"Josh!" Mary called to him as he walked hurriedly towards the Oval Office. "Your meeting with the insurance industry guys is in the Mural room!"
"Go stall them!" he shouted over his shoulder not even breaking stride.
"What the hell's going on?" asked CJ as she came out of her office.
"No idea," Mary admitted. She and Josh had learned to get along well as boss and assistant after a rocky start two years ago. Mary had Josh's previous assistant and current wife, Donna, to thank for that. She had divided her time for weeks between the offices of the President and the Deputy Chief of Staff training Mary to deal with Josh's eccentricities. "I guess I'd better go stall the insurance people though," she decided as CJ followed her colleague down the hall.
"Josh, what's going on?" she asked as her long legged strides quickly allowed her to catch up with him.
"It's....it's nothing to do with work, CJ, and let's leave it at that for now. Please," Josh requested as he stopped just before the hallway that led into the Oval Office. "Just go back to work." He then left her standing there confused as he strode off towards the Oval.
"Ooookay...." CJ murmured turning around to return to her office to prepare for her next briefing.
Josh reached Donna's desk and quickly knelt down beside her. "Donnatella?" he asked quietly. Donna put her hand on his shoulder as if she needed that contact to hold herself upright, and he could see the tears pooling in her eyes. "Ok," he said reading the answer to his unspoken question in her eyes. He picked up the phone on her desk and quickly dialed. "Margaret, is Leo in his office?"
"He's meeting with Nancy McNally, Josh" Margaret told him. "Is there a message I can give him for you?"
"No, I'm coming over there now," Josh told her before hanging up. "Charlie, I need you and Nancy to cover for Donna for awhile." Charlie nodded his understanding, but his expression spoke loudly of his confusion. Thankfully, though, he didn't ask any questions. "Come on, sweetheart. We're going to Leo's office," Josh whispered coaxingly to Donna as he helped her stand. He couldn't take Donna into the Oval Office, and so the next closest option on his mental list was Leo. "Not far," he murmured as he lead her past Margaret in the outer office and into Leo's inner sanctum without bothering to knock.
"Josh, I'm in a meeting here!" Leo growled at him. His eyes widened as Josh ignored him, instead leading Donna like a child to the leather sofa. Leo and Nancy traded worried looks as they noticed the tears in Donna's eyes as she lay flat on her back on the sofa. "Josh, what's going on?"
Josh still didn't answer though as pulled the phone from the table beside the sofa to the floor beside him where he knelt by Donna's side. "This is Josh Lyman. I need to speak with Dr. McFadden," he told whoever answered at the other end. "Yeah, doctor. No, she's not in pain, but she's bleeding again. No. Okay."
Nancy motioned for Leo to follow her as she walked quietly into the outer office. She shut the door quietly behind them. "Leo, I think you'd better clear Josh's schedule for the day and get someone to cover for Donna."
"Wha?" he asked looking back over his shoulder at the closed door to his office.
"I recognized the number Josh dialed. Dr. McFadden is one of the top OB/GYN's in DC, Leo" she explained. "She specializes in problem pregnancies."
Leo's eyes widened as he began adding up what he'd seen and heard in his office with that fact. "God, can't those two catch a break!" he cried. Closing his eyes he remembered how Josh's free hand had clasped Donna's where they rested like a shield over her stomach. "You think Abby could help?" he asked the National Security Advisor.
"Couldn't hurt," she decided after a moment's thought. "At worst having Abby look at her will calm them down a bit. If what we suspect is happening, that's probably about all anyone can do."
Finally remembering that Margaret was in the room, Leo turned to her. "Keep what you just heard to yourself, Margaret" he ordered her. "We don't know what's going on, yet."
Margaret nodded. "Should I go help Mary clear Josh's schedule?"
"Yeah," Leo replied running a hand distractedly through his hair. "Postpone what you can. Have Toby or Sam take what meetings they can, and I'll deal with whatever else there is. Have Bonnie come up and cover for Donna," he told her. As she left to carry out his instructions, he picked up the phone on her desk and called the First Lady's office.
"What's up, Leo?" Abby asked when she answered the phone.
"I need you to come down to my office. Josh just lead Donna in there and laid her on the couch in the middle of my meeting with Nancy. Then he called some Doctor named McFadden and told him..."
