Josh tried to keep from panicking as he made his way through the surgical wing of the military hospital. He paused in front of each operating room window, frantically searching for Donna. His three-star general rank hadn't gotten him as much information as he was hoping for, but it had gotten him unlimited access to the hospital and he intended to use every ounce of that access to find out what was going on.

He nearly collided with Colonel Leahy - the doctor who had operated on Donna the first time - who was scrubbed and prepped for surgery and about to enter the operating room.

"Whoa whoa whoa, you can't go in there."

"What's -"

"There's been a complication. She's developed a pulmonary embolism. It's a -"

"Blood clot." Josh finished for him, turning pale. A blood clot just like the one that had killed his dad. Josh could feel his heart pounding and he fought the panic. Not Donna, too.

"We're trying to remove it now." Colonel Leahy explained as he hurried through the door where Josh could now see Donna lying on the table.

How could this have happened? He was just talking to her a couple hours ago. She was making jokes and worrying about Josh. She was fine, or as fine as she could be after nearly being blown up. And now they were cutting her open to remove a blood clot. Josh felt light headed and sick.

Knowing there was nothing left to do and that staying would only make him more queasy, Josh made his way back down the hall toward the waiting room. He needed to call Leo. He needed to call Donna's parents. He needed to call Toby and CJ and Sam. But the adrenaline and euphoria he had been feeling earlier had burned away to be replaced by exhaustion.

Josh hardly noticed when he stumbled into a tall figure carrying a canvas backpack.

"Where's Donna? She wasn't in her room and the attendant said . . ." Colin wore the same frantic look that Josh had worn only minutes before.

"She's going back into surgery. Something about a blood clot in her lungs."

"Is it serious?"

"I don't know"

"When will she be out of surgery?"

"I don't know"

"When did it happen?"

"Do I look like a doctor to you?!" Josh was losing his patience. "I got here about 3 minutes before you did. They said she has a pulmonary embolism and they are trying to remove it. Now you know everything that I know."

Josh let out a long breath and collapsed onto a bench in the hallway. Colin slowly sat down opposite him. They sat in silence with the TV turned up to block out the sounds of beeping monitors in the surrounding rooms.

Colin tried to start a conversation about the peace talks the president was holding back in Washington. Josh argued with him out of habit, but his heart wasn't in it. He couldn't stop thinking about his father. He remembered that it was Donna who had broken the news to him when his father died. He wondered who would be the one to tell him when Donna . . .

An approaching figure made both Josh and Colin stand up. It was Colonel Leahy.

"Ms Moss was experiencing shortness of breath and chest pain. Her chest CT revealed a blood clot in her right lung. She asked if she could see you for a moment before we put her under."

"Me?" Colin asked.

"Uh, no. Mr. Lyman." Colonel Leahy indicated toward Josh, looking slightly uncomfortable.

Josh looked at Colin with genuine surprise and then followed Colonel Leahy down the hall toward the OR.

"Listen," Josh said walking faster to keep up with the doctor, "is she gonna be okay? I mean, you guys know what you're doing, right?"

"Mr. Lyman, the most important thing now is to keep Ms Moss calm. Just reassure her."

"But this isn't going to be like a last chance to say good-bye, or anything. Is it? Cause my dad . . ."

Colonel Leahy stopped walking and turned to face Josh.

"Mr. Lyman, I don't think I need to tell you that a pulmonary embolism is a fairly serious complication. But I am going to do everything I can to make sure Donna gets through this surgery. Try not to worry about it when you are in there and try not to worry her." Colonel Leahy lmet Josh's eyes. "Now, can you do that? Because if you can't-"

"Yes." Josh cut him off.

"Yes?"

"I got this," Josh reaffirmed, with more certainty than he felt.

"Okay."

Colonel Leahy led him into a room where a nurse helped Josh get into a sterile gown and gloves. She put a paper hat on Josh's head and booties over his shoes. A surgical mask covered his face, leaving only his eyes visible. Once he was dressed he was taken into the operating room.

Josh expected to have to fight a panic attack. He expected to be overwhelmed by the smells and tastes of the sterile room. He expected alarms to go off in his head and flashbacks of Roslyn to fill his mind. But his entire mind was consumed with thoughts of Donna as soon as he saw her lying on the table.

It was as if he were seeing her for the first time. She looked so helpless and fragile. An oxygen mask was strapped to her face and her hair was pulled up under a cap to keep it out of the way. Her face was pale there were tubes and wires connecting her to even more monitors than before. He knew that she needed him to be strong, to make her believe that everything was going to be okay.

Josh immediately went into politician mode. He may not be able to fix this, but if there was one thing he had learned from working in government, it was how to tell a convincing lie.

"I just talked to the doctors and they said it's no big deal."

She couldn't speak, but she had a pad of paper and a pen to communicate with. Donna scribbled something on her notepad and then held it up for him to read: Nice hat!

Josh smiled despite himself behind his surgical mask. It was such a Donna thing to say. "Stylish, huh?"

She sighed and he could see that, despite her attempt at humor, she was terrified.

"They tell you what they're gonna do?" he ask softly.

She nodded slightly looking even more afraid.

"It's gonna be a snap."

She scribbled something else on her notepad and slowly turned it for him to read: Scared

"Yeah," Josh answered quietly. He could tell she was fighting back tears. "Don't be. You're gonna be fine, okay?" He tried to sound more confident than he felt. Impulsively her reached out and took her hand. She held onto it as if it were a life-line.

Josh heard the doctors getting ready to start the procedure. He tried to pull away, but Donna gripped his hand tighter, pleading with her eyes for him to stay with her. It wasn't until the anesthesia started to take effect that he was able to extract his hand from hers and slip quietly from the room.

He silently prayed to whomever might be listening that Donna would be okay. She had to be okay. He didn't think he could live without her.