Harvey sleeps soundly until the next morning. When he wakes, he's still sleepy and he doesn't immediately remember what happened. He just feels Donna's body against his and lies with closed eyes, enjoying holding her in his arms. Slowly he notices the beeps around him and the unfamiliar mattress underneath him. The memories flood his brain, but he keeps his eyes closed. As long as he keeps his eyes closed and focusses on Donna's body against his chest – and her hair tickling his cheek – he can pretend everything is still okay. He doesn't know if he wants to face up to reality today.
What Harvey doesn't realize, is that he woke up because the door opened and then closed again. It happened as quietly as possible, but the sound registered in his subconsciousness. While he lies with Donna in his arms, pretending the world around them doesn't exist, he does, however, register soft footsteps and the rustling of fabric. He debates whether or not to open his eyes when he feels Donna stir. Her chest rises and falls just a little less regularly and her right leg slides against his legs.
Mike reaches for Rachels hand. Quietly they stand next to the bed. Even though Harvey had promised to call after Donna got out of surgery, the only thing they got was a short text. 'She pulled through. Looking okay but they'll have to re-evaluate tomorrow.' It was enough for Mike to relax and fall asleep, but Rachel had been up all night, worried about her friend – and honestly a little angry with Harvey for shutting her out. Early in the morning she had called the hospital and found out Donna's room number. Then she had woken Mike up and she had convinced him that they needed to visit before getting to the firm and burying themselves in work again.
All of the anger Rachel felt towards Harvey slips away when she sees him in the bed with Donna. Still in the clothes he was wearing yesterday, his hair messed up and worried lines on his face. But his arms are gently wrapped around Donna, their bodies against each other and heads close together. The redhead is hooked up to a scary amount of machines and she looks worse than Rachel has ever seen her, but she also seems peaceful in Harveys embrace. And because of that, Rachel is able to forgive Harvey for not calling last night. As much as she wanted to know about what happened, she can see now that Harvey needed to be with Donna more than he needed to be giving out updates.
Donna slowly blinks a few times. She is relieved to notice it doesn't take as much effort to open her eyes as it did last night. When her eyes focus and she sees the couple standing next to her bed, she wonders if she's still sleeping. "Hey," the corners of her mouth pull up in a faint smile, "what are you doing here?" She feels Harvey moving a little. Her right hand is still resting on his forearm and she softly squeezes, signaling him to wake up without diverting her gaze from Mike and Rachel's.
"We thought this was a nice place for our morning walk," Mike jokes, earning him a swat on the arm from Rachel, who looks at Donna with worried eyes. "We wanted to come and see how you were doing. You scared the hell out of us, Donna." She steps closer to the bed and leans against the edge. Donna lets go of Harveys arm and reaches for hers, "I'm okay," she tries, but Mike and Rachel both stare at her with so much disbelief that she lets out a small chuckle, "fine… I might not be okay but I will be," she rephrases, "it will all be fine."
Harvey slowly pushes himself up, his left arm sliding from Donna's shoulders, but his right hand never breaking contact with her. He tiredly smiles at Mike and Rachel before looking at Donna. She still looks so pale and exhausted, but at least her eyes are focused again. She turns from Rachel and Mike to him. He can't resist leaning down and softly kissing her chapped lips before letting her say whatever she was about to say. "Why don't you go home and take a shower?" She suggests.
Donna's suggestion leads to a short debate. Harvey is not inclined to leave her, but she doesn't take no for an answer. That shouldn't have come as a surprise to him, but somehow it does. He was planning on staying here all day, cuddled close to her, but she is not having any of it. She tells him to go home, take a shower, put on clean clothes, eat something and then go to work. He argues that he doesn't want her to be alone, but she interjects, saying that she'll mostly be catching up on lost hours of sleep and let herself be taken for necessary tests and scans. Eventually he gives in, mostly because he doesn't want to fight her. But he does make her promise to call him when she hears any relevant results. And he promises her that he'll be back by the end of the day. She smiles at that and pulls him in for a series of kisses that only stops when Mike pointedly scrapes his throat.
When Harvey has left the room – after kissing Donna again, blatantly ignoring Mike's gaze after – Donna tenses a little. The sleepy softness disappears from her face and is replaces by tighter lines and a worry in her eyes. "I want to apologize for how I treated you the past days," she takes a shaky breath before being interrupted by Rachel, "don't, Donna. Don't apologize. It's okay." Mike nods, "we understand," he adds, "you felt terrible. We don't blame you. We're just glad you're okay now." Their words make tears form in Donna's eyes, "I shouldn't have-" She starts again, but this time Mike interrupts her, "no, you shouldn't," he agrees with her, "you should have talked to us, because we're your friends. But we're not angry with you. Okay?"
Donna bites down on her bottom lip and then nods lightly. Rachel softly squeezes her hand, "don't worry about any of that, okay, Donna? Just focus on getting better." She nods again, and then tries to blink her tears away. "Thank you," she squeezes past the lump in her throat. She looks at Rachel and then at Mike, hoping that her eyes can tell them the things she can't put into words right now. It seems to work, as Rachel squeezes her hand again and Mike rests his hand on her shoulder.
Rachel and Mike stay for another thirty minutes. They try to cheer Donna up and succeed after a while, making a smile appear on her face. In conversation they steer clear of hard subjects, instead talking about how Mike suggested to paint their bedroom wall green and how Rachel bought another set of fluff pillows that Mike deems absolutely unnecessary.
The weight that Donna carried with her the past week lifts a little. Sure, physically she still feels terrible, but at least she doesn't have to hide it anymore. She doesn't have to pretend anymore and in this moment – with her friends right next to her and the knowledge that Harvey was willing to spend all day in the hospital with her – she suddenly can't remember why she wanted to keep her pain to herself in the first place, because that only made it so much harder to bear.
Mike gets a little jittery after a while; glancing at his watch every minute or so. Donna notices, because while she may be in a hospital, she's still Donna. "You have to get to work." She decides for them. Mike nods, although he seems hesitant to leave her. Not as hesitant as Rachel though, who looks like she'd rather not go at all. Donna forces a small smile, "go," she encourages her friends, "you have a big case to win… And you're missing me so you'll have to work extra hard to make up for that," she adds with a wink.
They part with careful hugs and a promise from Donna to call if she needs anything. She sinks back in the pillows, but then straightens herself a little again, "wait." Mike and Rachel were at the door but immediately turn back around, facing the redhead. "Please keep an eye on Harvey… This is harder on him than he wants to admit," she notices a look from Mike at Rachel, but she's too tired to ask about it, "give him something to work on. Distraction might be good for him." She suggest. Mike nods at her. The look he gave Rachel was about Harvey's near-panick attack on the phone last night. He isn't sure whether Donna knows about that and he doesn't want to worry her any more than she already is. "We will make sure Harvey is okay." He promises her with an honest smile.