I'm still working on an update to Love & War (and possibly a one shot I can't stop thinking about), but in the meantime, here's the latest chapter of Stay With Me. It's a shorter chapter, but was another one that I'd be looking forward to writing. As always, thanks for the support and encouragement. I'm thrilled how much people are enjoying my first fanfic!

...

Chapter Seven

Mike pushed open the door of the ICU that night after work and the first thing he noticed was that Harvey wasn't there. Instead it was Louis who was sitting by Donna, a book in his hand. As Mike neared her bed, the sound of Louis's voice as he read greeted him.

"From women's eyes this doctrine I derive;

They sparkle still the right Promethean fire,

They are the books, the arts, the academes,

That show, contain and nourish all the world,

Else none at all in aught proves excellent."

As Mike reached the foot of her bed, Louis smiled and paused in his reading. Seeing Mike's puzzled face, he held up the book. "Shakespeare. Love's Labour's Lost. I ran out of things to say to her, so I thought I'd read to her for a while. I usually know the Bard's words by heart, but I found I needed a bit of help tonight."

Mike smiled. "It's been a long couple of days. You're doing well to be as awake as you are. I know I'm starting to struggle." He took the seat next to Louis. "Hi Donna. It's Mike." He looked around the unit, before turning back to his friend. "Where's Harvey?"

Louis smiled. "His mother convinced him to go home for a while. Said he wouldn't be any use to Donna, if he could barely function. He's been gone a few hours, but I assume he'll be back before morning."

Nodding, Mike sat forward in his seat and breathed out. "I went to the police station."

"Mike….." The concern was clear on Louis's face. It was bad enough that Harvey was not thinking clearly; the last thing they needed was Mike doing something reckless.

"Don't worry, they didn't let me anywhere near him Louis."

"Well I just hope the same goes for Harvey, if he gets the same idea. Did they give you any more information?"

Mike shook his head. "The detectives weren't there and the desk clerk was in no mood to help me out."

The two continued to talk until Mike looked at the clock. "I can't stay. Rachel's taken this pretty hard. We're going to her parents for dinner to try and take her mind off everything. Even Robert Zane is trying to be pleasant to me again. You staying?"

Louis gave him a quick nod. "I'll wait for her parents to come back. Plus, we still have the final act of the play to read."

Mike laid his hand on Louis's shoulder. His respect for his often-eccentric friend had grown so much over the last few days. "I'll see you tomorrow Louis." As Mike walked away, Louis picked up his book, opened it and squeezing Donna's hand, continued to read.

…..

The following morning Louis arrived at the office before anyone else. He'd always enjoyed the hours before the working day began, when he could work in peace, without the phone ringing or the chatter of colleagues in the corridor, but even this was early for him.

As he crossed his office to his desk, an unexpected voice made him jump. "If you've always got in at this time Louis, I finally understand how you billed all those hours!"

He turned towards his couch to see Harvey lying across it; feet crossed over one end, arms crossed behind his head. Louis leaned against his desk and regarded him. "I didn't expect to see you here Harvey." He looked him up and down. "You look better than you did yesterday."

His friend sat up on the couch. "My mom practically force fed me dinner and ordered me to bed. It was like being ten years old again." The small smile on his face told Louis that Harvey hadn't really minded this one bit. He came and sat next to him and asked if he'd spoken to the hospital.

"She had a good night. They've started weaning her off the ventilator. There's a chance they'll try and take her off it altogether later today." The relief was evident on both their faces.

"You've done an incredible job Louis, keeping things going. I checked my emails. I don't think my workload has ever been this orderly."

"Well, you have Mike and Rachel to thank for most of that." He nodded and they sat in silence for a while. "You sleep at all?"

Harvey looked up at him. "I honestly don't know. Maybe. I just kept thinking about her. About the last time I spoke to her before….." He paused briefly, scratching the back of his head. "She isn't happy Louis. I think she feels she wasted her life."

"On you?"

Harvey gave a short snort of a laugh at Louis's bluntness. "Yeah. She never intended to stay you know? I was the stop-gap on the road to her glittering acting career. That was her dream."

He stood up at that and paced the room, stopping as his eyes caught the image of Donna on stage on Louis's desk. His friend followed his eye line to the photograph. Before he could say anything, Harvey moved to leave. "I should get back to the hospital."

Louis felt for Harvey; seeing how much guilt he harboured on so many levels. "I don't believe she regrets her choices Harvey….. She loves you."

…..

The next few days passed along with everyone settling in to a new routine, taking it in turns to visit the hospital after work; keeping an eye on both Donna and Harvey. Work continued, but at the edge of everyone's mind was the knowledge that news of Donna could come at any point, good or bad.

As it hit a week since that night, Harvey was in his usual seat. He looked across the unit at Bill, who gave him a small wave as Martha slept. They were hoping to move her to a general ward over the next few days. They'd shared many chats over the last week and Harvey was going to miss him. He looked at the books on Donna's bedside table and smiled.

"Louis is making impressive progress Donna. I have no idea how much Shakespeare wrote, but it looks as though he's well on his way to reading them all to you! I'm definitely not going to try and compete with that!"

