When Harvey has made his way to the bathroom – a little unsteady on his legs, Donna sinks down on the stool he just vacated. She takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm the storm raging in her head. She was shocked to see the damage on Harvey's body, but she's also angry and scared. For the past two weeks, she had this bad feeling that something might happen, and now that it did all the fear she had carefully tucked away flares up. She squeezes her eyes shut and takes another deep breath. Being afraid is not going to help this situation, and while she knows that pushing it down is not the healthiest course of action, it is what she needs to do right now.
A few moments later, Donna is on the phone with Mike. While she is explaining the situation, she paces back and forth in the living room. By now, she has kicked off her heels and she is dying to get out of her dress as well. Honestly, she wants nothing more than to change into her pajamas, get under the covers, curl up against her husband and forget about everything that happened.
Mike lets Donna tell her story before asking questions. He has a lot, not all of which she can answer. Even through the phone, he can hear the exasperation in her voice. He tells her to grab a glass of water, put the phone down and take a seat for just a few seconds. He waits patiently while she recomposes herself – or so he suspects. When he hears her voice on the other side of the line again, he assures her he'll talk to Arthur and keep her updated on what's going to happen next.
Donna blows out a long breath, relieved that Mike is taking over. Usually, she doesn't like to give up control, but tonight she can't seem to gain it. Tonight, she has enough to deal with between her emotional turmoil and taking care of Harvey. "Donna?" Mike's voice is a little softer, she realizes he has turned to friend instead of lawyer. "Mike?" She responds. He exhales softly on the other side, "are you okay? Are you safe?" At his words, she gets up again, making her way to the front door. With trembling fingers, she locks the door, leaning her back against it. "We're safe," she quietly answers.
After Mike tells Donna he'll call her in the morning, they end the call. Donna picks up her discarded heels and makes her way into the bedroom. She peels her dress off, letting it drop to the floor before slipping into a clean set of pajamas. Just as she pulls back the covers to get into bed, Harvey wanders out of the bathroom. He's only wearing pajama pants, giving her a full view of the bruises on his torso. When she meets his eyes, he still looks dazed. She forces herself to gently smile at him, "come here," she gestures to the bed, and he sinks down without any hesitation.
Donna turns off the lights and then crawls under the covers. Harvey is breathing deep already, but when he senses her body next to him, he reaches for her. His arm clumsily wraps around her waist and he pulls her into him. He nuzzles his face into her neck, "I'm glad you're safe," he mutters once again. Then he sighs, his breath warm against her skin. She stays silent, one hand coming to rest on his forearm, the other one moving to his chest. She feels his breathing even out, and his body relaxing into her. Not long after, he has fallen asleep, exhausted by what happened. Donna, however, stays awake. Her mind filled with worry, but the steady thumping of Harvey's heart under her palm anchoring her in the present moment.
The next morning, Donna and Mike call again, deciding to meet at her – and Harvey's – apartment to prevent being overheard at the firm. A little past eight, a knock on the door snaps Donna from the pensive state she has spent the last half hour in. She looks down at the cup of coffee she brewed – that has now turned cold – and empties it in the sink before answering the door. Mike pulls her up into an hug before she even has time to greet him. She relaxes into him for a quick second, until she peers over his shoulder and sees her best friend.
"What are you doing here?" Donna looks at Rachel, who faintly smiles through the worry lining her face, "I wanted to help. And Mike agreed it might be good to have some help, especially with Harvey a little off his game now." Donna nods. Until now, they chose to keep Rachel out of it as much as possible, not wanting to put her in danger too. But at this moment, she is incredibly glad to see her best friend standing in front of her. Rachel wraps her up in a tight embrace, which Donna returns. She clings to the brunette for a while, until she doesn't feel like bursting into tears anymore.
Donna pulls back and straightens herself, "come in. Have you had breakfast yet?" Mike nods as he walks in, moving towards the kitchen and pouring a few fresh cups of coffee. "How is Harvey?" He asks Donna as they all sit down around the kitchen table. She folds her hands around her warm cup, letting out a sigh. "He's… Alright, considering the circumstances. I woke him up every two hours, just to-to… Check he was okay." She stumbles a little over her words, realizing that's unlike her. She takes a breath to recompose herself, "his head hurts, he's got a pretty bad concussion. I think he needs to rest as much as possible." Mike looks at her, "that's not going to be easy, knowing him." He smirks.
