Title: A Friend In Need
Disclaimer, Summary, etc. - As in Part 1
Part 2 of 9
**
Josh and Donna received a few stares as they entered the West Wing. Obviously the grapevine was a little slow today, or Leo hadn't told Margaret about Donna's accident yet. They made their way to Donna's cubicle and Josh helped her out of her jacket before she sat down.
"Do you need anything?" he asked gently.
"Some coffee would be nice," she grinned in reply.
"Yeah, like I'm gonna bring you coffee when you don't bring me any. You want coffee, you know where the pot is." Josh pointed towards the coffee-pot for emphasis.
"And just how do you suggest she carries the cup of coffee while her hands are full with her crutches?" Josh turned around to find CJ glaring at him. "I think bringing Donna coffee is the least you can do since I heard you are responsible for her current predicament!" Josh gulped and looked to Donna for help; she just smirked at him.
"Ok, I'm getting the coffee."
Josh moved quickly away and didn't notice CJ winking at Donna, nor did he hear her whispering, "I'm gonna have so much fun with this. Leo told us what happened at the senior staff meeting, the late meeting I should add." As Josh returned with the coffee CJ turned to him and said, "Hey, Josh, don't you have a meeting to prepare for?"
"Yes, but you just told me to get Donna some coffee and I don't want to feel the wrath of the sisterhood again." With that, Josh quickly placed the cup of coffee in front of Donna and bolted into his office, carrying a cup of coffee for himself, and firmly closed the door behind him. CJ and Donna shared a look and laughed.
"Donna, if you need anything just let me know, and if Idiot Boy isn't behaving himself and helping you, let me know that too." CJ smiled as she said the words, but there was a look of concern on her face as well.
"I don't think we'll need to worry about that once I point out to Josh that I can use my crutches as weapons against him." Donna sported an evil grin as she lifted one crutch into the air and CJ laughed as she headed towards her office.
*
Josh entered Leo's Office at 3:15pm to find CJ already there.
"Leo, you wanted to see me?" Josh gave him a questioning look to find out if he should come back later.
"Yeah, how did the meeting with O'Donnell go?"
"It was okay; Donna's typing up the notes now, you'll have them in a half-hour. I didn't have to give up too much ground though." Josh was sporting a small version of his 'I'm-da-man' look and CJ rolled her eyes.
"Okay, well that wasn't really what I wanted to talk to you about anyway. Have a seat." Leo pointed to the visitor's armchair nearest the door; CJ took a seat on the couch and Leo sat in the other chair, opposite Josh.
"Let me guess," Josh started, "this is about Donna's accident, right? I haven't had a chance to fill in the report yet, but I will."
"It's about the accident yes, but it's more about the after-effects, not the cause," Leo replied simply.
"Huh?" A confused look came over Josh's face and he looked from Leo to CJ.
"Josh, Carol was talking to Donna while you were in your meeting and she says that Donna is worried about how she's going to manage getting up the stairs to her apartment while she's on crutches. She's knows she's going to be exhausted from walking around on them all day, and most of the night here, and she won't have enough energy left when she gets home." Josh started to interrupt, but CJ raised her hand to stop him. "She's so concerned, in fact, that she was going to ask Margaret if she could stay with her, since she has a street level apartment. However, Carol had to tell her that Margaret has her sister staying with her at the moment so, she wouldn't have the room. Unfortunately, no-one else that Donna is friendly with here has an apartment lower than her own." CJ gave him a look that Josh was finding difficult to interpret.
"CJ, don't you have an elevator in your apartment building?" he asked, with no trace of humor in his voice.
"Yes, and I thought about asking her to stay with me. However, she will need to be driven to and from work every day and I think she needs to cut back her hours a little bit so she can rest. As you know, I often don't call a full lid until around 11pm and I think that would be too late for Donna; even if she could get a lift home from someone else, I'd be worried that I would disturb her when I got back." CJ looked at Leo, who nodded for her to continue. "Leo and I think that Donna should stay with you, since you only have one flight of steps to climb and you work pretty much the same hours." CJ looked straight at Josh as she said this, and then smiled as she saw his deer-in-the-headlights look.
