Chapter 5

By 3:30, Donna was having a hard time staying awake. She stood and paced the room, and then went to the restroom and splashed some cold water on her face, catching the sight of herself in the mirror and wincing at the bags under her eyes. She fixed her ponytail and went out on the balcony off the fourth floor waiting room to get a little fresh air. A few people sat there smoking, and she laughed at the irony of it. After a few minutes, she went back into Elizabeth's room. Josh hadn't moved from his seat next to his mother's bed, where he'd been all day. He was holding her hand and staring at her, and Donna thought he looked at still as she did. She quietly took the seat next to him and sat, watching them both.

A few minutes later, Josh looked over and saw Donna, her eyes closed and her head bobbing a bit as she fought off sleep. "Donna, why don't you go up to the room and get some sleep?"

Her eyes popped open. "I'm fine."

"Donna, go. I'll wake you if anything happens."

She wiped a hand across her face like she'd seen him do a thousand times. "I'll sleep when she's in surgery," she said as she yawned.

He looked over at her and wondered if her refusal to sleep was because she was worried about his mom or him, and decided it was probably both. He stood up and took her hand, pulling her out of her chair. "Come on. Your contacts have got to be killing you. Take them out and get some sleep. Her surgery's scheduled for 6:00; they're going to take her to prep her in an hour. I'll be up then."

"But…"

"Go, Donna. I'll be ok for an hour," he said looking in her eyes.

She looked at him, searching to see if he was telling the truth. "If something happens…"

"I'll call you on your cell. Leave it on."

She looked over at Elizabeth, lying still, and then back at Josh. "Ok, but you promise to come and sleep when she goes into surgery?"

"Yeah, save me some room," he said smiling as he gently pushed her to the door.

Donna walked out of the room, then turned around and watched Josh go back to his place next to his mother's bed. She watched him for a few seconds and then she walked to the stairs and slowly made her way to their room on the fifth floor. When she got there, she kicked off her sandals, took out her contacts and brushed her teeth and then quickly changed into a pair of shorts before collapsing in the bed. She was asleep almost immediately.

Two orderlies came and took Elizabeth away a few minutes after five for a four to six hour surgery. Josh watched until they entered an elevator and then went to the nurse's station to make sure they knew where he would be. He repeated both his and Donna's cell numbers to them and asked them to get him if there was any news at all. Then he stood and watched as the nurse from the ICU called the surgery center and relayed all of the information Josh had given her before finally going upstairs to get some sleep.

When he walked in, he saw Donna, sleeping soundly in the small bed. He quietly took off his shoes and socks, then went into the bathroom, washed his face and brushed his teeth before coming back into the room. He considered trying to sleep in the chair in the corner, but this was probably his only chance at any real sleep for a while, so he walked to the bed and tried to get in without waking her.

Donna was on her side, and when Josh got in the bed, she put her hand on his chest without opening her eyes and asked groggily, "Any change?"

He adjusted a little and lay on his back, putting his hand over Donna's on his chest. She rolled a little so she was half on top of him with her leg between his and her head in the nook between his head and shoulder. "No change, go back to sleep," he whispered and pulled her closer. Then he closed his eyes and let himself drift off.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

"What have we heard about Josh's mom?" asked CJ when she walked into Leo's office that morning.

He looked up from the file in his hands. "The swelling in her brain is worse. She's in surgery this morning to clean up blocked arteries going from the neck to the brain."

"Has she been conscious at all?"

He sighed. "No."

She sat in a chair across from his desk. "Am I wrong, or does this not sound promising?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose and looked back at CJ. "According to Donna, the doctor is still fairly certain Elizabeth has a chance of waking-up. They're worried more at this point about the long-term affects."

She shook her head. "How's Josh holding up?"

"He sounds shaky. But Donna's there, so he'll be ok."

CJ looked at the floor. "Is this going to be the straw, Leo?" Everybody in the White House knew that Donna and Josh were crazy about each other, and she wondered if this was going to be the final push they needed to admit it.

He was quiet for a minute before answering. "I don't know; you'd better get ready for it, just in case."

"Alright." She sat there for another moment, and then got up to start the day.

Just as she got to the door, Leo stopped her. "CJ?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell everyone not to call them this morning. They're trying to get some sleep while she's in surgery."

"Yeah, ok," she said and left.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

A vibration near Donna's waist woke her a few minutes before noon. When she opened her eyes, she realized that she was not only lying basically on top of Josh, but she was rather comfortable doing it. When she felt the vibration again, she rolled off him a bit and onto her side so she could fish his vibrating cell phone out of his front shorts pocket. "Jeez Donna, getting a little frisky, aren't you?" he asked with closed eyes and a husky voice as he rolled onto his side, put his arm around her waist and pulled her closer, their chests touching.

"You're one to talk," she replied as she looked at the caller ID. "It's the hospital."

At that, he sat up a bit, opened his eyes and rubbed his hand over his face. He took the phone and answered it without usual pleasantries. "Is she out of surgery?" Donna sat up completely and put her ear close to the phone so she could listen.

"Yes sir," answered the nurse on duty. "She was just taken to post-op. She'll be there for a few more hours."

"Can I see her?"

"Not until she's taken back to her room."

"What about the surgery, how did it go?"

"The surgeon will be out in a few minutes, if you'd like to talk to him."

"Of course I'd like to talk to him," he snapped.

"Josh," Donna whispered harshly.

He looked at her, took a deep breath and smoothed his voice. "We'll be right down," he said and hung up the phone. Both he and Donna quickly threw on some shoes and left the room.

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"Mr. and Mrs. Lyman, I'm Dr. Wolfe. I operated on your mother."

"Josh Lyman," Josh said as he reached out and shook the man's hand. "This is my…" he shook his head. "How's my mother?"

