Disclaimer: I don't own any of them at all, whether in traditional newsie garb or in not-so-traditional royal blue swim trunks
A/N: One-shot inspired by my hell of a day at work today. Time still hasn't sped back up to normal yet. Oh, and for those of you who might not catch this: Grant Meyers is Mush Meyers.
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Life as a lifeguard was interesting. You spent all year in school, dreaming of summer – and then you ended up spending all of summer sitting on a hot plastic chair ten feet off the ground. Well, to be fair you didn't always have to sit, often you stood for hours – not to mention the hours spent training and drilling for emergencies that never seemed to happen.
Grant Meyers was a second-year guard, and he still hadn't made a real rescue. Sure, he had activated the EAP a couple of times due to children pooping in the pool, but he had never blown his whistle and had to go in. The job was getting boring, to say the least.
Scan the water. Wish you were out partying with your friends. Scan the water. Wish you could be in the water yourself. Scan the water. Wish you could go on break and pee. Scan the water and look attentive. Look like you enjoy your job.
Rec Swim was almost over, thank god. One could only holler, "Please walk" and "No back rides" so many times before reaching the point of insanity.
"Hey buddy, walk!" he shouted, glaring at the guilty kid and adding a, "damn you!" under his breath.
Moments later the long whistle from the head guard sounded, signaling the end of the session and for the pools to be cleared. "That's it, guys! Time to go! Let's go, let's go!"
Five minutes later, Grant finally finished emptying his area of swimmers and headed for the gathering spot under the First Aid tent.
"God, it's hot today," he said after filling up his water bottle from the cooler and taking a swig, cold liquid dribbling down from the sides of his mouth.
"Don't I know it," complained Jack Kelly, the Riverside Aquatic Center's head lifeguard. "I sure miss the days when I actually got to guard and occasionally get in the water, rather than sit over here in this stupid stifling uniform and deal with our brainless patrons."
"How could you ever dislike your job – or should I say the extra dollar and a half an hour that your new position pays?" asked David Jacobs, a third-year guard who was also Jack's best friend.
Jack rolled his eyes, "You know, Dave, not everyone is as hung up about money as you are."
"I can't help it! I've got college to save for!"
"You'll get a scholarship for certain, so just shut up about it!"
"And if you're that hard up for money, you could always teach swim lessons. Jack's still only making about ten cents more an hour than the first-year WSIs," Grant added.
"Shut up, Mush! That ten cents is hella important," drawled Jack.
"I was just pointing out that being a swim teacher is a better job!"
"Yeah, they make more, but they also have to deal with sniveling little brats all day and pretend that they like the kids! It's totally not worth it!"
"I do like working with them," Leslie, a first-year WSI that Grant barely recognized, said as she set her pile of kicksticks and diving rings on the first aid table in front of Jack.
"And you're weird. You have problems," Grant answered rudely.
"Anyway," Jack joined in, "Lifeguards are better; we save lives."
"So do we, by teaching kids how to swim so that they don't drown."
"Well, Miss Ultra-Awesome Swim Instructor, not everyone shares your patience and tolerance for the little brats. Now please remove your equipment from my table, I wish to put my feet in that spot."
She rolled her eyes at Jack and carried her stuff to her class area to begin setting up. Jack just laughed. "Alright, that was fun. Who is she, anyway? She's that really shy girl, the one we said can't go by Les cause that's your kid brother's name, right? Well, who cares -- David, I want you at lifeline, Skitts, go to warm-up pool, and Mush, you're at shallow of the 50 meter, okay? Rotate every half hour."
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The play structure shut off again, water slowing to trickles from the many pipes and hoses. Grant rearranged the sun umbrella behind him as he watched the kids exit the water under Leslie's direction. When the water was clear, she waded back to her class spot and organized her toys again.
He sighed. Time to start again, the third and final class of the evening. There were only two classes scheduled for the kiddy pool during that hour: a beginning Parent-and-Me class for babies, and a beginning preschool class – also known as Goldfish.