"CJ, she can't stay with me!" Josh exclaimed, looking from CJ to Leo and then back to CJ.
"Why not, Josh? If you're worried about the press and how it would look, don't; I'd be surprised if they even noticed. I mean sure, they'll see you leaving together, but they won't think anything of you driving her home when she's on crutches. I seriously doubt they'll be camped out on your doorstep." Josh started to interrupt again but CJ continued, "But, even if they are, we can easily explain why Donna is staying in your guest room. They all like Donna and wouldn't want to kick her while she's down, as they say." Leo noticed the worried look on Josh's face and decided to take over.
"Josh, what would you rather have; Donna exhausted every day and in pain, worrying about how she's going to climb the steps or, Donna somewhere that you can help her?" Leo held Josh's eyes as he asked.
"Of course I want her to stay with me…where I can help her," he quickly amended his statement, "but, I don't want it dragged through the press when there's nothing to drag."
"Don't worry about it, Josh. Just you concentrate on looking after Donna. She won't admit it, but she'll need help, she's not used to being like this." CJ's tone was light and Josh visibly relaxed.
"Okay, but I'm going to need a favor. Someone will have to go over to Donna's and pack some clothes for her, so she doesn't have to go there and do it herself. I'd do it, but I don't think she'd want me to." Josh looked at CJ.
"Well, I don't have time, but I'll ask Carol to go over. She can check with Donna about what she wants packed." Josh's head snapped up at that.
"No! No, I don't think we should tell Donna about this." At Leo and CJ's questioning looks he continued, "If we do, she'll refuse and will insist on booking herself into a hotel or something. It'll be easier if I just drive her to my apartment tonight without saying anything first."
"Okay, but she's gonna have to know - Carol will need a key," CJ stated. At that, Josh removed his keychain from his pocket, pointed to two keys and handed them to CJ.
"Those are the keys for the building door and Donna's apartment door." CJ looked at him strangely.
"Why do you have D…you know what? I'm not even gonna ask." CJ glanced at Leo, who had a slight smile on his face. "Okay, I'll send Carol over. Actually, it might be best if you and Donna aren't seen leaving with a suitcase tonight. I'll get Carol to call you when she gets back and you can meet her in the parking lot and transfer the stuff to your car." Josh nodded his agreement.
"Alright, now that we have that sorted, back to work both of you." Leo stood and started to usher them out of his office. "Oh, and Josh, I still want to see that accident report before you leave today." Josh nodded and left the office, missing the twin grins of CJ and Leo.
*
Josh made his way towards his office from the Roosevelt Room at 8:10pm, looking for Donna. He had found it difficult to get used to the fact that he was actually going to have to go and collect files from her, rather than bellowing for her to bring them to him, but he knew it would be difficult for her to carry them while on crutches – well, he knew it after CJ pointed it out to him, with the aid of a smack on the back of his head.
Not finding Donna at her desk, he opened his office door and was surprised to find CJ sitting behind his desk, looking at some files, with her laptop in front of her.
"CJ, what are you doing in my office?" he questioned.
"Working." CJ looked up, made the simple statement and returned her attention to her work.
"Okay, but you know you have your own office, right?" Amusement made its way into Josh's voice.
"Yes, but right now my office is occupied by your assistant." Again CJ only briefly looked up.
"What is Donna doing in your office?" Josh's tone had changed from amused to confused.
"Sleeping." CJ smirked as she gave the one word answer, her smirk growing as she saw the frustration on Josh's face.
"What the hell? CJ?" Josh started waving his arms around in frustration.
"She asked if she could use my couch while I did my evening briefing – she needed to elevate her ankle. Being the kind and caring person I am, I immediately agreed and I left her lying on the couch reading over some index cards when I headed to the press room. When I returned, I found that she had fallen asleep, no doubt due to the fact that she didn't get much sleep last night." CJ gave Josh a pointed look and continued, "I didn't have the heart to wake her so I gathered up some work and decided to use your office."
"Well, can I have my office back now?" The amused tone was back.
"No!"
"CJ, I have work to do."
"So, go use Donna's desk."
