Kim finished putting the stuffed animals on the shelf. She had finished cataloging every toy in the Abuse Clinic, and wondered what she was going to do next to keep busy. She already had updated all of the files and had removed the old files to be sent to storage. There really was not much more she could do and it was only about early afternoon.
She shivered slightly. It wasn't like she making up work to do because she felt the need to justify her paycheck. She was doing it because she wanted to take her mind off this feeling that had been plaguing her all day.
She tried to pretend that she had never felt like this before. That was better than the alternative - remembering when she had.
"Enough of that, Kimberly Brady," she said to herself. "Stop acting like a fool." She looked around the room. There had to be something she could do. No. Not really.
She picked up the phone and dialed her folks' house. Caroline answered. "Hi Mama, I was just checking in. Everything okay with Andrew and Jeannie?"
"Kimmie," Caroline said, sounding exasperated. "That's the third time you've called today. The children are just as fine as they were two hours ago." She paused. "Is something wrong? Something you're not telling me about?"
Normally, Kim might unburden herself to her mother when she had a problem, but what was she going to say now? That she felt like something was wrong? Caroline was a practical woman and would hardly be sympathetic. "No, Mama. I just miss them and it's a slow day at work, so I've been thinking about them a lot." That would appease Caroline. She quickly came up with an excuse to get off the phone. "Oh, there's Doc Horton, Mama. I've got to go."
Setting down the phone, Kim walked over to the shelf of stuffed animals and picked up a pink bunny. It looked a lot like Jeannie's favorite toy.
She's okay, Kim reminded herself. So is Andrew. So why did Kim still have this feeling?
Oh, who was she kidding? She knew why. It was Shane. It was always Shane. Ever since they had met, she could feel when he was in danger. And this feeling . . . .
She shivered again. The last time she had felt like this was the day Shane had chased Alfred Jericho up a cliff and everyone thought he died in an explosion. By the time he found his way back to her, Kim had done what everyone had encouraged her to do - move on with her life. So she did, with Cal.
Cal Winters, the biggest mistake of her life. No, she couldn't say that. Cal had given her Jeannie, and Kim would never trade that for anything - not even for a happy marriage with Shane.
She shivered again. Damn it, why did she have to still worry about Shane like this? It should be Kayla worrying. Shane was just Kim's ex-husband. Most ex-wives would be happy to hear something bad had befallen their ex. She shouldn't dread this feeling; she should be happy, right?
There she went kidding herself again. She could tell herself over and over that she was over Shane Donovan, but she knew the truth. It still hurt to even think about him, to think about what she - what they - had lost. But it was too late for regrets. Shane had moved on.
And that was the sick irony of this whole sorry affair. Kim had never gotten over Shane, even though it was her attempt to move on that precipitated the collapse of their marriage.
She hugged the pink bunny close and made a silent prayer that the man she loved was okay and would come home safely, even if it meant he came home to her sister.