, let me tell you that there is no way in the World that I am going to sit here and let anything happen to you, because it would break his heart. Now, don't go getting all soppy on me, do you hear? You Pommy's are supposed to have a stiff upper lip!"

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out... I was completely and utterly speechless.

"Besides, there is no way that I am going to let you snot all over my jumper, so stop those tears, alright?"

I looked into his eyes, and hoped that everything that I wanted to say to Tom was portrayed through my eyes. After all, our eyes are mirrors to the soul.

In a split second, my attention was recaptured by the current situation as the most senior Doctor present came over to speak to me. He told me that they were nearly finished with the extraction, as the final piece of debris was about to be lifted.

"Now I must warn you, that when we lift the last piece of debris, there may be quite a large release of pressure internally which may cause you to lose consciousness, so don't be alarmed if you feel yourself starting to drift away,"

I subtly nodded at him, Well, that had already occurred to me, I said to myself.

"If anything happens Tom, tell Chappo and my family that I was taken doing something that I loved, something that mattered to me, and something that I cared about. Tell them not to be too sad, because if they spend too much time dwelling on the past, then they will forget to live. Tell them that I am thankful for everything they have done for me, and that I could not have asked for anything more. But most importantly, tell them that I love them, that I always have and that I always will."

"Scrap that Charl, you soppy British teabag, you can tell them yourself when we get you out of this mess!" Harries said with a sniffle,

"Oi, I'm English, not British, you, you...." I didn't have chance to finish my insult as the metal was lifted, the pressure was released and my consciousness began to slip away.

The last thing I remember was the tear stricken faces of the Bondi beach lifeguards, and Deano saying reassuringly 'Don't you worry Charl, we're here... we're here."

HEY GUYS!

WOW, I AM SO SO SO SORRY ABOUT THE LONG WAIT FOR THIS CHAPTER. I HAVE BEEN SUPER RIDICULOSULY BUSY AND HAVE HAD AN AWFUL LOT ON MY PLATE RECENTLY. I JUST DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO UPDATE THIS STORY FOR A LONG WHILE, SO I APOLOGISE TO ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE BEEN ASKING ME TO UPDATE.

HOPEFULLY NOW THAT I HAVE STARTED TO SORT MY ORGANISATION OUT I WILL BE ABLE TO KEEP UPDATING A LITTLE MORE FREQUENTLY, BUT I'M AFRAID I CAN'T PROMISE UPDATES EVERY DAY OR EVEN EVERY WEEK AT THE MOMENT.

AS ALWAYS, DON'T FORGET TO VOTE, AND DROP ME A COMMENT IF YOU LIKE.

THANK YOU ALL FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART FOR THE AMAZING CONTINUED SUPPORT,

MUCH LOVE,

Charlie x