He could see her hand, but couldn't reach it. He knew it deep in his heart that she was alive. If only his arms were a little longer...if he could stretch just a bit farther, at least she would know he was there...that everything would be all right.
Those were the thoughts that ran through Josh's mind as he lay in the rubble of what had been the West Wing of the White House. The acrid smoke continued to fill the air, and each breath Josh took burned all the way through his body. His head ached and somewhere in the back of his mind he felt a familiar tightness in his chest. None of that mattered right now. He had to get to her before he lost her for good.
What had happened? Josh remembered returning to his office after watching the Independence Day fireworks with the first family on the balcony of the residence. There were a few minor details he wanted to iron out before his meeting with the budget committee in the morning. Donna had been there waiting for him. She looked just as beautiful as the day she had begun working for him. He stood in the doorway of his office, and watched as she busied herself with tidying his office. He loved her from that very first day. Perhaps he had been in the process of making the decision to tell her that very thing when the blast occurred. From what Josh could decipher, from his fleeting memory, the explosion had occurred somewhere outside of the bullpen, maybe the oval office, and ripped through the surrounding areas.
Josh lifted his head and tried to get a sense of what was around him. Everywhere he looked he saw pieces of what once was his office and the bullpen. Sparks and smoke shot out from several of the computers and other electrical equipment that had filled the offices.
"Donna!", he had bellowed earlier that day. "Donna! Where's the thing for the thing I have this afternoon?"
"On your desk!", she had yelled only two inches away from his ear.
"Ouch! Why are you yelling in my ear?"
"Do we really have to play this game every single day?", she whined half-heartedly. Truth be told, he knew Donna loved the banter that routinely went on between the two of them. Sometimes it was the only reason he got up in the morning to come to work.