I'm deep in concentration on a stack of paperwork when a cup of coffee appears in front of me. My surprise is only magnified when I glance up to see none other than Josh Lyman standing on the other side of the nurse's station.
"Great catch last night," he tells me without preamble.
"Oh." I blush a bit, tucking a fallen strand of hair behind my ear. "It's really no big deal." After reading through the legislation that Josh brought by, Joan and I made our markups and went back to work. But just before we left the hospital a few phrases clicked into place in my mind and I caught what I perceived to be a loophole. Joan called Josh and explained it to him from what I'd written down for her on her way home.
"It must be a big deal if he came all the way down here to thank you." Joan walks up behind me and smirks before asking her brother. "Where's my latte?"
"I didn't bring you a coffee," Josh announces as though it's the most obvious thing in the world. "You didn't do anything to deserve coffee delivery."
Joan doesn't hesitate to reach over and pinch her brother, who lets out a fairly loud "ow!" in protest.
"What was that for?" Josh rubs his arm in the offended area. "I came down here to do something nice for Donna because she helped me out yesterday and caught some very impactful language in a piece of legislation."
I glance up and meet his eyes for the first time, likely showing a little more desperation than I'd prefer, in sincere thanks for the appreciation he's giving me. I'm having a rough morning and the coffee did more to warm me up than Josh will probably ever know.
Josh's mouth curls into a smirk and I know he's about to say something snide to Joan but stops mid sentence and doesn't deliver whatever retort he has planned. "Hey. Are you ok?"
It's then that I realize he's staring at me curiously and I wish I could disappear. "Yes. Fine. Just a little tired is all."
"You look more than a little tired," he blurts.
I look down at the patient file I'm holding and busy myself sorting through paperwork. I really don't want to get into this right now. Unfortunately for me, it doesn't seem like that's going to be an option when Joan steps closer and spots my red, puffy eyes.
"What happened?" Her voice is icy and I know that she already knows the answer to her own question.
"It's over." I manage to get the words out but without the confidence and finality I was hoping to deliver them with.
Even though she openly dislikes Chad, Joan doesn't gloat. In fact, she immediately wraps me in a bear hug and gives me an extra squeeze.
"You're going to be okay, Donna. Better than okay. I promise," she assureds after a moment, and we break apart. "Now. Tell me what happened."
I give her the abbreviated version of events from the night before due to emotional exhaustion, but knowing full well that we will do a deep dive on the topic later.
"So pretty much you told him you wanted to go back to school and he said no, and then when you stood up for yourself he told you that you weren't 'wife material,' whatever that means, so you dumped him?"
"Yeah, that's pretty much it," I nod my confirmation. It obviously stings because the wound is still fresh, but even when it was happening I knew it was for the better. Chad only brought me down, and after this settles and I give it some time, I may be able to look at myself in the mirror and be proud again.
"Do you need a place to stay?" Joan offers. "Sam and I have plenty of room and we'd be glad to have you."
"Thanks," I give her a sad smile in return. "But I'm fine. The apartment is in my name and the lease isn't up for a couple of months. He's going to get his things tomorrow but he packed a duffel last night and he's staying with someone named Chelsea."
Joan's eyes narrow to an angry glare at the realization of what I've just told her in a low key manner, but before she can say anything, we're interrupted.
"What a gomer."
During my retelling of events, I'd sort of forgotten that Josh was here. He's made his way around the desk and is now sitting in an empty office chair behind the half wall of the nurses station, and he's helped himself to a box of donuts.
"Excuse me?" I ask, more out of surprise than misunderstanding.
"I said," Josh repeats himself, dripping raspberry jelly on his tie in the process, "that guy sounds like a total gomer."
"Well thank you for your detailed analysis of the situation," I bite off. Like I need some pompous jerk mansplaining my former relationship to me.
"I'm just saying," he scrubs at the jelly with a tissue, making the mess worse instead of better, "If he needs to be taught a lesson, I'll sic the IRS on him." He pops the rest of the donut into his mouth and puffs his chest out as he adds an overly cocky, "They work for me."
"How were we raised by the same people?" Joan asks with a perplexed, if not horrified, look on her face, surveying the mayhem that is her younger brother.
I roll my eyes at the mess Josh has managed to create and can't help but to wonder how he manages to do his job effectively.
I dig through the communal junk drawer at the shared desk and pull out a Shout Wipe, approaching Josh and scrubbing at his tie. The stain may take a little bit of work, but I can get it out, I'm sure. I loosen the knot a bit and remove it from his neck so I can clean it up.
"Ugh. It's on your dress shirt, too. Take it off so I can clean it up."
"Why Donna," he smirks as he unbuttons his Oxford and stands in his undershirt and dress pants. "We hardly know each other."
"Don't be a pig," I tell him, rolling my eyes, "or I'll make you walk around all day with a jelly stain on your tie."
He shuts his mouth quickly at that.
While I'm scrubbing the stain out of his tie and Joan is making a few notes in a patient file, her cell phone rings. Taking into account the huge smile that crawls across her face, I can probably guess who is calling. Being so close to someone that has found true happiness was really a major portion of my decision to permanently end things with Chad. I know the real thing is out there; I see it with Joan and Sam. And I know I've never had that with Chad. But I want to find it.
"Good Morning," she practically swoons into her cell phone, exchanging a few pleasantries with Sam before glancing over to Josh. "Yeah. He's here."
Josh, who is hovering over me as I scrub the tie to the best of my ability with my limited resources, glances over at the sound of his name.
"Where's your phone," Joan asks him. "Darcy has been trying to call you all morning."
"It's in my backpack…" Josh states.
"...which is in your car," Joan finishes the thought.
"I don't even know anyone named Darcy," Josh protests.
Joan relays the message to Sam and then shakes her head as she informs him that Darcy is, in fact, the name of his assistant.
"Huh." Josh furrows his brow as if this is completely new information to him.
"Anyway," Joan continues, still half talking to Josh and half on the phone to Sam, "Leo is about to blow a gasket and needs you in his office like 10 minutes ago. So get dressed and get going."
Josh grabs for his keys and shrugs back into his shirt, the embodiment of a frantic burst of energy. He begins to mutter under his breath as he haphazardly tucks his Oxford into his pants. I can tell his mind is already somewhere else even though his body is here. I'm pretty sure I hear something that resembles a goodbye aimed in my general direction. I call his name no less than 3 times before he's out the double doors into the hallway and I'm left holding his tie.
I catch up to him at the elevator bank where he's repeatedly clicking the down arrow and staring at the doors.
"You forgot your tie," I tell him, and he briefly gives me a look that makes me wonder if he even remembers why I'm holding it to begin with.
I can't help but shake my head a bit at his absentmindedness as I reach out and flip his collar up, looping the tie around his neck and quickly knotting it before straightening up his appearance. I find myself growing a bit flushed in this close proximity to him, but I'm pulled from my state by the ding of the elevator's arrival. I give him a quick smile and step back as the doors open.
"Thanks." He gives me a goofy grin and just stands there for a moment.
"Your elevator…" I state the obvious.
"Oh. Right." He jumps into gear and walks inside, quickly pressing the number for his desired floor.
"Have a good day, Josh." I give him a gentle smile.
"You too." He nods his head softly in acknowledgment as the doors close and I return to the OR to scrub in.