Donna
The Texas night air was dry and cool against her tear-streaked face. "Leo." She whispered his name as if it was a prayer and maybe it was. Her heart ached for her loss and for Josh's loss, which she knew was greater than hers. He loved him like another father. And so she had put aside her own grief for awhile to comfort him. But now, alone, with Josh distracted by the Election, she knew she could have at least a few minutes to grieve for herself. To remember how steady and calm and inspiring he had been. Sometimes he reminded her a little of her own father, with how down to earth and real he was. In how private a man he was. So much more suited to the backstage than the spotlight; to directing than taking direction. He inspired trust and loyalty like no one else she knew, with his mix of passionate conviction and pragmatic realism. It was his inspiration and leadership that got Jed Bartlett elected. It was his example that helped Josh to recognize Santos's potential, and convince him to run. He had always been the most dedicated of them; the first to work in the morning, the last to leave at night. Sometimes he didn't leave. Like during Rosslyn. No one would ever say so, but he was the one that got the country through the night. He was the one that got her through that night. Donna would never forget sitting in the hospital worrying about Josh, waiting for word. At one point she was alone, the others were off somewhere, working or getting coffee. Leo walked into the waiting room and sat down next to her. He didn't say anything. He just handed her a handkerchief from his pocket, and held her hand, in the same way that her father had used to do when she was little. He seemed to know there was nothing he could say. That nothing would say she wasn't alone in her fear any better than just his presence. But then Leo was like that. When she had tried to give him back the handkerchief, he told her to keep it, "Women never seem to have a handkerchief when they need one, so keep it, and then you'll have one." he had told her. So she had kept it in her purse, and tonight, when she needed a handkerchief as much as she had ever needed one in her life, she had one.