Donna woke the next morning when the sunlight began bleeding through her curtains. She stirred a bit, her surroundings were still unfamiliar, but at least the pounding had subsided in her head. Concentrating, she recalled a few of the events from the night prior. She was in a hospital. Yes, that was it. But why? What happened? The last thing Donna could remember was leaving her shift at the restaurant and driving to the apartment she'd shared with Mark. Was she in a car accident? And where was Mark? He must be worried sick that she didn't come home last night.

She began to inspect her body. Though she was weak and tired, there were no other signs of an accident. No bruising, no cuts and scrapes. And why did she look so thin?

Fumbling around a bit she hit the call button and the nurse from the night before appeared. "Hi Donna," she began with a chipper smile. "I'm glad you're awake. How are you feeling this morning?"

"Not too bad," Donna decided, not elaborating on her confusion any further at the moment. "Could I possibly trouble you for a glass of water," Donna requested.

"Certainly." Stacy poured her some water, found a straw and sat down beside her. "The shift is going to change and I'm going home in about thirty minutes," Stacy told her. "Karen will be your nurse today, and I'll be back this evening. I just wanted to let you know. I'm sure it's difficult to be meeting all of these new people. I'll peek in and introduce her before I leave, but Mr. Lyman is always here during shift change."

"He... is?" Donna was perplexed.

Stacy nodded her head affirmatively. "Comes in every morning on his way to work and has breakfast with you. Then he stops on his way home and sits with you. That's usually pretty late though. He keeps long hours."

"Oh." She was even more confused. Who was this guy?

"Where is everyone else," Donna asked quietly. She didn't know who else to talk to, so she was going to trust Stacy. "Where's Mark? Is he on call? And my parents?"

"I'm not sure who Mark is, sweetie. I just know Mr. Lyman. Sometimes Ms. Cregg comes too," she offered.

Donna wasn't sure who Ms. Cregg was but she made a mental note to remember the name.

She looked around the room. It didn't appear to be a regular hospital room. "Who are those flowers from," she asked, noting two colorful vases.

"Mr. Lyman brings you flowers on Mondays and Thursdays," she told her. "The man is a creature of habit."

As if on cue, Josh fumbled through the doorway, his hands full. "Good Morning," he grinned at her, glad to see he was awake. Though he was essentially a stranger to her she felt herself drawn to his smile, which was now revealing full dimples. She couldn't help but notice how rumpled he looked first thing in the morning.

"Hi," she offered shyly as he walked over towards her, sitting a few things down on a table which he rolled over to her.

"These are for you," he began, switching out some of the more tired blooms in a vase by her bed for a fresh bouquet of brightly colored blooms. He then sat down a cup, "London Fog," he noted, sliding it towards her, "and a croissant," he handed her a small white pastry bag.

"How are you feeling," he asked, procuring a doughnut of some kind out of the small bag and popping the lid off of a coffee that looked to be more cream and sugar than anything else.

"Fine," I told him, unsure of what in the hell was going on.

"So, umm... Josh, right?" He'd introduced himself to me as Josh last night, I was fairly sure.

He looked at me and hesitantly nodded his head.

"You know I like London fogs?"

He laughed. "I do. You drink them on special occasions. And I, Donna, am a man of occasion."

"What are we celebrating," she asked.

"You," he shot her another dimpled grin and she felt herself blush. "You're awake," he told her.

"Oh, well, that's very nice of you," she hedged. "But you don't have to stay. I'm sure Mark will be right up. Has someone called him?"

Josh let out a deep sigh and sat his coffee cup down on the bedside table. "Donna," he began gently. "You were in an accident, and you hit your head. You don't seem to be remembering everything clearly. You're not in Madison, okay?" He stopped to see if she was comprehending what he told her. "You're in Washington DC, where you live." He lightly touched her hand for support.

"I- what?" She looked so confused, his heart ached for her.

"You seem to be... forgetful." He didn't want to freak her out.

"Are you saying I have some kind of... of... amnesia?!" Donna jerked her hand back, not sure if she could trust him.

He tried to pretend the sudden loss of physical contact with her didn't matter to him. "It may just be temporary," he told her. "Dr. Benson, your neurologist, would like to run a few tests if that's okay with you."

Donna blinked a few times, shocked at what she was hearing.

"Donna, yesterday they asked you what year it was," he continued gently. "Do you know what year it is?"

No matter how difficult they had to continue with their conversation. He'd talked to Dr. Benson on the way in this morning and they'd agreed that Josh could be the one to tell her what had happened. Josh didn't want her to hear it from a stranger though right now he was realizing that he, too, was a stranger to her.

"It's 1997," she told him.

"Donna, it's 2002."

"Wh-what? No. You're wrong. I was driving home from work last night and I must have wrecked my car. I- someone told me I was in an accident. Where is my car? Where's Mark? He's going to be furious."

"Donna, listen to me," he spoke with more force this time, needing to pull her out of her runaway emotions. "You and Mark didn't work out. You left him."

"I- oh. But... why?"

Josh sighed. "I don't know all the details, but you haven't seen him in almost 5 years."

She looked as though she'd just been slapped. Her chin began to quiver and she felt a panic growing inside of her. Josh senses it and continued.

"You have an amazing life, Donna," he told her. "You've accomplished so much and you have done so well for yourself. You're happy. And you have so many people who care about you and are going to help you get through this."