"Here's a better idea; you go back to your office and kick Donna out so you can work there, and I will use my own desk." Josh was beginning to get exasperated, feeling guilty again about Donna's injury, but not willing to admit it.
"No, Joshua, I will not kick Donna out. Here's an even better idea; take her home so she can sleep in an actual bed."
"I still have a ton of work to do."
"Josh, you don't have any more meetings so, whatever you need to work on, you can do it at home. Donna is exhausted and needs to sleep; the couch is not good for her before you say that she can stay there while you work here." CJ started to glare at Josh, willing him to give in. Finally he relented, not wanting to get into a stand-off situation with CJ.
"Okay. Can you go and wake her while I pack up?" he asked meekly.
"No, but I'll get Donna's coat and bag while you get your stuff. Then you can go and waken her, nicely, and tell her that you're taking her home." Josh knew there was no point in arguing and nodded his head. He stuffed some files into his backpack, put his jacket on and followed CJ to her office, taking Donna's coat and bag from her as they walked.
*
CJ remained outside her open office door as Josh entered to waken Donna, watching him gently kneel down beside her.
"Donna." He spoke quietly, reluctant to disturb her in case she tried to jump up. When she didn't respond, he tried again, a little more forcefully. "Donnatella, wake up." He placed his left hand on her right upper arm, closest to him, and shook her gently.
"Josh?" a sleepy voice responded. Donna opened her eyes and, realizing where she was, immediately got a look of panic on her face. "Josh, I'm sorry; I didn't mean to fall asleep." She started to move but Josh placed his hand on her arm again to stop her.
"It's okay, you're exhausted and everyone keeps telling me that it's my fault, so don't worry about it. Anyway, it's time to go home." Donna looked at her watch and did a double-take.
"I can't believe I was asleep that long. Where's CJ?" Donna quickly realized that CJ's briefing must have ended a while ago.
"It's okay, she went to work in my office so you could sleep," Josh replied gently.
"Oh man, I'm so sorry." The panicked look was back, replaced with an apologetic one as she noticed CJ step into the office.
"It's okay, Donna, I don't mind. I'm just glad you got some rest, but now, let Josh take you home." Donna looked at Josh.
"But you can't be ready to go home yet, it's not even 8:30," she stated.
"I can work from home, you need to get some sleep – in a bed." He motioned for her to try to stand up and quickly held his arms out for her to grab onto as she struggled. CJ handed her the crutches and she gratefully took them. Josh then helped her on with her coat and indicated that he had her bag.
"Thanks, CJ. I'll see you tomorrow." Donna gave CJ a grateful smile, which was returned by the Press Secretary.
"No problem, Donna. Take care of yourself." Josh shot CJ a look of gratitude and followed Donna out of the office.
*
"Hey Josh, you know you're going the wrong way, right?" Donna looked over at Josh from the passenger seat.
"No, I'm not." Josh kept his eyes on the road as he responded.
"Yeah, you are. To get to my apartment we should have turned left at the last intersection, not right."
"We're not going to your apartment." Josh quickly glanced at Donna and, seeing the look of confusion cross her face, he continued, "You're staying with me until you're back on your feet, literally." He grinned at his last comment, but the grin slipped as he saw the panic on Donna's face.
"Josh, I can't stay with you. I mean, I appreciate the offer and all but CJ would have a fit; she wouldn't like having to explain this to the press."
"Don't worry about it, CJ and Leo already convinced me that it won't be a problem. Apparently, the Whitehouse press don't find me interesting enough to camp out on my doorstep." Josh gave an indignant look as he said this, his ego finding it hard to believe people weren't interested in him.
"Are you sure?" Donna asked quietly. When Josh nodded and smiled, another thought struck her. "Well, we still need to go to my apartment; I'll need to pack some clothes."
"All taken care of." Donna gave him a questioning look. "Don't worry, I didn't do it; Carol went over and packed a suitcase and a garment bag for you. The case is in the trunk and you'll notice the garment bag hanging in the back window." Donna looked behind her and nodded, suddenly relieved; Josh taking underwear out of her drawer so she could change out of her vomit-covered pajamas had been bad enough, she certainly didn't want him going through her stuff when she wasn't there. "Donna?" Josh's question made her realize Josh had been talking to her while she was thinking.
