A/N: Here's the second to last chapter! This picks up immediately after chapter 13. Hope you enjoy, please read and review!

Chapter 14: Breaking Down and Breaking Through

Anna wheeled Donna through the ER doors and raced up to the admission desk.

"Hi. My mom, she's going through chemo, and she's coughing and has a fever."

The triage nurse jumped out of her seat, grabbing the handles of the wheelchair. "What's her name?"

"Donnatella Lyman."

"And her date of birth?"

"November 12, 1974."

She typed a few words onto her tablet, then proceeded to call for another nurse. "Page Oncology, tell them we have a case of febrile neutropenia."

Donna doubled over and coughed as they wheeled her to a curtain area, Anna chasing behind.

"What kind of chemo drugs are you taking?" The nurse asked.

"Here," Anna said, thrusting the piece of paper towards her.

"Thanks. This'll go a long way to us being able to help your mom."

"Why don't you wait in the waiting room?" The other nurse asked quietly. "We'll come to find you when your mom's stable. If there's anyone you need to call, now might be a good time."

Anna nodded blankly. Taking a shuddering breath, she sat down in the waiting room. She immediately pulled out her phone and shot a group text to Josh, Abby, and Matty.

Mom in the ER at Holy Cross. Fever and a bad cough. She's being triaged and examined now.

Anna sat back, barely registering that her twin had answered: Got it. Will pick up Matty from soccer and come to the hospital ASAP. Leo's at Boy Scouts. Give Mom our love.

She couldn't hear what was going on, but she knew that chemo and fever were not a good mix.

Meanwhile, Donna was on a bed in the ER, coughing her head off and generally miserable.

"We'll need a chest X-Ray, CBC, and full differential." The lead ER physician rattled off. "Mrs. Lyman, do you know what your last counts were?"

"Not offhand," Donna answered weakly.

"Bring up her chart. What kind of catheter do you have?"

"PICC."

The doctor pulled up her blouse and could see the dressing covering her PICC line. "All right, let's get the bloodwork first, then Oncology will take over. And get her on 2 liters O2 by a non-rebreather mask."

The nurse slipped the oxygen mask on Donna's face. "That should make you feel a bit better."

Donna nodded, looking past the nurse as her oncologist bustled in.

"You missed us that badly, Donna?" Dr. Phillips joked.

Donna smiled underneath the mask.

"Did we get the results of the chest x-ray yet?"

The nurse handed him the x-ray. He looked at it, then put it on the lightboard.

"Well, Donna, you have pneumonia. The prescription is simple. Week of IV antibiotics, inpatient."

Donna nodded again.

"We can replace that mask with a cannula if it'll be more comfortable."

At Donna's assent, the nurse replaced her mask with a nasal cannula.

"Thank you," Donna whispered, still weak from the coughing. She laid back to wait for a room to become available.

…

Josh was leaving the White House, feeling confident in the outcome of his "super-secret strategy meeting".

Senator Mark Franklin of North Carolina had recently announced that he would not seek re-election. And an opportunity arose.

Ainsley was one of the most popular-not to mention politically-savvy-First Ladies of this century. It seemed perfectly natural that she would seek public office once Sam was out of the White House.

So, the purpose of today's meeting had been to form a long-range plan-Ainsley would run for the US Senate. They had bought a summer home in Greensboro, so she qualified for residency. Now all there was to do was run and hope for the best.

Josh had just gotten past the gates and toward his car when he saw the text from his daughter and froze.

After only a few seconds, he reacted, rushing to his car and jumping into the driver's seat as fast as humanly possible.

Donna was in the hospital. She was sick, possibly in critical condition. Leo was still at Boy Scouts, he could pick him up and then go to the hospital. He was worried sick, but he was glad Anna was with her.

He picked Leo up, making his apologies to the scoutmaster. He told Leo what was going on, and they left immediately. He drove into the parking lot, parked his car, and with one hand on Leo's back ran as fast as he could to the emergency desk.

"Yeah, hi, I'm looking for Donnatella Lyman."

"Are you a relative?"

"I'm her husband."

The nurse punched a few keys, then said, "She's still in the ER. If you wanna take a seat, the doctor will be out to talk with you shortly."

"Thank you," Josh replied politely. He turned around, only to find his daughter hunched on a chair, crying openly.

"Anna?" Josh hurried over, Leo following. "What's going on?"

"They won't tell me anything." She admitted. "I'm so scared, Daddy."

Josh pulled Anna up to a standing position and let her cry on his shoulder.

"It's OK." He whispered reassuringly. "It's gonna be OK."

"Dad." She said, muffled. They pulled back. "I'm so sorry."

"For what?"

"For pushing you away, for acting like I didn't care. I did care. But I couldn't see Mom like that. She's supposed to be stronger than all of us combined. I can't see her the other way. I can't take it."

"Hey," Josh said, placing his hands on her shoulders. "She is stronger than the rest of us combined. But she understands. You all were going to react to this thing differently. And I'm sorry I didn't see yours."

They hugged for a full minute. Just then, Abby and Matty came barreling in.

"Any news?" Abby said breathlessly.

"No, not yet," Josh told his eldest daughter, hugging her before pulling his son in for a hug.

"Josh." Dr. Phillips said as he approached them.

"Dr. Phillips." Josh greeted.

"Donna has a bad case of pneumonia. I'd like to admit her for a course of IV antibiotics, but she should be fine in a week or so."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Just then, they heard a sound that was a cross between a gasp and a groan. Josh whirled around to see Anna doubled over.

"Hey," He said, crouching in front of her, "what's wrong?"

"It hurts." She cried.

"What hurts?"

"I don't know. I-I think...I think the baby's coming."

Josh whipped his head around to face his other children and the doctor, who all had mirrored expressions of concern.

