Kayla winced as she touched the cut on her forehead. Although she could not see the wound, she could tell by the heat radiating from it that it was inflamed and infected. She had done her best to clean it out with the limited supplies available, but it was obvious that it had not been enough. And it seemed clear that Cal had no intention of providing any medical supplies to treat it.

"That cut looks pretty bad," Kim said from her spot in the plastic desk chair across the room. It looked like she had her suit jacket draped over her, having used it as something of a blanket during the night. From Kayla's vantage point, she doubted Kim had slept much. After another minute, Kim said, "I'm no doctor, but I'd say it's infected."

"Yeah," Kayla sighed. "I don't think it's really that deep, but there is clearly something in there causing the infection."

"What do you need to take care of it?" Kim asked quietly.

"Without a mirror, it's hard to tell, but probably just some anti-bacterial cream, hydrogen peroxide, and some clean bandages." Kayla shrugged. "If nothing else, it would slow down the infection for a while. But it's not like it matters; Cal is not going to give us anything."

"Don't be so sure of that." Kim sounded determined. "I think I have an idea that might work."

Before Kayla could ask questions, she heard the now familiar sound of the key in the lock. Kim and Kayla exchanged a glance and braced themselves for another visit from Cal.

"Good morning, Kimberly," Cal said as he walked in the door, carrying a tray. "Your breakfast has arrived."

"Thank you," Kim said, sounding surprisingly sincere. Kayla watched carefully as Kim got up from her chair and approached Cal. When she reached him, Kim took the tray from his hands and gave him a big smile. "This looks delicious. All of my favorite fruits."

What is Kim doing? Kayla could not help but wonder. She knew that they had decided to avoid antagonizing Cal, but Kim was going beyond that.

"I'm glad you like it, Kim." Cal smiled broadly. "You know that all I want to do is make you happy."

"I know." Kim set the tray down on the desk and returned to Cal. "You've always been so good to me."

"And I always will be," Cal said as he reached out and stroked Kim's cheek. Kayla did not miss the slight flinch from Kim as Cal touched her, but Cal either did not notice or did not care.

"You know what would make me happy right now?" Kim asked, keeping her eyes locked on Cal as he continued to stroke her cheek.

"What?" Cal's voice turned suspicious and his hand dropped from Kim's face.

"If you would bring me some first-aid supplies so that I can treat Kayla's cut." Kim's voice stayed soft and tender.

"I already told you she doesn't need it," Cal replied angrily. "Pretending to be nice to me is not going to make me change my mind."

"I'm not pretending, Cal," Kim said. She reached out to put her hand on Cal's arm. "I know how much you want to take care of me. But I can't think about us and our future together when my sister is hurt and in pain."

"There are other ways to take care of that." Cal's voice was harsh and he glanced coldly at Kayla.

"Listen to me, Cal." Kim put her other hand on Cal's chin and turned his head so he was looking at her. "You know that I love my sister and you know that I can't be happy with you if something bad happens to her because of us." She smiled at him. "So, please . . . just get me some first-aid supplies so I can make sure she gets better."

Cal stood silently for a moment, glancing back and forth between Kim and Kayla. Finally, he said gruffly, "What do you need?"

"Just some basic supplies - antibacterial cream, hydrogen peroxide and some bandages." Kim spoke quickly as if trying to complete the list before Cal changed his mind.

"I'll see what I can find." He grabbed her hand, which was resting on his arm. "But if this is some kind of trick, you'll both pay for it." Kayla saw Kim wince as Cal gripped her hand tightly. "Is that understood?"

Kim nodded. "It's not a trick, Cal. I just want Kayla to be okay."

Cal released Kim's hand and walked towards the door. "I'm not making any promises, but I'll see what we have around here. If we don't have it here, then baby sis is just out of luck." Then Cal left and locked the door behind him.

Exhaling, Kayla said, "Thank you, Kim. I can't believe you got through to him."

"Oh, it's not so hard," Kim said, the disgust clear in her voice. "A good whore always knows how to make a man do what she wants."

"Stop it!" Kayla said, getting up from the cot. "That's not who you are and that's not what you did. You were trying to help me."

Kim shook her head as if trying to rid herself of the moment before with Cal. Then she turned and smiled softly at Kayla. "I'm your big sister and I'm supposed to take care of you. It comes with the job." She walked Kayla back to the cot and waited for Kayla to lie down, before sitting down on the edge. "You know I still remember when Mama and Papa brought you home from the hospital."

"You do?" Kayla was surprised. She and Kim were only about 3 years apart and Kayla certainly had no memories from that age.

"Yeah, I do." Kim stared at the far wall with a distant look in her eyes. "Papa brought you and Mama home, and they sat me and Roman down on the couch. They said that you were our little sister and as the older ones we had a responsibility to help take care of you."

"I think Roman might have taken that instruction a little too seriously," Kayla deadpanned. "I'm married and have a child and he's still trying to take care of me half the time."

Kim smiled and gave Kayla a knowing look. "He might have taken it too seriously later, but he wasn't happy when he realized he had two younger sisters he was supposed to take care of and I only had one. I'm pretty sure he was mumbling something about it being 'not fair' when Papa sent him up to his room."

Kayla chuckled at the thought of her older brother being upset about his sibling responsibilities. "I guess being sent to his room must have convinced him."

"Maybe," Kim allowed. "But after Papa sent Roman upstairs and went down to the Fish Market, Mama put you in my arms and let me hold you." Kim brushed her hand softly across Kayla's hair. "We sat there together and Mama told me that having a sister was a gift and that I should always remember to treat it that way - as something special and valuable."

"She told me that once, too," Kayla said softly.

