Josh's recovery was progressing as well as could be expected and he was moved from the ICU to a regular room, Donna toting all of their belongings and following closely behind as he was wheeled along by a nurse.

"Whatcha doin?" She hopped onto the side of his bed as Josh occupied the chair in his room, a last ditch effort to lighten his mood with some playful conversation. He'd been growing increasingly agitated every day that he was confined to bed. She'd banned work, the majority of the sections in newspapers and all of the major news networks to keep his blood pressure down and he wasn't taking it so well.

He mumbled something under his breath. It was going to be one of those days.

"Breathing exercises?" Even if the conversation was one sided she was going to continue.

"This thing doesn't even work!"

She furrowed her brow. "What do you mean it doesn't work."

"It's stuck," he gestured to the small blue ball in the spirometer.

"Josh," she hopped down and moved to perch on the ottoman. "You have to do the breathing exercises." She rest her hand on his knee.

"I am, Donna," he snapped. "This damn thing is broken." Josh threw the spirometer into his lap and leaned his head back against his chair. "You try it."

Donna eyed him closely. She knew he needed a little motivation. She carefully picked it up, taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling, watching the device's marker move up with her strong breath.

He gaped at her.

"What?" She shrugged her shoulders. "Were you expecting me to let you win?"

"Well, I..." Truth be told, he kind of was.

She shot him a mischievous grin. "You've got to get your lung capacity up, Josh, and I'm going to make sure you do. How else are you going to yell at rogue Senators? And though I can think of one sure fire way to get you breathing a little harder I'm thinking your cardiologist wouldn't approve of that activity at this point."

His jaw dropped, his eyes widening as his eyebrows shot up. Was she implying... she was. He couldn't believe it. That wasn't like Donna. Josh was rendered speechless.

"So keep working on your spirometer," she continued, never missing a beat. "Leo's here to see you so I'll be down the hall."

He continued to stare at her. She was so nonchalant about it. Maybe, he thought, she was just trying to get a reaction out of him. Yes, that was it. But he had to hand it to her- It had worked.

OooooooooO

"Look, Doc, I feel like things are pretty under control here," Josh tried to keep a level tone as he spoke to Dr. Wilson prior to being taken to his first session of physical therapy. "So the real question is when can I go home?"

Donna tried to maintain a neutral face, but she had to fight urge to ask Josh if he was talking about someone else. He thought he was ready to go home?

"Well," Dr. Wilson hedged, "I will say you're recovering well, but we need you to heal internally a bit more before we can send you home, Mr. Lyman. We need to see some increased mobility as well as continued consistency in your heart rate and blood pressure. Your incisions look good overall and we can set up a nurse to change your bandages. It will be a relatively minor part of your recovery once your home. We will also need you to switch to solid foods and have a BM before you are discharnged." Dr. Wilson scribbled a few notes onto a clipboard.

"BM?" Josh was confused.

"Bowl Movement," Dr. Wilson responded.

Josh flushed, visibly embarrassed. "Oh God, I'm sorry I asked."

"And how long should we expect for all of those items to be checked off of the list," Donna asked, jotting something down on her own note pad.

"Donna!" Josh was beyond exasperated. "Can we not, you know, discuss this? Maybe there should be a little bit of mystery left between us." He looked anywhere but at her, though he did glance over out of the corner of his eye. "Are you taking notes on this?! Donna, I beg you, stop taking notes."

"Oh get over it, Joshua," she told him. "Everybody poops."

"If everyone can please… Just. Stop. Talking." Josh whined.

"Stop talking about what," Ava Lyman wandered in, looking around at the room's occupants.

"Oh God," Josh groaned, turning his focus to Dr. Wilson. "Any chance you can just sedate me again?"

Dr. Wilson cracked a smile before leaving his patient with the two women in his life. "Now where's the fun in that?"

OoooooooO

A somewhat sweaty, somewhat pale, and completely irritated Josh climbed back onto his hospital bed after his first day of PT.

