Chapter 3

When a nurse came in to check on Elizabeth a few minutes later, Donna let go of Josh's hand and pulled a chair from the corner of the room over to where he was sitting by his mother. When the woman was done, she told Josh and Donna that Elizabeth's vitals were the same and there appeared to be no change. Josh took Donna's hand again and stared at his mother, neither saying a word for several minutes.

"How did you get here? Did you rent a car at the airport?"

"No, I took a cab."

He looked at her. "You took a cab in the middle of the night? Donna, do you know how dangerous that is?"

She smiled at him. If he needed to fret over her to give his mind a break from his mother, she'd let him. "Josh, I was fine."

"You should have called me."

"So you could have stolen a car from the hospital parking lot to come and pick me up?"

He chuckled a little. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Just let me take care of you," she whispered.

"You always take care of me," he said as their eyes met and locked on each other.

"That goes both ways."

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

A few hours later, Donna finally convinced Josh to try to sleep by telling him that when his mom woke up, she'd need him rested and ready to get to work. He made her promise she'd wake him if she wanted to get some sleep herself, and made a make-shift bed out of two chairs in the corner of the room. Donna took turns watching Josh toss and turn and Elizabeth lie completely still for the remainder of the night.

A little after seven, a nurse Donna hadn't met came in with a cup of coffee and a bagel. "Are you Donna?" she whispered when she saw Josh sleeping in the corner.

"Yes," Donna said, somewhat surprised, and shook the woman's hand.

"I'm April Messick. We spoke yesterday on the phone."

Donna smiled at the woman. "April, hello. It's nice to meet you. Thank you for all your help yesterday."

"Has there been any change?" she asked, looking at Elizabeth.

"No, none. A nurse told me a few minutes ago that the doctor will be in around nine."

"Unfortunately, there's not much we can do until your mother-in-law wakes up."

"I know, I'm just hoping the doctor can answer a few ques….what?"

"I said there's not much we can do until Mrs. Lyman wakes up. It's pretty much wait and see at this point. I'm sorry I don't have better news."

Donna continued staring at the woman until Josh started stirring from his chair in the corner and they both looked over at him. "Looks like he's waking up. I just came to bring him this coffee and bagel. If I'd known you were flying in, I would have brought more."

Donna looked back at April. "Oh, no. This will be plenty, thank you for watching out for him."

The nurse smiled at Donna. "I have to go. My shift starts in a few minutes."

"It was nice meeting you, April. Thanks again for the bagel and coffee." Once April was gone, Donna walked over to Josh and lightly ran her fingers through his hair. "Are you awake?" she whispered.

"Yes," he croaked out and pushed the chairs apart so he could stand. "Do I smell coffee?"

"Yes, April brought it for you."

"She brought me a sandwich last night too."

"She must have a crush on you," she said, wiggling her eyebrows at him.

"That, or you told her to take care of me."

"I guess we'll never know," she replied with a small smile.

Josh stood and got his bearings, then looked at his mother. "Any change?"

"No, the doctor'll be in around nine."

He walked to the bed and took his mother's hand in his own. "What if…"

"It hasn't even been twenty four hours, Josh. It's too soon to talk about what-ifs." He rubbed his hand over his face and just stared at his mother. After a few minutes, Donna put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm going to brush my teeth and wash my face. You'll be ok?"

"You'll be back soon?" he looked at her and asked.

"Yes."

"Then I'll be ok."

Once Donna was gone, Josh pulled a chair up to his mother's bed and settled in for a long day of watching. "Good morning mother. I hope you're more comfortable than I was last night." He didn't expect a reply, but was still disappointed in the silence of the room. "Donna's here. She flew here to be with you. She adores you, you know." Still nothing. "When you wake-up, we're going to discuss this married thing you put on your emergency contact list. Don't think you're getting out of that conversation just because you're not feeling great."

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

"Leo, any news on Josh's mother?" asked the President as the senior staff walked into the oval office.

"No Sir. I assume she made it through the night or I would've gotten a call from Donna."

"And she is…"

"In Palm Beach, as predicted. She took the red-eye last night. Toby, I'm going to need some help from your department today. She staffed out everything of his for the rest of the week, but I need you to keep an eye on things."

