Chapter 16
She didn't mean to stare, but she couldn't quite help it. The way Donna was clinging to him, the way he, bloodied and battered, continued sinking further into her body, as if she alone could cure him, could hold him up. He was whispering something in her ear, and she was shaking and nodding and squeezing him tighter, but Helen couldn't hear what he was saying.
She glanced around and noticed that everyone in the small room was watching them, including Ned and Matt, who started to take a few steps in their direction. She hopped out of her seat and jogged up to him, hugging him around the waist and keeping him from going to them. He looked down at her and she smiled, shaking her head no, hugging him tighter, and he reached around her back and held her close to him, leaning down and kissing the top of her head.
She saw a nurse standing nearby, the one they'd been talking to when she walked in. She wondered how long the woman would let them stand there like that before she yanked him back into an examining room. Still, she was grateful she'd let him come out here at all, and she was sure Josh and Donna were too. She still didn't know exactly what was going on or why Donna, Matt, and Ned had looked so upset before, Donna seemed certain Josh was going to die, but she'd ask about that later when everything had calmed down. He was here, and although he looked pretty bad, he was walking and breathing and conscious, so that was enough for now.
His face was worse than when they'd seen him last, she was sure of it. But she smiled as she watched him bury it in Donna's shoulder. It had to hurt, but she doubted he even noticed. When they'd left him in the pavilion, he'd had that cut on his head, but it looked worse now. It was still bleeding, although not as badly, and it looked like it had pulled apart further, showing more of the white fatty material around the edges.
But there was more. His right eye was swollen and red, already starting to turn into a dark purple color. His nose was bloody, although no longer bleeding, and there was a fairly substantial cut on his left cheek. And although she couldn't see his shirt now, the way his body was pressed so closely to Donna's, she'd seen it when he walked in, and it was pretty much covered in blood. Falling off that stage hadn't been the only thing that happened to him in the last hour and a half.
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She clung to him for life, as if holding on was the only thing keeping her standing and breathing. He could feel her hair against his cheek and her breath and tears on his neck as they stood there like the only two people in the world, and suddenly, the pain in his stomach and back disappeared and Donna was the only thing there.
He wanted so badly to put his arms around her and pull her even closer to him, to never let her go, but his hands were still cuffed, and somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered when the police officer would come barreling in and break up the most amazing moment of his life. He put the thought out of his head and concentrated on the smell of her and the feel of her hand in his hair. He'd missed her smell, the peach lotion she wore against her clean pale skin. He'd spent countless nights recently trying to remember just how it smelled, but his memories hadn't compared to the reality of her here, wrapped around him.
Her breathing was ragged and wasn't getting any better. As if she'd been holding it in and now she was letting go. He turned his head just a little, in towards her ear. "Shh… it's alright. I'm fine," he whispered. He felt her nod against him, but she continued sobbing and shaking into him and again he wished he could put his arms around her and hold her.
He whispered again. "I promised I'd be alright, didn't I?" She nodded again and he smiled in spite of himself. He hated that she was upset, but loved that she cared this much, and he figured this was just one of the many reasons he didn't deserve her. But this was it. Whether he deserved her or not, he had to have her. Had to be with her. There was no way he couldn't any longer. He'd lost her twice now. When she came back to him the first time, he'd been relieved. He felt lighter, younger, like skipping through the make-shift office he'd had in Iowa that week during the first campaign. He never stopped to think about it, to wonder why it was that her returning made him so happy when just the day before, Mandy had come into town and he'd kissed her on the cheek and left for his next meeting without a second thought. But now…this time… he knew. He was a different man with her next to him. A better man, a contented man, a happier man. He couldn't let her go again; he'd never live through it. He'd been a coward before, but this time he'd tell her.
She pulled back just a little, so she could see his face and he smiled at her, which made his eye hurt even worse. She brought one of her hands up to his face, tracing but not quite touching the injuries there, and he wanted nothing more than to wipe the tears on her face away with his thumbs. Instead, he leaned in and kissed her forehead. "It's not as bad as it looks," he whispered.
"I was so scared," she choked out, and he kissed her forehead again.
"I know."
"They carried you out on that stretcher and then they said…" she stopped, choking on her words. "They said… there was…"
"Shh…it's ok. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere without you."
"Promise?" She asked quietly, calming down a little.
He smiled again and nodded at her, but then something hit him. "They carried me out on a stretcher?"
She nodded and started rambling. "And you were unconscious. I tried to get to you, to ride in the ambulance with you, but I couldn't get to you and they left, and we didn't know what was going on and then they said…" she trailed off again, crying harder.
"Shh…" he said again before looking up at Matt with a mixture of anger that he'd taken her back there and gratefulness that he'd taken care of her.
"I tried to get to you," she mumbled again into his neck. "He wouldn't let me get to you."
"Good," he whispered, nodding at Matt, gratefulness winning out.
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He'd been worried for a few seconds when Josh looked up at him. The look he gave him was one he'd thankfully never gotten from him before. He'd seen him use it on others; Will Bailey, a few volunteers, but never on him, and he admitted to himself it was an unsettling look. No wonder he was the one they sent to the Hill all those years. He kept his eyes focused on Josh, though, willing to accept it if he was angry with him for taking Donna back to that park where she could've gotten hurt. He certainly would've been angry with him if he'd taken Helen back there. In fact, angry wouldn't have been a strong enough word to describe it.
He couldn't hear what they were saying, but then Josh nodded at him and he smiled and nodded back, unconsciously squeezing Helen tighter to his side. He looked at Donna, her head buried in Josh's neck, and could tell she was still crying, but all in all, she was much calmer than she'd been even two minutes earlier, and for that he was grateful.
