After ending the call with Mike, Harvey sits in the – very uncomfortable – plastic chair in the waiting room for a few more moments. He's exhausted. He runs his hands trough his hair, wondering for the billionth time that night how on earth all of this happened. In less than a day his whole world turned upside down and the love of his life might not even make it through the next few hours.
At that thought, Harvey feels panic pushing his exhaustion aside. He abruptly stands from the chair and heads towards the exit. He can't sit and wait here, so he might as well follow Donna's advice from before and take a walk. He sets foot out of the door and is met by a cold drizzle. "Goddamn Seattle," he murmurs, but he keeps walking anyway. As much as he hates the rain on any given day, tonight the cold drops ground him. He walks at a fast pace, his head down. His feet carry him through the wet streets, the city lights reflecting from puddles on the sidewalk.
Harvey passes a bar, the door swinging open as he passes by. He hears the sounds of people inside and sees the warm light and something in him is tempted to walk in and get black-out drunk. Forgetting about this whole situation is alluring and he makes his way to the door. His hand is on the handle when it swings open and a couple walks out, happily laughing. Harvey feels his chest tightening again and spins around, continuing his walk through the rainy streets. While he walks, the drizzle turns into a downright pouring and Harvey mutters a few curses under his breath.
It's past midnight when Harvey gets back into the waiting room. He is soaked by then, leaving a trail of raindrops as he paces back and forth. The place still makes him nervous, but he didn't want to risk not being here when Donna gets out. So he's pacing, hands wringing and drops of water trailing behind him. His mind keeps racing. He keeps going over every interaction he had with Donna since Monday. Sure, she seemed a little off, but he never noticed something was so wrong. Not for one second did he think they would end up here. His chest tightens again. She can always read him so well. She knows him better than he knows himself and he thought he started to understand her too, but apparently he's still terrible at reading people. At reading her.
"Mr. Specter?" His head shoots up and he spins around to face doctor Nix, who walked into the waiting area. Harvey hadn't heard the man come in, too caught up in his train of thought. He glances at the clock and is surprised to notice that it's nearing two in the morning. He spent two hours driving himself crazy, exactly what Donna instructed him not to do. But it doesn't matter what happened to those two hours, because Donna's surgeon is standing right in front of him. "How is she?" Harvey asks hoarsely, "is she okay? Is she…?" He isn't able to finish his question.
"She pulled through," doctor Nix assures Harvey, and he sinks down in a chair, relief flooding him. He takes a few seconds to gather himself and then gets up again, facing Nix to hear the full report. "We think we managed to clear away most of the infectious tissue," Nix starts, "she's receiving a high dose of antibiotics that should help her fight the infection and it looks like we were just in time," he sees a careful smile forming on Harvey's face, and looks at him sternly, "but she's not out of the woods yet. She's taken quite a few big hits between the infection and the surgery, so we'll need to wait and see. The next few hours are crucial."
"Can I see her?" Harvey hears Nix' words and understands clearly what he means; Donna is still in danger. It's enough to make him want to yell and smash things and maybe even cry. But mostly he wants to see her. He wants to be with her, feel her skin against his, hold her in his arms. "We've taken her up to the intensive care unit so she can be closely monitored overnight. If everything goes well, she'll be back to regular care tomorrow morning." Harvey nods, but he does not care about where she is, he just needs to see her now.
Nix starts walking and Harvey follows him, realizing he's leading the way to the intensive care unit. "When will she wake up?" He asks, because maybe seeing Donna isn't enough. Maybe he needs to look into her eyes and talk to her. Nix looks at him sideways, "she woke up quite nicely after surgery, although the events of tonight seem to have taken a toll on her. When she was taken to her room she was asleep again. She needs her rest," the last words come out with a warning tone, and Harvey looks at him, meeting his eyes, "I'll allow you to see her, but not for long. It's two in the morning, she needs to sleep and frankly, you look like you do too."
A minute after the warning Nix gave him, Harvey opens the door to Donna's room as quietly as possible. He had promised the doctor not to wake her if she was asleep. Despite his need to talk to her, he agreed that she needed rest. In the past, he always put his needs before hers, but he's not doing that anymore. She comes first, and has been for a while now. However, despite his caution in pushing open the door, he sees Donna's eyelids flutter a little as he steps inside. He rushes to her side and takes her hand in between his. Her fingers twitch, a feeble attempt to squeeze his hand.
"Harvey?" Donna can barely recognize her own voice. It sounds hoarse and scratchy, which does match how her throat feels. She struggles to open her eyes, but she doesn't need to; she knows Harvey is by her side even if she can't see him. She recognizes his large hands around hers, the wedding band on his left ring finger cold against her skin. "I'm here," he responds, his voice a little strained and that is an incentive for her to fight against her heavy eyelids. It takes a few more tries, but then she manages to open her eyes. Her vision is blurry and she can't seem to focus her gaze, but she does see Harvey sitting next to her.
"Hey," Harvey feels his body relaxing when Donna opens her eyes. He knows she still has quite a way to go, but it's so good to look into her hazel eyes. She seems tired and completely out of it, but at least they're looking at each other again. He gently squeezes her hand, "how are you feeling?" He asks. "Tired," she mumbles, her eyes closing for a second, "nauseous," she lifts her eyelids again, "happy to see you." She adds softly. Harvey can't help but smile at her. With her pale face and tired eyes and all the machines around her in this room in the intensive care unit, she somehow still manages to focus on him and make him smile. "How do you feel?" She asks him. Her vision is gradually unblurring and she sees the tight lines on his face and the darkness in his brown eyes. His hair is a mess and his shirt is wrinkled and she doesn't think she's ever seen him look so disheveled. He lightly shakes his head at her, "don't worry about me, Donna… please don't worry about me this time."
Harvey's left hand is still clasped around Donna's and with the fingers of his right hand he traces light patterns over her forearm, until she pulls her arm back. He looks at her with wide eyes as she places her hands on the bed and uses all the strength in her body to push herself over to the left side of the bed. Her movements are slow, but Harvey is so surprised that he doesn't react until she has made a space on her right side and looks at him. He understands the question in her eyes, but he still hesitates. "Please?" She asks softly, and then he can't resist anymore. He climbs in the bed next to her, slipping his left arm around her shoulders and carefully draping his right arm around her waist.
Donna leans into Harvey, letting her head rest on his bicep and finally allowing her eyes to close again. She lays her hand on his forearm, softly squeezing. There is no better feeling in the world than resting in his arms. He presses a kiss to her temple, letting his head rest against hers after that. Emotions suddenly rush over her; tonight was terrifying and too fast and she's hurting. She hadn't allowed herself to process everything or to feel anything, but now she's safe in Harvey's arms and it all comes crashing down. She curls herself a little closer into him, ignoring the pain that shoots through her when she does that.
Automatically, Harvey tightens his grip on Donna. Just a little, he doesn't want to hurt her, but he senses that he needs to hold her close. "It's okay," he soothes her when he notices the tension in her face. She nods, squeezing his arm a little tighter, "just hold me." He nods, his lips brushing over her temple again, "I'm here. I'll stay here." He lies quietly beside her, holding her close to his chest. After just a few minutes, her body slowly relaxes. She sinks further back into the pillows and he feels her head getting heavier against his arm. Her breathing becomes deep and regular and he lets out a relieved breath when he's certain she's asleep. He allows himself to close his eyes too, and before he knows it, he's sinking away in a much-needed sleep as well.