There have been some interesting comments to say the least. We have read them all and wanted to acknowledge everyone, even those who hate the story.

Anonymous, anonymous2, Vespone, vm658, and stampinadmin: Thank you for your support. We may not all share the same views of the characters, but we appreciate that you are willing to consider ours with open minds.

A: You do make a fair point about Roman having some credible reasons for not trusting John. We have tried to acknowledge that he has reasons to be upset and actually understand why he mistrusts John, Shane and Steve, but we still don't think the other main characters would reject John after what they had gone through with him. We can see why you disagree with our depiction of Roman, but we feel that his actions are consistent with what he was like in 1991, and the responses of the main characters are true to who they are.

Turning to Kim, we had Cal kidnap Kim and Kayla as a twist on canon. He kidnapped Kim in 1990, and he tried again in 1991, and there was no logical reason why he would not try something similar in our timeline, particularly when nobody else even realized he was free. We did choose to make the kidnapping less cartoonish than the show did, because we thought that was much more in keeping with who Cal was in the original run. We don't really view the kidnapping as a repeat of the show, given the circumstances of the kidnapping were different, Cal was far more ruthless, his plans were different, and everything Kim, Kayla, Shane, and Steve did in connection with the kidnapping was different. But if you see that as a repeat, so be it.

With respect to putting Kim in the position of having to agree to go with Cal, we did do it to prove a point. We did it so that Kim's past would become an issue for her and Shane once more. We did it to show that Kim has reached the point where she could tell Shane instead of keeping secrets, because she trusts their love. You may be right that there were other ways she could do that, but we also wanted to show that Shane also has changed. For all his talk about putting Kim's past behind her, these events put Shane's words to the test - and he passed. We felt the best way to show those changes was to put Kim in a position where she would be was forced to make a decision that mirrored Miami, but for her's and Shane's responses to be different.

suzyQusie: You've made your feelings plain. We do find it mind-boggling that you kept reading a story you so obviously hated. According to the Book Genome Project, the average novel is approximately 100,000 words. Our story so far, is around 600,000 words, so you read about six novels worth of a story that you hate. You deserve credit for persistence at least.

Finally, just a note about our posting. We have been posting at almost a daily rate. Due to some RL issues, we need to slow things down a little, so we will be posting new chapters every other day. We had hoped to avoid this, but it is necessary and we delayed it as long as we could so that at least Shane and Kim would reunite before we changed the posting schedule.

Now back to the story.

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"The incision looks like it's healing pretty nicely," Marcus said as he tugged the last piece of the stitches free from Shane's skin. The long red scar was still visible, but it no longer had the black stitches jutting out of it. Just to the left of the long scar was a smaller, round scar left by the bullet from Cal Winters' gun.

Shane waited patiently while Marcus pulled over some equipment. He lifted a tube with a mouthpiece and told Shane to put it in his mouth.

"Take a deep breath," Marcus ordered. "Hold it. . . . Now, as hard as you can, let it out."

Shane winced as he blew. The sharp pain jabbed at his chest and he almost doubled over. Marcus grabbed a hold of him, perhaps afraid he might tumble off the examining table.

"I . . . I'm okay," Shane gasped.

Marcus helped him back up. "I'm sorry. I know it hurts, but I have to see how your breathing is." He examined the results of the test and pursed his lips before looking back at Shane. "The good news is that your FVC and FEV have improved since your release. That's the total amount of air you can exhale and the amount you can exhale in one second."

"And the bad news?" Shane could tell from Marcus' tone that it was coming.

With a sigh, Marcus said, "Both are still well below normal. Your FVC, the total capacity, is about half what one would expect of a man of your age and size - and that's just a normal man, not one who has gone through a lot of physical training. I wish I had a baseline test to use for comparison, but you were in very good shape according to your past medical records."

"So are you saying I won't recover?"

"No." Marcus shook his head. "I didn't say that. You're probably recovering as expected. I guess I'd just hoped things might progress faster. Your physical therapist says you've been working hard - maybe too hard."

Shane could feel the familiar frustration rising in him and his voice rose sharply. "What else can I do? If I don't push myself, how am I going to get better?"

"Hey, I understand, Shane." Marcus gave a sympathetic look. "But you're recovering from serious trauma. Your lungs were damaged and your heart stopped. You can't expect to get over that in just a few weeks. It's what. . . ." Marcus checked his clipboard. "It's just five weeks since you were shot."

With a frustrated sigh, Shane nodded. "I know. It's just I'd like to get to the point where climbing the staircase without stopping is something I don't even think about. Yesterday, I managed to walk from the foyer to the garden gate, but I still got winded about halfway."

"It's hard, I know." Marcus set down his clipboard and ordered Shane to stand up. He watched Shane rise to his feet. "You don't seem unsteady. Walk to the door and back." When Shane did as ordered, Marcus said, "I don't think you need the cane anymore."

"So that's one good thing, I guess," Shane muttered.

