Title: Dark Depths

Author: Lucy Mars

Disclaimer: As much as I wish and wish...it won't come true. Alas, I don't own them. I'll play nice and return them when I'm done. Well...maybe not with Amy. ;]

*All you Amy lovers...run! ;]

Chapter #5

Patience, Josh had learned, wasn't something that he had much of. However, when it came to Donna he would wait forever. The doctors, not so much. "Is Donna okay?"

Snapping off his latex gloves, Dr. Beaker didn't even flinch at the tone of Josh's voice. He'd heard it too much over the years. More than he cared to count. "Considering everything that Ms. Moss has been through tonight, she is doing wonderfully."

"But what just happened?" CJ asked wrapping a supportive arm around Josh.

"It was just the intensity of the pain." Dr. Beaker explained, "It's a reaction that the body has when the pain become too much. We've given her something to make her a little more comfortable."

"So Donna's going to be okay?" Josh asked anxiously.

"When Ms. Moss first came in we did a CT scan. Not to worry," Dr. Beaker assured as the two paled significantly, "it was normal. We always do a CT scan when there's a head injury, to check for evidence of internal bleeding. There was none."

"What about all the blood?" Josh asked thinking about Donna's belongings and how sullied they were.

"Scalp wounds tend to really bleed. She didn't need any stitches. Just some of my magic tape." Dr. Beaker said trying to reassure Josh, "I'll come by and look at her a little later."

"Okay." Josh said breathing a sigh of relief, "Okay. Can I see her?'

"Of course." Dr. Beaker said moving aside so that Josh could get back to Donna's side.

"I'm going to go and find Sam and Toby." CJ said catching Josh's arm, "Let them know that Donna's okay."

"Okay." Josh said rushing back into Donna's room and breathing a sigh of relief when he saw her. Closing the door gently behind him, Josh slowly made his way to her side and just starred at her peaceful face for god knows how long. He stood there looking down at her, white and bandaged with an IV in her arm. His fingers lightly tracing her warm face, Josh felt his hands clench into a fist when his eyes feel on the stark green on her pale jaw. Sitting down, Josh tugged his chair till it was right up against the side of Donna's bed. Leaning against the soft mattress, Josh laid his tired head down and just listened carefully to her breathing. It was the most soothing and wonderful sound that he'd ever heard. There were a million things running through his mind, but the sound of her steady breaths and the feeling of her warm hand pressed against his cold cheek was more than enough to lull him to sleep. Donna was okay and that was all that mattered.

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"Is Donna okay?" Sam asked when he spotted CJ.

"She's fine." CJ said smiling lightly. "The doctor just told us that she's going to be just fine. CT showed no internal bleeding."

"Thank god." Sam said feeling relief flood him. He couldn't imagine how Josh must be feeling. "Josh with her?"

"Yeah. Call Leo?"

"Yeah." Toby said rubbing his beard. "We need to check in every hour."

"Okay." CJ sighed rubbing her eyes. "What a night, huh?"

"Yeah." Sam agreed.

"Donna's going to be okay." Toby repeated trying to reassure himself.

"Yeah." Sam and CJ said smiling.

"Good." Toby said smiling along with them, "Good."

"I agree." CJ laughed.

"We need to buy her some pepper spray, or something." Toby said frowning when the image of her blood stained badge resurfaced.

"Or one of those alarm things." Sam said thinking about the report on Abuse Against Women that he'd read a couple of weeks ago.

"How about we find some coffee first?" CJ asked rubbing her tired eyes. "I could use some coffee."

"You guys go." Sam said shaking his head, "I'm going to go and check on Josh and find out what Donna's gonna need from her apartment. She'll probably want some pajamas…or something."

"Good idea Spanky." CJ said smiling at Sam.

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Blinking rapidly to clear her blurry vision, Donna gulped air desperately as her lungs drank hungrily. Her eyes jumped around the dimly lit room as she frantically scanned for any possible danger. Her harsh breaths echoed through the dim room and fueled the panic that was coursing through her hot blood. It was still too fresh. Her nightmare was still raging on in her mind. She could still feel his cold hands gripping her body and bruising her. His leer and threats were still fresh in her mind.

Twitching, Donna tried to form two fists when her right hand brushed against something warm. Looking down, Donna furiously blinked away her hot tears. Reaching out tentatively, Donna lightly touched Josh's sleeping face. Smiling despite her smothering anxiety, Donna let her shaking fingers trace the soft contours of his face. There was something comforting about having Josh nearby. His presence calmed her, because he was Josh. He was going to catch her if she fell. Listening to his even breaths, Donna timed her own ragged breaths to his. Slowing down her racing heart and raging emotions, Donna concentrated on the texture of Josh's cheek and how his lips curved into a soft smile under her touch. Trying to push away the still fresh nightmare. The suffocating fear. Listening to the hypnotic beats of her monitors and Josh's rhythmic breathing, Donna finally fell asleep after what felt like an interminable amount of time.

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Standing under the soft shadows, Sam watched Josh and Donna as they slept. Even when under the sandman's spell, they were connected. Their breathing, like everything else about them, was in tune. Like they were sharing a pair of lungs along with a heart. It was cliched, but it was times like this when Sam could see that they were clearly nothing more than two halves of a greater one. He felt his heart reach out in yearning as he watched Donna unconsciously reach out for Josh in her sleep. He wanted that connection. He wanted to find that kind of love. The hard part wasn't waiting, Sam had learnt over the years. The hard part was holding out hope that one day you would find that other half. He, along with every other person in the world was looking. It wasn't fair that Josh and Donna just found each other. As much as he longed for that connection, Sam knew that what Josh and Donna had was bitter sweet. Turning around, Sam softly closed the door behind him. He felt like he was invading their privacy watching the two while their defenses were down. When they weren't hiding for the world and most importantly, when they weren't hiding from themselves.

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"Drink this."

Taking the steaming cup from Toby, CJ looked around the empty lounge. "I never thought that I would ever come back here."

"Yeah." Toby grunted sitting down beside CJ, "I know what you mean."

"At least this time it's good news." CJ sighed. "It's good news."

"It was good news last time."

Titling her head, CJ frowned down at Toby. "How?"

"Josh was alive." Toby said sipping his coffee. "The good news was that Josh was alive."

"Yeah." CJ agreed staring off into the dark depths of her coffee. "Yeah."

"Maybe this place isn't so bad after all."

Laughing, CJ drank her coffee. "Maybe."

"The press is going to pick this up." Toby frowned, "Four highly visible members of the White House senior staff at G.W. I'm surprised nobody's been lurking the halls yet."

"I'm going to get a question." CJ agreed.

"Yeah."

"What do you want me to say?"

Rubbing his eyes, Toby tried to erase the image of Donna's blood stained badge and Josh's blood stained chest out of his head.

"Toby?" CJ asked worriedly.

"Yeah?" Toby answered pulling himself out of his funk. "Yeah."

"What do you want me to say?"

Sighing, Toby drank his coffee. "I don't know."

"Okay." CJ said nodding her head. "Okay."