Waves

CHAPTER 07

"Don't do that to me!" She gasped, grabbing her chest as her heartbeat thumped wildly in her ears.

Talia burst out laughing.

"Sorry, Nora. You ready to go swimming? I brought boogie boards, and I thought I could teach you to use one in the waves today," She asked.

"Sure, sounds great!" Nora feigned casualness, when in reality she was giddy with excitement. It had been a long time since she'd had a friend, and an even longer time since that friend was real.

"Race you then!" Talia tossed a strangely shaped object at Nora and took off.

"Wha-hey!" Nora protested, tucking the object under her arm and barreling after her, "Cheater!"

Talia just laughed and continued on. But, she hadn't realized that her opponent had one a few too many track and cross country meets to be beat by a couple second head start. Nora passed Talia in a matter of moments, and it was Talia's turn to cry out in surprise.

The girls dropped down onto the sand, panting and laughing. They were right in between a dangerous current sign, and the left red and yellow flag. A perfect spot to learn to boogie board, since the red and yellow flags were for swimmers.

"Come on," Talia stood up and took off her tank top and shorts, revealing a swim skirt and a cropped, pink swim top.

Nora pulled off her over-sized sweatshirt. She was wearing a one piece designed to look like a watermelon, with a backless scoop. Luckily, she'd already applied sunscreen.

Talia ran toward the water as Nora kicked off her KEENS. She dropped them onto the sand next to the rest of their stuff, grabbed her board, and raced after Talia.

MOUSE

Mouse leaned back in his seat in the rhino, reaching up to pull off his sunglasses. He wiped them clean unnecessarily for the third time that day on the edge of his blue lifeguard shirt, and then put them back on.

Harries, beside him, glanced over and shot Mouse a knowing look. Mouse rolled his eyes and turned his focus back to the water. He knew what Harries wanted to say, he just didn't want to hear it. Already, Deano, Hoppo, and Jesse had told him what they thought, and Harries wouldn't be Harries if he didn't add his two pence as well.

"Mouse-"

"I know," Mouse cut him off for maybe the sixth time that day.

Harries laughed, for the sixth time that day. He wasn't remotely perturbed by Mouse's blatant attempts to get him to leave the subject alone. He knew Mouse was in denial.

Mouse glanced at his companion, who was smirking back at him, and rolled his eyes. Both of the men turned their attention back to the water, and that's when Mouse spotted her. Nora in a match of boogie board wrestling, laughing, and another girl beside her, sitting on her board and rolling her eyes at Nora in amusement.

Mouse sat up a little straighter, "Do you think I should go and get her?" He asked Harries in concern.

"Can she swim?" Harries asked.

"Well, yeah."

"Can she swim well?"

"Well, yeah."

"Then don't go and get her."

Mouse huffed and looked away from Nora and the mystery girl, instead watching a group of swimmers playing on a sandbank. They were much less talented in the water than Nora was. Harries was watching them, too, out of the corner of his eye.

And then all of a sudden, several things happened at once. A massive wave came in that Mouse spotted Nora riding like a pro, the swimmers slipped off of the sandbank, and Mouse and Harries leapt into action.

Mouse grabbed a board nearby on the sand, while Harries took the one hanging off of the buggy. Both of them raced out to the sea as quickly as they could, Nora and her friend forgotten in the chaos. So long as they were safe, Mouse put them out of his mind.

He lunged forward into the current, landing on his stomach on his board and paddling with all of his might. Already, he could see a swimmer beginning to disappear. He feared that he and Harries wouldn't make it in time.

"OVER HERE!" Mouse shouted at one of the men as he pulled to a stop beside his floundering friend. The friend grabbed onto Mouse's board as quickly as he could, clinging to the ropes for dear life. Mouse struggled to keep the board steady as his rather large frame weighed only one side down.

The man Mouse had shouted to began to splash his way over. He made it, but just barely. Mouse grabbed his arm and hauled him onto the board farther to make sure he didn't fall off. The man laid his head down on the board in exhaustion.

"It's alright, catch your breath," Mouse told the two. There was quite a lull in the swell, and he knew that he would be able to get them in on time.

"One at a time get on. Face the front and lay on your tummy," Mouse instructed after a moment.

The smaller man, the second one to reach Mouse's board, got on first. He just barely managed to make it into a good position, with a little bit of help from Mouse. The other man got on next. He had trouble balancing himself, but Mouse did his best to help and eventually they were all on and had somehow managed to not tip.

Mouse turned the board toward shore and began to paddle strongly. His arms were already burning and he'd hardly made any headway, but that was to be expected. Both of the men on his board were at least thrice his weight.

Mouse felt the familiar tug of the sea beneath his hands and glanced back, watching with alarm as a massive set loomed behind him. He paddled harder, hoping to beat the waves before they barreled over and sent the board spiraling away from all three of them. Nearby, Harries was doing the same thing with another dude on his board. But Harries had a lot less weight than Mouse, and he was moving a lot quicker.

Mouse pushed himself as hard as he could, but he didn't manage to beat the wave. Just as he thought he had, the set loomed up behind them and lifted him-and his patients-into the air. But Mouse's board was heavier toward the front than it was to the back.

And Mouse nosedived.

His patients spilled off of his board, but he just barely managed to hold on as the board slammed nose first into the water. The back of it hit him in the chest. And then there was a cracking sound, and Mouse just barely stopped himself from crying out in pain. Tears of pain sprang involuntarily into his eyes, but he blinked them away and forged on.

By the time the wave had rolled away, both of Mouse's patients had been washed to shore, and Harries had also made it safely to the beach. Mouse stumbled up last, dragging his board and trying not to breathe to deeply.

"Are you alright, Mouse?" Harries asked.

Mouse, who usually never admitted that he was in physical pain, shook his head. "I need a hospital," He gasped, before dropping his board into the holder and stumbling to the buggy, clutching his chest, "I think I've broken my ribs."

Harries radioed for a hospital.