Into My Heart
By: Izabel
Chapter 12: Crashing Around You
*~*~*~*
Three weeks later…
At her tower, Max sat in the chair and looked at the water. No one was there yet. She waved to JD who waved a hand back. Her phone rang a second later.
"Stiler," she answered.
"Max, its K," Kekoa replied. "Watch out, there's a really strong rip today."
"Got it, thanks," Max responded. She hung up the phone and leaned back, waiting for the slow, but steady trickle of people to begin. It happened nearly an hour later.
It was almost three, when her shift ended that Max heard the scream.
She jumped to her feet, trying to determine whom the scream came from. She spotted a teenage girl waving frantically and pointing to the water. Max grabbed her rescue can and waved it in the air to JD, signaling she was going in.
She raced into the water, where a small formation of people ere clumping, their faces disgusted. Max fought her way through. "What?" she yelled.
Someone pointed to the water. It was all Max could do not to throw up. A dead, bloated, lifeless body floated face up in the water. It was drifting towards them. She lifted her can frantically into the air. Moments later, JD was by her side.
"Oh, gross!" he cried, wrinkling his nose. He turned to Max. "Go call it in."
Max nodded and began swimming back. Jason was waiting by her tower, where they were supposed to meet after work. Carly was already there, ready to take over, too.
"What's going on?" Carly asked, pointing to where JD was trying to back up everyone.
Max gasped in air, trying to wrench the picture out of her head. "There's a dead body in the water."
"What?" Jason cried. "I'll go help JD."
"With what? CPR? A little late, Jason," Carly said wryly. Jason and Max glared at her insensitivity, but Jason stayed put.
Max lifted the phone. "This is Stiler. I have a dead body off of tower 15. Request someone to…well, come and get it."
"A body?" Leigh cried into the phone. "I'll call the county morgue."
Max placed the phone back and looked at Jason, her face curled in disgust. Jason shook his head and sighed. "Maybe we should help, JD," Max said, coming down the ramp.
Jason and Max helped JD hold the curious onlookers at bay until the county people arrived and pulled the body from the water. The threesome came back to the sand and Jason waited while Max and JD collected their things.
Max waved goodbye to Carly and fell into step between JD and Jason.
"Are we meeting Kekoa at headquarters?" she asked, twirling in a small circle.
Jason smiled at her. She was just like a little girl sometimes. He watched as she ran a bit ahead and jumped over what used to be a sandcastle. Now it was simply a large lump of wet sand. Then she trotted back to both men.
"Yeah," JD replied, looking out at the water. The sky was growing gray and clouds were rolling in quickly. "Looks like a storm."
"Fun," Max said. "I like thunderstorms. They're so cool."
"I never really liked them," Jason admitted as they rounded the corner around Baywatch Training Headquarters. He held open the door for Max and JD just as a few raindrops splashed on them.
Inside, everyone seemed frantic.
"What's going on?" Max demanded, stopping Leigh in mid-stride.
Leigh's eyes widened. "No one told you? Two boats collided out on the water; visibility's so low, they didn't see each other until it was too late. We're organizing as many people as we can to go out there and help them. Coast Guard's on their way, but there was a fire on the other side of the island on an oil rig that needed their attention, so that's tapped out a lot of their resources. You guys in?"
"Do you even need to ask?" Max replied with she dropped her bag on the floor. She kicked it over to the couch and joined Leigh with Jason and JD falling in with her. They met Sean and a handful of others on the docks.
Since the time the first few drops had fallen, it was pouring now. Sean could barely be heard over the roar of the wind. "We'll go in two scarabs! Leigh takes one group, I'll take the other. Split it up evenly!" He leapt onto the boat and several people joined him.
Max followed Leigh, not too surprised when she saw Kekoa on Sean's boat. She had assumed that Kekoa would be there. She watched as JD and Jason boarded her boat, along with several other trainees and lifeguards.
"Leigh," Max began, her teeth chattering. She was only wearing her bathing suit, and the wind was whipping icy raindrops on her every second. She felt Jason move behind her, shielding some of the rain. "Leigh, why is this such a huge deal? I mean ships crashing, but how many people are we looking at?"
Leigh sighed. "One was a tour boat, it held about a hundred people. The other was a yacht, holding a wedding party of about fifty. One hundred and fifty people are in the water, Max. And there's only fifteen of us."
