"How can you be on board with this?" Donna did not bother to knock or to wait for Jessica to put down the phone she was holding. Never had she felt so betrayed in her life, not even by what Harvey just did. "How can you let him do this?"
"Excuse me." Jessica put down the phone and looked up to face Donna.
"This is his call, Donna, crazy as it is. I hate that he made me part of it, but he left me no choice."
"If I learned one thing working with Harvey, it is that there is always a choice," Donna snapped. She could not believe that Jessica of all people had let herself be forced to do anything.
"Well, sometimes there isn't."
"I can't believe that you of all people say that. Jessica, if I have ever seen anyone who would not let herself be bullied into anything she didn't want it was you!"
"No, it was Harvey," Jessica said dryly. "You have obviously no idea what he said to me, so maybe you shouldn't judge me so quickly."
Donna scoffed. "What could he have said? Does he have any dirt on you? Did he threaten the firm? Because we both know that's all you care about! This stupid firm!"
How could Jessica risk Harvey's life? How could he?
"Donna, I can understand that you're angry. And yes he did threaten the firm, he threatened to confess to every shady deal we ever did, but that's not why I gave in."
"What was it then, Jessica?"
There was a moment of hesitation and for a moment Donna thought she was not going to reply. But then she spoke her voice with a strange hint of melancholia in it.
"He threatened to kill himself."
"What?" It took Donna some moments to comprehend the words. "He wouldn't!" she exclaimed then, aghast.
"You haven't seen him when he said it."
"Then you have to report it!"
"That's what I told him I would do and then he said that he would tear apart everything I ever worked for. And that was when I gave in. Not because I was afraid of what it would do to me, but because of what it would do to him."
Donna silently shook her head fighting off tears.
"He can't do that," she repeated quietly.
Jessica just looked at her, resignation in her eyes. "I wish he couldn't, Donna, but he will."
"I thought you weren't coming back," Harvey muttered, as he recognised Donna's hair through the slit he managed to open his eyes. He flinched as she turned on the light.
"I decided to give you another chance… God Harvey, do you know that you look like a breathing corpse?"
"Maybe you should turn off the lights then to make it less apparent."
They were hurting him even through his closed eyelids. He heard her get up again and gave a relieved sigh when the world behind his eyelids turned back to a soothing black.
"You haven't changed your mind have you?"
"No, and I don't want to talk about it right now, Donna." The truth was that he just wanted to sleep. He still felt dizzy and nauseous from the concussion.
"Well, as you might not be alive anymore tomorrow, I think we have to talk about it now!"
He gave a resigned sigh.
"Harvey…" He could hear the desperation in her voice as she reached for his hand.
"Don't," he hissed, wincing as she touched his swollen wrist.
"Sorry." She withdrew her hand again, and he opened his eyes a crack to see her shift uncomfortably in her chair. "Harvey, I have asked you that before but do you really think Mike would want you to trade your life for his? You're right I'm not going to tell him, but he might still find out…"
Even if she wasn't talking very loud her words were hammering in his head. God, he needed to sleep.
"Donna, my days are numbered anyway," he explained, summoning all his strength to look at her while he was talking. "I can feel my body failing. If I have another heart attack it will probably be the end of me…" His voice was breaking towards the end. "I'm not going to throw Mike under the bus to live a few more days…"
"Harvey, you had only one attack and it wasn't even a severe one!"
Donna had raised her voice, making him wince as it drilled painfully into his head.
"I'm pretty sure I had another one in London. Also possibly before the plane crashed."
"In London? But you faked the one in front of Darby, didn't you?"
"Before that. When I ran into Scottie and her child."
There was a moment of silence as Donna grasped for words.
"Why didn't you tell anyone?"
„Because I was feeling better and the doctors were thinking I had had another one anyway…"
Why did she have to ask all these questions? He felt his eyes falling shut again and decided to give in to the urge. He was just so tired…
"The child," Donna said suddenly. "How old was it?"
He had no idea why on earth she would want to know that of all things. But in his foggy mind everything seemed strangely disconnected.
"About three, maybe?" he slurred.
"I've gotta go." He heard her pushing back the chair and the sound of her high heels on the floor as she went away. He didn't have the strength or will to ask her what she was up to.