Josh stared through the glass. Doctors and nurses surrounded Donna. The words 'pulmonary embolism' kept circling his mind. His father had died from that very thing. He watched with antagonizing nausea as the doctors tried to repair her.
The last couple of months had been hard. After Donna had told him that they were not going to finally start their relationship, he had sort of punished her. He didn't want her to leave him as an assistant if he couldn't have her any other way. He kept her doing brainless stuff. She was better than that and he knew it. Finally he had relented. He sent her to Gaza with other projects behind it for her to up and get a promotion within a month or so and then he would be searching for a replacement for an irreplaceable person. He knew it would be hard, but Donna deserved better. She was smart and she had the potential to be better than an assistant. To him she was his partner but he could see how it would be harder for her to see it that way.
Josh shook his head, what had he been thinking sending her to Gaza?
Between the heart break of seeing Donna broken and bruised in a hospital bed in Germany he had to watch I'm-too-sexy-for-my-camera kiss her and fawn all over her. She apparently was now into dating new people and had completely forgotten all about him. His heart had plummeted to his feet when he saw the British Heartthrob lean over the hospital bed and kiss Donna. Now he was staring through a glass window waiting to see if she was going to live or die.
His cell phone rang. He muted the ring and headed out into the main part of the hospital. "Josh Lyman."
"It's me."
"Hi, Toby," Josh replied numbly.
"What happened?" Toby's voice was full of concern.
"She's...she developed a pulmonary embolism...she's...they're operating on her now to try and remove it."
"Josh?" Josh could hear Toby's concern. "She's going to be okay, Josh. She's a strong girl. You didn't see her when you got shot, she's a strong girl."
"Yeah, Toby, but her body's so frail. I don't know what I'm going to do if I lose her."
"You're going to do what you should've done a long time ago. I don't care if you have to kidnap her to make her see the light."
Josh chuckled at Toby's somewhat romantic side. "Toby, it's not meant to end like this right?" He did everything he could to keep from crying. "It's not meant to be an endless string of tragedies with some good moments in between, right?"
"Why do you think I've been working so hard in the White House and not seeing my children? I can't face them until I know I've made this world better for them."
Josh was surprised by Toby's statement. "You're a good man, Toby."
"Josh, she's going to be okay."
"Her Mom is going to be here soon, how am I going to tell her?"
"Josh, this isn't your fault."
Josh was back in front of Donna's operating room. Her blonde hair was draping off the operating table as he peered inside.

"Toby?" C.J. slowly crept inside his office as Toby hung up the phone.
His glossy, pained brown eyes looked up at C.J. "What happened?" she whispered.
"Donna has a pulmonary embolism, she's in surgery right now."
"Oh, god!" She covered her mouth. "Josh?"
"Blaming himself like always. I swear to god, C.J., if she doesn't pull through this I'm going to quit. Josh has had enough tragedy in his life. We all have."
"Toby," C.J. said gently. "You can't quit, not now."
"I'm going to go give Leo an update." Toby stormed past C.J. down the hall and into Leo's office area. "Margaret, is he available?"
"Yeah, go on in."
He heard her stand up and follow him in.
Leo peered up from his paper. "What's up, Toby?"
"It's Donna."

Colin Ayres is pacing in front of Donna's empty room when Josh approaches. "She's in surgery," he manages to say.
"What happened?" Josh was aggravated by Colin's concern.
"She has a blood clot."
"Bloody hell." Colin leaned back against the wall. "How long ago?"
"About two hours."
Josh peered into her room; they had cleaned up the room. It looked like it was waiting for the next patient. He slowly stepped inside trying to stay calm.
"Do you mind if I wait with you?"
Josh didn't respond, he just sat down and stared at the black television screen.
"She's a rather remarkable girl, Josh, I wouldn't..."
"Why does everyone keep telling me that? Why is that supposed to make me feel better?" Josh's voice was low and harsh. "Does everyone really think I'm that stupid? That I don't see how remarkable she is, how wonderful she is, and how completely amazing she is. I've worked with the girl for nearly six in a half years. She's opened my eyes to things I would've never seen without her, she always keeps going. She stayed by my side everyday after I was shot, she knew before anyone that I had PTSD; she even took me to the hospital that night to get my hand checked out. She's just amazing. She comes to after being in a car bomb and she's concerned because I haven't shaved? The girl is crazy but she's amazing...so I don't need you to tell me that she's remarkable and she'll pull through." Josh turned to face Colin who was standing in the doorway. "That's not the problem, the problem is, I've seen remarkable people die."
Colin's expression shifted slightly. "You're in love with her."
"Wouldn't you be?"
"A few days and I'm completely smitten. She didn't mention that there was something going on between the two of you," he said quietly.
"There's not."
"Would you be more comfortable if I left?"
"Donna would want you to be here."
"Does she know how you feel?"
"She did, I don't know anymore."
"You should tell her."
"Why would you encourage something like that?"
"I'm not someone to stand in front of, as corny as it might sound, true love." Colin looked back in the hallway as if he were searching for her. "Something tells me she isn't either."
Josh continued to stare into the blank television but he felt like there might be a little more hope. Colin sat down next to Josh and they let the silence drift over them.

