Josh wakes up just as the sun is beginning to rise. His arm is wrapped around Donna protectively and she still feels warm. Even though she's sick, waking up next to her sends a thrill through his body. He feels his heartbeat quicken, God he loves her! He again hopes that she can forgive him, and that she feels the same way.

Despite wanting to stay in bed, Josh remembers his number one priority: take care of Donna- break the fever. The hardwood floor throughout the apartment is cold, sending a chill through his body. He wastes no time turning up the heat, his mind filling with concern as he wonders if she always has the temperature set low during the night. Was she having trouble affording heat? Donna had always joked about being a girl on a budget, but now he found himself wondering how much she really did struggle financially. Josh would be putting an end to that, that's for sure. He doesn't ever want to see her cold or struggling again.

He pulls the small chair up to her bed and places a wash cloth to Donna's forehead. It isn't long before her body stirs.

"Josh?"

"Hey." He keeps his voice soft.

"Josh, what are you doing here?" She blinks a few times and her tone reflects her confusion.

"I've been taking care of you. Seems like someone caught the flu." He smiles, hoping to keep the mood light.

"Oh God, Josh. I'm sorry. I'm keeping you from work. This is such an inconvenience for you."

"No. No you are not an inconvenience. Don't worry about work."

"It's okay Josh. Thank you for taking care of me, but I'm sure you have somewhere else you'd rather be . . . I'm sure there's someone else you would rather be with right now." Donna's words are barely discernible, but Josh still hears them clear as day. He feels like he's just been punched in the stomach. The way she said the words, the subtle way she put herself down causes an ache in his chest.

"I'm where I need to be Donna, where I WANT to be."

"Oh." Her voice goes quiet for a moment, before she asks tentatively, "What about Amy? I don't want her to have another reason to be mad at you."

"You have always been the most important person in my life, Donnatella. Amy has known that since day one, so she did me a favor and ended things last week. He looks into her eyes, hoping she understands that his heart is hers, that it always has been.

"I'm sorry you and Amy broke up. You seemed happy." She's starting to have trouble focusing on their conversation. He sees her blink, trying to fight the sleepiness that has reappeared. Her eyes look tired and sick, but she still looks like the most beautiful woman in the world.

"I'm not sorry and I wasn't happy, just ensorcelled for a short amount of time." He wants to tell her he's sorry for the things he said, that he's sorry for throwing Amy in her face, but mostly, he wants to tell her that he's sorry for not being there for her when she needed him the most. He knows he needs to wait to tell her these things, even just a day, so that she can rest and feel better.

"Your fever is still pretty high, how about some medicine?"

"K." Her voice is quiet as she adjusts herself on the pillow while he adds a little medicine to the dosing cup.

Josh takes the cup back from Donna and helps situate her pillows as she lays back down. He sees her arm shake as she adjusts her body and he tries his best to not wear a look of concern. Her body is much weaker than it should be.

"Better?" He asks after fluffing her pillows gently."

"Yeah . . . Josh?"

"Mmm?"

"Thank you."

"You're welcome Donnatella." His smile is genuine and she returns it the best she can. They sit together in a comfortable silence for several minutes until he sees her blue eyes flutter on the verge of sleep.

"I'm just going to lay here for a while." Donna hugs her body close. The chill from her fever causes her to shake. Josh hopes the medicine kicks in soon.

Carefully he sits on the side of her bed, tucking the sheets around Donna to comfort her. "Are you okay?" He whispers.

"Yeah. But I ..." Her words trail off as sleep takes over. "I don't feel good, Josh."

And If he hadn't been right there, he would have missed her words.

"I know Donna. I'm sorry." But she doesn't hear him. Her breathing had steadied and her body had given in to the fight.

She was asleep.

….

"How was your nap?" Josh asks as he puts the newspaper down and leans forward from his seat in her chair.

"Mmmm," is all she responds as she takes a moment to snuggle down further into her blankets. Josh takes a moment to get another ice pack and gatorade.

"Are you hungry? I can heat up the chicken noodle soup or get you some toast. Here, small sips."

"I'm not hungry, but thank you." Donna takes a couple small sips from the glass, enjoying the drink. Josh's heart skips a beat as he sees the first sign of her feeling a little better.

"Please eat something, even just a couple of bites?" He gently pushes. She really should have something in her stomach.

"I'm really not hungry, Josh. I don't think I could stomach food. I think I really would like to take a shower."

"Ah-kay," he agrees a little hesitantly. But as soon as he sees her eyes light up his concern diminishes. "HOLD ON A MINUTE!" He demands as she starts to move. "Stay there until I get the bathroom ready. And don't plan on being in there too long, you're still really weak. And this is going to be a tepid shower, we need to get that fever down, not send it up into the stratosphere. So don't get all steamy in there."

"You're bossy. A bossy man. Just because you're my boss at work doesn't mean you can boss me around here."

Josh's heart soars at the banter.

"You like the word boss, you just used it four times."

"I'm sick, leave me alone."

"I'll get your shower ready."

He leaves her for a few minutes while he gets things in her bathroom situated and returns to her bedroom once the shower hits the right temperature. But when he sees Donna's face he realizes they are about to have an issue. She's looking a little green. Thinking quickly, he grabs her trash can that's next to her bed and meets her halfway as she vomits. There isn't much there, just a little bit of the gatorade, then a dry heave reflects that she really has no food in her stomach. He tries to not focus on that as he pushes her hair back with his free hand, then slowly rubs her back.