"How far along is she?" The doctor asked.

"29 weeks," Josh replied.

"I'll call up to Labor and Delivery, let them know to expect you."

Anna cried even harder as she fought to breathe through the pain. "Dad, it's too soon."

"I know, baby. I know." He kissed her forehead, then ran to grab a wheelchair from the emergency entrance. This was shaping up to be an interesting day indeed.

…

Donna became aware of a hand stroking her forehead. She opened her eyes slightly to meet Josh's concerned ones.

"Hi." She whispered.

"Hi," Josh replied. "How do you feel?"

Donna coughed again. "Terrible. But I'm glad you're here."

Josh winced in sympathy while holding onto her hand. "I don't envy you."

She smiled weakly. "Where are the kids?"

Josh froze. He didn't think it would be a good idea to tell Donna about Anna until he knew more. "Um…"

"Josh?…" She drew out. Even though she was weak, there was a warning tone to her voice.

"Okay, fine. The kids are up in Labor and Delivery. Anna started having pain."

Her eyes widened. "Is she all right?"

"I should probably go check on her. But I wanted to be here when you woke up."

"Go." The message was weak but clear.

Josh kissed her forehead quickly, then darted out of the room.

When he made it up to Labor and Delivery, he saw Anna being wheeled out by a nurse.

"Is she OK?" He called out as he jogged up to her.

"She'll be fine, Mr. Lyman. She's not in labor yet."

Josh's shoulders sagged in relief. "So, what, a false alarm?"

"The doctor said it was probably from the stress of the afternoon. You know, Mom being in the hospital and all." Anna supplied.

"Makes sense." Josh agreed. "So we can leave?"

"Yep. She wasn't formally admitted, so there's no need to sign anything. I imagine you want to get back downstairs."

"Yeah." Josh nodded. The other three joined Josh and Anna, and together they walked back down to the ER. Crisis averted.

By the time they reached the Emergency Department, Donna had been moved to the Oncology floor for her course of antibiotics. After getting directions at the desk, the five Lymans headed to Donna's hospital room.

She was still wearing her wig, which she hadn't had time to take off after work. An IV line was hooked up to her PICC line, and she had fallen back asleep.

The four kids hung back, while Josh walked up to Donna and kissed her lips. That caused her to stir.

She sat up slightly when she saw the kids. "Hey, guys."

"Hey, Mom." They all chorused. Matty came over and kissed Donna on the cheek, and Leo gave her a huge hug. Abby followed suit with a hug of her own.

Donna reached out for Anna's hand and grabbed it. "You alright?"

"I'm okay, Mom. It was just Braxton-Hicks. You know, from the stress."

"Yeah. I'm sorry about that."

"I didn't mind," Anna replied.

"Thank you," Donna told her sincerely. "You know, the doctors keep telling me it was really good of you to bring me in when you did. Fever during chemo is nothing to mess around with."

"I know."

"Well, don't be modest!" Josh said, side-hugging her. "You saved your mom's life."

Finally, Anna seemed to relax. "Yeah. I guess I did."

They stayed talking for quite a while after Donna was checked in to the hospital, and for a while, it almost seemed like before. Before the surgery, before the chemo.

Before their lives turned upside down.

…

Over the next several days, Donna remained in the hospital. Josh kept things running in the house but also spent every spare second he could at Donna's bedside. And Anna also made daily visits to her mother in the Oncology wing.

One afternoon, after school had let out, Donna had convinced Josh to go get some coffee and something to eat. She then suggested to Anna that it might be a nice day to go for a walk.

Donna wasn't in isolation, so they were allowed to go off the unit and to the lobby. There was a sitting area just inside, and they sat on a bench, overlooking downtown Silver Spring.

Anna smiled at her mom, who was wearing one of the several scarves Abby had bought her. This one was pink.

"That color looks good on you." Anna complimented.

"Thank you, baby," Donna replied. She reached for Anna's hand. "Any more contractions?"

"Nope."

"Well, that's good."

They sat in silence for a few more minutes.

"Mom?" Anna asked.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

Donna turned to her 16-year-old. "For what?"

"For...not being here. For pushing you guys away. It's just that...I love you. I love you so much that I can't stand to see you hurting. I'm terrified I'll do something or say something wrong. So, I figure the best way is to pretend it's not even happening." She took a breath. "But I realized on Wednesday when I was rushing you to the hospital, that I was hurting you. I was hurting you by acting self-centered and not caring about you. I'm really sorry about that."

Donna said nothing for a minute. Then, she reached out to stroke Anna's curls. "Anna...you have nothing, absolutely nothing, to be sorry for. I'm not upset I understand. This has been hard for you guys. Maybe even harder than it's been for me."

Anna opened her mouth to reply, but Donna pressed on. "What I mean to say is, you guys are the ones that have had to make the most sacrifices during all of this, not to mention going through the most emotions and learning to deal with them, and I don't think I've told you enough how much I appreciate that."

Anna looked up at Donna. Her eyes were watering. "You really mean that?"

Donna also had tears in her eyes. "Of course I do." She said in a husky voice. She pulled Anna into a tight hug, being careful of the PICC.

"You have grown into an incredibly mature young woman. And I am so proud of you."

Anna smiled against her mom's shoulder. Just then, her baby boy kicked from within. She laughed.

"What?"

"He's just kicking, that's all. You wanna feel?"

A slow grin crossed Donna's face. "Yeah, I do." She moved her hand to Anna's belly and felt the lurching movements. As the baby kicked beneath her hand, she kissed Anna's temple.

"I love you so much."

"And I love you, Mom," Anna said, finally content for the first time in months.

A/N: Hope you liked this chapter! Next is the final chapter, with a couple of different time jumps. Please let me know what you thought!