Donna had been assured that while this was a very light session, an intro, really, Josh would be exhausted due to the sedentary nature of his recovery to date.

Well, he was definitely cranky. There was no denying that.

"Take those cuffs off," he instructed, moving his ankles a bit to try and escape the pressure cuffs that were clearly bugging him.

Donna shot him a glare. There's no way.

"They bother me," he halfway barked. Josh seemed like he was at his breaking point with being confined to bed. "Joshua! Do we even need to say the word pulmonary embolism," Donna scolded, trying to keep her voice down in case his mother was within ear shot. "They can come off when you're mobile. And to walk around you need strength, so start eating," she told him, instinctively moving to his feet and beginning to lightly massage his legs as she lightened her tone of voice. "You did great today. You'll be out of here soon."

He muttered something under his breath, clearly thinking I couldn't hear him. Something about being stuck in a rehab facility.

Donna said nothing at first, unsure if she wanted to broach the topic at this point. Josh let out a little sigh of contentment, his eyes beginning to flutter closed as she worked her way up his legs, relieving some of the soreness brought on by the morning's PT session. She continued to move up, he hands working over his knees as he let out a groan as her fingers hit his inner thigh.

"So," she began, "I think we should start to talk about what's going to happen when you leave the hospital."

"Hmmph." The annoyance was back.

"You'll be home in a few days, Josh, so I've found a home healthcare company who will send a nurse to your apartment."

"Donna-" Josh began to whine in protest.

"Joshua!" She didn't care if she was snippy, she needed to make sure he had the best care possible. "I can't do it all on my own. I'll be there but you're still going to need specialized care. And your mother is trying but she's exhausted, too. Can we please just agree that you'll see how it goes?" Donna was on the brink of tears.

He froze, watching her stare off into space. He could see the water pooling in her eyes. He had no idea she was this bent out of shape. He didn't mean to cause her any additional stress- he just wasn't exactly looking forward to having a stranger in his home to care for him. "Wait," he furrowed his brow, his brain replaying their conversation. "Did you say you'll be there?"

She gave him a hesitant glance. "Well, yes. Unless you don't want me to. I mean I can find someone full time to..."

"No," he cut her off. "I'd like it to be you. I'd like for you to be... you know... around."

She gave him a weak smile and continued to rub his thighs, a satisfied grin plastered on his face. "Getting a little handsy there, Donnatella," he quipped, the hint of an amused smirk finally making an appearance on his face. "Not that I mind..."

Only then did she realize how far north her hands had drifted, stilling her motions before giving him a little pinch for the sarcasm. "I'm sure you don't," she volleyed back.

Even though he was talking and joking around with her, she could tell he was fighting sleep.

"Get some rest," she told him.

OooooooooO

"CJ?" Donna stood in the kitchen a waited for a response, tossing her keys down on the counter. She hadn't been back to their apartment in a week, and frankly the hospital was beginning to feel more like home. "Ceej," she called again. "You home?"

When there was no response Donna grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and made her way to her bedroom and took a long, hot shower. She stood under the water, letting her muscles loosen up and trying to wash away the last week.

She thought of him. She'd hated to leave but she knew she had to. He'd be okay, she told herself. The physicians and nurses at the hospital were fantastic. There really wasn't anything she could do for him that they couldn't, she assured herself. Yet she still felt uneasy about leaving.

He'd all but sent her home, snapping at her out of the blue while she was writing thank you notes for the endless flower arrangements he'd been receiving.

'Stop clicking your pen.' 'I can do things for myself.' 'Just leave me alone.' And finally, the fatal blow. 'Maybe you should just leave,' he'd told her.

That had stopped her dead in her tracks. She hadn't been able to cover her reaction, and he'd been easily able to tell he'd gotten to her, continuing on course. 'I don't need you to take care of me like I'm a child, Donna. I need some space. Just go home or something.'

