“Not as much as you might think for what we do. Most people are pretty respectful of the rules. And because of the liability, Outside the Box has a lot of safety measures in place, more than if it were just a group of guys going camping with a few kegs and a shotgun,” he explained.
“Is Sanders always this …” I trailed off wanting to say “stupid” but knew I was just cranky because he’d scared me so bad.
“Reckless?” he finished for me, then said, “Yes.”
I remember the way he looked at his friend earlier. Concerned but also tired.
“He definitely strikes me as the leap-before-you-look type,” I said.
This added to my overall anxiety regarding Sanders. He was just too big. He overflowed with too much life. He didn’t fit in this life here. Not that it mattered. Not that I worried about how we would fit …
“He’s always been like that. It’s great in some ways. He’s always so inherently sure of OTB’s success that it’s impossible not to feel some level of that confidence.”
I chewed on my cheek. “But sometimes?”
“Well, then sometimes he jumps on a plane without telling me to go after …” I didn’t mean to react but I must have tensed slightly because he trailed off, finishing lamely with, “… a possible business venture.”
I nodded feeling slightly disappointed. “You’re so close.”
“As close as two friends can be.” Skip studied his mug of tea.
I had just been about to dig for more information when Sanders popped up. He was always popping up. He was like a little bubble rising to the surface, nothing could keep him down. Carbonation must have been contagious because it felt like I was filled with bubbles too as soon as I saw him.
“We’re closer than that, hey?” Sanders said. “We’re brothers.” He sat directly between Skip and me, forcing us to scoot over to make room.
Skip carefully lifted his tea to the side table to avoid spilling it. “How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Great. That shower did me wonders.” Sanders stretched out so his legs were propped up on the table and his arms stretched behind Skip and me respectively. The smell of fresh laundry and the hotel bar soap shook up the bubbles inside me, sending tiny bumps down my neck and arms.
How was this the same man that was unresponsive not that long ago? The tension I’d been holding on to started to relax seeing he was back to his old self. Or at least pretending to be.
“And your ankle?” I asked cautiously.
“It smarts a bit, but it’ll be okay.” Sanders’ head twisted from me to Skip and back again. “So what’re we talking about? Me? Go on. Pretend like I’m not here.”
“We’re talking about how you continue to put yourself in stupid situations with no concern for your own safety,” Skip said in his normal even-keeled tone but there was just the slightest edge to his voice.
“What? I did no such thing. I had you with me. You’re first aid trained,” Sanders said to Skip. “And see, it all worked out.”
“No thanks to me.” Skip held up his hands quickly before tucking them back under his arms. “If it wasn’t for Roxy, who knows where you’d be.”
“Roxy, hey?” He raised a cocky eyebrow.
“We’re lucky I got there in time to help carry you,” I said ignoring Sanders’ ridiculous smile. This one would be called “aglow.”
“You two worry too much. The water was a bit of a shock. We’ve been trained to not react to freezing water.” He glanced to me. “When you experience cold water—the body wants to gasp and flail and that can do more damage. When I got pulled under, I was just trying to stay calm until you guys got me out. I knew you would.”
“You weren’t responding,” I said flatly. How could he be so calm about this? I was getting pissed off. His life wasn’t a toy that could be easily replaced. Did he not understand that? Did he not see how bad he scared his best friend?
“I knew you’d save me,” he said and squeezed my shoulder.
I stiffened and chewed the inside of my lip unable to look at him.
Skip said, “I’m Red Cross certified too. But I was referring to the CPR. Roxy all but knocked me down to get on top of you to start chest compressions.”
I sat very still keeping my breaths even in hopes of stopping a blush from giving me away. “My training must have kicked in. We have to take a course to work in management.”
Of course there was nothing in my CPR training that suggested straddling the victim. I hadn’t been thinking clearly at the moment.
