TITLE: On The Road Again
AUTHOR: Micky Fine
DISCLAIMER: They don't belong to me and I'm definitely not being paid for this.
SUMMARY: Post-ep for Memorial Day. J/D
ARCHIVE: If you want it please just ask.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I had had this story planned for a while but was suddenly jet-launched into it while reading some stuff at the White House Communications Office site (a great West Wing site, go visit). Of course there are tons of these stories out there after the season finale, but this is my version. Reviews welcome and appreciated.
Josh sank down into a chair just outside of the operating room. A pulmonary embolism. Two big words for just a little blood clot. Just a little clot, the same thing that would form a scab if he were to cut his hand. But that little blood clot could do so much. It could move from Donna's lungs and stop other important organs from working. Just like his Dad.
Josh momentarily stopped breathing in fear. He was so scared for Donna. Somewhere deep down inside he was sure she was going to die. Because that was what had happened to his father. Just a little blood clot, that pulmonary embolism. But that little clot had moved to his heart and caused a cardiac arrest. And then he died, on that fateful night of the Illinois Primary. And now it was happening again. Donna had the little blood clot. All it had to do now was move and stop that wonderful heart of hers. And if that heart were to stop everything else would to. Nothing would ever be the same again.
Forcing himself to think more positive thoughts Josh closed his eyes and pictured all of the things that Donna had brought into his life since he had met her on that day when she had hired herself. As he thought about better times, all of the worry and lack of sleep caught up with him. With visions of Donna dancing in his head Josh floated off to sleep.
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There was blood everywhere. It covered the floor, the gauze, and the doctors who were walking past him, shaking their heads. The only sound that seemed to pervade the entire room was the monotonous tone of the heart monitor. Walking closer to the table, against his own better judgment, Josh crept close enough to see the face of the body that lay there. Blonde hair was now spread all over the pillow but eyelids shaded the amazing blue eyes he adored. With a sense of foreboding Josh noted that the up and down motions of her chest he had been so thankful for before were obviously absent. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Josh turned to see the familiar face of the surgeon.
"I'm sorry Mr. Lyman," he began, "we did everything for her that we could but in the end it wasn't enough. The clot moved and stopped her heart from beating. She died from a cardiac arrest."
"No," Josh whispered, but then with increasing volume, "no, no, NO! Donna's not dead! She's not! She can't die. NO!"
Josh felt his entire body begin to shake and then realized that a somewhat familiar accented voice was calling his name.
"Josh, Josh, c'mon Josh wake up, she's not dead."
Josh opened his bleary eyes to see the face of Colin Ayres, the photojournalist that Donna had met in Gaza. Hearing his words, Josh immediately stood up to peer into the operating room. He regretted this decision as the blood rushed from his head and he saw stars.
"She's still in there, but the last time the nurse came out she said everything was going fine," Colin reassured him.
Although he trusted his new acquaintance, Josh still wanted to visually confirm that Donna really was fine. He gazed through the viewing windows for a few moments, saw the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest and then breathed a sigh of relief.
Observing Josh's actions, Colin commented, "You care about her a great deal."
"Hmmm," Josh said, paying more attention to watching the heart monitor in the other room than listening to the man that sat behind him.
Colin studied the man framed in the bright lights from the other room. Tension was evident by the tightness in seemingly all of his muscles but the thing that had shocked Colin the most was the abysmal fear so evident in Josh's eyes.
"You're the one who was shot, aren't you?" Colin asked quietly.
Josh turned to look at him surprised, "Yes."
"Did she take care of you after that?"
"Yes."
"So I guess it's your turn now?"
Josh nodded, "That's true, but it's so much more than that."
"What do you mean?"
"Donna and I, our relationship, it's more than just a boss-assistant dynamic. We're friends but there's something else there. We've always been different, how we've related to one another. Even how we met was different."
"How's that?"
"She hired herself. Just showed up at the campaign headquarters one day. She had just left Wisconsin and Dr. Freeride, her boyfriend. She drove all the way to New Hampshire, walked into my office, and started answering the phone. I come in, and there she is, sitting on my desk, already arranging my schedule and organizing the chaos that was my office. She managed to convince me to hire her, despite the fact that she hadn't finished college. She told me then that she thought she'd be valuable to me. I had no idea how right she'd be."
"She has spunk. And you're right, you two do have something special going for you. Of course, it might help if you actually told her you love her."
Josh's eyes widened at the bold statement from a man he hardly knew. A man, whom in fact had most likely been way more intimate with Donna than Josh had ever been. A man who definitely wasn't a gomer.
"What did you say?"
