Hi guys! I seem to be writing in two chapter chunks right now, so here is chapter nine. As always, please do continue to let me know what you think via the reviews. Thanks again.
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Chapter Nine
Mike stood outside his office door, staring at the bare corridor outside. Donna's old cubicle had been removed so that a new carpet could be installed and the desk had yet to be put back. It's almost as if it never happened, he thought.
Rachel appeared next to him, a hand on his arm. She knew he was still struggling with his link to what had happened and having it happen right here was not easy. "You okay?" He nodded and took a deep breath. He moved back in to his office and she followed silently, taking a seat on the couch next to him.
"How did it go with the police this morning?"
"Fine. I couldn't give them much more than I did last week. I guess it will be Donna who will be able to give them whatever else they need. Maybe that'll finally make the son of a bitch confess."
Rachel nodded, a frown on her face as she thought about her friend having to relive that night. "I looked back over the file. I mean, I knew it by heart, but I needed to check."
"You didn't miss anything Mike. Your conclusion was correct. There was nothing you could have done for him."
He nodded, standing up and walking over to the window. "I know Rach. I'm just so angry with him, with myself. It's just a mess."
He turned back to face her. "I'll be okay." She walked across to him and put her arms around his waist and kissed him gently. "I know you will."
He smiled and put his arms around her, holding her tightly. "We need to set a date for the wedding." She looked at him, beaming with delight. "I guess we should. Life keeps getting in the way!"
He nodded, a look of resolve replacing the sadness he'd had a few moments earlier. "If this week has reminded me of anything, it's that life is precious and I don't want to waste a single minute of it."
She ran her hand across his jawline affectionately and gave him another kiss. "Well then, I guess tonight we start making some plans then, but right now I need to get back to work."
She moved towards the door. "I love you." He smiled back at her, telling her he loved her too, even though those words didn't seem enough to express just how much she meant to him.
…..
Donna was just finishing her breakfast the next morning when Harvey arrived. She spotted the second cup of coffee in his hand and her eyes lit up. "Please tell me that that's my favourite."
"What do you think?" he teased. "I think this officially makes you my favourite person."
He smiled broadly, removing his coat and sitting down. "That's fine with me. How are you feeling?"
She moved to try and reposition her pillows, but he put his hand on her arm to stop her. "Let me do that."
"I'm not an invalid Harvey, I can do it you know." He raised his eyebrows, giving her his sceptical look. It was however also the look that told her not to argue with him. She sighed. "Fine." He adjusted the pillows behind her back and neck and she eased back on to them.
"Better?"
She gave him a grateful smile and nodded, picking up the coffee cup and taking a sip, revelling in just how good it tasted compared to what she'd been offered with breakfast. She took a proper look at him.
"You look a bit more human today Harvey. That's good. I was worried about you."
He laughed and shook his head. "We seem destined to always be worrying about each other, don't we?!"
Donna bit her lip and looked at him. "Works for me." He dipped his head and nodded. She watched him carefully, as he drew in a breath and raised his gaze to her again. What is he trying to say? She could see he was building himself up to something. "Donna. There's something I need to talk to you about."
She remained silent, preferring to let him keep going. He paused, as if trying to find the right words, but was cut off by the unwelcome arrival of the detectives he'd met all those nights ago. He saw their approach and sighed. "The police are here to talk to you."
Donna looked confused for a minute, before she saw the two men crossing the ICU. She closed her eyes at the thought of having to talk to them, but knew she couldn't avoid it forever.
"Ms Paulsen. I'm Detective Brown and this is Detective Carter. If you're feeling up to it, we'd like to talk with you about what happened when you were attacked."
She looked down at her hands and swallowed, breathing out slowly to calm herself. Harvey took her hand and squeezed it gently. "You don't have to do this right now if you're not ready Donna." His voice was gentle and calming.
"It's okay. I need to do this. Will you stay?" The fear in her eyes made him ache. He drew his chair closer to her side and squeezed her hand again. "Of course. Just take your time, alright?"
She nodded and looked at the detectives, who'd taken seats at the other side of her bed. "What do you want to know?"
Detective Brown opened his notebook and switched on his dictaphone. "If you just start with what you remember. We understand you spoke with Mr Specter around 9 p.m.?"
Donna wet her lips, her throat suddenly dry. Harvey poured her a glass of water and put it on the tray in front of her and she nodded her thanks.
"It was only a few minutes after I'd talked to Harvey and I was about to finish up and go back to his new office…..I heard a noise in the corridor and as I went out to see what it was, he'd just reached my cubicle…."
She paused and took another deep breath and squeezed Harvey's hand tightly. He hated seeing the emotional struggle she was going through. It made him feel powerless. He covered their hands with his other one, his only way of giving her some strength to keep going.
"He was agitated and looked nervous to be there. I had a feeling something wasn't right and tried to keep some distance from him….He asked if this was Mike's office…he said he was looking for Mike….."
"Mike Ross?"
She nodded, her eyes a little glazed over as she relived the night in her head. The detective gently nudged her to continue. "You're doing great," Harvey murmured gently.
She nodded and closed her eyes as she continued. "I said I didn't know where Mike was, but that he wasn't there and he should leave. I think he'd been drinking and he just seemed to snap….He thought I was lying to him; he said everyone was lying to him…I moved around the cubicle to try and put something physically between us. I thought if I could just get to the phone, I could call security….."
Harvey looked to the floor; he felt as if he could be sick at any moment listening to what that son of a bitch had done to her. Part of him wanted to walk away so he wouldn't have to hear any more, but she needed him. He squeezed her hand tighter.
"He was getting angrier and angrier; he wasn't making sense, just ranting. I moved to get the phone and he was too quick…I hadn't expected him to move so fast…He knocked the phone to the floor."