"Huh? Sorry, I tuned out a little there." Josh gave her a mock-hurt look and repeated his question.
"I said, I'm gonna order some food since I haven't eaten since we left my apartment earlier and I bet you haven't either. Is Chinese ok with you?" Donna nodded. "Your usual?" She nodded again in response and Josh hit the speed-dial on his cellphone for the Chinese take-out place nearest his apartment. He placed an order and asked for it to be delivered, being told it would be about 30 minutes, which would give them enough time to get home.
*
Josh juggled his backpack, Donna's bag and her suitcase and garment bag up the front steps to his apartment building door, amazingly waiting patiently for her to join him at the top and holding the door open for her. He unlocked the door to his apartment and ushered Donna inside, dropping his backpack and her bag on the floor just inside the door.
"I'll put these in your room," he said, indicating the suitcase and garment bag. "There's plenty of space in the closet, it's only my winter stuff in there. The desk has a couple of empty drawers in it if you want to put…whatever, in there." He started to become a little flustered when he was obviously referring to her underwear and Donna smiled.
"Thanks, Josh. You couldn't do me a favor and hang up the stuff from my garment bag, could you? It'll save me having to stand to do it." Josh nodded and moved off to the guest room. Donna followed behind and sat on the bed as he unzipped the bag and hung up it's contents – thankfully Carol had used the individual clothes hangers inside the bag, rather than the ones that were fixed inside it, making it easy for Josh to remove them.
"I guess it's just as well I did a big ironing on Sunday," Donna mused. Josh turned to face her.
"Huh?"
"Well, if I hadn't, I would have a bit of a problem trying to stand to iron everything now, wouldn't I?" she said, pointing towards her bandaged ankle.
"I'd have done it for you," Josh stated seriously.
"Josh, your idea of ironing is to drop off a huge pile of clean laundry at an ironing service and collect everything a couple of days later, all ready just to hang up."
"Well, yeah," he admitted. "But, I would still have done yours for you or, you know, dropped yours off with mine," he smirked. He finished hanging her clothes up, and zipped up the garment bag and placed it inside the closet before turning to her. "Will you be okay unpacking everything else?" Donna nodded. "Okay, well, I'm gonna go change before the food gets here."
*
Josh emerged from his bedroom, clad in jeans and a T-shirt, just in time to hear the door buzzer signaling the food's arrival. He let the delivery guy inside the building and grabbed his wallet. Once he'd paid for the food and taken it to the kitchen, he called Donna to tell her it was ready.
When Donna arrived in the kitchen, Josh noticed she hadn't change out of the shirt and pants she'd worn to work; he guessed that she had been too busy unpacking. He placed the cartons of food on the table and they both sat down, helping themselves to some of everything. Although Josh always ordered Chicken in Black Bean Sauce and Donna ordered Sweet and Sour Chicken, they always ended up sharing.
They ate in relative silence, talking a little about some of the meetings Josh had attended during the day. When they finished eating it was nearly 9:45pm. Josh rose from the table and started to clear it, putting the plates in the dishwasher and the cartons in the trash.
"Do you want some coffee or something?" he asked.
"No, if you don't mind I think I'm just gonna go to bed. I'm really tired."
"Of course I don't mind, do you need anything?" His tone was gentle.
"No, I'll be fine. Thanks. Goodnight, Josh." Donna pushed herself up from the table and grabbed her crutches, making her way towards the bathroom.
"Night, Donna." Josh finished clearing up and went into the living room, grabbing his backpack and removing some files from it, deciding he could get a little work done since it was still early for him. A few minutes later a thought occurred to him. He went to the kitchen and poured a glass of water before going to the guest room and knocking gently on the door. He heard Donna telling him to come in and he opened the door.
"Hey, I thought you might need a glass of water so you can take your pain medication." He motioned to the glass in his hand.
"Oh, thanks. I just took some pills in the bathroom but leave the water anyway, I might need to take more during the night." Josh placed the glass on the nightstand and noticed that she had placed her bottle of pills from the hospital there. He also noticed an alarm clock.
