Mike makes sure that Harveys mind is preoccupied with work all day, but that doesn't stop him from keeping the sound of his phone on and looking at every incoming message within two seconds. Most of the messages are work-related, but halfway through the morning Donna texts him with an update, just like she promised him, 'they've taken some blood (again) and are taking me for a scan now. X' They send a few messages back and forth, but then Mike pops in to take Harvey to the meeting with the LuvaCorp lawyers they had scheduled. Donna tells him to kick some ass, and with that he sticks his phone in his pocket and follows Mike.
During the meeting, Mike forces Harvey to turn the sound of his phone off. Harvey agrees, but as soon as they're done he takes it out of his pocket, seeing a new message from Donna, telling him she'll be transferred to a regular room. While walking back to the office, he calls her. The phone rings and rings and rings, but eventually she picks up, "hey…" She sounds sleepy, and a pang of guilt shoots through him, "did I wake you up? I'm sorry. We can talk lat-" "it's fine," he can almost hear her tired smile through the phone and his body relaxes.
"How are you?" Harvey asks tentatively. Donna suppresses a yawn before answering, "back to regular care. They transferred me thirty minutes ago." It exhausted her, even though the only thing she had to do was scoot from one bed to the other. Her body is still weak and her brain can barely deal with the constantly changing surroundings – from the ER last night to surgery to the ICU to a regular room. And all the scans and tests in between are not very helpful either.
"Do you want to sleep? I can call back later," Harvey suggests, but he hears a soft huff on the other side. "Harvey, you've got meetings all afternoon." Donna protests, and he wonders how she knows that. "Just because I'm not your secretary anymore doesn't mean that I don't know your schedule," she explains, somehow knowing his question without him asking it. "Well, yeah," he responds, "but I can find time to call you. I can make time for that."
Donna lets her eyes fall closed again while she listens to Harveys babbling. "You'll step by after work, right?" She asks him, because while she likes hearing his voice, she prefers having him physically present. He launches into an explanation about his meetings – which she knows about – and the Seattle traffic – which is better than New York but still not great – and needing to find out about visiting hours – which he doesn't really care about, he'll come anyway. She just listens, a small smile on her face, because all his talking just comes down to telling her he'll be there.
All afternoon, Harvey is stuck in meetings. In between he manages to send an occasional text to Donna, but there's no time for more than that. When he finally gets back in his office just before six, he fishes his phone out of his pocket and calls Donna again. Mike gave him as much work as possible to keep him distracted, and it worked partly, but worry pulsed through his veins all day and he's glad he can almost get out of here to be with her again.
"Hey," Harvey smiles into his phone when Donna picks up, "I'm almost on my way. Mike wants me to finish drawing up some paperwork but I'll tell him to do it himself. I miss you." His longing and need are reflected in his voice and it makes her heart swell a little, "I miss you too," she softly responds, "but don't hurry. They're taking me up for another scan and you know how long that takes. Finish that thing for Mike, he's working hard enough as it is. I'll see you after."
An hour later, Harvey finally makes his way into the hospital. He has to stop at the reception desk to ask directions towards Donna's room and then it takes another ten minutes for him to find the place. Finally, he opens the door and looks right into her eyes. He wastes no time crossing the distance separating them and planting his lips on hers for a soft and tender kiss. Then he pulls back a little. He perches himself on the edge of the bed and studies her pale face. She looks worse than she did in the morning. Her eyes are a bit hazy and there are tight lines around her mouth and on her forehead. He tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear, his fingers brushing her skin and feeling the warmth radiating off of it. "How are you feeling?" He softly asks.
Donna feels herself relax in Harveys presence. "I'm tired," she mutters, but he gives her a look that tells her she isn't getting out of his question that easily. She hesitates, seeing his exhaustion in the way his tie is slightly crooked and his hair is messy from running his hand through it too many times. But she also sees the worry in his eyes and feels his hand rubbing her leg and she knows he's here and they agreed last night to talk. "Not much better," she admits, "the fever won't go down… that's why they wanted to do a second scan just now."
Harvey feels panic clawing at his throat again, but he tries to keep his breathing steady as he focusses on Donna. He stops rubbing her thigh and takes her hand in his, "and what did the scans show?" He asks. "Not much… Nix said there's no clear focus for the infection. He said it all looked a little messy after this week and the surgery last night." Harvey frowns at her, "so now what?" He notices the worry in his own voice and knows that she definitely heard it too. "Wait and see. They upped the dose of antibiotics." He swallows, still unconvinced. She squeezes his hand, "it's not that big of a deal, or else they would've kept me on the ICU."
"And how's the pain?" Harvey moves on to the next question. Donna shoots him a look he can't quite understand and he frowns at her. She lets her head fall back against the pillows and closes her eyes. "Donna?" She releases a soft breath and slowly opens her eyes again, suddenly looking more tired than she did before. "The pain is not great either. But can you please stop the questioning?" He opens his mouth and she sees in his eyes that it's a protest, "no," she lightly shakes her head, "I've had to answers these questions every hour. I'm tired of it."
Tears fill Donna's eyes. Harvey brings his hand up and lightly strokes her cheek, "what can I do?" He asks her. The tears start dripping down her cheeks. "Just be here with me… Can you hold me?" She starts pushing herself up and to the side again. This time Harvey anticipated the move and he slips his arm around her shoulders and supports her body. Her face still scrunches up in pain, but after a few moments she shoots him a grateful smile. He lies down next to her and takes her in his arms again. His lips are pressed against her temple and she slowly relaxes into him. He gently thumbs away the tears on her face and then his hand finds hers.
"It's okay," Harvey soothes, "just relax now. I know you're overwhelmed and scared and tired, but it's okay. I'm here. Just close your eyes and relax." Her eyes find his and she smiles lightly, tiredly, "when did you become so emotionally aware?" She softly jokes. They've come a long way from buried feelings and hidden emotions, but his awareness right now still surprises her sometimes. He grins lightly, "you're rubbing off on me." He mumbles as he places another kiss on her temple.
After a few more quiet jokes, Donna's eyes fall closed. Harvey slowly runs his fingers through her hair as she falls asleep. Throughout the day she napped a lot, but not one time was she able to relax herself as much as now – now that she's in Harvey's arms. Within minutes, her body has fully sunk into the pillows – and a little into Harvey – and her chest moves in the slow and heavy rhythm of her breathing. He stays with her, until a nurse comes in and quietly informs him that the visitors hours are almost over. He pleads with her to stay the night, but she fixes him with a stern glare and he gives in. He decides not to wake Donna, she's so peaceful now and he's quite certain that she needs the rest more than she needs to see him. So he slides out of the bed, scribbles a message on a piece of paper that he leaves by her bed and then he leaves – after lightly kissing her forehead.