Marcus chuckled. "And I thought doctors made the worst patients. I'll have to remember to put 'secret agents' above them in the hierarchy." At Shane's scowl, Marcus laughed a little harder. "You're only proving my point."

"Okay, okay," Shane said. "I'll be patient. I just want to feel something approximating normal. Is it that bad that I'm impatient about wanting to be able to hold my daughter or do something with my son other than sit around and play chess?"

And make love to Kimberly, he added silently. The last few days of waking up next to Kim and being physically unable to love her had been torture.

"Yeah, I heard about that," Marcus replied, startling Shane into thinking he had said his last thought aloud. Then Marcus added, "Kim's told me Andrew's turning into a veritable Bobby Fischer."

Partly grateful that he had not slipped, but still frustrated, Shane said, "That's not the point."

Marcus held up his hands. "I know, Shane. You've just got to give it time. Now that you're past the initial recovery, you're going to get stronger and you'll probably improve a lot faster. Just be patient and don't overdo it. In a couple of months, you should be able to do everything you want."

A couple of months. That was hard for Shane to hear. In little over a month, he would be in trial. By the time a couple of months came, either he would be a free man or locked away for several years. He decided not to mention that, but just gave Marcus a resigned nod. "Okay. . . . A couple of months."

A few minutes later, Shane followed Marcus out of the examining room. Stopping at the nurse's station, Shane asked the nurse to check if Kim was free. He smiled at the hope she could take a quick break. In a way, it reminded him of when they first fell in love and how just the thought of seeing Kim made him giddy. He felt that same joy now, but it was short-lived when the nurse reported that Kim was seeing a patient.

Disappointed, Shane figured there was no reason to wait since he would see Kim at home later. Simmons was downstairs with the car, so Shane headed for the elevator. However, he was only partially to the elevator when he was stopped by a woman's voice.

"Hello, Captain Donovan. Or should I say 'ex-Captain.'"

Turning in the woman's direction, Shane forced a placid smile to his face and made no attempt to curtail his sarcasm. "Ms. Knight. . . . What a pleasant surprise."

"I'm sure it is." Rachel appeared completely oblivious to his distaste. In a sickly sweet tone, she said, "It's nice to see you back on your feet. Perhaps you'd like to give an interview to let the public know about your experience."

Shane's eyes narrowed. "Oh, are you out of stories fed to you by the ISA? You've pretty much run through my entire family. Although I guess there's still Andrew, but he is only five."

Rachel placed her hand in the pocket of her leather jacket - a movement that made him wary that she had a hidden tape recorder tucked away - and leaned against the nurse's station. She gave him a sly smile. "Oh I wouldn't say I'm out of stories."

Thinking she might be recording him, Shane warned himself about reacting strongly. "Of course, you do," he said. "I guess I'll just have to be surprised."

"Are you sure?" she asked. "With the miraculous return of the real Roman Brady to Salem, there are a lot of unanswered questions about your role in what happened to him."

Shane felt his fake smile falter, but he forced himself to remain cool. The Brady family already was struggling with Roman's return. They did not need to relive that betrayal they felt at Shane's decision to pull Drew out of Stefano's clutches.

"No comment?" Rachel asked. "You don't want to tell your side of the story before the world finds out that you chose to save your brother over a hero like Roman Brady? Ironic, isn't it, that your brother turned out to be a traitor? I guess it must run in the family."

Don't react, he told himself. Don't give her what she wants. Shane was actually glad that he had turned over the cane to Marcus since he might have been tempted to give Rachel a few thumps with it. The cane was exactly what the reporter needed and it would have given Shane deep satisfaction, but he would never have heard the end of it from Mickey. Or Kim. Shane took a deep breath. "My work for the ISA is classified, so I cannot divulge any information about that subject. It's unfortunate that my former colleagues don't seem to share the same respect for the agency's standards of confidentiality." He gave her a tight smile. "Now, if you would excuse me, my driver is waiting."

As he walked away, he heard Rachel's smug laugh. Keeping stone-faced, he reached the elevator and waited anxiously for the doors to open. Finally, they did and he got inside. Once the doors were closed, he slumped against the wall.

Just when things seemed to be improving, his family would have to endure another blow. Rachel's article would feed Roman's mistrust and Shane feared Kim would have to take sides against her brother.

The elevator doors opened, Shane headed for the exit, and found Simmons waiting outside with the car. Once inside, Shane stared out the window and asked himself when he and Kim would find the peace they deserved.

He knew this was all part of Tarrington's campaign to force Shane to plead guilty. Maybe that would be for the best. A guilty plea might end this nightmare and spare his family further shame.

But Shane reminded himself that pleading guilty would mean leaving Kim and his children for three years at the very least. Can you do that? he asked himself, even though he knew the answer. Not unless there's absolutely no other choice.

He let out a loud sigh as he pictured having to tell Kim about this latest assault on their family, but then he remembered what he had said when he had pinned the cameo on her lapel. Their love was stronger than it ever had been. It would bring them through this. It had to.