Followed closely by Marlena, Kayla led Kim back over to the chairs. Behind them, Steve was talking closely with Marcus. Kayla could tell by the look on Marcus' face that Shane's condition was far from good. In fact, the expression Marcus wore now was exactly the one he had worn when he had come to talk to her after Steve's surgery nearly a year ago.
Shaking that thought from her mind, Kayla focused on Kim. The important thing now was that Shane had survived the surgery and Kim had some hope to hold on to.
"I don't understand why Marcus won't let me see Shane," Kim said, looking at Kayla. "Do you think he's keeping something from us?"
Kayla shook her head. "No, Marcus wouldn't lie to you like that." She paused, trying to figure out what she could say that would be encouraging, but would not give false hope. "Shane just went through major surgery and his body has undergone a major shock. I'm sure Marcus and Carly just want to monitor him extra closely to make sure he's stabilized. That's much easier to do without having visitors in the way - even you."
Kayla flashed a glance at Marlena, hoping Marlena would back her up. Marlena gave Kayla a quick nod and the said, "That's right, Kim. I'm sure it's Marcus and Carly just being ultra-cautious and wanting to give Shane the best care."
Kim looked at both Kayla and Marlena as if she did not really believe either one of them, but then slowly nodded. "Okay, then I guess I'll just have to wait."
Kayla and Marlena exchanged another glance at that comment. They both knew that waiting around the hospital for hours was not good for Kim.
"Kimberly." Marlena turned to face Kim. "Maybe you should go home, to Shane's house, for a little while. It would give you a chance to get cleaned up and get something to eat. I'm sure it's going to be a few hours before Shane can have any visitors."
Kim shook her head. "No, I don't want to leave. If . . . if something happens, I want to be here."
"I know how you feel," Kayla said. "But when Steve and I were at the house earlier, we saw Andrew. He was asking about you."
Kim's eyes widened at Kayla mention of Andrew. "You saw him?" she asked quickly. "Was he okay?"
"He's fine." Kayla smiled. "You'd hardly know anything happened to him. We told him that you were okay, but I'm not sure he believed us. I think it would be really good for him to see you. And I think it would be good for you, too."
"Did you tell him about Shane?" Kim asked, worry clear in her voice.
"No." Kayla shook her head. "He didn't ask about Shane and . . . well, Steve and I didn't think it was our place to tell him about his father. Plus, Shane was still in surgery and. . . ." Kayla's words trailed off, not wanting to give voice to the rest of her thought - that they had not been sure Shane would survive the surgery.
"Thank you," Kim said. "Not that I'm looking forward to telling Andrew about Shane, but it should come from me." She sighed. "I'm just not sure how I'm going to tell him about this. He's been through so much lately."
Marlena put her hand on Kim's shoulder. "You'll know what to say when you see him. Just having you there will be a big comfort to him."
Kim seemed lost in thought for a moment and then slowly nodded her head. "You're right, I guess. I should go and see the kids and get cleaned up. I'm just afraid to leave Shane."
"You know that somebody will contact you immediately if there is any change," Marlena reassured Kim.
"Okay," Kim finally agreed. "I'll go home for a little while."
Kayla breathed a sigh of relief at Kim's agreement. Quickly rising, Kayla walked over to Bo and quietly asked him if he would take Kim home. Kayla did not want Kim to be alone. Bo immediately agreed and walked over to Kim.
Kayla felt a familiar presence behind her and closed her eyes as she felt Steve's arms wrap around her.
"You okay, baby?" he asked, pulling her back to him.
"Yeah," she said. "Marlena and I talked Kim into going to Shane's to see the kids. Bo's going to stay with Kim until she comes back to the hospital."
"That's good, Sweetness." He turned her around to face him. "What about you? Are you ready to go home, too?"
Kayla nodded, but before she could even contemplate the idea, another voice interrupted.
"Sorry, sis, but you can't go home just yet." Kayla turned to find Roman looking at her with an apologetic smile.
Kayla sighed. "I suppose you need my statement."
Roman nodded. "I can put off getting Kim's under the circumstances, but we're getting a lot of pressure to get the whole story. We need to know what happened with Winters."
"Come on, Roman," Steve protested. "This really can't wait until tomorrow?"
Roman shook his head. "I wish it could. I promise I'll be as quick as possible. We can do any follow up questioning tomorrow or the next day, but I need a basic statement tonight."
Steve muttered something about procedure, but Kayla stopped him with a hand on his arm. "It's okay; I understand." She gave Steve a wan smile. "Besides the sooner I get this started, the sooner it's done and we can go home."
Steve nodded, although he was still clearly unhappy. "I'll be right here when you're done, Sweetness." Then he gave Roman a pointed look. "And if you're not done in an hour, I'm coming in to get you."
Kayla stifled a giggle at Roman's eye roll. Usually, the semi-regular stand-offs between her hot-tempered husband and by-the-book brother frustrated her. But right now, it was a wonderful bit of normalcy.
Turning to Steve, Kayla leaned up and kissed him. "Just be good while I'm gone, okay?"
Steve nodded and Kayla turned back to Roman. "Okay, big brother. Let's get this over with."