Halstead Sister

Near Drowning

A/N: This was a request but I forget for who. Sorry!
When I got the request for a drowning situation, I decided to do a crossover with one of my other favorite shows, Bondi Rescue. Let me know what you think about the idea of crossovers and if there are any crossovers you want to see. I hope you enjoy!

Tess POV (15 years old)
Will had a medical conference in Australia which meant a family vacation. The conference was only 3 days but we were going to spend a little over a week there. While Will was at the conference, I convinced Jay to go to Bondi beach. He typically hated the beach. He hated the sun, the sand that got everywhere, and the ocean. My big, tough, police officer brother was scared of the ocean. I, on the other hand, loved the beach. The warmth, the sounds, and, of course, the ocean.
It was late morning when we got to the beach and it was already very hot. I dragged Jay to a relatively less crowded area and laid out my towel. Jay just stood there. "You can sit down you know?" I said jokingly.
"You're lucky I love you. I could've made you wait for Will before coming here." He grumbled as he opened a beach chair and sat down.
"But it's perfect here!" I dramatically gestured around me. "We didn't have anything better to do anyway." We were waiting for Will before we did any real sightseeing since he didn't want to miss anything. Jay just rolled his eyes. I laid down and closed my eyes. I soaked in the warm rays of the sun and listened to the sounds around me. It was so peaceful. But it was hot. Eventually, I got too hot and wanted to go swimming. I sat up and looked at Jay who was reading a book. "Wanna go in the water?" I asked.
Jay glared at me. "You're kidding, right?" I shook my head. "I don't go in the ocean. There are animals in there. Plus, Australia has all those weird jellyfish that can kill you." He said.
"I haven't seen anyone die" I retorted. "There are so many people in the water, it can't be that bad."
Jay stood his ground. "No way. You dragged me to the beach, you're not going to drag me into the ocean."
"Then I'll go in myself." I huffed.
"No way!" Jay replied. "You're not going swimming alone. I've watched the lifeguards take 3 people out of the water since we've been here."
"Might I remind you that I am a nationally champion diver." I said. "I won't go further than my waist. And, as you said, there are lifeguards."
Jay sighed. It was clear he wasn't going to win this. "Stay where I can see you. And in the designated swimming area." He directed. I agreed and headed off into the water. The water was warm, but still cooler than the air around me. I walked in up to my waist and dunked under. It felt good to cool down. I turned onto my back and just floated. I zoned out as I was rocked by the waves and warmed by the sun. When I opened my eyes, I saw that I had drifted out of the swimming area. I looked toward the shore to find Jay, but didn't see him. I went to stand up but my feet couldn't feel the bottom. I started to swim toward the shore but felt myself being pulled away by the current. I kept pushing forward but was making little progress.
"The swimmer directly in front of me. Go to the left!" I heard an announcement coming from the beach. I looked up and saw a lifeguard standing directly in front of me, holding a mega phone. "You! To the left!" He pointed at me. I turned to my left and gave it my all as I attempted to swim out of the current. I still was stuck. I was tired. Really tired. I treaded water for a moment to try and catch my breath. A wave washed over me and pushed me under. I swallowed a large mouthful of salty water. I began to panic. I didn't know which was up and I couldn't breathe. Once the water stopped turning me around I managed to get my head above the water. It only lasted a few seconds as another wave washed over me and the cycle repeated. As I got my head up the second time, someone grabbed my arm.
"I've got you." The person said. He pulled my upper body onto his rescue board and I held on to the edge. I struggled to catch my breath. "You alright?" The man asked me. I nodded, still trying to breathe. "Come on and lay on the board facing that way." I pulled myself up onto the board and laid on my stomach. The lifeguard safely brought us to shore. I was utterly exhausted. "Here we go." He said. I got off the board and immediately fell to my knees in the shallow water. "Whoa, you okay?" The lifeguard was quickly by my side again. I nodded and coughed. "Let's go have a seat." He helped me stand up and I leaned most of my body weight against him as he guided me to dry land. Once on the sand, I let myself fall to the ground and sat down.
"I'm Harrison. What's your name?" The lifeguard knelt down beside me.
"Tess" I sighed. I coughed a little.
"Did you swallow any water?" He asked me. I shrugged. I honestly couldn't remember. "Do you feel like you need to vomit?" I didn't until he mentioned it and I was hit with intense nausea. I turned away from the lifeguard and emptied my stomach of the sea water. I felt awful. My head hurt, I was lightheaded and confused, my chest burned, and now my stomach kept forcing up every bit of water I drank, which apparently was quite a bit. Eventually, there was no more water left and I turned back to Harrison.
"Sorry" I said, fairly embarrassed I just puked my guts up in front of a complete stranger.
"Don't apologize. Better out than in." Harrison said. Another lifeguard came up to us. "This is my friend, Dean. He's going to give you some oxygen."