"Hi, Hope!" came Leslie's enthusiastic voice from the tip of the peninsula around ten feet across from his position under the lifeline umbrella. "How are you doing today?"
"I went to Burney today. My grandma lives in Burney. She has a big garden. And she has a kitty. I chased the kitty going 'come back kitty! Come back kitty! Kitty, come back!' But she didn't come back and -- "
"Look, there's Dillon. How's it going, Dillon?"
"Mommy!!!!"
"Oh, Eva's here, let's all say hi to Eva!"
"I don't wanna say hi, I want my mommy!"
"Hi Eva, I went to Burney today…"
"Why don't you sit right here on the edge by Hope, Eva, and we'll review the rules, okay?"
Grant winced. The clashing noises of the three year olds' voices were giving him a splitting headache. Leslie however, seemed unfazed.
"Rule Number One, stay on the wall when it's not your turn! Rule Number Two, no splashing during swim class – you can splash before class and after class but NOT during class!"
Perhaps being a WSI wouldn't be that bad after all, Grant mused as he guarded. They got to be in the water, rather than in the blazing heat. They got paid nearly a dollar and a half more an hour. And if one could stand the constant chatter and wailing of the kids, it seemed to be worth it.
Leslie helped take all the kids of the wall and walked them to a slightly shallower area. Holding hands, they started to sing the "Tiny Turtle" song.
Okay, so maybe he couldn't be a swim instructor. He couldn't sing worth shit and seeing all the wonderful facial expressions Leslie was using as she started on "Old MacDonald had a Pond", he didn't think he could do that either.
"And in that pond, there was a lobster, Ee I, Ee I, O! With some bubbles, bubbles, bubbles, and some bubbles, bubbles, bubbles, here some bubbles, there some bubbles, everywhere some bubbles, bubbles, Old MacDonald had a pond, Ee I, Ee I, O!"
Leslie was probably really nice, he guessed, if he ever bothered to get to know her. She was always there, Grant realized, just he never noticed her much. She had actually won some great employee award, now that he thought about it. She was just extremely shy.
Scan your water. She's a really good teacher. Scan your water. Those kids really like her. Scan your water. She's also a really good swimmer. Scan your water. She's really funny, too. Scan your water. And she's really pretty. Scan your water.
He glanced back from the Parent and Me class to the Goldfish class. Leslie had all three kids on the wall again, and was reviewing their straight glide arms. Grant smiled slightly as she made them "superglue" their hands together to keep them from coming apart while swimming.
"Your turn, Hope," she said, lifting the little girl into the shallow water. One hand holding Hope's arms, the other around the child's stomach, Leslie began walking in her steady squatting position away from the wall.
Scan your water. Check the other class.
"Oh my god, she fell in!"
The scream from a parent on the side sent Grant whirling around in time to see Leslie turning about as well, putting Hope on her hip and struggling to reach the upside-down Eva who had fallen in.
Two short whistle blasts as he went in, running through the knee high water towards the flailing child who couldn't seem to flip right-side up.
"Oh my god, get her!" came another scream as Leslie reached the girl. A half second later he was there, pulling her up and holding her tight. Everything seemed to be moving so slowly. Leslie set Hope up on the wall and turned back, her dark tan paling to more of a grey.
"Eva, honey, are you okay," she asked in a slightly rushed voice. "Did you swallow any water?"
Eva didn't answer, not making a single sound but looking at Grant with a terrified expression.
"Come here, Eva, I'll hold you. There, I got you," Leslie cooed, taking the shaking child in her arms.
Another WSI, Savannah, waded over, "I'll watch your class, Leslie."
"Thanks."
Grant followed Leslie back to the lifeline guard position where Eva's mother was waiting.
"There's your mom, honey, you're okay."
Eva looked over, her eyes still huge, and started bawling. Leslie handed her to her mother. Scrambling out of the water, Grant saw Medda, the WSI coordinator headed their way.
"Leslie, go back and finish teaching your class," she ordered when she got close enough. Blanching a little bit more, Leslie obeyed. Grant flinched as he heard her start her class up again.