"Really?" Kim smiled. "I'm guessing it wasn't when they brought Bo home from the hospital."

Kayla shook her head. "No, but I'm sure I got the big sister speech then." She took a deep breath. "Mama talked to me about the importance of sisters the night after the Homecoming dance. The one I went to with Charlie Rogers."

"Oh. . . ." A shadow crossed Kim's face - guilt maybe. "I guess that wasn't my finest moment as a big sister."

Kayla did not respond immediately. Instead, she found herself lost in her memories of that night. "Pop came home and found the bathroom door off its hinges," she said, as much to herself as to Kim. "He went immediately to Bo's room and I could hear him yelling. I went to Bo's room to try and tell Pop it wasn't Bo's fault."

Almost without realizing it, Kayla pulled herself off the cot, wincing as she jostled her rib, and then began pacing around the tiny room. "I tried to tell him that Bo had only done it because I'd locked myself in. I remember Pop looking at me like I was crazy and asking why I'd done such a 'fool' thing. I tried to explain that it was because I was mad at you, and the bathroom was the only room with a lock on it." Kayla chuckled humorlessly. "Pop didn't care. He said it didn't matter what you had done; it was no excuse for me locking myself in there. Then he sent me back to my room and told me I was grounded and told Bo he had to fix the door the next day."

Still pacing around the room, Kayla turned and looked at Kim. The stricken look on Kim's face pulled Kayla from the bitterness of her memories. She walked back to the cot and sat down again. "Anyway, I was in my room crying when Ma came in. I guess somebody must have given her at least part of the story, because she just pulled me to her and let me cry. Then she sat me up and said she knew I was mad at you, and maybe I had a right to be. But, she said, you were my sister, and that was a gift from God and it was more special and valuable than any boy." Kayla smiled at Kim. "She said that my sister would be there for me no matter what and that relationship would last longer than any infatuation I had with Charlie."

"I'm really sorry about what happened that night," Kim said, a tear running down her cheek. "I know I hurt you so badly and I still don't even know why I did it."

"It doesn't matter anymore," Kayla said, feeling her own tears build. "I got past that a long time ago."

"Are you sure about that?" Kim asked. "You mentioned him the other night when we were driving to Brookville."

Kayla paused at Kim's comment. The drive to Brookville felt like it had happened months ago. But then Kayla remembered she had mentioned running into Charlie at the fair that day. Why had she done that? She knew why. Everything that had happened over the previous six months with her father, her sister, and Shane had churned up a lot of resentment that Kayla had thought she had buried long ago. And her recent arguments with Kim had brought that resentment even closer to the surface.

"I thought I had gotten past it," Kayla finally said. "After you left Salem and then I left and we both built our own lives, I thought the past was forgotten. We were both adults and we built such a great relationship. You were my sister and my best friend. What happened when we were kids didn't matter anymore."

"So what changed?" Kim's voice was soft, yet firm. "What brought all of this up again?"

"A lot of things, I guess," Kayla said. "But it doesn't really matter now anyway."

"It does matter," Kim insisted. "You are my best friend, too, and I don't want this distance and anger coming between us anymore. So just tell me why things changed."

"They changed because I got involved with Shane." Kayla shrugged as she looked at Kim. "It's really that simple, isn't it? I became emotionally attached to your ex-husband and I wouldn't let go, no matter what anybody said - not you and not. . . ."

"And not Papa," Kim finished. "That's what you were going to say, right?"

Kayla nodded. "I know he meant well, but he'd have been better off staying out of it. Every time he would tell me that I should stay away from Shane so that you would be happy, or stay away from Shane so that you would stay away from Lawrence, it hurt. It brought back every memory I had of never being his 'best and brightest.'"

Kim chuckled softly and Kayla turned to her, surprised at her sister's laughter. "What's so funny?"

Kim shook her head. "Nothing's funny. It's just ironic that Papa's 'best and brightest' label made us both feel inferior."

Kayla was surprised by that comment. "What do you mean? It made you feel inferior? Pop always put you up on a pedestal."

"Maybe," Kim responded. "But that pedestal was awfully shaky and, even then, I knew I didn't belong there. After Uncle Eric . . ." Kim paused as if collecting herself. "I know you think that Papa favored me, and I'm sorry for how that must have hurt you. But it hurt me too. I never felt worthy and, looking back, I think I did a lot of things, hoping it would be enough to knock me off that pedestal for good."

"I never knew you felt that way," Kayla said quietly. "When we were kids, I always thought you loved that attention from him." She looked away. "But I guess there were a lot of things none of us knew about."

"I was always pretty good at keeping secrets." Kim's voice took on a different tone. "One of the lessons Uncle Eric taught me along the way."

"I'm so sorry that happened to you, Kim." Kayla put her arm around her sister. "I wish I had known. I wish I could have stopped him. I wish-"

"Don't, Kayla," Kim said sharply. "Don't wish anything related to that man. What happened was not your fault and you couldn't have known. I'm just thankful he never tried to hurt you." Kim took a deep breath. "What's done is done and it's in the past. I've learned to deal with what happened to me."

Kayla knew that was not as true as Kim made it sound. Kim had all but admitted that some of her past choices had been directly influenced by the trauma she suffered at the hands of Uncle Eric. Kayla wondered how much that trauma was still affecting Kim, but now was not the time to delve into it.

"I'm still sorry that it happened," Kayla said softly.

"I know," Kim replied. "And I'm sorry for not being always being the big sister I was supposed to be. I never should have gone near Charlie Rogers."

Kayla shook her head. "You don't owe me an apology for that now. Not after everything that has happened." She looked in Kim's eyes. "Not after I got involved with Shane."