With time, Harvey's bruises fade and his concussed brain slowly heals. He is back to work almost fully, inching closer to a break in the case. The threats have returned, addressed to his office once again. If anything, it motivates him even more. As long as threats to his office are the worst that's happening, he can deal with it. As long as Donna is safe, he can deal with almost anything. And she is safe, Arthurs precautions making sure of that. Harvey is a little annoyed by being unable to do anything by himself, but as long as it means nothing will happen to Donna, he can suck it up.
However, while Harvey is quite alright, Donna is not. To the outside world, she seems to be. She carries out her job perfectly, with a smile on her face. She reads people and anticipates their needs. She does everything she always does, but it's just a front. She is silent, but she is slowly falling apart. Fear preoccupies her every waking moment and keeps her from sleeping. She is absolutely terrified of something happening to Harvey, especially now that the threats have returned – although he has been trying not to burden her with that too much.
A few weeks after the attack on Harvey, early on a Friday night after a dark, rainy day, Donna slowly walks into Harvey's office. He is on the couch, files scattered all over the coffee table and the floor around his feet. He seems focused, but when he hears the sound of her heels, he looks up, "hey," he greets her with a soft smile, "I think we're almost there."
That news should ignite a spark of hope, Donna thinks, but she's too exhausted to feel anything. She forces a smile, but Harvey easily sees through her, "what's wrong?" He softly asks. She shrugs, wavering slightly. He clears away a few files on the couch, making space next to him, "come sit," he offers. An offer she immediately takes, lowering herself down next to him. He rests his hand on her back, rubbing small, soothing circles. She turns to look at him, "you need to keep working, don't you?" She asks. He nods, trying to figure out what she's trying to say.
"Is it okay if I go home? I've got a headache and-" Donna can't explain anything beyond that before Harvey interrupts her, "since when do you ask for my permission?" He asks, trying to mask his concern with a joke. Her lips twitch, she seems unsure of what to say. He pulls her against his body, pressing a kiss into her hair, "you should go home," he softly tells her, "maybe get a little sleep. You look exhausted." She lifts her head from his shoulder, "wow, thanks. That really makes me feel better." He chuckles lightly at that, "as I recall, you weren't very nice to me yesterday."
"That was because you had a headache so bad you could barely look straight," Donna protests. Harvey just smirks at her, "like you do now, you mean?" She huffs, before resting her head back on his shoulder. He holds her close for a little while longer. Yesterday, his concussion had played up again and caused a pounding headache with a few bad bouts of nausea. Donna had brought him home and put him to bed and she had taken care of him all afternoon. He's aware that now is his turn to look after her. And while he needed to be taken home, she just needs to be held right now.
After a while, Donna straightens up, "I'll leave you to it." She looks at him, a small but genuine smile on her face. He smiles back at her, leaning in to press a soft kiss to her lips. As she stands up, he looks for his phone, eventually finding it under a stack of papers on the coffee table. She slips on her coat and slings her bag over her shoulder, only to let it slide back down her arm when her phone starts ringing. After one look at the screen she picks it up, eyes on Harvey, who smiles at her, "hey. Didn't forget about the deal, did you? I can't let anything happen to you."
As Donna leaves the firm, Harvey chats away over the phone. She absentmindedly registers his words as she looks around to spot a cab, before she decides to walk home. The fresh air on her face makes the pounding in her head lighten a little. She walks with a steady pace, cutting through a few alleys to get home faster. Harvey keeps talking to her, but regularly pauses to leave room for a comment from her. She knows he's satisfied with a yes, a no or just a hum. He just needs to know she's still there. Despite her fear and exhaustion, a feeling of gratitude and deep love seeps into her heart and makes it swell in her chest.
Donna greets their doorman with a smile and a nod before getting on the elevator. The signal gets a little spotty and Harvey's words are reduced to bits and pieces. She wouldn't mind disconnecting the call as soon as she entered the building, but when she suggested that, Harvey was adamant that she wouldn't be by herself until she was safely in their apartment. He had that tone in his voice that made her certain he wouldn't accept a protest, so she didn't even try.
"I'm home," Donna tells Harvey as she turns her key in the lock. "Good," he murmurs on the other side of the phone, "now change out of that dress, that looked beautiful on you by the way, and get into bed." She scoffs softly, "since when do you tell me what to do?" She closes the door and locks it behind her as Harvey is quiet for a second, "I don't. But you need some rest."