"Her," Nancy corrected him.
"...her that Donna was bleeding again. Nancy says this McFadden is an OB/GYN," Leo explained before pausing for breath.
"I'll be right there Leo. Don't panic," the First Lady ordered her friend.
"I'm gonna go talk to him. Can we...." Leo began to ask.
"Yeah, this is small stuff. It'll keep," the National Security Advisor assured him.
Leo opened the office door slowly not knowing what he'd find.
"We're going to get through this, Donnatella," Josh whispered as he gently wiped the tears from her eyes ignoring the ones slowly falling from his own. "No matter what happens, we're going to get through this together."
"Donna," Leo said quietly. "I need to talk to Josh for just a second. We're going to be right outside, okay? Just yell if you need us. Can you handle that?" Leo asked.
Donna nodded. "It's okay," she replied though her voice was raw from the sobs she was unable to fully suppress.
"Just a minute," Josh assured her as he pressed a kiss to her forehead then followed Leo into the outer office.
"Josh, is Donna having a miscarriage?" Leo asked quietly.
"We don't know. The doctor thinks its just more spotting," Josh explained as he tiredly rubbed the back of his neck.
"More?" Leo asked.
"It's happened three times already," Josh said the worry clearly evident in his voice. "Never this bad before though."
"Josh, why haven't you said anything?" Leo asked unable to mask the hurt tone in his voice.
"There's a history of problem pregnancies in Donna's family. Her mom had three miscarriages, and her sister's already had two. It's become a thing in her family that they just don't talk about it until the second trimester when most of the danger has past," Josh explained knowing he was babbling. "Donna....when her sister lost the first baby they'd already told everyone. People were sending baby presents and congratulations, and she'd have to send them back and explain over and over and over again that the baby died. So now they just don't...."
"I understand," Leo assured him. "How much longer until Donna's in the second semester?"
"Trimester, Leo" Josh corrected him without thinking. "Three more weeks."
"Joshua," Abigail Bartlet greeted him as she strode into the office trailed by her agents.
"Ma'am, what...." Josh asked.
"I called her," Leo told him.
"You gentleman stay out here," she told her agents.
"Ma'am," Agent Samuels protested.
"Agent Samuels, unless you're married to the young woman in there...." the First Lady began. "Which I think Josh here would object to, you are not going to be present while I examine her. Are we clear?" she asked in that sugar sweet voice that meant she was going to cut you off at the knees if you didn't agree.
"Yes, ma'am," he agreed.
"Good," she said before quietly opening the door to Leo's office. "Donna? How are you doing, sweetie?"
"Dr. Bartlet?" Donna asked swiveling her head around where it rested on the arm of the couch.
"What's going on?" she asked again.
"I'm spotting," Donna told her. "There's no cramping or pain though. Dr. McFadden, my OB, says it's probably just spotting..."
"She's probably right," Abby agreed. "But would it make you feel better if I examined you? At the very least I want to check your vitals."
"It would make me feel better," Donna agreed. "Thank you."
Abby squeezed the younger woman's hand where it still rested on her stomach. "Jed and I consider you and Josh part of our family, Donna. If you need anything, anything at all. Just tell me. I had a hard time with Zoey," she admitted. "Sometimes it can help to talk to someone who's been there."
A few minutes later she stepped back into the outer office. "I think Dr. McFadden is right. She'll be alright. We need to keep her calm and still for awhile though to help get the bleeding stopped. I want to keep an eye on her as well. So I'm taking her up to the Residence. Josh, you come with us," she ordered.
"Leo?" Josh asked. Outwardly he was calm for the most part, but his eyes begged that he be allowed to stay with his wife.
"Mary's already clearing your schedule for the rest of the day," Leo assured him. "Josh....if the Press gets wind of something going on out here what do you want me to have CJ do?" he asked.
"Keep it quiet if you can. Don't let them run with any rumors that she's dying, but she..."
Leo nodded. "Go take care of Donna," he ordered his deputy.
Josh nodded then headed back into Leo's office. A few seconds later he emerged with his arms around Donna as he led her towards the Residence. The tears had dried on her face, and she rested her head on Josh's shoulder.