After a few more minutes of catching up, Donna rolls back her shoulders and straightens her back, "let's decide what to do about this." Rachel looks at her, a smile playing around her mouth. Seeing Donna so shaken up was a little disconcerting, and she's glad that the redhead is able to center herself again. Although – Rachel thinks to herself – it might be good to keep a close eye on her, because nobody is as good at putting other people's needs above herself as Donna is.
Half an hour later, Harvey wanders out of the bedroom. He's still in his pajamas – dark blue flannel pants and a white shirt. He runs his hand through his hair, blinking sleepily at the people at his kitchen table. "What are you doing here?" He grumbles, taking a seat across from his wife. Mike and Rachel look at him for just a second before Mike grins lightly, "somebody needs to take care of the mess you got yourself into. And you look like you might need a little more sleep before being able to do that." He jests, earning a glare from both Harvey and Rachel.
When Harvey comes out of the bedroom, Donna's attention shifts from the important matters at hand to her husband. He looks like hell, his eye almost swollen shut, the bit of his gaze she can catch very unfocused, his knuckles looking more painful than the day before and his movements slow and cautious, presumably because of the pain in his ribs. She can't focus on what Mike and Rachel are saying anymore, instead she pushes up, grabbing a glass of water, a cup of coffee and two painkillers. She places them in front of Harvey, who looks up and smiles gratefully at her.
Mike and Rachel notice the shift in Donna's behavior, how she lost her composure again as soon as Harvey walked in. They exchange a glance, worried about both of their friends. But before they can ask about it, another knock on the door catches all of their attention. Donna's eyes widen, a slight panic crossing her face. Mike gets up, moving towards the door. "That's Arthur, I called him and asked him to meet us there," he explains, brushing his hand over Donna's shoulder as he passes her.
At first, Donna is a little wary of the unknown man entering her kitchen. Harvey and him nod at each other as a greeting while Rachel politely introduces herself, but Donna needs a little more time. She trusts Mike's judgement on his character – maybe even more than she trusts Harvey's, because Mike has always been better in tune with his sensitive side. Still, the whole situation has left her uneasy and adding someone she doesn't know to the mix is not doing anything to make her feel better. She puts on a smile and introduces herself, but after that she stays silent, watching Arthur as Mike talks him through what happened.
Arthur listens to Mike before turning to Donna and Harvey asking a few follow-up questions. Donna answers most of them, Harvey still slow and out of it due to his concussion. Eventually, Donna feels her body relaxing a little. Arthur seems like a good guy with bright, kind, green eyes. Intuitively, she knows that he means well, that he wants to help. So she releases a breath, lets her shoulders drop a little and decides to allow herself to relinquish control.
An hour later, a plan has been formed. Halfway through strategizing, Donna sent Harvey back to bed, seeing his eyes squint against the light and – rightly – suspecting his head was pounding. In hushed tones the rest of them continue the conversation, which led to a few good ideas and – disappointingly – also a few open ends that can't be tied up at this point. Much to Donna's dismay, it is still near impossible to start legal action. Because Hawkins didn't beat up Harvey himself, the probability of being able to trace the attack back to him is very low and trying to do that might put them in even more danger than they already are.
For now, their plan consists of taking precautions against further attacks. Arthur will subtly ask a few buddies on patrol duty to pass by the apartment building as frequently as possible and he will instruct the doormen of the building to keep an eye out for unfamiliar faces. From this moment on, Harvey and Donna are not going to be out by themselves anymore. If they have to be outside, they'll accompany each other and if that's not possible, Mike or Rachel will go with them. If that's impossible too, they call each other – or even Arthur – and stay on the line until they are safely inside. Lastly, Mike will contact a guy he knows who works in security and ask him to set up cameras to monitor the entrance of the building and the apartment.
After deciding on the course of action, Arthur has to leave. Mike and Rachel stay for a little while longer, knowing that Donna needs their support right now. She traces her finger over the Litt Up! on her mug, keeping her gaze down. Rachel rests a hand on her back, "I know this isn't what you were hoping for," she starts quietly. Donna's head snaps up, "of course it's not," she replies, a fire behind her hazel eyes, "nothing is happening. We just have to be careful and hope it works out."
Mike looks at Donna, struck by the bitterness in her voice but at the same time glad she doesn't look as resigned as this morning anymore. "We are going to work this out," he promises her, "Rach and I, and Harvey as soon as he gets a little better. We will bring that son of a bitch down and make him pay. For what he did to Danielle, but also for what he is doing to you guys." His blue eyes shine sincerely and Donna nods, her own eyes still sparking fire. Mike smiles faintly, glad she seems to have found the fight in herself. They need that, because if Donna doesn't have faith anymore, he doesn't know if they can keep it up.