Work Text:
There was a brief moment in which Christina thought that this might be one of the best days of her life. She, her crew and all of their families had managed to find the time to spend a few hours together at Christina's favorite beach in Galveston for her half-birthday (because screw January.)
She's laughing at a joke Reid told that she's already half-forgotten. They're sitting on surfboards underneath the boardwalk, waiting for waves. Christina has somehow convinced him to let her give him some basic lessons, and it's going pretty well.
Bobby, Victor, Jeremy, Ellie and Katey are all hanging out where the water is about waist deep for Jeremy. "Right? But then I was like…" she stops listening to Reid's story and looks around, getting the sense that something wasn't quite right.
There aren't any huge waves coming and when she looks back towards the shore everyone is well and accounted for so what is it? Something catches her eye… a wave that doesn't hit the shore right. It doesn't spread out and fade back in: it cuts off at one side…
"Oh my God," she says abruptly, watching a rip current form in real time. "What?" Reid follows her gaze. She watches the panic wash over him as he realizes that both of his daughters are directly in the middle of it.
"Don't panic." She says, although it's mostly to herself. "What do we do?" He asks her. She bites her lip, "They'll be okay. Bobby knows what to do…" she reasons with herself, watching him start to react. He grabs Katey's arm before it can suck her out to sea.
"We stay here. We're safe here." She says absently, still focused on the rest of their crew. "I—" she grabs his arm, keeping him in place. "They're going to be fine." She can see the dad instinct taking over; he wants to keep them safe himself.
Bobby and Jeremy swim on either side of Katey, guiding her to swim parallel to the rip currents until they reach calmer waters. Victor takes Ellie and they go the other way.
She takes a deep breath and opens her mouth, about to reassure him further when a giant wave catches them both off guard. It shoves them underwater abruptly and salt water fills Christina's mouth. She snaps it shut, but it's too late. She can already feel it burning the back of her throat.
She's panicking, which is not helping her absolutely abysmal swimming skills as she tries to kick her way to the surface. Just as she begins to feel certain that the surface has to be inches away, she feels the current push her in a direction that she swears is further out to sea…oh shit.
Someone grabs her arm and yanks her upward until she feels air assault her senses in the best way. She gasps, water spilling from her lips as air rushes in. She coughs and gags, continuing to bring up mouthfuls of sea water.
Reid's the one who pulled her to the surface, and he hasn't let go since. "We swim parallel to it, right?" Reid asks her as the rip continues to push them further out.
"Yeah," she chokes out. She's not sure she can bring her limbs to perform those motions; it's been years since she was caught in a rip current. Reid starts to swim to her left, and she does her best to follow. They don't speak. They're far too busy fighting against the currents.
Then another person grabs her arm. She looks up and sees her husband.
"I got you, Tina," he says and she almost deflates in relief. She climbs onto his back like she'd done the last time they found themselves in a situation like this, and she lets him carry her to safety.
Finally, after what must be five, whole minutes, they reach the shore. Bobby sets her down on the sand and Catherine rushes to her side. "How much water did you swallow?" She asks, placing a hand on her back to keep her upright.
"A lot…" she brings up another mouthful to prove her point. "Okay, just keep taking deep breaths, try and bring up as much as you can…" she says before calling out to one of her kids, "Ashley, go get my work bag from the car." Her voice remains calm, but Christina's still feeling the residual panic.
She reaches out for Bobby and he kneels next to her on the other side. She rests her head against his chest, taking deep, laborious breaths. "You're okay," he tells her, rubbing her back as she starts to cough again. She disassociates for a few minutes, trying to block out the chaos around her and just focus on her husband and her breathing.
She feels something cold on her back, and looks up to see that Catherine has a stethoscope. "Deep breath," she instructs and Christina does her best to obey.
"Okay," Catherine says and Christina doesn't like that. If it was good, wouldn't she just say that?
Everyone's quiet, waiting for Catherine to deliver her verdict. "I think she needs to go to the hospital." Christina groans, trying not to cry.
"Should we call an ambulance?" Bobby asks, pulling her closer to him. "No, we can drive her." Catherine says confidently. "They're just going to want to monitor her, probably overnight—" Christina groans again, "—to help her breathing even out, and make sure she doesn't have any other complications."
"Will you ride with us?" Bobby asks as someone drapes a towel over her shoulders.
"Sure," Catherine seems a little surprised at the question. Christina's not sure why… she, being the resident doctor among their extended crew family has been called many times during medical emergencies for advice and opinions.
"Take a few minutes to dry off and then we'll head over, okay?" Catherine makes it sound like they're going to a restaurant rather than a hospital. "Mmmhmmm…" she sighs, feeling like she could fall asleep right here.
After ten minutes, she feels a little bit more like herself. She looks around, making sure everyone else is okay. Katey and Ellie both look fine, they're helping Devon and Katelyn build a sand castle. Reid seems fine too, although she doesn't miss the way he stays especially close to his girls.
Jeremy is hovering (and probably has been hovering) behind her. He gives her a smile when she makes eye contact. Victor's fine too, he's talking to Dionna. It's just her… God, if only she was better at swimming.