"Thank you," she muttered. "So if Mark isn't here, are my parents?" She was hopeful for a familiar face. A face she remembered.

Josh looked away from her. "No, they're not here right now. Just, um, just me."

"Oh. Well where are they?"

"In Wisconsin," he told her. "They- you-" he sighed. "You aren't so close to them anymore. But I'm sure they'll be thrilled to hear how well you're doing. And that you're awake. I've been keeping them updated," he told her. Well, as updated as he could keep two moderately indifferent people.

She nodded her head. "So, you... you were here last night?"

"I was," he nodded.

"And Stacy told me you come twice a day."

He nodded, smiling sheepishly. He wasn't going to advertise that but yes, he had been.

"And it's 2002. And I live in Washington DC," she got teary again. "And I don't know anyone and everyone I love is in Wisconsin. And I can't remember the last five years."

Now she was full on crying and Josh panicked. He moved towards her, which seemed to make her all the more uncomfortable. "Would you like me to call a nurse," he offered.

"No," she shook her head. "I have a few more questions."

"Okay, that's good," Josh told her sitting on the side of her bed but allowing her ample space.

"Will you tell me about my life? Do I have a boyfriend? Or kids? What do I do for a living?"

"You're the Deputy Deputy Chief of Staff," Josh shot her a smirk. "And you're damn good at it."

"Okay..."

"You're not seeing anyone at the moment. You've dated a few local gom-" he stopped himself short, not wanting to tease her right now. "A few local guys but nothing incredibly serious. You work a lot, your job is very demanding," he laughed.

"Oh," she seemed almost disappointed. Trying to wrap her mind around it all, she changed the subject. "So, Josh, how long have you been working here?"

"What?" His eyebrows shot up.

"And do you always bring your patients breakfast, or just the most pathetic ones," she added.

His heart sank yet again. "You're not pathetic, Donna, and don't ever say that about yourself again. And I don't work here."

"You don't? Then why are you here every day?"

"To visit you."

"Oh... Kay..."

"And what do you do?"

"I'm the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President."

"Oh my god," she pulled the covers up over herself, embarrassed. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Lyman. I'm your secretary and- I didn't know. And I've been crying and, oh god."

Josh laughed. "Slow down there, Donnatella. First of all, you just call me Josh. And second- it's not like that. We're friends. Very close friends. You're not my secretary, you're my other half. I want you to remember that. You have done amazing things over the last years- you've made huge pieces of legislation possible, you helped get a good man elected, and you've improved so many people's lives, just to name a few."

"How did I get a job like that," she wondered if this was all a mistake- or a fever dream for that matter.

Josh gladly explained her arrival in New Hampshire and time on the campaign. He told her he'd found her valuable and hired her when they won the White House. He answered all of her subsequent questions and she was quiet for a moment.

"Maybe that's enough for today," he told her. "But you have an appointment at the hospital for a scan this afternoon. I can take you but I understand if you're not comfortable with that."

She squirmed a bit. She really wasn't but she didn't know what choice she had. She shrugged her shoulders.

"I can bring CJ, if that would help," he offered. "She's your closest friend."

"Umm... I'm not sure."

"She can't wait to see you," he offered. "Everyone is going to be so excited to hear that you're awake."

"Oh. Well, okay," she consented. "Wait, if I'm not in a hospital, where am I?"

"You're in a rehab facility in Georgetown," he explained.

"And how long have I been, you know... out?"

Josh looked away for a minute and then back to her. "136 days."

OoooooooO

137 days Prior-

"Just stay here."

"No."

"Come on, it's late. Besides, you don't even have a bed at your place anymore."

Josh, Donna and Sam had spent the day moving Donna's things into Josh's storage space. The lease was up on her old apartment and she was going to sublet a new place. Due to a 1 day gap between leases, she was intending to crash at Josh's tomorrow and move her things in the coming weekend.

"I have to go. I still have a few things to clean up and if I don't go now I'll never get to them."

"It's late," Josh wined from the couch. "And I don't, you know, like it, when you're wandering around late at night in that neighborhood."

Contrary to public opinion, Josh wasn't that far in denial. He knew most people didn't do that for their assistant. But Donna wasn't just his assistant. And he'd hoped, now that they had just won reelection, that he could finally be honest with her. They had a quiet mutual understanding of their feelings, both waiting for the right moment. Tomorrow, he hoped, would be the right moment. Josh has all the plans made- he was going to woo her. And with any luck she wouldn't be moving out of his guest room in 2 days.

"Josh, I have to go. Debates over." They'd spent the evening buried in the highways bill and she'd lost track of time.

"Fine," Josh relented, getting up and pulling on his shoes.

"Where are you going," Donna eyeballed him as she pulled her coat on.

"I'm following you home," he stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Make sure you get there okay."

She sighed. He did this from time to time. If you looked up 'worry' in the dictionary there would be a photo of Josh Lyman.

"Fine." She could get home on her own, but it was wasn't worth the fight that night. And, if she would admit it to herself, she found Josh's overbearing protection normal and, though moderately annoying, it was also somewhat comforting. It was Josh. It was just who he was.

They walked out to their cars and Josh followed her across town. Turning right into her neighborhood she never even saw the truck run the red light and hit her car at full speed.

But only a few feet behind her, Josh saw it all.