"Where did the clock come from?"
"Carol packed it. I mentioned this morning that there wasn't one in here, which is why we slept in. I guess she figured that, if I relied on you to wake me, we'd be late every morning." She grinned at him, and Josh grinned in reply.
"I should take offense at that, but I guess you have a point. We need to be in the office for 7:30 tomorrow so set your alarm for around 6am. Anyway, I'll let you get some sleep. Night." He moved towards the door.
"Night, Josh. Don't work too late." Josh didn't even bother to ask how she knew he was still working, Donna always knew these things.
*
Wednesday
Josh had set his alarm for 5:30am, determined to prove to Donna that he could get himself up without relying on her. The fact that she usually phoned him in the morning to wake him was beside the point; he could manage when he had to. He took a quick shower and was back in his bedroom getting dressed when he heard Donna's door open. He grinned to himself, picturing her expression when she saw that the shower walls were damp and the bubble-wrapped stool was back in place, proving he was already up.
Josh was in the kitchen reading over some notes when Donna appeared. He pushed some toast over to her, but she shook her head.
"Donna, we're not going to go through this every morning. Eat some toast. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day you know."
"Yeah, and how often do you actually eat breakfast, Joshua?"
"When you call me early enough so that I have time to make it," he stated. "Now, I went to the bother of making this so, please eat it." She realized he wasn't going to take no for an answer, so she sat down at the table and ate a slice of toast, smiling as Josh placed a cup of coffee in front of her.
"You know, I could get used to this." She smirked at him as she pointed to the coffee.
"Yeah, well I'm counting the number of cups I bring you and will present you with a tally once you're off the crutches; you can then bring me double the amount of cups in return." Donna snorted.
"Like that's gonna happen." Josh grinned and ate another slice of toast. Finally, they finished their breakfast and headed towards the door; Josh again helped Donna on with her coat.
*
Wednesday morning flew past, with Josh running out to the bullpen every so often to collect files from Donna, before rushing off to yet another meeting. He had a lunch meeting scheduled on the Hill and headed straight for that from a meeting with Toby, so Donna couldn't ask him to bring her back a sandwich; however, at 1pm, CJ appeared in front of her.
"Donna, why don't you come along to my office and eat lunch with me?"
"Thanks for the offer, CJ, but I don't have anything with me. I'm gonna call Josh later and ask him to bring me something back."
"You don't need to, there's food in my office."
"CJ, I can't eat your lunch. I'll be fine."
"It's not my lunch, it's yours, well ours actually." Donna gave her a quizzical look. "Josh called me from the Hill to ask me to get you something; he realized you wouldn't be able to go downstairs to the mess. Carol went out and got food for the three of us and Josh is going to pay for it when he returns. Come on Donna, it's not every day Josh offers to pay for our food, take advantage of it." Donna laughed and rose from her chair.
*
CJ, Carol and Donna caught up on each other's gossip over lunch, although Donna noticed that neither Carol or CJ asked her what it was like staying with Josh. When they finished eating, Donna made her way back to the bullpen, noticing that Josh was back. She went into his office to ask how his meeting had gone.
"It was fine. Did you get lunch okay?" he asked, looking at her intently.
"Yeah, I ate with CJ and Carol. Apparently, you owe Carol $50."
"50 bucks, what did you eat, caviar?"
"Josh, there were three of us."
"Wait, I paid for CJ and Carol's lunches too? I didn't agree to that."
"I'm sure you'll get over it, Josh. Now, according to your schedule, we can leave here at 6pm; is that still correct?" She looked at Josh and saw his eyes glance down to his desk.
"Erm, no, I'm afraid it's not." He looked back up at Donna and saw her disappointed look. "I'm sorry, but we need to meet with O'Donnell again; he's wavering on a couple of issues. I set up a meeting in Houlihans at 6:30pm."
"Why do I have to be there?"
"Because, I figure if you come he'll take pity on you and keep the meeting short." Donna glared at him. "Also, I need you to take notes. I also thought we could get something to eat there after he leaves." Donna's face brightened at his last comment.
"Okay, but you're paying." She left his office and returned to her desk and didn't see the wistful smile on Josh's face.
