Dakota pulled back when he heard the noise. We all straightened up, trying to look on our best behavior.
“Everything alright, Emmy?” Dakota smiled at me with a look in his eyes. A look that I’d bet my last dollar said, I know what you were thinking about.
“Peachy.” I nodded with my most innocent grin. “Just wondering when we’re going to get a turn, is all? I learn more by doing.”
He grinned and didn’t look like he was buying my cover-up for a second. “I’m sure you do. How ‘bout we switch then?”
My stomach twisted with nerves. I’d only been half paying attention to the actual instruction. But I had seen a handful of TV shows where CPR was administered. How hard could it really be?
Dakota stepped back from Eames and gestured for me and one of the others to step up to the plate. Carlos and I were put on the spot together.
“First step?” Dakota asked me in a lower tone as I stared at Eames.
Carlos began his attempt, gun blazing with Raine recording for moral support. She laughed at the way Carlos acted out how he would respond to an unconscious Arthur.
“Ma’am, can you hear me?” Carlos tapped the manikin’s shoulders with vigor. “I need you to answer so you won’t wake up with regret about my lips being placed on yours. I promise this is not sexual in any nature. You’re very beautiful, just not my type.”
“Go on.” Dakota crossed his arms over his chest, reining me back in from getting distracted. “What do you do first, doer?”
I cleared my throat. “Double check if they’re conscious or breathing.”
He nodded. “Don’t be shy. Demonstrate.”
“Hello?” I tapped Eames’s shoulders.
“Hello?” Dakota chuckled.
“Yeah, what else should I say?”
“Something more than a simple greeting?”
“How are you?” I tried, wincing at my words. Scratch that, this was harder than it looked. Especially with Dakota watching me.
“Ask if he can hear you,” Dakota suggested. “Ask him if he’s awake. You want to make sure he’s unconscious before starting compressions.”
I took a deep breath and tried again, “Mr. Eames, sir.”
“Again with the formalities. You guys are a very polite group,” Dakota noted.
“Mr. Eames, are you awake?” I stared down at the manikin who wasn’t, thank God, awake. Or else I would have peed a little before bolting out of here. “Now I ask for someone to call for an ambulance.”
“There we go,” Dakota approved. “What’s next?”
I sighed.“The awkward part.”
He laughed. “The life-saving part.”
“Right. Framing. It’s all about the framing.”
“It is.”
Dakota watched me with his arms still crossed and hair hanging over his shoulders. He looked like a biker’s son who dropped out of a motorcycle gang to become a law student and fight crime on the right side of the tracks. The detailed story fit his aesthetic.
I dropped my hands, unable to push down my question. Casual acquaintances knew random facts about each other. Asking questions could be safe enough as long as I didn’t get too personal. “What are you studying, by the way? I don’t think I ever asked.”
“What made you think about that now?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” I was imagining you sticking it to your father who’s behind bars for some sort of badassery. It seemed plausible.
