Josh turned off the faucet in the men's room and dried his face with a paper towel. He looked at his reflection in the mirror above the sink and exhaled deeply. A tired, pale reflection with short, unkempt hair stared back. His nerves were already raw from the guilt and worry he'd been feeling ever since he'd first received the news about the explosion. Add to that the fatigue from the jet lag, the seemingly constant sound of sirens coming and going from the hospital, and the sterile medical smell that had been assaulting his senses nonstop since he'd arrived in Germany. . . seeing her blood was apparently just more than his delicate system could handle. Josh closed his eyes and waited for another wave of nausea to pass, pressing a wet paper towel to the back of his neck.

Once he was confident the worst of the queasiness was gone he exited the restroom. He started back toward Donna's room but paused, thinking better of it. He wasn't quite ready to face that yet. What he needed was a distraction, something to get his mind off Donna and the blood and the hospital smells. He considered calling Dr. Stanley Keyworth, the therapist he had worked with after his shooting, but dialed Toby Ziegler's number instead.

He was relieved when Toby picked up and even more relieved when he heard himself speak without his voice shaking. Josh wandered the halls of the hospital as they spoke. They talked about the public's reaction to the President's speech and about an upcoming baseball game where the President was scheduled to throw there first pitch, but they both realized there were very few subjects they could discuss on an unsecure phone line. Still, the brief conversation had worked. It calmed Josh's nerves and provided a much needed distraction. Hanging up his phone, he walked back to Donna's room.

Donna was sleeping again when he arrived, but that was probably for the best. Her body needed sleep. Sleep and time. He knew this from personal experience. Stepping into the hallway again, he dialed the number for Donna's mother.

She answered on the second ring. "Hello?"

"Mrs. Moss? This is Josh Lyman, again. Donna's boss."

"Josh! How is she? Have you gotten any updates? Is she going to be okay? I'm trying to get a flight to Germany but -"

"Mrs. Moss, I'm with Donna now." It was amazing how much Donna's mother sounded like her daughter on the phone. "She has a punctured lung and a broken leg but the doctors were able to fix both of those things. Mostly just cuts and bruises. She's sleeping now but she's going to be just fine."

There was a long pause before a surprised voice asked "Josh, where are you? Are you in . . . Germany?!"

"Yeah." Why were people so shocked by that?

"You're with her?"

"Yeah."

"And she's gonna be okay?"

"She's going to be just fine, Mrs. Moss."

Josh waited as he heard the information being passed along to Donna's father, who also sounded relieved.

"Josh, when she wakes up tell her I am taking the Red Eye out of New York tonight and I will be there in the morning."

"Sure. I'll let you and Mr. Moss know if anything changes before then."

"And Josh?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. I'm glad you're with her. Donna speaks very highly of you, you know. I'm sure you have a lot of important things you should be doing, but . . . "

"Don't worry about it." Josh reassured her. "The federal government can live without me for a few days. This is where I need to be right now. Have a safe flight and we'll see you in a few hours."

In the afternoon a nurse brought in a lunch tray for Donna and checked her vitals. She reassured Josh that it was normal for someone who had experienced the type of trauma Donna had been through to sleep for long periods of time. Even though Josh understood this, he was still bored after hours of sitting alone watching CNN and was relieved when he finally heard her stirring.

"What are you watching?" asked a sleepy voice.

"Nothing." The truth was he had been watching coverage of a tour-bus bombing in Jerusalem, but she didn't need to know that. He quickly turned the TV off.

"How do you feel?"

She moved slightly, testing her sore muscles, but didn't answer.

"They left a lunch tray earlier" he said, standing and walking over to her bed.

"I'm not hungry."

"German chocolate cake?" He held up the seran-wrapped plate. It was funny because they were in Germany and it was German chocolate, but somehow he doubted she saw the humor in it. Or even cared what kind of cake it was.

"Really I'm kinda nauseous."

"Okay." He put the cake down. He understood nausea.

"Your mom's on the way to New York. She's gonna take the Red Eye tonight." Josh said, quickly changing the subject.

"How long are you staying?" Donna asked.

"I don't know. Figure if I hang around long enough one of the nurses is bound to give me a sponge bath." He smiled attempting to lighten the mood.

She closed her eyes. "Leo doesn't need you to -"

"I'm here as long as I need to be here."

Their eyes finally met in understanding. His statement and all of its unspoken implications hung in the air as the moment stretched into awkward silence.

He finally looked away, searching for anything to change the subject. "You want Jello?"

She cringed.

Just then Josh's phone rang.

"I don't want to talk to anybody." Donna said weakly.

"Okay." He quietly reassured her before answering. "Hey, CJ."

"How is she?" Asked a severe voice on the other end.

"She's fine. She was singing tunes from My Fair Lady earlier but I think that was just the morphine." He looked at Donna to see if she found him funny, but her eyes were closed again.

"Can I talk to her?"

"We're actually at intermission right now." He walked toward the door, giving Donna some space.

"But she really is all right?"

"I'm tellin' ya, she was doing this whole Julie Andrews thing. . ." Josh stepped into the hallway.

This seemed to satisfy CJ because she moved on. "Have you seen the news?"

Just then a tall stranger carrying a knapsack and a huge bouquet of flowers approached Donna's door. He wore a faded dark blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows and khaki pants. His hair was cut short and looked clean and tidy, but he had a certain artistic-outdoorsy look about him.

"Donna Moss?" he asked, motioning toward her room. He had a slight accent that Josh couldn't quite place. Perfect.

Josh was too stunned to answer at first but finally managed an "Uh-huh," which served as an answer to both CJ's and the stranger's questions. Who was this guy and how did he know Donna?

Josh was only half listening to CJ as he watched the stranger approach Donna's bed.

"You need to come out fighting." He vaguely recalled CJ asking him a question and he hoped he was answering it. Or was he merely advising himself on his current situation? Something about this new guy in Donna's room was making him feel strangely competitive. "Leak a force depletion report and blueprints for the invasion."

Donna's face lit up as the man placed the bouquet at the foot of her bed and flirtatiously tapped the toe of her elevated foot.

"Invasion?" CJ sounded confused. As she should. Josh wasn't even sure what he was talking about. He was too distracted by the scene playing out in front of him in Donna's room.

"Okay, that may be a little . . . "

He trailed off as the handsome stranger leaned in and kissed Donna deeply and tenderly on the mouth.

"Josh?" He was vaguely aware that CJ was still on the phone.

Donna was kissing him back.

"Josh?"