Very short, but perhaps another chapter later.
"Right there," Josh called out, pointing to an empty parking space. Donna followed his directions and pulled in, easily. She turned off the car, unbuckled her seatbelt, and laid back for a minute, silently processing things. She then took the keys out of the ignition and handed them to Josh.
"You ready?" she asked.
"Yeah."
The two stepped out of the car and began to walk towards the emergency room entrance.
"This is the second time I've parked around here," Donna whispered to herself, looking around the parking lot and remembering the last time she was there.
"What?"
Donna looked at Josh, startled. She hadn't realized what she had said could have been heard. "I said remember the last time I parked here."
"Oh," Josh replied. "Was it when you took me to get my hand fixed?"
"No. We took a cab that night."
"Oh."
They paused in silence and continued to walk.
"Then it was—" Josh began to say, stopping.
"Yeah."
"When I— I mean, when the— the night of Rosslyn."
"Yeah," Donna replied. She had meant to keep that comment to herself.
"Okay," was the only thing with which Josh could reply. The awkward silence between them was palpable, the only sounds being Donna's heels clicking the pavement and echoing around them and the soft hush of traffic from the highway. He tried desperately to come up with something to say. Anything to lighten the mood. Spark conversation. Then he got an idea.
"This is sort of a homecoming for me."
"What?" Donna looked dumbfounded.
"This is sort of a homecoming for me. For a while I lived here. Not in the ER, but, in this hospital. I didn't really think of it until now."
"Yeah. Leo's in good hands if they have the same doctors from when you were here."
"Uh-huh, but I don't think he'll be pleased with all the food they've got here. I mean, it's okay, but – I don't think Leo's the biggest fan of jell-o."
"Unlike you," Donna laughed. "For a while back then every other word out of your mouth for me would be 'Donna, could you get the nurse to get me some more jell-o?'"
"But you're forgetting something."
"No, I'm not. It was never lime jell-o. Never. If lime jell-o appeared in front of you, by God, one would have thought, I don't know, a bomb was there."
"I'm a man of particular tastes."
"You're neurotic."
"Oh, come on, are you telling me you don't have a jell-o flavor preference?"
"You couldn't taste anything!"
Josh's eyes rolled back into his head. Why did this woman remember everything?
"Yeah? So? I like to eat foods that look appetizing."
"You're just afraid of food that are green and jiggle."
"Which is why lime jell-o simply did not work for me."
"It's ironic, really, your last name being Lyman and everything. Lyman. Sounds like man of limes."
"Extremely ironic, Donna. So ironic I can't fathom how I have survived thus far," he said with a smirk.
Before they knew what had happened, there they were. The entrance to George Washington University Hospital.