"I'm sorry." She's quick to turn away, embarrassed.

"Don't be. You have no reason to be sorry. You're sick Donna."

"I'm a burden."

"No you're not. Let's take your temperature. Say ahhhh." He changes the topic quickly, he absolutely doesn't want her to feel like she's a burden.

"Hey look at that it went down to 101.1. It was 102 in the middle of the night."

"The middle of the night?!"

"Yeah. You were burning up."

"Josh, how long have you been here?" She looks around the room as if realizing for the first time she was in her bed and not the couch.

"Since yesterday afternoon."

"Josh!" She says his name with every bit of energy she has left as she tries to sit up.

"Whoa, whoa, relax. Lay down." He gently nudges her shoulders back until they hit the pillows and he sees her visibly relax.

"But Leo, he must . . ."

"He doesn't. Donna we were so far ahead because of all your hard work. I don't want you to worry about anything. I just want you to rest and feel better."

"K." She capitulates, satisfied with his answer.

"Umm, I want to be honest with you Donna." He rubs his hand through his hard roughly, not quite sure how to bring this up. "Last night, you ummm, you weren't doing well. I carried you to your bed so you were more comfortable and took your sweatshirt off because you were already too hot. I sat in the chair, but you were thrashing so much and came close to falling off your bed a few times, so umm I laid next to you and made sure you didn't fall . . ."

"Josh, thank you for keeping me safe. I'm sure falling on the floor would have sucked." His trepidation fades as he realizes what she's telling him: she doesn't mind that he slept next to her.

"K, cuz ya know I was worried about it."

"Don't be. It's fine." They share a smile, then she adds softly, "I'm just gonna hop in the shower."

As soon as she tries to stand, Josh is right there to help.

"Lemme help you walk there. You haven't eaten and you just got sick."

"No. I got it. Thank . . ." Her words fade as she wobbles, and had he not been by her side, she would have fallen to the ground. He catches her and they both hold on tight.

"I've got you." He whispers. And she doesn't fight him. They stand there, and Josh just breathes her in. He's missed their closeness. He's not sure if she's too tired to be mad at him for insisting that he help or if she really doesn't mind his help. He hopes it's the latter.

….

"Joshua Lyman for FLOTUS." he announces into his cell from the kitchen. He didn't want Donna to think he was going behind her back, but her lack of interest in food coupled with her fever alarms him enough to call Abbey Bartlet while Donna showers.

"Joshua?" She picks up about a minute later.

"Hi Mrs. B."

"How's our patient?" She knows exactly why he's calling.

"She's not eating. She's weak. She has a fever. She's . . ." He's already pacing the room. "I tried to encourage her to eat, but-"

"I know. The flu is rough on the body."

"But she isn't eating. I know she doesn't feel well, but Mrs. B I saw her ribs and she's so thin. I don't know what . . ." He doesn't know how to say it. He's at a loss for words.

"I know Josh. And I'm going to tell you something, but I don't want you to fly off the handle."

"Okay." He feels his heart skip a beat, knowing he's about to hear something he doesn't like.

"Josh, this isn't the first time I've worried about Donna's weight. She lost quite a bit when you were in the hospital too. And she was very thin when she came back to us on the campaign. I've noticed that when things are extra stressful, she's less likely to eat."

The words "Eating Disorder" flash through Josh's mind, even though Abbey doesn't actually say them, and he instinctively knows that it's true.

"How do I help?"

"For right now, you need to back off a bit Josh. I know you mean well and I know it's hard, especially because this is Donna we're talking about, but trying to push food on her probably won't help."

He hates the idea of Donna struggling, and of the idea of not being able to help, but he trusts Mrs. B.

"Okay. Okay I can do that."

"We'll help her together. She's going to be okay, but this isn't something that can be fixed overnight."

"I know. Thanks Mrs. B."

"You're welcome. Thanks for taking such good care of her Josh."

"Thanks, but I don't know if I'm doing a good job."

"You are. And Josh?"

"Yes Mrs. B?"

"Don't you dare feel guilty about this. I know you. You're feeling responsible for her weight loss, but you have no control over how Donna reacts to stress any more than she does over how you do." He takes a deep breath, trying to believe what Abbey is saying.

"I'll try."

"I'll accept that answer for now."

"Goodbye, Mrs. B."

"Bye Josh."

….

After her shower, Donna naps again for a long time. But when she wakes up she has a bit of an appetite and to Josh's delight, consumes half a mug of chicken noodle soup and two saltine crackers. It's not a lot but it's a start. And it relieves a tiny portion of his guilt. When he thinks about all the times he was hard on her, the stressful deadlines and the bellowing, now he sees the containers of half eaten yogurts and unfinished salads in her trash can that accompanied them. And he can't help but feel responsible for putting her in those situations. He doesn't even want to think about how much weight she probably lost dealing with him after he got shot.

He does his best to shove those feelings to the back of his mind and just focus on taking care of her right now. When night time falls her temperature is hovering south of 102. So he gives her another dose of medication and takes his place in the chair by her bed where he'd sat most of the afternoon. When he settles down, he feels Donna's hand slide over on top of his.

"Josh?" Donna whispers a bit timidly.

"Yeah?" He answers softly, clasping his other hand on top of hers and gently stroking her skin.

She pauses so long he wonders if she fell asleep, but then he hears her sigh. "I'm just worried about rolling off the bed."

A slow smile spreads across his face as he climbs in next to her.

"Don't be scared. I won't let you fall."