I first open my eyes at 6. I'm not surprised. My body is used to getting up at the same time every day even if it is after only four hours of sleep. I roll over and snuggle with Donna and close my eyes again, hoping for a little more rest.
Now, its almost 7:30. That's about five and a half hours sleep. Not too bad. I'll take that hour and a half bonus. I should get up for my 8a.m. meeting with Ron, but since its just in the basement, I can lay here a little longer and enjoy having Donna in my arms and spend a little time thinking about yesterday.
It was truly an amazing day- definitely top 5. Right up there with our Wedding and Honeymoon, I'm sure it will drop in standing once we have kids. Speaking of which, I wonder if we conceived. That would be pretty cool. We could have a baby by fall. The thought brings a smile to my face. A year ago I'd never have expected to feel this way. Things were pretty dismal. What a difference a year can make!
I run my hand down Donna's hair lightly. I don't want to wake her. She really needs a full night sleep and I'd sort of like to meet with Ron without her for a little while. When I made an appointment for 8am I was pretty sure she'd still be asleep. I leave her a note, just in case, and head down to the basement.
"Thanks for meeting with me so early after last nights activities." I tell Ron.
"This is what I do."
"I just feel bad for pulling you away from your home on a Sunday."
"I mean this is what I do, Josh. My kids are grown and my wife has been gone for quite a while. This is what I do."
Ah. I didn't know that. In a way I feel worse. But it does explain why it seems like he's always here.
"So, Josh, why did you want to meet this morning without Donna?" Ron looks at me like he already knows the answer.
"What did you mean yesterday when you said 'I didn't see what she was like after Rosslyn?'"
People don't talk to me about Rosslyn. Even the name is rarely mentioned in my presence, and I'll be honest. I'm kind of curious. Ron looks at me evenly. I feel like he's taking measure of my frame of mind. I guess he decides that I'm ready to hear this because he begins talking.
"Do you know that she watched your surgery?"
"Yes, she said that Dr. Bartlet was able to take her into an observation room they use for students."
"Donna was practically catatonic in the waiting room. Dr. Bartlet just wanted her to be able to see you. To see that you were still alive. But once they let her into the observation room, she wouldn't leave. She stood there, not moving, for twelve hours. She wouldn't eat, wouldn't drink, wouldn't sleep. It was like she believed that she could keep you alive by sheer force of will."
Maybe she did, I think to myself. God, I hate to think about what she was going through. But Ron's not done yet.
"When the surgery was done and they wheeled you out of the OR, she turned to Dr. Bartlet and said 'What's next?' Dr. Bartlet said you'd be in recovery for several hours. She gave Donna a choice- either eat something and rest or be sedated with an IV. At first Donna refused, she said 'I'll eat when he can,' but Dr. Bartlet convinced her that she had to eat and sleep or she wouldn't be able to take care of you. She told Donna that it would be bad for your recovery if you were worried about her. That's what finally got through to her. Dr. Bartlet pulled some strings to get Donna access to a family overnight room. While you were in recovery, she took a four hour nap. Then she took a shower and changed. Then they allowed her to sit beside you in ICU. As one of my agents put it, 'she resumed her vigil.' She didn't leave your side until your Mom got there. The ICU only allowed one visitor at a time, so your Mom was able to convince Donna to take a few rest breaks. "
"It's funny. I know that my Mom was there too, but I remember that Donna was always there. Every time I woke up she was there."
"Was she sleeping?" He asks me, although I know he knows the answer.
"Not usually."
"Did you ever see her eating?"
"No. Not until I was finally allowed solids." I'm starting to "see" what they saw, but Ron's still getting me up to speed.
"Donna didn't leave the hospital the first week. When Dr. Bartlet noticed that Donna was losing weight she started literally forcing Donna to drink a protein shake or eat something in her presence. Dr. Bartlet is the one who insisted on an extra agent on your detail then. One to follow Donna any time she left your room. It wasn't often. Once you went home, things got a little better and a little worse. She was eating a little more, because she was bringing you food. But since you were alert enough to want to work, she was going back and forth between your home and your office, to keep it running and to bring things back to you. That's when we assigned her a driver as well. We told her it was part of your detail, and technically it was. Donna was managing your recovery and your office on very little sleep and very little food. It really wasn't safe for her to be driving. Someone had to watch out for her. We all just expected her to drop one day, but she just kept going. I've never seen anyone as strong as her. I still don't know how she did it, but I do know one thing. Donna Moss can do anything that she sets her mind to."
"Donna Moss Lyman," I say automatically even as I nod my head in agreement. She really is capable of anything. Ron's mouth quirks up.
"Yes. We are all glad you finally got that sorted out."
"Thanks for watching out for her, Ron."
"Our pleasure. I only told you all this so you would understand, Donna has a special place in my heart, as well as the hearts of all the agents that know her. I promise you, we'll do everything we can to keep her safe. In any scenario, we'll err on the side of protection."
"Okay, then we are in complete agreement about that. So, where are we in the investigation?"
"Well, I have some disturbing news. The analyst reviewing Donna's email found one that had gone to her Spam folder unopened. It's a scan of your wedding announcement with a red "x" through it. The text of the email is: "How could you do that?" It still doesn't rise to the level of a direct threat. But, it changes the tone of the situation. Before, it was possible that this was still just an enthusiatic fan, now at best case it's a disgruntled fan. We call it escalation. We are treating this as a stalker situtation."
"So what do we do now?" I had just convinced myself not to worry about the emails, but this new one definitely has me worried. A red "x" is not a good sign. I'm trying very hard not to let my brain remind me that for a very long time I denied how I felt about her in order to keep her safe.
"We anticipate some sort of response to the fact that she didn't wear a red dress to the balls. The type of response might tell us whether this person attended one of the balls in person or whether he or she is getting all the information from media. We are still working on a suspect list."
"Including Todd?" It actually seems less likely to be him now that our Wedding Announcement is involved. That means there is no confusion between Donna and Ainsley. That should make Sam happy.
"Yes, of course, but we are not jumping to conclusions. What I'd like to do now is send a team over to your apartment to determine what security measures we need to take there. Then I'd like you and Donna to come back and meet with me again to go over the Security Detail and whatever new information we have. Okay? How about 2 o'clock?"
"Okay. Thanks, Ron."
I was planning to go get the newspapers from the West Wing, but instead I head straight for the stairs. I just want to be with Donna. I really hope she's still in bed so that I can just slip in beside her and hold her in my arms for a while.