"Oh c'mon Josh, you heard me. It doesn't take a genius to notice that look in your eye whenever you're with her. You love her. And while it hurts my ego to say so, she loves you too. Likes me quite a bit, but you're the one she's destined for."
Glancing over his shoulder once more to check on Donna, Josh then returned to his seat and focused his attention on the British man next to him.
"Why would you say that?" he asked, "I think you're smart enough to know how special Donna is, how can you give that up?"
"'Cause I'd have to give it up eventually anyway. Whether it would have been the distance or the fact that you finally got the guts to tell her how you really feel, she and I, we'd never work out."
"Hmm," Josh murmured thoughtfully.
"Listen, I have some photos you might like to look at before I give copies to the major networks. I'm going to let you withhold any that you feel should be," Colin said as he handed Josh an envelope full of photographs.
Josh looked in wonder at all the moments that had been captured. There were some photos of Donna with local people, shopping, doing other things typical to tourists. But then there were the heart-wrenching photos of Donna grinning wildly just before climbing into the Suburban and one of her grinning shyly as she closed the window, it was obvious they were driving away. And then there were the photos that made Josh suck in his breath. Pictures of the black Suburban, flipped over, flame visible on the undercarriage. More photos of the top of the vehicle crushed against the ground, blood flowing out the broken window to pool in the hot sand. And finally were the photos that Josh could barely tolerate to look at, pictures of Donna, eyes closed, hanging upside down, various cuts bleeding on her face. More photos followed of rescue personnel hauling large saws to cut the vehicle apart. Paramedics lifting out the passengers of the doomed Suburban. Photos of body bags being carried away on stretchers. Photos of Donna and other survivors being put into ambulances and rushed away. Photos of the other politicians wandering around in shock, surveying the remains of the crushed Suburban. Josh recognized most of them and he managed to pick out Andi, talking on a cell phone. Josh realized that during this moment captured on film, halfway around the world, he had just found out the information that would permanently change his life for the foreseeable future.
After gaining control of the emotions that had overwhelmed him Josh managed to say, "These are very good, you're very talented."
"Thank you."
"I'm just going to take this one," Josh said, lifting up a photograph of Donna smiling directly at the camera, "but you can give copies of all these photographs to any of the networks."
Colin nodded as he took back the envelope. Silence reigned as both men contemplated their own thoughts.
"How long are you staying?" Josh asked, breaking the overbearing quiet.
"I have to leave in two days. Should be long enough to confirm that she's all right. Then I have to go back to Gaza, I get paid for taking pictures down there, not in a hospital in Germany."
Josh nodded. He opened his mouth to say something but stopped when he say the surgeon approaching them.
"How is she?" he asked.
"She's fine, she made it through the surgery," both Josh and Colin sighed with relief at the news the surgeon relayed. "However," the doctor added, "We did have to intubate her to help her breathe. Thankfully, there was no damage to the lung tissue but she's not quite strong enough to breathe on her own yet."
"What about her heart?" Josh asked anxiously, "Did the clot move? Did it do any damage to her heart?"
"No, it remained in her lungs and we were able to remove it without damaging any tissue. Also, when she wakes up, she'll be glad to know that she'll have no scar tissue on her chest. The doctor who closed her up studied to be a plastic surgeon at one time. When he saw her skin he didn't want to ruin it so he used a particular type of stitch that will result in no or very small scars."
Josh smiled and laughed lightly, "No damage to her alabaster skin."
"None," the doctor said, smiling also.
"Can we see her?" Josh asked.
"Yes, but she may not wake up for up to several days. She has suffered two severe traumas in a very short period and her body may not be too fond of consciousness at the moment. It would be perfectly normal if she were not to wake up for a week."
Josh looked stunned but then shook his head and asked, "How long will she be intubated?"
"Until she wakes up or until it becomes evident that she will be able to breathe on her own."
"Thanks doctor," Josh said over his shoulder as he hurried back to Donna's room.
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Josh stood, staring at Donna. She had looked frail before but now she looked so unbelievably vulnerable, hooked up to the large machine that was currently breathing for her. In his mind he sent out a quick thank you to whatever power that had returned Donna to him. He was just about to take a seat next to her bed when a nurse approached him.
"Mr. Lyman?"
"Yes?"
"There's a woman downstairs who's looking for you. She says her name is Mrs. Moss. Would that be Donna Moss' mother?"
"Yes it would. I'll go get her, thanks."
With one last glance over his shoulder, Josh went to get Donna's mother. As he walked away he fought away the fear that when he returned Donna would once again be gone.
TBC...