CJ arrives first, followed by Toby only a few minutes later. Sam and Joan take considerably longer to show up, but when they do Josh has already been through the whole story once and CJ and Toby are strategizing as Josh and I answer any questions.

None of them at any point ask us if there's a shred of truth to any of it. It's nice that they know us better than that. Most of the questions come from Joan who is curious as to why someone would concoct a story like this and how they know about any transactions concerning her family's trusts. Both are valid lines of inquiry.

CJ, Toby and Sam set out to put their plan in place. The basic idea is to simply explain it's a non issue. I was abiding by HIPAA regulations and didn't expose my patient's confidential information. Any decent healthcare provider would do the same thing. I at no time told anyone, including Josh, about my knowledge of the President's MS. I did not demand, nor was I offered, any payment for my silence.

Josh has senior staff in 10 minutes, and asks me if I'm okay in his office until that time. He has to find a deputy to take a meeting for him.

I am, of course, and I tell him so. Joan stays with me, sitting down in the visitors chair beside me.

"You okay?" She's clearly as shocked by all of this as I am.

I shrug my shoulders. "I guess. I'm just overwhelmed."

"Understandable. But Josh and Sam? They're going to protect you. CJ and Toby, too. Everyone around here is good at their job."

"Thanks." I stare at my clasped hands, still feeling the weight of this on my shoulders. "What do you think about this?"

"Well… I think a lot of things. I think that you were doing your job and being a good nurse. You delivered a high level of care to the president and the AmChadan people should be grateful for that instead of chasing you. I also think that the way Josh spends the money in his trust is nobody's business but Josh's and yours."

"You don't feel like I'm taking advantage of him?"

"Are you?" She gives me some sass and raises an eyebrow at me.

"No!" Of course I'm not.

"Well, then there you go. That money is in a trust to put Lymans through college, and that's what it's doing."

"But I'm not a Lyman." The statement seems to be glaringly obvious.

"Yet." Joan smirks.

My eyes widen. "What does that mean?"

"It means that when my mom came to town last weekend she brought an antique ring box with her, which I thought was my birthday gift. But she slipped it to my little brother after dinner when you weren't paying attention and gave me a new pair of shoes."

My jaw drops.

"And look, I hate to ruin a proposal, but nobody will tell me what's going on and Donna- it's absolutely KILLING ME." She makes a dramatic voice change and we both burst into laughter.

"Well I'm not sure you've got good intel on that one," I tell her nervously. "I don't think Josh is ready for that any time soon."

"I see the way he looks at you. It's… well, okay, it's a little weird for me. But he loves you, Donna. He's going to get you through this little hiccup and you two are going to be very happy together. Honestly when Sam drug me in here this morning I thought it was going to be for you to announce you're making me an aunt."

My eyes widen and I feel myself turn pink. "No. That's not…"

She smirks at me and rolls her eyes. "Maybe not today. But I think we both know it's not that far away for you two, either."

She reminds me to call into work today and tells me to let her know if I need anything.

Josh walks me to senior staff with him and I wait outside of Leo's office in Margaret's area. She's exceptionally kind, reassuring me that the story will be gone by the end of the week and offering to split a muffin with me.

I decline and soon the door to Leo's office opens and Josh motions me in, placing his hand on the small of my back for support.

"Donna." Leo grins broadly at me. "Good to see you. Please, have a seat."

"I'm terribly sorry that you were dragged in to all of this," he continues. "And I want you to know that while nobody in their right mind wants to do away with HIPAA laws, the press sometimes get carried away. CJ is going to remind a few people at her morning briefing that they're out of line and if that doesn't seem to clear the air, Sam and Toby will draft a statement for the President to release this afternoon. Now, do you have any questions for us?"

"Is there anything that I can do?"

"Just don't let them get to you, kid." Leo chuckles as he stands, rounding his desk towards my chair.

"Thanks, Leo." I give him a hug and tell him we expect to see him for dinner sometime soon.

There's a small group of us in Toby's office when CJ takes the podium for the briefing. She defends me when asked about the story, and then she takes it a step farther, adding a few lines about common decency and abiding by privacy laws.

The story, as Toby announces as he clicks off the tv, will be dead by tomorrow's news cycle.

"Now what?" I ask Josh.

"Now… you have the day off." He shrugs. "I wouldn't necessarily just roam the streets of Georgetown seeing as your photo is on the front page, but this thing will die out on its own."

"Okay… Well, I suppose a lazy day doesn't sound too bad. Any chance you can sneak out of here early?"

He sighs. "Probably not."

"Alright." I admit defeat and wrap my arms around his waist and stand with him for a moment, just wanting to be near him.

"You're off on Saturday too," he reminds me. "I'll make sure I'm done by noon and we can spend the day together."

"I'd like that," I tell him with a smile as he gently takes me hand to walk me out.