**Two Days Later***

"Joshua."

Abbey Bartlet's soft voice causes Josh to sit up straight, then jump to his feet. "Yes, ma'am."

He half-heartedly attempts to arrange his desk as he stands there, but she passes through the side door, towards the door to the bullpen, then stands there quietly looking out.

He's perplexed. Is she spying on someone?

"Ma'am?" He questions coming around to see what she's looking at.

"Josh, where's Donna?"

"Donna?"

He feels like he's a step behind in this conversation. Why is Mrs. B. looking for Donna? His heart rate starts to gallop, is something wrong?

"She went to pick up lunch."

"Hmmmm." Abbey responds vaguely, then gestures for Josh to take his seat, while planting herself in a visitor's chair.

"Josh, what's going on with Donna?"

"I don't. . ." He starts to explain that he doesn't know, but stops when Abbey lifts an eyebrow. "I'm not sure. But she's not acting normal. She's very skittish. She barely eats anything. I don't think she's sleeping. And last week she got woozy!"

"Woozy?"

"It's a word! I thought she was going to pass out. She was unsteady on her feet. She had to hold on to a cabinet."

Mrs. Bartlet purses her lips and sighs deeply.

"Do you know something I don't know?" Josh demands."Why'd you come here? What's going on?"

If Leo or Jed heard him use that tone with the First Lady, they'd rake him over the coals, but Mrs. Bartlet just smirks. This only confirms what she's suspected for a while. Josh Lyman cares very deeply for his assistant.

"I don't know her very well, Josh. I just noticed that it looks like she's lost some weight recently. And her light doesn't seem to be shining as brightly as it once did."

"Yeah." Josh agrees glumly. "It's like she's in overdrive all the time. She's trying to prove something. Not taking a lunch break, coming in on the weekend, not going out with her friends."

"Have you tried to talk to her?"

"Yes! I've been trying to figure out what the problem is. I asked her if it was financial and she bit my head off."

"Do you believe her?"

"Yeah, she's always teasing about a raise. I think if she really needed one she'd tell me."

"Okay."

"What else could it be?"

"Well, given the weight loss, pallor, and dizziness, she could be anemic, which could be caused by any number of things, illness, pregnancy, . . "

"PREGNANCY!?" He repeats in a high pitched voice.

Mrs. B looks at him again, appraisingly, and his face turns red when she asks- "Is that a possibility?"

"I don't think so. She hasn't been seeing anyone for a few months." Then it hits him, what Mrs. Bartlet might be suggesting. He drops his voice. "Ma'am, I assure you that if that turns out to be the case, there is absolutely no possibility that I had anything to do with it."

"Pity." She smirks, while his mouth mimics Gail's. It's so much fun to leave Josh Lyman speechless.

"Anyway," she continues, "there are lots of possible causes for her symptoms. It might be nothing more than a broken heart. But let's keep an eye on things, shall we? I'm a bit worried about her."

"Yes, ma'am." He agrees as the FIrst Lady stands up and sweeps out of his office, leaving him to try to sort the jumbling thoughts running through his head.

(550)

0o0o0o0o0o

***The Next Day/Tuesday***

He stands in the doorway by his office watching her work. He's taken to evaluating her several times a day. He usually gets away with it, but sometimes she catches him.

"Why are you staring at me?" She huffs, moving past him to put some papers in his in-box.

"I'm not . . . I was just . . ."

"Yes. You were. What gives?" For a moment it feels like the banter that they used to fling back and forth, and he's about to respond in kind, but then her tone shifts- "did I do something wrong?"

She's looking at him with big eyes that seem to fill her face and he's struck by the depth of his concern. Which is probably why he dives into the deep end.

"No . . . it's just . . . how are you? We hardly talk these days."

"We talk plenty, Josh."

"Not about anything important. Is everything okay? Are you feeling okay? How's the Republican Boy Wonder?" Even though he heard her tell Ginger and Margaret that it was over after two dates, he can't help himself, he wants to hear her say it..

Her back straightens so abruptly he thinks she might snap in half. "Do you mean Cliff?" It comes out almost like a hiss.

"Um, yeah . . ."

"Oh my god. I'm not seeing him! It's over. I paid the price. I don't want anything to do with him."

The way she says anything has him thinking of his meeting with Abbey Barlet, which is probably why he continues down the path of doom.

"Uh, is that going to be possible? I mean, is there a reason he might be in your life, something that would tie you to him forever?"

She looks puzzled, like she really doesn't know what he's getting at. And he stands there debating whether to come right out and ask.

Finally, wearily, she asks, "What are you saying Josh?"

"Uh... I mean... there's no chance you're um ... expecting?"

He's never seen anyone turn that pale before. It's like all the color completely drained from her face. Her eyes widen in complete shock. And he instantly regrets having asked the question. The problem is he still has no clue what the answer might be.

She steadies herself with a hand against her desk, mind reeling with the implication of his question. It's utterly and completely inappropriate for him to ask. She could file a harassment claim.

But his eyes are kind. He really does seem worried. And in her heart of hearts she knows that he's not asking out of malice. So she takes a deep breath.

"I don't ever want to talk about this again." She informs him crisply. "There is absolutely no possibility that I am pregnant." The blood rushes to her cheeks, two red splotches in stark contrast to her pallor. "I only slept with him once. We used protection. I've had my period three times since then. And I haven't been with anyone else."

Then she rushes out of the bullpen towards the ladies bathroom down the hall.

Josh stands there looking after her, feeling like a total jerk for asking. He knows it was out of line, but the question had been bothering him ever since he talked about it with Abbey. It used to be that they could talk about things like that. No, he corrects himself. He used to tease her about her love life and she took it. But all that changed a couple months ago. He still doesn't know exactly what the problem is, but at least he can cross one thing off his list.