As Steve walked away from Kim, he had to shake his head a bit. An apology from Kim was the last thing he had expected under the circumstances. But he had to admit to himself that, deserved or not, it was nice to know that Kim did not blame him.
Reaching the phones, Steve dropped a coin in the slot and called the Spectator office. As expected, Vern said that Jack was at the hospital, waiting for more information about Shane's condition. Sighing, Steve thanked Vern and hung up.
Walking back to the table, Steve noticed that Marlena was no longer with Kim and Kayla. The two sisters were sitting quietly, Kayla's arm around Kim's shoulders. Steve was again thankful to see the rift he had caused between the two was being repaired.
"Is Jack on his way?" Kim asked as Steve reached the table.
"I guess he's already here," Steve replied. "Vern says he's downstairs with the rest of the wolves. I'm going to go down and get him."
Kim nodded and Steve turned to Kayla. "I'll be right back, Sweetness. Try to keep your sister from climbing the walls while I'm gone." That earned Steve a small smile and nod. He kissed Kayla on the cheek and headed to find Jack.
As he rode the elevator down to the first floor, Steve tried to set aside his worry about Kayla. Despite her best efforts to hide it, it was clear that her ordeal with Cal had taken its toll. Hopefully, time would allow her to recover, but Steve vowed to keep a close eye on her until she was back to her old self.
When the doors opened, Steve stepped off the elevator and looked around. Due to the cold temperatures, the hospital had relented and allowed the reporters to wait inside the building, but had cordoned them off in a corner away from the main doors.
Walking towards the pack, he spotted Jack, who was leaning against the wall and jotting something in his little notebook. As Steve approached, another reporter noticed and leaped to his feet.
"Mr. Johnson, what can you tell us about Captain Donovan's association with Cal Winters?"
Steve ignored the man's shout and the ones that quickly followed from the other reporters. Instead he focused on Jack.
"Jack," he called out, trying to be heard over the roar of questions.
Jack worked his way through the throng, earning himself some dirty looks. When he finally reached the edge of the crowd, he said, "Yeah?"
"I need to come with me right now." Steve grinned slightly. "I promise it'll be worth your time."
Jack's face lit up and he quickly worked his way through the temporary barrier the hospital had set up. The other reporters began complaining about preferential treatment and freedom of the press, but Steve just rolled his eye.
When Jack finally reached his side, Steve turned to the rest of the pack and smiled his best smile. "Sorry everybody, but this is family business. And you people definitely aren't my family." He turned to his brother. "Let's go, Billy Jack. There are some people that want to talk to you."
Within a few minutes, Steve and Jack reached the cafeteria. Steve had ignored Jack's questions in the elevator until Jack had gotten the hint and shut up. When they entered the cafeteria, Steve just pointed to the table where Kim and Kayla were sitting.
As Steve and Jack approached the table, Kim and Kayla stood and walked to meet them. "I thought it might be better if we did this somewhere more private," Kayla said. "So I told Kim we could use my office."
Steve nodded. "Good idea, Sweetness. Let's go."
In silence, the four of them made their way to Kayla's office. Steve kept his arm around Kayla's waist while Kim walked on the other side of him. Jack trailed a step behind. When they reached Kayla's office, she unlocked the door and they entered.
Once inside, Kayla walked to her phone and picked it up. Steve was puzzled until he realized she was calling the nurses' desk at the ICU to let them know where to find Kim.
After Kayla hung up, they all sat down in chairs around Kayla's desk. Jack shifted uncomfortably. "So . . . uh . . . why did you want to see me?"
"I assume you saw the article in the Chronicle this morning?" Kim's tone clearly indicated what she thought of the article.
"Yeah, I saw it," Jack said. "I take it that you disagree with it?"
Steve scoffed. "What's to disagree with? Except that the entire thing is complete bull-" He stopped himself. "Just a bunch of lies."
"That's why we wanted to talk to you, Jack," Kim said quietly. "We were hoping you could get the real story out."
"Absolutely, but . . ." Jack paused.
"But what?" Steve asked, his eye narrowing.
"But why me?" Jack looked at Kim. "I know you don't like me all that much right now. You could have given this story to anybody."
Kim looked at Steve who just shrugged. Then she said, "You're right. I'm not very happy with you right now, but no matter what else is going on, I trust you to print the true story. I can't say that for anybody else."
"All right. I'll take that." Jack pulled out a tape recorder from his jacket. "Let's get started."
Steve leaned back and listened as Kim described the lead-up to the kidnapping and how Cal had run her car off the road. As she described how Cal had killed Mike and tried to kill Andrew, Steve felt his blood begin to boil yet again. But his anger was quickly replaced by concern as he watched Kayla. Her face had grown pale and he could see her begin to tremble.
"Are you okay, baby?" he whispered, as he leaned over and took her hand. She nodded, but Steve could see that she was upset. Scooting his chair closer, he put his arm around her and pulled her as close as the chairs would allow.
". . . Andrew had run away, Cal was so angry," Kim was saying. "He put the gun to Kayla's head and threatened to kill her right there."
Steve's grip tightened around Kayla as he heard Kim's words. He had known that Kayla's nightmare the previous night was more than just some wild fantasy brought on by pain medication.
Feeling Kayla still trembling beside him, Steve tried to keep his temper under control while Kim continued her story. A cold chill ran through him as he realized just how close he had come to losing Kayla that night.