The President wandered into Toby's office. It was nearly eleven o'clock at night. Toby immediately stood up at his presence. "Good evening, sir."
"Keep your seat. I just came to see how you were doing. With all of the commotion I haven't had a lot of time for well anything."
"I'm fine, sir."
"Andi?"
"She'll be home in the morning."
"Very good." He glanced around the room. "Any word on Donna?"
"She's in surgery for a blood clot, sir."
"Josh?"
"Going a little crazy as we all are, sir."
He nodded solemnly.
"Are you okay, Mr. President?"
"I don't know, Toby. I didn't think anything could feel worse than Rosslyn and now I've got a whole new marker. First Josh and then Donna, I swear if those two don't get their heads out of their asses I'm going to give an executive order for them to get married in the Oval Office. The same goes for you and Andi."
"With all due respect, sir, I asked her many times to marry me."
"Find a way, Toby. Life's short."
"Yes, Mr. President."
"Mr. President?" Charlie appeared in the doorway.
"Yeah?"
"They need you in the situation room."
President Bartlett let out a long sigh and nodded. Just before he left Toby's office he turned and said, "Find a way."

C.J. curled up next to Danny's body; he wrapped his arm around her and held her securely to him. "You guys have seen bad before."
"This is worse."
"Yeah."
"Two of my good friends are suffering and there's nothing I can do about it. The President has to make the biggest decision of not only his life but of the country's life. Two congressmen, an aide and Admiral Fitzwallace are dead. Andi was nearly killed, Toby is ready to give up if Donna doesn't make it, and god only knows what will happen to Josh if she doesn't make it. Leo and the President are not on good speaking terms. Danny, it doesn't get any worse than this."
"Yeah." Danny squeezed her gently. "You know I love you, right?"
C.J. had her head rested against his chest; she peered up at him and smiled. "I think I knew that. I love you too."
"It can only get better, C.J."
"One can only hope."

"Josh Lyman."
"Josh, it's Sam."
"You heard?"
"I just talked to Toby."
"Yeah."
"Any word?"
"No."
"Do you want me to come out there?"
"No."
Colin whispered to Josh, "I'm going to go get some coffee, would you like some?"
Josh nodded and watched the man disappear.
"Who was that?"
"Donna's boyfriend."
"Her what?"
"Apparently she met him in Gaza, they had a thing. He has expertly deduced that I'm in love with her and that I should tell her how I feel." Josh needed a good vent. He hadn't had one since he was standing outside the Oval Office and lightly suggested that they kill everyone.
"So he's a smart guy," Sam said sarcastically.
"Oh yeah, and British. He's this I'm-too-sexy-for-my-camera-belongs- on-the-cover-of-a-romance-novel photographer guy. Donna was all happy to see him and they were kissing and I'm pretty sure that I'm going to kill something in about a minute."
"Let's hope the guy takes his time getting coffee. I don't want to have to bail you out of a German prison."
"Mr. Lyman?"
Josh turned and saw the doctor standing in the doorway. He stood up feeling his stomach twist and turn as he walked over to him.
"Mr. Lyman, Donna is going to be just fine. We were able to get the clot out and she stable. She'll be put back in her room in a couple of hours."
Josh felt his knees start to shake; he wavered a bit and then stumbled backwards to lean back on the chair. "She's okay, are you sure?"
The doctor smiled. "I'm sure, Mr. Lyman. I'll let you see her in a little while."
"She's okay?" Sam cried from the phone.
The doctor left the room. "Yeah, she's...they...she's in the recovery room."
Colin returned with two cups of coffee just in time to hear Josh's news. Josh accepted the coffee from Colin, and nodded a 'thank you.'
"You should call Toby, he's worried."
"Yeah." Josh felt kind of dazed. "Thanks for calling, Sam."
"You should sleep soon too."
"Yeah, okay. I'll call you later."
Josh pressed Toby's number into his phone and waited. Toby answered, "How is she?"
"She's going to be okay." Josh felt himself smile for the first time.
"Oh thank god!"
"I don't know about you, man, but I think it's time to reopen 'Team Toby' and 'Team Josh' before we lose again."
"I'll second that."
"Call me after you see her."
"Yeah."
Josh flipped his phone closed and took a big gulp of his coffee. "Thanks for the coffee."
"No problem," Colin said quietly.
"Maybe we should try eating something real, we won't be able to see her for a couple of hours."
Colin smirked, "You asking me out, Josh?"
Josh rolled his eyes. "You should be so lucky."

It was nearly dawn when Donna's eyes fluttered open. She had been having such weird dreams about her life. The first thing she saw was Josh's sleeping form. She would smile if she could remember how. He looked so peaceful.
"Hi, you." She heard Colin's voice next to her. She shifted her head slowly and found the handsome man staring at her with an angelic face.
"You're still here," she whispered.
"I just wanted to say good-bye."
"Where are you going?" She would pout if she could remember how.
"You're in good hands here. Josh says your mom will be here this morning. I think it's best if I leave. Plus I've got some stuff I need to do."
Donna looked at him for a long moment. She glanced over at Josh and then back at Colin. "Did something..."
Colin cut her off. "He's a good man, Donna. You're in good hands." He leaned forward and gently kissed her forehead.

Josh woke up to the sound of the nurse's voice. "How are you feeling?"
Josh sprang up from his chair. He approached the hospital bed slowly. "Hi," he said quietly.
"You look awful."
He smiled. "You look wonderful." Something occurred to Josh and he looked around the room. There was no sign of Colin or his belongings.
"He left earlier."
Josh turned his attention back to Donna. "He's a good guy."
Donna made a face.
"What?"
"You sounded all mature and grown up."
"I can grow."
She gave him a look and he knew that if she had the power, her brow would've been cocked. "I can," he argued.
"Just hand me my water, would you." Her voice was still weak, along with the rest of her body but he could hear the humor in her voice.
He smiled and held her water for her while she drank. "You're remarkable, Donnatella Moss."