They hit a rough wave and Max fell back into Jason, who nearly lost his balance.
"Sorry," she said quickly, turning to make sure he was OK. Minutes later, they were horrified by the sight before them. People splashed weakly in the water by the dozen, spread out everywhere they looked. The back end of one boat was stuck into the air, the other barely afloat while huge waves crashed around them and the people.
Max was third in the water, followed closely by JD, Jason, and Carrie. She grabbed a rescue can from under the bench and dove in. She thrust the can into a man's arms that was weakly flailing about. She helped another woman onto the can before swimming to another flock of people.
Thankfully, they had managed to salvage a few lifeboats and people were sitting of clinging to them. To her left, Kekoa was helping an elderly man into the scarab; Sean tried to help her pull him on board.
Kekoa swam back to Max, who had just finished helping an elderly man into a lifeboat nearby. They heard a woman screaming hysterically a few feet away and they made their way to her.
"What?" Max cried.
"My baby!" she said desperately. "I left him in my room. He's still on the boat!"
"Which one?" Kekoa asked quickly.
The mother pointed to the boat that was still afloat.
"OK," Max said, reading Kekoa's mind. "We'll get him. Where is he?"
"The first level, room 17," she pleaded. "Get him!"
Max and Kekoa took long strokes, pulling themselves to the boat. Miraculously, a rope hung down the side of the boat. The sea threatened to tilt the boat at every angle but a normal one. Max grabbed the rope and began to pull herself up onto the deck.
She didn't anticipate how slippery it would be. Her bare feet slipped on the side of the yacht as she fought to pull herself up. She was out of breath and aching by the time she made it up.
Kekoa seemed to have just as much trouble. By the time they were both up, they realized someone following them. The mother hauled herself with them.
Sliding across the deck, the three women managed to get inside the boat and raced down a corridor. The boat tipped drastically and Kekoa slipped, falling hard on her side.
"K!" Max cried, helping her up. Kekoa winced as she gingerly stepped on her ankle.
"I think I sprained it," she said, clenching her teeth.
"Hurry!" the mother shrieked as a wave crashed against the boat.
Max looked at Kekoa who clung tightly to the rail. She was torn.
"Go," Kekoa ordered. "Do your job." Her eyes were filled with pain and resolve.
Max nodded and turned. She ran along with the woman, hurrying as fast as she could. They reached room 17, and the mother tried to push the door open.
Locked.
The baby's screams could be heard from inside.
"Jared!" the mother yelled, pushing the door again.
"Move," Max ordered.
She kicked the door with all her might. Pain rippled around her ankle and shin like a shockwave, but the wood began to splinter. When she kicked it a second time, it bounced open. The mother ran in and grabbed the crying baby.
Max screamed as another wave crashed down. Something began to creak in the sinking boat. She shuddered as the ceiling began to crack. Water was swelling around her feet. The boat slid to an angle and held there, Max was barely able to stay upright.
Together, the mother and Max fought their way to the upper deck. Outside, the storm was worse. Max could barely see. She looked over the railing; it wasn't that far a jump. She caught a lifeguard below.
"Carrie!" she screamed, ready to cry in relief when the girl look up, clearly shocked to see Max on the boat. "Catch her!" Max yelled. Max turned to the mother, who was clutching her child against her chest. "Jump. She'll help you. Hold on to the baby tight."
The woman leapt into the water.
Carrie was joined by another lifeguard, who began to tow the mother and child away. Carrie waved for Max to jump.
Max balanced on the edge and a sickening thought hit her.
Kekoa.
"I have to find Kekoa!" she yelled, turning back to the boat, which was tilted precariously. Max ran through the corridor. She found Kekoa as she rounded the corner.
"No!" she yelled.
Kekoa was half inside of a room. The dresser by the door had fallen on her, covering her stomach and legs.
"Max!" she gasped. "I can't move it."
Max leaned down and lifted with everything she had.
"Max! Kekoa!" a male voice yelled.
"Back here!" she cried, trying again to lift the dresser. It began to move, and Max realized JD was beside her, helping her.
He lifted Kekoa, cradling her in his arms, and the three made their way back outside. Max was ready to jump into the water when Kekoa exclaimed, "Max! Watch out!"
Max felt something slam into the back of her head and she was aware of herself falling into the water. Then nothing.