"I'm cold," Kim repeated anxiously. "Don't you know what that means?"
Kayla had seen that look of denial on Kim's face before. She had seen it the morning after the explosion at Saul Taylor's revival camp.
"Kimmie," Kayla said, stepping toward her.
"No, no, no," Kim insisted. "I know what I feel. He's not dead."
Kayla did not know what to say. She had been in the ER; she had seen him. But then she reminded herself that Kim had been right about Shane being alive before. She reached out and took Kim's hand. Giving it a gentle squeeze, Kayla softly said, "If only it were true."
"It is, Kay," Kim said, her voice certain.
Before Kayla could respond, Kim tensed and pulled away. Kayla turned to see that Marcus had emerged from the trauma room. She knew what he was going to say, but waited silently for him to give official confirmation.
It did not come. "We're taking him into surgery," Marcus said.
"But. . . ." Kayla could not believe her ears. "I was there. . . ."
"We managed to revive him, Kay."
"So's he going to pull through?" Steve asked.
Marcus held up a hand. "We don't know. He's very weak and the bullet did a lot of damage. We know it punctured a lung and did some arterial damage. And we don't even know what else it hit." He looked at Kim. "I won't lie to you. It doesn't look good."
"Just do what you can, Marcus," Kim said."Is there any way I can see him before you take him in?"
"I'm sorry, Kim."
"Just to see him," she begged. "Just to tell him that I love him and remind him he has so much to live for."
Marcus looked uncomfortable, before he finally said, "Kim, trust me. You don't . . . you don't want to see him right now." Kayla understood what he was saying; if Shane died, seeing him after the emergency treatment he had already received was not how Kim would want to remember him. In Kayla's mind, she could picture it, and she thought that sometimes it really sucked to be a nurse.
"Kim, I think Marcus is right," she said. "Besides, he's probably already in the OR anyway."
"Yeah." Marcus' relief was evident. "Look, I need to go scrub in. I'll let you know as soon as I know anything more."
As he turned and headed for the operating room, Kim stood stoically. "He's alive," she said. "He has too much to live for to die now."
Kayla prayed her sister was right, but Shane's injuries were severe. And now they would have to wait for hours to find out if he pulled through the surgery.
Bo led Kim back to the bench, while Steve said something to Neil. Then Steve walked back over to Kayla.
"Sweetness, I want Neil to look you over. You should have that cut checked out and have your ribs x-rayed." Steve watched her with concern.
Kayla shook her head. "It's nothing."
"No, it's not nothing." Steve looked her in the eyes. "You've been through hell - the accident, Winters, and god knows what else. Let Neil check you out." He put an arm around her shoulder and turned to Roman, who was still standing beside them. "We probably should have Neil check Kim too."
"She's not leaving," Roman said, as they all looked over at the bench. Kim had her hands clasped tightly together and was staring off into the distance. Roman sighed. "I think I'll see if Marlena can come down."
That was probably a good idea, Kayla thought. Steve was right; they had been through hell. With Shane's shooting, it was almost hard to remember that they had been captives for several days, cut off from their children after the accident and Cal trying to shoot Andrew.
"Andrew!" Kayla turned to Steve. "Is he okay?"
"Yeah, Sweetness. He's fine." Steve squeezed her shoulder. "He a tough little dude like his dad. He's over at Shane's with Stephanie and Jeannie."
Kayla was surprised. "Stephanie's at Shane's?"
"It's a long story," Steve said. "But she's fine. Let's get you checked out. Then I think we should get you a change of clothes."
Steve's words made Kayla look down and she realized that her clothes were covered with dark, drying blood.
Shane's blood.
Kayla nodded and began to walk towards the examination rooms. Then, unbidden, she heard Steve's screams in the hanger. She stopped suddenly.
"What's wrong, baby?" Steve asked, clearly concerned.
"Nothing," Kayla said, shaking her head. "I just remembered . . . I just think that if I'm getting checked out, you should too."
"Baby, I told you. I'm fine," Steve protested.
"I know what you told me, but I still want somebody to examine you." She looked at Steve, a plea in her eyes. "I need to know that you're okay."
Steve's eye narrowed at Kayla's words and then he nodded. "All right, Sweetness. If that's what you need, then I'll get a once over myself."
"Thank you." Kayla kissed him on the cheek. Then she remembered something else she had to do. "Once Neil's done, we need to go to Shane's."
"You want to see Stephanie?" Steve asked.
She looked up at him. "Well, yes, I do. But it's not just for Stephanie. There's something I need to do there." Then Kayla looked back over to Kim. "It's something I promised to do."