After 3 mandatory days off, both Jake and Taylor returned to work. They had had their meeting with Hoppo and discussed what had happened that day. Jake was down at Backpackers for most of the day with Taylor. He let Taylor complete some of the rescue's so she could gain the experience, although he did keep a close eye on the trainee. Switching out with Tray around 1pm – Taylor went to eat her lunch in the tower with Maxi who was on tower duty. Taylor didn't even get halfway though her lunch break before she had to jump into action as they were a lifeguard down that day – meaning Maxi was in the tower all by himself. It wasn't an extremely busy day down at the beach but in terms of rescues it was. There were any rips down at the beach that day meaning the lifeguards were hard at work.
"I'll go down to assist" Taylor said to Maxi, leaping up from her chair and grabbing her radio belt. Maxi looked torn between staying or going himself.
"You can't leave a rookie in the tower alone..." Taylor added, making it easier for Maxi to make a decision.
"True – go" Maxi said, grabbing a pair of binos and looking out to where Chappo was in the water with 3 patient clinging to his board. Everyone else who was on the beach was either too far away or were completing rescues themselves. Luckily, there was another rescue board down near Chappo, so Taylor was able to just sprint down towards the water. When she got to the board she stripped off her shirt, sunnies and radio belt before grabbing the board and running into the water. As the water hit Taylor's knees, she jumped onto the board and started paddling the 100 metres out to Chappo's location. As she got there she used her legs to stop the board moving.
"Hop on my board" Taylor said to teenage girl as Chappo took the other two teens in. As Taylor started to paddle in, she caught Chappo smiling at her. Ignoring it Taylor got her patient back to shore and after checking she hadn't swallowed any water and after giving her a safety lecture, went to grab her belongings from the board stand. She joined Chappo at the buggy.
"Nicely done Tay" Maxi said into the radio.
"Thanks Maxi" She responded, before using Chappo's towel to dry herself off before she put her shirt back on.
"Getting better every day" Chappo smiled proudly.
"Haha – yeah. I'll see you later" Taylor said, pecking Chappo on the lips before making her way back up to the tower. As Taylor returned to the tower, she didn't even have time to sit down before there was a knock at the back door. Walking around to the door, Taylor opened it to reveal and little boy standing there crying with a women.
"How can I help?" Taylor asked.
"He's lost his parents. I found him wondering around crying on the promenade. We've had a little look around but couldn't find anyone" The women explained.
"Okay. Hey mate...why don't you come with me and we'll see if we can find mummy or daddy yeah?" Taylor asked the boy and she knelt down to his height. The boy nodded and took Taylor's hand. Forgetting all about the remainder of her lunch break, Taylor thanked the woman before she left and then she picked up the little boy.
"What's your name buddy?" Taylor asked, placing the boy on the medical bed.
"Charlie" He said quietly.
"That's a cool name. And how old are you Charlie?" Taylor asked kindly, kneeling down to his eye level.
"5!" Charlie said sucking his finger and holding out 5 fingers.
"So you're a big boy then!" Taylor said, trying to cheer the boy up. He smiled.
"Come on mate – let's go see my friend and we'll find mummy yeah?" Taylor asked, taking the boy in her arms. Charlie nodded.
"Maxi, this is Charlie. Now he's a big boy because he's 5! But sadly he can't find his mummy" Taylor said, trying to keep the positive vibe in the air.
"Hi mate!" Maxi smiled at the boy, before turning his attention back to the water.
"Do you want an ice pop Charlie?" Taylor asked the young boy. Charlie nodded his head excitedly.
"Red or blue?" Taylor asked, walking over to the freezer.
"Red please" Charlie said politely.
"Thank you" He said, after Taylor opened it and handed it to him.
"Tower to all guys on the beach. I've got a lost boy here in the tower. He's 5 years of age and his name is Charlie. He's wearing red board shorts with a black spider man swim top" Taylor broadcasted over the radio to all the lifeguards over the beach.
"Copy...we'll keep an eye out for the parents" Dean replied.
"So Charlie...my friends are looking for your parents...until then – do you want to do some colouring?" Taylor asked, bringing out her secret weapon when it came to kids. Charlie nodded his head some Taylor grabbed the colouring book and crayons out of the cupboard and placed them on the desk. Charlie found a drawing he liked as started colouring.
"Where did that come from?" Maxi asked the trainee, as she sat on the desk next to him.
"My secret weapon – Callum gave me the idea, so I brought a bunch of colouring books, crayons and pencils from Poundland and I keep them in the cupboard down there" Taylor explained, as she pointed to the cupboard.
"Ohh, that's actually a great idea" Maxi chuckled, as he kept his eyes on the beach.
"Glick to tower – we've found the mum...she's on her way up now" The radio crackled.
"copy that" Maxi responded.
"Hey Charlie...we found your mummy...should we go see her?" Taylor asked excitedly.
"Mummy!" Charlie squealed happily.
"Should we take your picture?" Taylor asked. Charlie nodded. Taylor ripped out the page and put away the crayons and book before she lead Charlie out of the tower. They walked down the stairs just as a frantic mother came racing towards.
"Oh Charlie...thank goodness" She said relieved.
"Thank you soo much!" She said hugging Taylor.
"Its okay, I'm glad he's okay." Taylor responded.
"Bye Charlie" Taylor said, giving him a high five before his mother picked him up and walked away.
"Nicely done as always" Maxi greeted as she walked back into the tower.
"Thanks" Taylor responded as she sat back down and started scanning the water. It had just turned 2pm meaning Taylor only had an hour of her shift left. Deciding against finishing her lunch, Taylor remained busy as they had many rescues and many first aid cases. At 6pm – nearly 2 hours after shift was supposed to end, Taylor finally walked out of the door. She grabbed something to eat as soon as she got home before taking a nap. They busy day now forgotten, Taylor relaxed down in front of the TV as she waited for Chappo to finish at 7.