*
The meeting with O'Donnell was short; Josh had him caving in on all issues within 10 minutes, which he then claimed was a new record. After O'Donnell left, they ordered dinner and chatted quietly, with Josh asking Donna how her ankle was. By 8pm they were back in Josh's car for the 10-minute drive to his apartment. Once inside, they both headed to their respective rooms to change. Josh once again put on jeans and a sweater and Donna changed into sweatpants and a T-shirt. She found Josh sitting on the couch when she came out of her room and he motioned for her to join him.
"Do you mind if I lie on the couch?" she asked hesitantly. "I need to elevate my ankle as much as possible."
"Of course not. Here, lie down." Josh stood up and ushered her onto the couch. He then sat down in one of the chairs and switched the TV on to CNN. They talked about some of the news items, commenting on some of the things CJ would need to discuss in her briefings. Josh noticed that Donna was fidgeting a lot and asked her if she was alright.
"Yeah, I'm just a little cold. Carol packed a pair of sweatpants but forgot a sweatshirt." Josh stood up and headed for his room. He emerged a couple of minutes later and handed her a Yale sweatshirt, which she slipped over her head. He remained standing and looked at her.
"Hey, do you want some cocoa? It'll heat you up and maybe help you sleep."
"You have cocoa?" Donna couldn't help the amused tone in her voice; Josh was not the kind of person she expected to drink cocoa.
"Yeah, my mom sends it in her gift packages every couple of months; you know what she's like. Want some?" Donna nodded her head and Josh went into the kitchen. He returned a few minutes later with two steaming cups of cocoa and handed one to Donna before sitting back down in the chair.
They both turned their attention back to the TV, but Donna noticed Josh glancing over at her every few minutes and she settled down on the couch, getting herself comfortable. They finally headed to bed around 10:30pm, which was the earliest Josh had been to bed for a long time. Once again, he took a glass of water into Donna's room when she was settled under the covers and asked her if she needed anything else. She replied that she didn't and he wished her goodnight before leaving the room.
*
Thursday
Next morning, Donna was up before Josh and he found her struggling with the toaster, trying to push the lever down to toast the bread while grabbing onto the counter to keep her balance. Josh chuckled slightly and put an arm around her waist to keep her steady. She cast him an appreciative glance and finally got the toaster to work. Josh let go of her waist and started to make coffee for them both.
There was a wistful look on Josh's face when Donna finally sat down at the table, still waiting on the toaster to finish.
"What are you thinking about?" she asked gently.
"Hmm? Oh, nothing really." He smiled at her. The toast popped out of the toaster and Donna started to get up. Josh placed his hand over hers to still her.
"It's okay, I'll get it. Stay there." He grabbed the toast and set it on the table with the butter. While Donna buttered all the slices he poured the coffee and set the mugs on the table before sitting down again and helping himself to a piece of toast.
"So, did you sleep okay?" Josh asked, staring into Donna's eyes. He was wondering if she had been awake all night when she'd been up so early.
"Yeah. I guess my body is used to only getting a few hours sleep each night though, so I woke up early as a result of going to bed early." She smiled at Josh and he smiled back, realizing she'd practically read his mind; she always seemed to have a way of doing that.
"Good. Hey, I meant to say to you, I don't need you to wait around while I have the late meeting on the Hill tonight."
"What do you mean?" Donna asked, slightly taken aback; Josh always made her wait in case he needed her to research anything immediately after his meetings.
"Well, I'm not expecting anything major to happen so, I plan just to come straight back here rather than going back to the office. My meeting's at 8pm so you can leave when I do. Will you be able to get a ride with someone or do you want me drop you off first?"
"I should be able to get a ride with someone, if not I'll get a cab, there's no point in you driving over here just to drop me off."
"Okay, but let me know if you can't get a ride, I don't mind taking you." Donna nodded and they ate the rest of their breakfast in silence. Once finished, Donna got up from the table and headed towards the bathroom. Josh cleared the table and also headed towards the bathroom, not realizing that's where Donna had gone. When he got there, the door was partially open and he found Donna brushing her teeth.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't realize you were in here."
