The Tour

eight / news

The Championship Tour had turned into a grind more quickly than I had expected. Get to a new city, get used to the wave, surf in the competition, sign some autographs, and then pack up and hop on a plane to the next country. I was doing exactly what I loved, but it was definitely different than I thought that it would be. Less glamorous.

That fact was exceedingly clear on Tuesday morning. The Ripcurl women had gotten to their Portugal rental house at four in the morning after a flight from France, and everyone was exhausted. Five hours of sleep had been the most that they were allowed in order to get them back on a normal sleeping schedule, but that really just meant that most of the girls were laying on the couch now instead of their bed.

I had gotten out of the shower a few minutes ago and was attempting to organize the room that Sarah and I were sharing. It was proving to be quite the challenge, both because of Sarah's sloppy tendencies and due to the walk-in closet-sized bedroom that was crowded with surf equipment.

"Hey, Riv, come in here," Eva shouted from the living room. She and Tatiana were sharing the apartment with Sarah and I, and it had been nice to get to know them better since the photoshoot.

"I'll be there in a minute, I'm almost done in here," I called back through the open door.

"No, you should really come now I think. Your island is on the news."

I furrowed my eyebrows in response to her urgent voice, walking out into the living room. Eva had managed to tune into a surfing channel from back in the States, and I slid onto the couch next to her. Sure enough, I could see the familiar coast of home on the screen, along with Justin Leneord, a reporter who had interviewed me multiple times when I was still an up and coming surfer.

He spoke directly to the camera, holding a microphone in front of his freshly pressed blue shirt. "As the majority of local surfers know, Pipeline got the first glimpse of a swell in awhile this morning. It wasn't quite at its biggest, but the waves also weren't small. Many surfers were out this morning."

Justin paused momentarily and the television showed a quick shot of the thundering waves. A pit of nerves had formed in the pit of my stomach, but I kept reminding myself that this very well could be a simple surf forecast.

"A few hours ago, The Queen's Hospital received a call regarding a surfer who was held under water and thrown into the reef below following a wipe-out. Authorities rushed to the scene and the young man was rushed to the hospital as quickly as possible."

My heart was beating quickly now as I bounced my knee up and down, praying and waiting for more information. I knew most of the surfing community out there.

"Later information has revealed the identity of the young man who was seriously injured this morning," Justin continued, "Will Sanders is a twenty year old baseball player from the University of Hawaii, and was also raised on the island. He was surfing this morning with a friend, reportedly Evan Lancer, although no contact has been made officially confirming this connection."

Eva turned towards me quickly, recognizing Evan's last name. My sweaty palms were clutching the couch cushion, and I couldn't bring myself to look away from the screen. Photos of Will were being shown now, but I couldn't comprehend anything that was being said. Nothing other than "critical condition".

My hands flew up to my forehead as I pushed my hair back, trying to wrap my head around the current situation. Will was hurt, or dead. I was thousands of miles and oceans away. Why hadn't I heard anything before now?

Another hand slid around me and pushed my phone into my hand. Tatiana was there now, telling me to call my brother as she wrapped her arms around me.

As soon as I managed to dial the number I stood up and started pacing. The idyllic view out the window seemed to be offensively bothered by my current situation.

"Riv?" Evan's voice finally came through the speaker. He sounded exhausted.

"I just saw," my breathing started to get shallow as I struggled to keep it together, "I just saw... on the news... Will?"

"Hey River, breathe. Breathe, I don't need you hyperventilating on me," my brother spoke into the phone quickly.

"I'm sorry, I'm just, what happened?"

"No, I'm sorry that we didn't call. I should have, I just wasn't thinking. It happened so fast. We were out surfing this morning and he got pushed under, into the reef. His back took most of it, and it's pretty bad. He's in surgery now and it looks like he should pull through. We don't know much yet, but everyone's here waiting for him to get out. He's tough River, he'll make it through this.

I tilted my head back, breathing slowly. "I'm coming now," I said quickly.

"No, I promise that it will be okay. He'll be fine, honestly he'll be fine and he would be so embarrassed if you came all the way out here and missed your surfing just so see him."

"You already said it, Evan," I snapped back before getting quieter. "Everyone is there waiting for him, everyone except me. I have to see him. He's my best friend..."

There was a moment of silence before a bit of background noise. Evan was probably talking to my parents, who would naturally already be there as well. "I know, he's mine too. Travel safe and get here soon."

This is unedited so uh yeah maybe I'll do that sometime soon. Thanks for reading, be back soon.

I also feel like author's notes ruin the mood but then I write them anyway smh