She choked back a sob, as her tears started to fall. "I tried to get past him, to get away from him, but he grabbed me and he…..I didn't really understand what he'd done at first. But the pain was…I can still feel it…..I….."
Harvey couldn't take anymore and stood up from the chair, moving to sit on the side of her bed, one arm going around her shoulders as he continued to hold her hand with his. She leaned in to him and he held her as she cried. "It's okay. It's okay Donna."
He was on the verge of cracking himself, but swallowed back his emotions to be strong for her. They sat in silence for a few minutes until Detective Brown gently asked her if she could tell them anything else. Harvey could have punched him in the face without a second thought, had this not been necessary to lock up the man responsible. Donna was, after all, the only witness.
She shook her head. "He ran off. I heard him running down the corridor. I tried to pick up the phone, but I couldn't breathe….. I thought I was going to die there….."
Something snapped inside Harvey in that moment. He could feel the white-hot fury burning inside him. I want to kill this guy. The thought played over and over inside his head, as he sat there holding Donna.
"I know that wasn't easy Donna, but it's important we have as much information as we can to build a solid case. I've brought some photos with me. Do you think you could take a look at them for us and if you recognise your attacker, could you point him out?"
Harvey felt her shudder at the thought of seeing the man's picture and he tightened his arm around her. Detective Carter passed her the photographs one at a time. She shook her head each time until the third photograph, which made her gasp. "That's him."
"You're sure?"
"100% sure. I will never forget his face," she whispered, looking away, turning her head in to Harvey's chest.
"I think that's enough Detectives." His voice was firm. The detectives nodded and thanked Donna for being brave enough to talk to them.
"You'll be able to put him away for this right? Who's the DA on this case?" He wanted this guy to rot.
"He'll be held until trial unless he makes bail, which I doubt will happen. He's clearly a risk to others. I'll ask the DA to contact you."
Harvey nodded, his brain already prosecuting the case in his head. Hell, he wished he could do it himself. The detectives told Donna to call them if she thought of anything else, before making their way to the door.
Donna was silent against Harvey, but he could feel her shaking a little as she cried. "It's over now Donna. I'm here." He rested his head against the top of hers and then kissed her temple. He could feel his own tears on his cheeks as he closed his eyes and continued to hold her. He may not have been there that night, but he was not going to let this man do any more damage.
…..
It was early evening and the sky was starting to darken as night set in. Harvey had stayed with Donna all day. She had slept a little in the afternoon, but he'd stayed, watching over her until she'd opened her eyes later and given him a tired smile. They'd talked about everything other than Aaron Matthews that day, well everything other than how he felt.
He'd finally moved to leave when her parents had arrived. As he'd turned to go, she'd caught his hand. "Harvey, are you alright?" He'd seen the concern in her eyes.
He'd smiled at her and reassured her that everything was fine, before telling her to get a good night's sleep.
As he walked down the sidewalk now, an hour later, towards the police station, he was functioning on pure rage. He could feel it burning within him and his hands clenched at his sides, as he started up the steps to the station entrance.
He was however met at the top of the steps by an obstacle and his anger flared up. "Get out of my way Mike." His voice was hard and his eyes blazed with the fury he felt inside.
Mike stepped forward, blocking his path. "NO." His tone made it clear he wasn't messing around either.
"God damn it Mike! This is nothing to do with you! Move. NOW." Harvey moved to push past him, but Mike put his hand firmly in the centre of his chest to stop him.
"You pulled a few strings to get a few minutes alone with him? I get it Harvey. You want to go in there and kick the shit out of the guy. I'd love to help you, but you can't and you know it!"
Harvey was just as angry, but he didn't move to try and push past Mike again. "He finally confessed Harvey. They have a confession, a full witness account, CCTV images of him at the office and his prints are all over the weapon. He is going down for this. You going in there could only help his defence."
Harvey laughed angrily. "Oh come on! That's bullshit!"
"Is it? Some sleazy criminal defence lawyer finds out the police let you in tonight and what's next? They claim you may have been let in before, they claim his confession was forced, resulting in it being ruled inadmissible? You know the tricks they could play! Don't give them the chance."
Harvey stepped back, his shoulders dropping in frustration. He knew Mike was right and he hated it. He sighed and sat down on the top step, dropping his head between his knees. "Donna called you, didn't she?"
Mike sat down next to his friend and gave him a wry smile. "Of course she did. The second you left the hospital. And as much as I want him to suffer too, I'll basically do anything she asks me to do right now, including stopping you from doing something stupid."
Harvey shook his head. Dammit Donna! She knew him too damn well. He turned his head to Mike. "Hearing her describe it Mike…It was agony." He gritted his teeth. "I'm so angry! I want to kill the guy."
"I know. If it had been Rachel, I'd have probably punched you if you'd tried to stop me!"
Harvey smiled. "Well, punching you might help relieve some tension, if you're offering?"
Laughing, Mike stood up and offered his friend a hand up. "How about I buy you dinner instead?" Harvey smiled and took his hand to help him stand up. "Thanks Mike."
His friend put his hand on his shoulder. "Come on, let's get out of here." As they walked away, Harvey started to try and let go of his anger. It was going to take time, but he was going to try for Donna's sake and made plans in his mind to head to the gym first thing in the morning and get in the ring. He may not be able to hit Donna's attacker, but he could picture his face while he let out some tension.
He thought about Donna, who, even from a hospital bed was still looking out for him and it made him smile. He made a decision in that moment to stop looking back and to look forward instead. He just needed to work out what exactly to say to her. Nothing else in his life had ever been more important. He was determined to get it right.
…..