"Ma'am," the doctor said to Donna before turning back to Josh. "The surgery was a success, Mr. Lyman. Your mother had two major arteries clogged, which no doubt caused her strokes. We've cleaned both of them out; the surgery went without complications."

"Will this have any affect on her… current state?" Josh was still unable to say the word 'coma.'

"Not much. She may remain unconscious for longer, but the surgery shouldn't hurt or help her current situation. What it should do is prevent any more strokes, at least for the time being."

"The time being?" asked Donna.

"Mrs. Lyman is seventy-two years old and her body's behaving like it. I can't guarantee that she won't ever have another stroke. I can say, however, that we've greatly reduced her risk."

"When she regains consciousness, what will this mean as far as recovery?"

"Well, she'll be on blood thinners, probably permanently, but she's been receiving them since she was admitted on Tuesday. There are bandages, although small, that need to be taken care of, but the nurses will do that. The incisions will be long healed before she's released. She'll need an EEG once a day for the next few days, but they'll be running frequent MRI's to check the swelling anyway, so that won't be a big deal. Other than that, there's not much. Patients need to be careful of head movement for a few days, but that won't be a problem in this case," he said, addressing Donna but looking back at Josh.

Donna took a deep breath and almost smiled. This might be the best news they'd received so far. She looked at Josh, who had a similar expression. "Thank you, Dr. Wolfe," Josh said and shook his hand.

"She'll be in recovery for another two to three hours before she's moved back to her room. Take a nap or a shower, maybe get something to eat, you've still got a few long days ahead of you," he said smiling. Then he turned and walked away.

Josh and Donna went to the cafeteria and ordered, both feeling a little better. Josh wasn't sure if it was the almost six hours of sleep or the fact that something had gone right with his mother, but he was pretty hungry, and ate an entire sandwich and order of fries. He even complained when Donna stole some of his fries, which made him feel a little more normal.

"Why do you order a salad if you're going to eat my fries?"

"Because I'm a woman, that's what we do. We order food that's good for us and eat our husband's good stuff," she said, raising her eyebrows at Josh.

He smiled and popped a french fry in his mouth. "You noticed that, huh?"

"I was wondering if you had."

"You were listed as my wife on my mom's emergency contact list."

"On your mom's list?" Donna asked, surprised. She had just assumed it was a hospital error. She had no idea the hospital had been deceived.

"She has ideas," he said, looking away from Donna and at the table as he popped another fry in his mouth.

Sensing an awkward moment, Donna replied, "Well, you're mom would make a great mother-in-law."

He chuckled and looked back at her. "Yeah she would, but I'm part of the package."

This time Donna took a fry. "Well," she shrugged. "At least you don't hog the bed."

"I'm very considerate in bed," he said, raising his eyebrows at her.

"You're getting back to your old self, I see," she replied, rolling her eyes.

"I feel better."

Donna thought he looked better too. "Food, sleep and a little good news can do that for a person."

He stretched, picked up the now empty tray and headed for the trashcan by the exit. "Yeah, now all I need is a shower."

"I'm first," she said as they left the cafeteria and headed for the elevators.

"No your not."

"You just said you were considerate."

"I said I was considerate in bed, there's a difference."

"My mistake," she said laughing. The elevator doors opened and they walked in, along with three other people. While looking straight ahead at the elevator doors, she asked, "She has ideas, huh?"

Josh looked around the elevator, and then back at Donna, who kept her eyes on the door. "Ideas."

"Well… I've always thought she was a smart woman," Donna replied matter-of-factly.

"One of the smartest women I've ever met," he said, looking up at the ceiling.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Donna was flipping through the channels when Josh walked into the bedroom wearing only a towel. It was wrapped low around his waist, and she let go of the remote, letting it fall to her lap as she stared at his pelvis bone just above the towel. She eventually lifted her eyes to his flat stomach and then his chest, which was glistening with drops of water. There was a thin white line running down the center of his chest, to the bottom of his extremely toned pectoral muscles, and another one perpendicular to the first, running across his lower chest. She'd seen it yesterday, or had it been two days ago, she'd lost track. But today, she couldn't help staring at it as Josh sat his bag on the bed next to her and started rummaging for clean clothes.

"What?" he asked, looking at her and waving his hand in front of her face?

"Huh?" she asked, startled, jerking her head up to his face but then looking back at the scar.

"You're staring," he said and then chuckled. "I'm not a piece of meat, you know." He knew what she was looking at, and was trying to lighten the mood.

She continued looking at his chest, biting her lip. "I just…"

"It's ok," he said, hoping they could just drop the subject. The few women who had seen his scar had either flinched at it or avoided it; he didn't know what to make of her studying it.

"I just… sometimes I forget how strong you are." She tentatively reached her hand out but pulled back just before touching his chest. "Sometimes I forget that you can get through anything," she whispered.

He watched her, amazed. She took his breath away. He reached out, taking her hand in his and placing it on his chest. Her touch wasn't at all sexual; it was more, somehow. It was full of emotion and warmth; it was soft but also strong. In one brief moment, she completely accepted his scar as part of him while at the same time treating it as his own purple heart. What he saw as a weakness, she saw as a badge of honor, his medal for surviving.

They stood there for another minute; until Josh's phone rang and interrupted what he thought was maybe the most intimate moment of his life. He was hesitant to answer, but thinking it might be the hospital, he let go of Donna's hand and picked his cell phone up from on top of the television. It was Toby with a question about the meeting with Senator Hamilton he was taking for Josh. As he answered, he kept his eyes pinned on Donna's until she smiled, got up off the bed and walked into the bathroom. A minute later he heard the shower turn on, and he shook his head and concentrated on what Toby was saying.