Soon Kim reached the point where she and Kayla had been taken to the hanger. Kim briefly described how Cal had kept them there because he had "unfinished business" to take care of and then mentioned that Cal had changed his mind and had decided to leave that morning they were rescued. Steve had the definite feeling that Kim had skipped over some things, but knew she must have had a reason for doing so.
". . . and then we heard Shane at the door of the room, trying to pick the lock." Kim looked at Steve. "I guess you know that part of the story better than I do."
Steve nodded and began speaking, his arm still around Kayla's shoulders. He told Jack about the lead they had gotten, although he was light on the details of how they had gotten it. Then, much as he had with Roman the previous night, he recounted the events after they reached the airfield, culminating with the exchange of gunshots between Cal and Shane.
". . . so, I wouldn't be sitting here if Shane hadn't pushed me out of the way and taken that bullet," Steve finished, unable to look at Kim. "And anybody who thinks that Shane was working with Cal in any way needs to have their head examined."
Jack nodded, but did not speak as he was frantically taking notes. When he finally looked up, he said, "I just have a few follow-up questions. You're not going to like some of them, but I have to ask."
Steve gave a short nod.
Jack took a deep breath. "I know you said that Shane couldn't have been working with Cal, but do you have any other evidence of that besides the final confrontation?"
Steve's eye narrowed, but he took a moment and thought about Jack's question. "It's kind of hard to prove that something didn't happen, isn't it? All I know is that I was with the guy pretty much nonstop for days, and there is no way he was in contact with Cal Winters at any point during that time."
"Not to mention that Shane and Cal hated each other," Kim said quietly. "Cal tried to kill Shane several times before he was arrested the first time."
That was a good point, Steve thought, then remembered something else. "One more thing. Cal was behind the attack on the school and some other threats to Kim and Andrew before Shane was even arrested. After Kim and Kayla were taken, Shane beat himself up about not checking on Cal in prison. He blamed himself for not realizing Cal had escaped. That's not how someone would act if they knew Cal was out, would they?"
True." Jack nodded again. "Good, that's exactly what I needed to know." Then he turned and asked Kim a few questions about their captivity. Kim answered them, but again Steve could tell she was leaving something out. From the expression on Jack's face, he sensed it as well, but seemed to accept Kim's answers.
Finally, Jack turned to Kayla. "Uhh . . . Kayla?" He hesitated.
"What is it, Jack?" she asked, her voice soft and quiet.
"I . . . I noticed that you haven't said anything and I just wondered . . . that is, I wanted to know if you had anything to say or add."
Kayla glanced at Kim and then at Steve. Steve smiled encouragingly. "Go ahead, baby. If you've got something to say, say it."
She was quiet for a moment, as if thinking about it, but then Kayla just shook her head. "I don't really have anything to say. Kim told you what happened. But I do know this: There is no possibility that Shane was working with Cal."
Jack nodded again and made a few more notes. Then he turned off the recorder, gathered his notebook, and stood up. "I'm going straight back to the office to write this story. I'm going to put it on the front page of a special evening edition and again on the morning paper tomorrow. It should get picked up by the wires immediately."
"Thank you, Jack." Kim offered a tired smile.
"No, I should be thanking you," Jack replied. "This is going to be a huge story for the Spectator-" He stopped and looked down. "Sorry . . . that's the publisher in me speaking." He looked back up at Steve, Kim, and Kayla. "Thank you for trusting me to tell the real story."
With another nod, Jack headed for the door and then paused. "I really hope that Shane is going to be okay, Kim. Jennifer and I are pulling for him. I hope you know that."
Kim nodded and Steve could see tears in the corners of her eyes. "I do," she said sincerely. Jack gave a small smile and left the room, leaving Kim, Kayla, and Steve alone.
"Well, I'm glad that's over," Kim said, slowly standing. "I really need to get back up to ICU to check on Shane."
Before she could step towards the door, there was a knock. Kayla frowned slightly, as if she was confused, before she called out, "Come in!"
The door opened and Marcus walked in, a serious expression on his face.
"Marcus," Kim whispered. Then in a louder voice, she asked, "What is it? Did something happen?"
Steve stood and moved closer to Kim. Kayla did the same. They both must have sensed that Kim was going to need their support.
"What is it, homey?" Steve asked the question even though he dreaded the answer.
Marcus looked at the three of them. "I ran some tests this morning and, after I got the results, I ran them again, because I wanted to be sure. That's why it took so long."
"Sure of what?" Kayla asked, a tremor in her voice. "Just tell us what happened."
"Kim. . . . The trauma and the blood loss. . . . It was too much for Shane's body."
"No," Kim breathed, shaking her head. "No."
Marcus raised his hands. "Hold on," he said calmly. "Shane's still alive. It's just his body's shut down. . . . He's in a coma, Kim, a deep coma."
Kim seemed to take a moment to process the news. She took a few deep breaths and then said, "Okay. . . . He was in a coma before - that time I shot him by accident - so he'll be okay, right?"
Marcus looked stricken. "I'm sorry, Kim. I . . . I just don't know. I mean I don't know when - or if - Shane will ever regain consciousness. But you should prepare yourself. Shane may never wake up."
"No," Kim said sharply. "I don't care what your tests say. Shane is going to wake up."
"Kim-" Kayla started to speak.
"No!" Kim repeated loudly, her voice breaking. "Don't say it Kay. Don't say it. Shane is going to wake up. He is."
This time Kayla just nodded and pulled her sister into her arms. As Steve stood helplessly beside them, he looked at Marcus and silently pleaded with him to say something else.
Marcus turned his head and their eyes met. Then, with a sad look in his eyes, Marcus just shook his head and walked back out the door.