"Alright, thanks for being so patient, guys. We're going to – what was that, Dillon? – oh no, I'm not going to let you drown. Eva fell in on accident and we got her out. Did you see how fast the lifeguard got over here? Well, that's his job – he's here to keep you guys safe, and that's what he did. Eva was only underwater for a few seconds before he got her. Now come on, let's keep working on those back glides."
Grant kept scanning his water while orally completing an Accident Report Form that had to be filed for making a rescue, with Jesse-from-Maintenance's help. Meanwhile, Medda talked with Eva's mom.
"I was so scared, she leaned over to get a toy and just toppled in and couldn't get back up! She can touch there, but she was stuck with her feet in the air, and it seemed to take forever for the lifeguard to get over there."
"Around how long do you think she was underwater?"
"I'm not really sure."
"It was over twenty seconds, damnit! The lifeguard wasn't even watching the pool. What if she had hit her head? What if she hadn't been able to hold her breath that long? Twenty seconds is a long time, far too long for a rescuer to take," ranted a tall man who had been sitting near Eva's mom.
"Are you Eva's father?" Medda asked.
"No, I'm Hope's dad. You said you're in charge of the swim teachers, ma'am? Well, can you pass a message on to the person in charge of the lifeguards, please? Tell them that that young man should not be allowed to work at a job that requires any responsibility. I'm surprised that more children haven't drowned here. I understand that Eva falling off the wall probably couldn't have been prevented, but both the teacher and the lifeguard should have noticed and gotten to her faster. In my opinion, they should both be fired."
"The rescue was performed quite quickly, sir. And I must say, I'm absolutely positive that Grant was watching the water. He's worked here for two years, and never once has he not paid attention to his area."
"Oh, he was 'watching his water' alright. But he was too busy staring over in that direction – the other class, or should I say, the other teacher – to pay attention to the Goldfish class. And the preschool teacher wasn't much better, leaving a group of three year olds unsupervised around water that they can barely touch in."
Grant tried as hard as he could to tune the discussion out. He knew he'd hear it all again anyway, why listen to it now when he was trying to concentrate on guarding. Try as he might though, he was sure his head was going to explode if they didn't stop talking about him as if he wasn't there. He wanted to defend himself, renounce Hope's dad's lies. Staring at Michelle? It wasn't possible, he had just been thinking about Leslie. And there was absolutely no way that the rescue had taken twenty seconds! Screw that!
"Leslie couldn't have just dropped your daughter to go after Eva," Medda was pointing out.
How much of this could Leslie hear anyway, Grant wondered. She looked as though nothing had happened, save for her eyes, which were flicking about watching her two kids as if she feared that if she looked away for a split second they would go under as well.
The water play structure came on for the last five minutes of class, as usual. Kids' squeals of delight filled the air, though they seemed dampened by the blanket of tension that rested its weight upon the entirety of the facility. Grant caught a glimpse of Leslie guarding the opposite side of the kiddy pool, eyes still darting about furtively. In the background he heard Hope's dad still speaking angrily with Medda.
"I won't be bringing my daughter back for lessons ever again, that's for certain!"
The water turned off and the WSIs could be heard calling for the children to exit the pool. Once it was empty, Medda turned to Grant.
"Go start covering pools. I'll talk with you later."
Glancing back over his shoulder as he walked, Grant saw Leslie sitting down next to Eva and her mom and saying, "Eva, you were so brave! High five! And can I get a hug?"
He paused was waited to see the little girl's response. After several long moments, Eva leaned forward and gave Leslie a hug. Feeling slightly better for the first time since the rescue, Grant set off to begin the grueling task of pool covering.
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It was a good fifteen minutes later before Leslie suddenly appeared at Grant's side. "Hey, thanks," she said quietly.
He started. "What? You're not mad at me too, are you?"
"No seriously, thanks. I know Eva's mom will never thank you, and I doubt Medda will either, but you rescued that little girl and you deserved to be thanked, even if it is only from her swim teacher."
A bit uncomfortable, Grant turned his back on her and went back to covering the pool. It wasn't as if Leslie wouldn't have gotten Eva out in another second by herself anyway.