Donna kicks her heels off, letting them land in a heap on the floor, "if I sleep now, I won't tonight." Harvey chuckles lightly at her stubbornness, "I know you hate giving in to vulnerability. But it's okay, Donna. I'll wake you when I get home, I think in an hour, two tops." She slips out of her coat, letting out a sigh, "fine," she agrees, "but only if you'll pick up Thai on the way." He grins, "I will. And I'll clean up your shoes and coat, since I'm guessing you just dropped them in the hallway?" That elicits a weak laugh from her, "thank you, Harvey. I'll see you when you get home."
After Donna ends the call, Harvey puts his phone down and looks over his notes one more time before making his way to Mike's office. When he gets there, Arthur is already on the couch. Harvey takes a seat on one of the chairs, opposite Mike. The younger lawyer starts off the meeting by opening a file and handing both Arthur and Harvey a few pages outlining what he found out over the last few days. After reading it through, Harvey does the same. The next hour, the three men discuss the new findings and how they fit into the bigger picture.
When the meeting ends, Harvey is optimistic that they are getting close to a solution. Him and Mike need to figure out a few more details, talk to a few more people, and then they have enough legal grounds to get Hawkins arrested. The thought of this nightmare being over strikes up a burst of motivation, and he is tempted to stay late, maybe pull an all-nighter. But then he thinks of Donna, who has been struggling and needs him to be with her, maybe even more than she needs this thing to be over right this second.
Harvey texts Donna as he gathers his stuff and puts on his coat. After a moment of deliberation, he takes a few of his case files with him. He hopes Donna is feeling better after getting a little sleep, but if she's not and he can convince her to go to bed early, he might work a little. She doesn't reply to his text, but he figures that means she's sleeping. He is worried about her. She has been pretending to be okay, and she is a good actress, but he knows her well enough to know it's just a front. He hasn't confronted her about it yet, unsure if it would be helpful or only hurt her more. So far she's holding herself together and he doesn't want to be the reason she falls apart.
In the cab on the way home, the past weeks run through Harvey's head again. He is on the phone with Mike, just as a precaution, but they're both quiet. It gives Harvey time to think. From the threats to the attack on him to fighting to work through everything. He has been worried about Donna, but he has seen similar worry reflected in her eyes and she might be right. He is exhausted. The sooner he finishes this, the better, because it's taking a huge toll on all of them.
Harvey quietly enters the apartment, smiling to himself as he spots Donna's discarded heels and coat. Just like he promised her, he hangs her coat and neatly stacks her heels in the shoe rack. He moves into the kitchen, putting the bag with takeout Thai he picked up on the way home down on the kitchen counter. He switched on the lights as he walked in, but the rest of the apartment is silent and dark, not a thing pointing to his wife being home.
After loosening his tie and hanging his jacket over a chair, Harvey makes his way into the bedroom. He still thinks Donna needs sleep, but he promised her he would wake her when he got home and he doesn't intend on breaking promises to her. It's dark, but he doesn't switch on the overhead light, knowing how much Donna hates being awakened in a harsh way like that.
The only light in the room comes through the windows, and Harvey realizes Donna didn't close the curtains. He frowns as he looks out over the city, she always claims she can't sleep if the room isn't dark, and when she got home it was still semi-light out. He turns his attention to the bed, his heart skipping a beat when at first glance it seems like it's empty.
Without any further hesitation, Harvey flicks the light switch, worry thrumming through his veins. His heartrate speeds up when his first impression is right; Donna is not in bed. He turns on his heel and storms back to the living room, desperately hoping that she fell asleep on the couch and he simply didn't see her. It's an irrational thought and deep down he knows it, but his heart still sinks when the living room is just as empty as the bedroom.
"DONNA?" Harvey calls out. A tiny piece holds on to a glimmer of hope that she's somewhere in the apartment. But he waits for a long minute and the apartment stays quiet. He sucks in a breath and fumbles for his phone, calling her. Her ringtone pierces the silence. He follows the sound into the hallway, where he finds her bag on the small table on the hall. He disconnects the call and stands still for a moment, utterly lost. His mind conjures up the most horrible scenario's, but somehow he manages to get himself to snap out of it, his fingers moving on their own accord and calling Mike. "She's gone," he chokes out as soon as the younger lawyer picks up, "Donna… She's gone."