"Josh?"
He looked up to see Donna standing in the doorway of his office.
"Hey." he mumbled.
"Honey, it's three in the morning."
"I know."
"Aren't you ever going to come to bed?"
"No."
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Josh lied. Donna sat down in the chair in front of his desk.
"Don't lie to me Joshua Lyman."
"I'm not lying Donnatella Lyman." he countered.
"Yes you are because you're looking how you look every time you lie." she said. "Josh..."
"I feel responsible." he mumbled.
"For what?" Donna seemed confused.
"If I hadn't asked Sam to talk to me, he wouldn't have gotten shot." Josh said. "He could've just gotten in the limo and come back here and be fine."
"Josh, this wasn't your fault."
"It feels like it. I put my best friend in danger." he rubbed his eyes and put his head down on his desk.
"Honey, you seriously can't blame yourself." Donna said but when Josh looked up at her and she saw the look on his face, she knew he was. "Josh..."
"I know what he's going through." he muttered. "I know what he's feeling. I swore after I went through that, that I would not let it happened to one of you. Now it has."
"Josh, whoever did this... it's their fault. They shot Sam. You didn't. You didn't know that someone was going to shoot at him. Okay?"
Josh nodded but he still felt shitty inside.
"How about Gracie? Have you heard anything?" Donna asked.
"No."
"You need to sleep."
"I—" Josh went silent, seeing the look on his wife's face. He thought back to when he was ordering Ainsley to get some sleep and decided not to go against his own wisdom.
---------------TWW-------------
Gracie peered out the window, trying to figure out where she was.
"Where are we?" she finally asked.
"None of your business." Ryan replied. He stubbed a cigarette out in an ashtray and lit another one. Gracie made a face.
"You know, that is really disgusting."
"Your face is really disgusting."
"You're really immature for your age." Gracie said.
"You're really annoying."
"It's in my DNA."
"I figured it had to be a Seaborn trait." Ryan sneered.
"Actually it's a Hayes trait."
"You know I almost married your mom."
"Really?"
"Yep. I could've been your father."
"You know Gracie Seaborn has a better ring than Gracie Greene and if you were my father, I think I'd rather have not been born."
"You're a smart ass."
"Now that's a Seaborn trait."
-------------TWW-----------
Ainsley moaned slightly as she shifted in the uncomfortable chair. Her neck was killing her and her whole body was stiff. Yet she somehow managed to drift of to sleep. A warm hand dropped onto her shoulder and Ainsley jumped. She gasped, then saw Josh standing behind her.
"Hey." he said quietly.
"Don't do that!" Ainsley hissed.
"I figured you wanted to be awake."
"Why?"
Josh pointed over her shoulder. Ainsley felt her heart stop as she slowly turned around. Sam was laying there, tired, but conscious.
"Hey." his voice was hoarse and Ainsley brought a hand up to her mouth.
"Sam..."
"Yeah..." he managed a nod, his eyes slowly closing.
"How... how long have you been awake?"
"Dunno. Doctor already came by."
"I'll leave you two alone." Josh said, taking his exit. Sam stared at Ainsley for a few seconds and frowned, seeing tears in her eyes.
"What's wrong?"
Ainsley shook her head but Sam beckoned her over. She let out a sob and buried her face in her hands.
"Ainse..."
"I th-thought... I don't know what I thought. I was so scared."
"I kinda figured." Sam joked weakly. "Come here..."
Ainsley moved closer to him and took his hand in hers.
"Something else is wrong. I can tell." Sam said. Ainsley gave a shaky sigh as more tears spilled out of her eyes. "What is it?"
"Gracie was kidnapped." she whispered. Sam visibly paled about ten shades.
"N-No. S-She..."
"She was."
"How long ago?"
"She was coming back from the concession stand at the movies ans someone grabbed her. Alex was knocked unconscious before she could follow Gracie out of the theater." Ainsley said. "They still haven't found her."
"How long have I been out?"
"Two and a half days."