"They can have Ginger if they need her."

"How kind of you to give away your employees like that, Toby," said the President.

"Sorry Sir, what I meant was…I'll see if Ginger has any spare time to help them out this week."

"Much better."

"Thank you Sir."

"Any questions from the press, CJ?" asked Leo.

"No. Katie mentioned it to me after last night's briefing, but it's not a story. They're going to leave her alone."

"Good," said the President. "What's next?"

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At 9:15, Josh was pacing the walls waiting for the doctor. Donna did her best to assure him that she would be coming as soon as possible, but it didn't help. "She has other patients, Josh."

"Her other patients aren't my mother."

She touched his arm. "I know. I'm sure she's on her way."

It was 9:30 before Dr. Bomboy arrived. She came in with a smile on her face and was immediately met with a scowl from Josh. Donna could see a confrontation brewing and decided to step in. "Good morning, doctor," she said as she shook the woman's hand.

"Good morning," the woman said and looked at Josh. "Good morning, Mr. Lyman. I hope you were able to get some sleep last night. Today could be a long day."

"I'm used to going on very little sleep," he said with no pleasantries.

"Well, let's check on the patient, shall we?" She walked over to Elizabeth's bed and looked at her chart. "I see there's been no change."

Donna got a notebook and pen out of her bag. "That's what the nurses have been saying."

"Well, her heart rate is still strong, her blood pressure is good. I'm going to order some tests to check on her brain waves. We also need to monitor her swelling. Then we'll know more."

Donna started writing. "There are two infarcts?"

"Yes, both on the right side. One of the strokes occurred well before she arrived at the hospital."

"Is that why she wasn't given TPA?"

"Yes. It's a wonderful drug, but has to be given within three hours of the onset of symptoms or it could be fatal."

"So, the first stroke was minor? That's why she didn't come to the hospital?"

"The first stroke was minor, yes. Many people don't even know they had a stroke that small. It might have happened in her sleep, actually."

"And the second one?"

"As I told your husband, it was severe. The more area it covers, the more damage there is, which is why I want more tests today. We need to know how much of the brain is being affected. "

"You also said the longer she's in a coma, the less her chances of a meaningful recovery," added Josh.

"Yes, that's true."

"What about a…" Donna looked at the notebook in her hands. "Carotid endarterectomy. Is that a possibility at this point?"

Josh looked at Donna, not stunned that she had done her homework. The doctor smiled at her. "A carotid endarterectomy will only help prevent future strokes, it can't help with this one. She needs it, but we'll wait until she's awake and stronger."

"Alright."

"Listen, I know this is hard. It's hard for us too, because we feel somewhat useless at this point. We're going perform another EEG and MRI, as well as a cerebral angiography to give us information on the infarcts and brain waves. When the results come back, I'll check in with you. In the meantime, she could very well still wake up."

"When are you going to do the tests?" Josh asked as he instinctively reached for Donna's hand.

"Someone will be in to get your mother within the hour."

"An hour? Isn't that a long time to wait for needed tests? Shouldn't she have them now?"

"We have to prep her and the lab, Mr. Lyman. I'm sending a nurse in right away to inject a dye into your mother's neck." Josh's eyes got huge and he held on tighter to Donna's hand. "It's routine and won't hurt her at all, but it helps us see certain blood vessels in the neck and brain better."

"See Josh, it's not going to hurt her," whispered Donna. "Let them do what they need to do."

"Once we take her upstairs, she'll be gone for about two hours. The two of you should use that time to freshen up and eat something. As I said before, this could be a long day. If she wakes up today, we'll have a lot of work ahead of us to determine the amount of damage and treatment options."

"When," Josh quietly said.

"I'm sorry?"

"You said if she wakes up."

"Josh…" whispered Donna.

"I meant if she wakes up today Mr. Lyman. It could be tomorrow; we aren't all that worried about the coma until it reaches 48 hours."

"Thank you Dr. Bomboy," Donna said as she shook the woman's hand again with her free hand. Josh shook her hand as well and the doctor left the room.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Josh watched as two orderlies rolled his mother and all of her equipment out of the room and down the hall. "Let's go," said Donna.

"Where?"