He ran his fingers through her hair. It had lost some of its vibrancy over the week, but it didn't matter to him. He smiled at how peaceful she looked. Without the tube from the ventilator, he tried to pretend she was simply sleeping. As had happened more than once recently, that thought sent his mind back in to his memories; to the sun coming through her curtains, bringing out all the colours in her hair against her pillows as she slept next to him. God, she'd looked so beautiful. He remembered turning on his side to stare at her until her voice had brought him back to reality, "You like what you see Mister?"

He shook the memories away yet again and brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. "Please wake up Donna. I miss you." Sitting back in his chair he closed his eyes, allowing the rhythm of the monitors to lull him to sleep.

…..

The night shift was still on duty in the ICU, so he knew it was still the early hours of the morning, when he opened his eyes a few hours later. It took him a couple of seconds to realise what had woken him – the weak pressure he felt against his fingers. He sat forward in the chair, holding her hand more securely in his.

"Donna?" He watched her hand as it slowly squeezed his own. It took his breath away.

He leaned closer to her, his eyes darting between her hand and her face. "Donna?" It came out as half a question, half a plea.

Her eyelids started to flutter and he felt the tears come to his eyes. "Come back to me Donna. I'm here." She made a quiet murmur and he pulled his chair as close to the bed as he could. Please God.

Her eyes opened a little, as if it was too much effort to open them fully. It was the most incredible sight he'd ever witnessed. "Hey," he murmured, a broad smile on his face.

It seemed to take all her energy to keep her eyes open, as she followed the sound of his voice and finally focussed on his face. "Harvey?" It came out as a whisper.

Words failed him for a few seconds, as the emotional weight of the last week seemed to catch up with him. He moved from the chair and perched on the side of her bed, holding her hand in his. "I'm here Donna."

She closed her eyes for a few seconds before opening them again, finding the strength the speak. "Hi…"

He felt the tears fall, but he couldn't give a damn, as he gave her a warm smile. "Hey there. Welcome back." She squeezed his hand gently and wet her dry lips. "Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital, but everything will be okay now." Donna's eyes squeezed together then, a frown forming. "The man…..at the office….he…"

Harvey leant forward. "Don't think about that now. You need to rest."

She looked in to his eyes again and he could see her fear. "Everything's going to be alright," he whispered softly. She gave him a small smile. "You look tired."

He laughed lightly at that; she was still trying to read him even now. "I've been a little distracted."

She gave a quiet grown and closed her eyes again.

"I'm going to get the nurse, okay?"

With that, he slipped off her bed and crossed the room to the nurses' station, explaining that Donna was awake. "I think she's in pain." He stood back as one of the nurses tended to Donna, asking her a couple of questions and updating her charts. "I'll be back in one minute with something to help her sleep."

As he waited for the nurse to come back, Harvey perched on her bed again. "I'm tired." He smiled at her. "I know. They'll give you something so you can get some rest."

She reached for his hand and he took hers, drawing circles around her palm with his finger. The nurse reappeared and told Donna he'd give her a small dose of morphine for the pain. "It'll help you sleep for a little while too Donna."

The drug seemed to take effect almost instantly, as her eyelids started to droop. "Harvey?...Stay with me?..."

He swallowed back his emotions, as he continued to hold her hand. "I'm not going anywhere Donna. Just sleep now."

After she'd closed her eyes, he listened to her breathing even out, before softly kissing her forehead.

…..

Harvey continued to sit on the bed; long enough to be sure the painkillers had taken effect and Donna was asleep, a small smile on his face, before standing up and slipping out of the ICU to call her parents. After ending that call, he eased himself down in to a chair in the corridor and called the first person he wanted to share the news with.

"Harvey…?" Being the middle of the night, the voice that greeted him was groggy and he felt a little guilty for calling until he remembered the reason for it.

"She's awake Louis." Saying it out loud to his friend made it seem much more real. Louis remained silent for a few more seconds before responding. "Is she alright?" Harvey could hear the emotion in his voice and was pleased he'd been able to give him this news.

"They gave her something to help her sleep. She was drowsy and in some pain, but I think she's going to be okay."

He smiled as he said it. "I'll let you sleep too Louis. I just wanted to let you know. Figured we all needed some good news."

"Thanks for calling me Harvey. Does Mike know?"

"He's my next call."

After hanging up with Louis, Harvey took a deep breath. He leant forward in the chair, taking a few minutes to try and get his emotions in check, but all the fear and worry he'd been suppressing hit him all at once and he started to cry with relief. It took him by surprise, but he surrendered to it. She's going to be okay. He repeated it over and over in his head like a mantra, until he was calm enough to pick up his phone again and call Mike, who was almost as emotional to hear the news as Harvey was telling him.

…..

Thanks again for reading! Hope you enjoyed this latest, shorter instalment. Plus thanks to Louis I was able to include a small extract from one of my favourite speeches in Shakespeare! As I'm currently in bed with a cold, I have plenty of time to write, so I'll aim to get something else up soon! Thanks of being such a supportive bunch! :)