At first she'd ignored him, his words out of character for the way he'd been so clingy over the last week. She thought he'd needed her. But he continued in that direction all afternoon, letting her know in no uncertain terms that he just needed some space. And so she, begrudgingly, had left for the night.

She hated it. As if her heart hadn't been broken enough in the last week, now she'd done something to make him push her away. She wasn't sure how long she'd been in the shower, tears of anger, frustration, hurt and despair that had built up over the last 7 days finally falling freely. It had to have been quite a while, she calculated, as the water was now running completely cold. She felt better for it though, she had to admit. Emotionally purged, to some extent.

Stepping out of the shower Donna dried off and wandered lazily into her bedroom, toweling her hair as she dug around for some comfortable clothes. It would be good to sleep in her own bed again.

She was interrupted by her ringing phone.

"Hello?" She didn't recognize the number.

"Donna? This is Ava Lyman..."

Donna froze, her muscles tensing. "What's wrong," she managed to choke out.

"Everything's going to be fine, dear," Ava hurriedly explained, understanding that Donna was likely expecting the worst. "He's just had a rough day. He's sore and uncomfortable and he's running a low grade fever, but I've been assured there's nothing to worry about."

The tension began to somewhat seep out of her once again, but she was still on edge.

"Can I talk to him," she asked somewhat timidly, already dressing with whatever she could find. She didn't think he'd want to speak to her, let alone see her, with the way they'd left things that afternoon but he didn't have to. It wouldn't stop her from sitting guard outside of his room.

"He's with the doctor now. He was uncomfortable but they're not crazy about upping his pain medication and he doesn't want to take a sleeping pill."

Donna sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. He hated sleeping pills. Any kind of medication, really, but if his body was going to heal he needed to get his rest. But after his words with her this afternoon she didn't think she could talk any sense into him.

"Donna," Ava began hesitantly, "he's been asking for you."

Donna momentarily clutched her heart. She was overwhelmed. He'd asked for her. He needed her and she wasn't there. In the blink of an eye she grabbed her keys and was out the door.

OooooooooO

Donna stepped quietly into the darkened hospital room, somewhat afraid of what she would find. Ava had been very tight lipped when she'd called.

Donna heard him breathe a sigh of relief as soon as she crossed the threshold. Though Josh wouldn't admit it, he'd been holding onto unfounded terror that she wouldn't come to him.

"Hey there," she shot him an easy smile, resting her hand on his knee. "How ya doin?"

He responded with the smallest shrug she'd ever seen- it was all he could muster. "Been better."

Donna knew she had her work cut out for her tonight. She sat her purse down and studied his face, trying to determine how she should approach this. He fidgeted with the slim wire of the electrodes still attached to his chest. His left leg squirmed around a bit under the covers. He was restless, she could easily see that.

"Are you sore?" She knew his first PT session had taken a lot out of him earlier, but she wasn't sure how much they had done.

He only grunted in response.

She handed him the small cup containing the sleeping pill the nurse had informed her he needed to take to get some rest and allow his fever to break. "Please," she whispered softly, causing him to immediately comply with her request.

"Roll onto your side," she told him.

He glanced sideways at her, clearly worried about moving off of his back and the potential pain that would bring to his sternum.

She placed her hand on his arm, coaxing him onto his side. "Dr. Wilson said you could try to lay on your right side for a short amount of time. If it's too uncomfortable you can move back to how you were."

He slowly moved to his right side, rolling onto a large pillow for support. She snaked her hand into the back of his gown, gently rubbing his back and shoulders. He let out a heavy sigh.

"That feels good," he told her softly.

"Just relax," she assured him. It was only a few more minutes before Josh was asleep. Donna eased him onto his back, pulling an extra blanket over him.

"Please don't leave," he whispered as he faded into a restless slumber.

"I'll be right here," she softly kissed his temple, mentally telling herself that she had to top doing that… eventually. "I'll always be here for you," she assured his sleeping form before crawling into the chair beside his bed.

TBC...