She looked up startled, toothbrush in hand. "It's okay. I just want to brush my teeth and then I'll be out." She returned her attention to trying to get the toothpaste onto the brush while clinging to the basin for balance; she'd struggled with it every night and still hadn't found an easy solution.
"Here, let me." Josh took the toothpaste from her and squeezed some onto her brush. He then retrieved his own toothbrush from the holder and put some paste on it. He stood beside Donna and started to brush his teeth. Donna looked surprised but copied his actions, rinsing her mouth at the same time as him. Josh passed her a towel to wipe her mouth with and grabbed the corner of it to wipe his own face.
"Ready?" Donna nodded and made her way out of the room, with Josh holding the door for her.
*
The rest of the day passed even more quickly than the previous day, with Josh rushing around trying to get the votes status on a new bill he was working on. However, he called Donna into his office at lunchtime, where she found he had got a salad from the mess for her, and he brought her up-to-date with the bill progress while they ate. She informed him that she was going out to dinner with Ginger, who would then drive her home and that, yes, she had her key to Josh's apartment with her. Josh seemed happy enough with that and when he left for the Hill he told her not to work too late and that he'd see her at home. Donna felt a slight flutter in her heart at his words, and then laughed at herself for being stupid and sentimental.
*
Josh finally unlocked the door to his apartment at 11:18pm and dropped his backpack on the floor. He noticed that the table lamps were on in the living room as he removed his coat. Moving further into the room, he noticed Donna's sleeping form lying along the couch. The TV was on, with the sound turned down low. Josh found the remote on the coffee table and switched it off. He then knelt down beside Donna and gently shook her awake.
"Hey, Donna, wake up." She opened her eyes and found him looking at her.
"Oh, hi. What time is it?"
"It's late. What are you doing sleeping on the couch?" he asked softly, still kneeling beside her.
"I was watching TV and I guess I feel asleep, I was pretty tired."
"You know you have a TV in your room, right?" he smiled, still not moving away.
"Yeah, I know, but…" she trailed off.
"But, you thought you'd wait up for me?" Josh guessed. Donna gave him a sheepish smile in response and he grinned at her.
"Well, I'm home now, so you should probably go to bed; you can't be comfortable here," he stated, gesturing at the couch as he spoke.
"I'm fine," Donna replied, but as she did so, she tried to sit up and immediately put a hand to her neck, wincing a little.
"You okay?" Concern was evident in his voice. Donna nodded, but continued to rub her neck with her hand. "Your neck sore from lying like that, huh?" Josh didn't wait for an answer. Instead, he moved to the end of the couch, where Donna's head had been lying, and placed his hands on her shoulders, brushing her hand away. He felt Donna stiffen slightly under his touch.
"Josh, what are you doing?"
He started to knead her shoulders. "I'm trying to ease your neck, and get rid of some of this tension in you. Your muscles are like knots."
"Okay," Donna said hesitantly. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"
"Yep, I'm an expert at giving massages." At Donna's silence he continued, "I had to learn all about them when I took karate in High School." Donna chuckled slightly.
"I never knew you studied martial arts, Josh."
"There are a lot of things you don't know about me, Donna. Your neck feeling any better?"
"A little, I guess."
"Hmm, okay, you're probably not in the best position for this to work. Can you move forward slightly?" Donna used her hands to push herself along the couch a little and then gasped as she felt Josh climb onto the couch behind her. He sat on the arm and placed his feet either side of her, pulling her back up against his legs; he then resumed the massage. A few minutes later he could feel Donna relaxing and he grinned to himself; he then realized that she was falling asleep again.
"Hey, Donna, don't fall asleep on me here, my back isn't good enough to carry you to your room I'm afraid." She laughed and sat up straight, pushing herself away from Josh's legs.
"Yeah, you're right. I should go to bed. Thanks, Josh." She gave him a grateful smile and got up off the couch. Josh handed her the crutches and she headed for the bathroom. When she came out and went into her room she found Josh placing a glass of water on her nightstand.
"Thanks, Josh. Goodnight."
"Night, Donna," he replied as he quietly closed her door behind him.
**
TBC