"Here you go, darl." Dean slid the oxygen mask over my face. "Take some slow deep breaths." He instructed. I tried my best to comply. "Is your brother Jay?" I looked up, confused. "He's been looking for ya. How about we go on up to the tower so you can rest for a bit and we'll have your brother meet us there?" I was in no position to turn down their help and let T he lifeguards then more or less lift me into their vehicle. As we got up to the tower, Jay was standing there. He ran over to me.
"Tess! What the hell happened?! I told you not to go swimming!" Jay blurted. I didn't care he was yelling at me. The only thing I wanted was for the burning in my chest to go away. I heard Dean trying to calm down Jay while Harrison helped me onto a cot.
"How are you feeling?" He asked me.
"I'll be okay." I replied, even though it didn't really answer his question. A much calmer Jay walked in to the room, followed by Dean.
"Sorry, T. You just scared me. One second you were floating and the next I couldn't see you." He grasped my hand.
"I'm okay" I mouthed to him since I was too tired to make a sound.
Jay scoffed. "If you say so. The lifeguard said you almost drowned but if you say you're ok, then fine." He said sarcastically.
"How are you doing Tess?" Dean came over to assess me.
"Fine" I said barely audibly. It was a complete lie and both my brother and the lifeguard knew it. My chest hurt and I was still felt dizzy and out of it.
"That didn't sound very convincing" Dean said lightly. I shrugged. "Since you did swallow a lot of water and with the oxygen you aren't doing much better, I'd like to call an ambulance for you." I quickly looked at Jay. That was the last thing I needed. I needed rest. Maybe my inhaler. And then I'd talk to Will. I didn't need an ambulance ride and to go to a hospital in a different country.
"You think she needs it?" Jay asked.
Dean nodded. "She swallowed a lot of water which means she probably inhaled some too. She's at risk for what we call secondary drowning. She could be fine now but if there is any sea water in her lungs, it can cause more water to come in and she can become very ill." He sounded serious.
Jay looked terrified. "Yeah ok, whatever you think." Dean nodded and went to make the call.
"I don't need to go. Please." I begged. Jay looked at me sympathetically and told me I did. "But I don't. I just need my inhaler and a shower and nap. I'll be fine. I'm always okay. Please." Tears sprung to my eyes. I was scared.
"Hey calm down. You're right, you will be okay. But you still gotta get checked out." Jay tried to reason with me.
I was too far gone to listen to reason. I was starting to panic. My panicking was complicated by the fact I already wasn't breathing at 100%. "I can't do it." I sobbed.
Dean came back over after hearing me cry. "Hey, what's happened?" He asked.
I couldn't answer. I was too upset. "She doesn't want to go the hospital." Jay explained.
Dean nodded in understanding. "Right now we've only called the ambulance. Let them check you out and they may say you don't even need to go to hospital." Dean told me. I was still crying. "Here. Let's take this off for a minute." He removed the oxygen mask. "Why don't you lay back. Try and take some deep breaths for me." Dean gently placed his hand on my shoulder.
I managed to get some control over my breathing, despite still being terrified. "Sorry" I muttered.
"That's alright. What you went through was pretty scary." Dean sympathized. I nodded and bit my lip. I sat up and looked at Jay.
"Can we please go to the hotel. I just want to be with you and Will. Please." I wiped away the few tears the managed to leave my eyes.
"Ambo's here!" Another lifeguard called from somewhere else in the tower. Dean stepped outside to presumably talk to the paramedics, and reentered with the medics a few moments later.
"You must be Tess." The first guy said to me. "I'm Jordan and that's my partner John. We heard you got into some trouble earlier and may have breathed in some water?" I nodded shakily. "Is it alright if we take a look at ya?" I again nodded. It wasn't my first rodeo and I let the medics put the monitor on my chest, pulse ox on my finger, and blood pressure cuff on my arm. "Vitals look good. I'm just gonna take a listen." Jordan listened to my lungs as I breathed deeply. "Good news is I don't hear any fluid in your lungs. That doesn't mean that there isn't any. The only way to rule that out is up at hospital."
"I don't want to go." I repeated. "I feel much better." That was an exaggeration. I was less dizzy and tired but my chest still burned and I was a little nauseous.
Jay scoffed. "We're not gonna fall for that, T. Do you think she should go to the hospital?"
Jordan nodded. "It's better to err on the side of caution."
"Then that's it. You're going to go." Jay said. I groaned but clearly wasn't going to win this one.
"Alright. Do you feel like you can walk?" Jordan asked me. I nodded and stood up.
"Good luck with everything Tess." Dean said. "We hope to see you back here sometime soon once you're all better." Jay and I thanked the lifeguards and followed the medics to the ambulance. I laid down on the gurney and Jay hopped in next to me.
"Alright. Ready to get going?" Jordan asked.
"Not really." I grumbled.
"You'll be alright. Just a quick x-ray to make sure everything's fine and you should be on your way." Jordan tried to reassure me. I sighed and leaned back. Jay's phone buzzed and when he pulled it out of his pocket he sighed.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"It's Will. Guess I'd better tell him what's going on." Jay said, clearly not looking forward to telling our older brother I almost drowned. As much as I was dreading going to the hospital, Jay was dreading talking to Will.

A/N: Sorry for the somewhat abrupt ending. Endings really aren't my strong suit. Also, this one was a little longer than the others. Do you prefer longer one shots or is it better to do shorter ones that have multiple parts?