He watched them for a few moments until he noticed a police officer talking with the nurse, Anna, in the doorway to the emergency room. The officer looked upset about something, and walked impatiently up to Josh, the nurse following behind him.
Josh startled as the officer took hold of his elbow, and turned him around to face him, and for the first time, Matt noticed he was handcuffed. Without pause, he walked the few steps to where Josh and Donna were.
"You need to stay with me," he heard the officer say bitterly to Josh.
"What's going on?" Donna asked, obviously just realizing herself that Josh was cuffed, the edge of panic back in her voice.
Josh looked back at her. "It's fine. An officer was shot and I'm being detained for questioning."
"Detained for questioning?" she practically screamed, any calmness fading fast.
The officer ignored Donna and continued speaking to Josh. "I need you to stay with me, and if I sit you down someplace, you stay there."
Josh nodded as Matt began speaking. "Excuse me, is he under arrest?"
The officer turned and looked at Matt, his eyes showing no reaction whatsoever. He either didn't know who he was or he didn't care. "No, not yet. He's being detained for questioning."
"Not yet?" Donna said louder, her eyes growing huge.
Matt put his hand on her shoulder and spoke calmly to the officer. "If he's not under arrest, why is he hand cuffed? He clearly needs medical attention. Don't you think those are going to get in the way of that?"
The officer looked at Matt, still unimpressed. "Cuffing a suspect is common, especially under these circumstances. Once he's in an exam room with a doctor, I'll take them off."
"You take those off this instant," Donna said loudly. "He didn't shoot anyone! Do you know who he is? Take them off! Take them off now!"
"Donna," Josh said quietly, leaning in to her slightly. "It's fine."
"It's not fine," she said, tears welling up in her eyes again. She wiped them away harshly and glanced at the officer before meeting Josh's eyes. "I'm calling the President."
"Donna, we're not bothering the President with this." He looked at Matt who raised his eyebrows as if to say good luck keeping her from doing whatever she wants to do. Josh paused for a second before looking back at Donna. "I do need you to call Sam, though. Tell him an officer I was with was shot in the leg and passed out. I'm being held for questioning, but when the officer wakes up, he'll know it wasn't me. Ask him if I should answer questions." He looked back at Matt who nodded and smiled, impressed at how he handled her.
She looked at him with what Matt thought was an impressive pout and reluctantly nodded, and he leaned in and kissed her forehead again. "Mr. Lyman," the nurse said quietly. "Why don't we go get you stitched up and get a look at your torso?"
"Your torso?" Donna shrieked, jumping back as if she'd hurt him.
He shrugged, trying to play it off. "A few cracked ribs, no big deal."
Matt laughed. "No big deal?"
Josh looked at Donna and then up at him. "Work with me here, would you?"
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When Donna started to follow the three of them into the emergency room, the nurse turned to her and smiled. "I'm gonna get a doctor to look at his injuries. Once they're done, I'll come and get you and you can stay with him."
"But…" she looked at the nurse helplessly. She wasn't lying when she said she didn't want to be where he wasn't. At the moment, even a few rooms away felt like an ocean, and all she wanted to do was hold his hand. She knew everything would be ok as long as she could be touching him.
"Donna," he said quietly. "Call Sam. See what he wants me to do. By the time you're done with me, I bet I can get you back there," he said with a wink.
She laughed in spite of herself. "You're the prisoner, what pull do you think you have?"
"That's more like it," he said with a smile before turning around and going through the double doors.
She took a deep breath and turned around, pulling her cell phone out of her pocket. Her hands were still shaking, albeit for different reasons altogether and she stared at them for a few seconds. She heard Ned mention something about going to get them all some coffee, and she nodded her thanks instead of vocalizing it. She felt a hand on her elbow and for a brief second, she thought it was Josh. But the touch wasn't his. It didn't know the way she moved quite as well, didn't feel quite as strong and soft at the same time. It wasn't as sure of itself. She glanced up at the congressman, who was leading her back to the chairs, and for the first time, she smiled and did what he asked without words.
Once they were sitting down, she looked at her phone and dialed. "Donna?"
"Toby, I need a favor."
She heard him take a deep breath. "Donna, they're still looking for him. The riot's over, but it's gonna take a little more time to find him."
"We found him, Toby. He's at the hospital. That's not why I'm…"
"How is he?" he asked, cutting her off.
She looked over towards the double doors. "He looks like shit. He's got a horrible cut on his head and a black eye. His nose is swollen as hell and apparently he has a few cracked ribs, but he's walking and talking and lying about how bad it is, so I think he's gonna be ok. He's in with the doctor now."
"Tell him to call us later?"
"Yeah, listen…"
"Right. A favor."
"He's being detained by the moronic Miami police department. Apparently a police officer was shot and the idiots think he did it. Can you make a few phone calls; maybe let it slip to the President?"
"They think he shot a cop?" he asked calmly. Typical Toby, she thought with a smile.
"Yeah. He's acting like it's no big deal. Tried to throw me off the scent by having me call Sam." She heard a noise and looked over to see the congressman laughing quietly to himself. "The cop passed out, but Josh thinks when he wakes up, he'll tell them it wasn't him."
"I'll get on it. See what I can find out. What hospital?"
"Skyline. Thanks, Toby."
"Yeah. Tell him…" he got quiet for a minute and she remembered they were in a fight. "Tell him we're all going out for a drink next time you guys are in town."
She smiled again. "I'll tell him. Talk to you soon."