"One of the nurses gave me a key to a family room on the fifth floor. It has a shower and a bed. She's going to come and get us when your mom is back."

"But…what if she needs me?"

"They know where we're going to be."

"Donna…"

"Josh, it's one floor up. The nurse knows where we're going to be and promised to come and get us if anything happens. You aren't going to wait in this empty room. You need a shower, you need food, you need to rest and, I can't even believe I'm saying this, maybe watch a little CNN. You should also check in at work." She walked over and took him by the elbow lightly. "Now let's go."

He let her lead him away and tried to smile. "Who made you the boss, anyway?"

"I did, several years ago. Maybe you missed it." He chuckled and they left the room.

Once they got upstairs, they went down a hall lined with rooms. When they got to number 7, Donna unlocked the door with the key she was given and went inside. "What is this place?" Josh asked.

"They have ten of them. It's like a hotel room for families who can't leave the hospital. Becky said we could use it as long as we need to." She looked around the small room. It certainly wasn't the Hilton, but it was all they'd need. It had a twin bed with clean sheets, a television, a chair, a microwave and a bathroom. "Why don't you take a shower?"

"No, you go first. I'll call Leo while you're in there."

"You're not going to leave and go back to your mother's room while I'm showering, are you?"

He smiled. "No. I'm going to call Leo and then look through that bag to see what you brought me."

"I did good."

"We'll see," he said, prodding her.

Once Donna was in the shower, she closed her eyes and let the hot water run over her face for several minutes. She was achy and tired, but mostly just worried, and for a few minutes it felt good to focus on nothing but the water on her body.

When she stepped out of the shower twenty minutes later, she combed her hair and was about to put in gel when Josh knocked on the bathroom door. "Come in."

"Hey," Josh said walking in and to the counter, not looking at her at all. "I was beginning to think you were going to stay in there all day."

"I needed to veg."

"Did you leave any hot water for me?" he asked while digging some things out of his toiletries bag.

"Of course," she said and lightly hit him on the arm.

"Hey!" he said and looked up smiling. Then he froze in his tracks. "You're…."

"What?" She looked at him confused.

"That's a towel," he said, pointing to her and swallowing.

"That's often what people put on after getting out of the shower, Josh."

"But…you're all…pink," he replied, waving his hands around her neck and chest above the towel.

"The water was really hot. It felt good," she innocently replied.

He continued staring at her while she put gel in her hair, thinking she looked beautiful. He'd never seen her like this, with wet hair and no clothes, and there was no denying the fact that he liked it.

When she left the room, Josh took a shower. Just like her, he let the water fall on him and just got lost in the heat and noise of the water hitting the tile. He'd been in the shower about ten minutes when Donna walked back in. "I'm in here. Don't come out naked."

"Did the nurse call? Has there been any news?" he asked from behind the curtain.

"No, I just came in to blow dry my hair."

"Oh…what if you can't hear the phone ring?"

"I brought it in here with me. It's fine, Josh."

"Ok." Donna turned the blow dryer on low and started humming as she blew her hair dry. Josh listened but couldn't place the song. Finally, he pulled the curtain back a little bit to talk to her, but instead just watched her. She stood there in old loose jeans and a Met's t-shirt he'd been missing for a year or so, with wet hair and no socks and shoes. She really was beautiful.

He'd been watching her for a minute or so before she caught his eye in the mirror. "What'ya doin'?"

"Just looking at you," he replied simply. "Can you hand me a towel?" She smiled, handed him a towel and went back to drying her hair.

A minute later, Josh got out of the shower with the towel wrapped low around his waist and his hair sticking up in all different directions. He dug through his bag for deodorant, and Donna watched out of the corner of her eye as the muscles in his arms and back moved. This was a part of Josh she never got to see, and she just kind of stared. After several seconds, he caught her looking and while chuckling, he asked "What'ya doin?" the same way she had when she caught him.

"Just looking at you," she calmly replied. They stared at each other for a few seconds until she broke the silence. "While you get dressed, I'm going to the cafeteria to get some food. I'll be back in a few minutes." He smiled and she turned off the blow dryer and walked out of the bathroom.

"Can you check on my mom while you're out?"

"Of course," she said and slipped out of the room.