"Great," he heard her mumble. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I'm really really sorry!"
Something in her voice made him jerk around. She was crying.
"I know it was my fault, and I'm sorry," she said as her shoulders began to shake.
"What the hell? Your fault? Damnit Leslie, it was not your fault! You are an awesome swim teacher and you're always very careful! You can't teach three-year-olds back glides all at the same time!"
"But I should have been watching my wall!" she sobbed.
"Even if you had been watching your wall, Eva still would have fallen in, and all that it would have changed is that you would have gotten there one second earlier. So what! We got her out! She's fine! That's our job!"
"No, that's your job. Mine is to teach them to swim and make sure that they stay on the wall. You succeeded in your job, and I failed in mine."
"Was Medda hard on you?"
"She tried to be nice about it because she saw how traumatized I was, am, whatever. But I can tell that she's really displeased with me."
"Well, it can't be nearly as bad as the hell I'm gonna get here in a while. She said we had to talk."
"But you did your job! How can she get mad at you?!"
"I guess you didn't hear what Hope's dad was saying about us. He was really pissed."
"I knew it! I knew he was mad at me! It was so hard going back and teaching my class -- I couldn't be over there, couldn't be with Eva, couldn't know what I was being accused of."
"Well, mostly he was mad at me, but he thinks we both should be fired."
"Wonderful."
"Look Leslie – stop crying. You're a good WSI and this could have happened to anyone here. You reacted well and kept up a brave front. That takes guts and dedication."
Another awkward silence, but she managed to get herself back under control.
"So, long do you suppose she was under for. It seemed like forever," she finally asked.
"According to Savannah and Michelle, who both saw the whole thing, the period of time between when she slipped and when the rescue was completed was no more than ten seconds."
"Ten seconds? Really?"
"Yeah, they estimate she was only underwater for about six seconds."
"Gosh, it took me ages to get to her, and then you were there, and wow."
"Hope's dad claims it was more like twenty."
"It didn't seem that long, just a lot longer than six seconds."
"Either way, I still have to go face the music here in a little while. Would you mind helping me finish up here – the sooner I finish, the sooner I can be killed, and the sooner I can go home."
"Sure, though I don't think it's fair that Medda's going to lay into you like that. Of course it wasn't twenty seconds. That's ridiculous!"
"That's the thing, I was watching you as you left the wall with Hope, and Eva was sitting there, totally fine. I scanned the other way for maybe three seconds and then I heard screaming."
"A stressful reminder to stay on our toes and not settle into too much of a rhythm here, I guess," she offered as she moved around the giant pool cover holder and took an edge of the tarp. Together they finished covering the Activity Pool, and gathered their stuff.
"Shit, here goes nothing," Grant groaned as they walked towards the pool office building.
"Hey, I was just as much responsible, so I'm coming with you," Leslie said reaching for his hand. "If we hold on tight enough, we might just survive."
"You don't have to do that," he answered, "though, it would be nice to know I'm not alone."
"You're not."
"Thanks."
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"God, that was fun," Grant said sarcastically as they walked across the grass to their cars.
"Hey, Medda's fair. She listened to our story and she knows we were telling the truth. A reminder to be careful, a bit of appreciation even, and best of all, we weren't fired." Leslie looked exhausted, but much more calm than she had been earlier.
"Hey, thanks again for coming in with me. You didn't have to do that and I know this whole thing has been really stressful for you," he said giving her a light playful shove.
She glanced sideways at him "And it wasn't for you?"
"Funny."
"Not really," she sighed.
Grant eyed her as she yawned. "Well, I was going to ask you if you'd like to go to dinner, but you seem to be too tired."
"I am really tired, but I must say, I think I'm even more hungry. I never knew adrenaline could trigger someone's appetite so much!"
"I know!"
"I guess it's good we still have a source of income then," she smiled.
"Yep," Grant said as he reached down and took Leslie's hand again. Who knew six seconds of terror could bring two people together? he mused as he interlocked his fingers with hers.
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A/N: And there you go – please review!
-- pj