Hello everyone. I'm back again with the third installment. I'm sorry for how I left you all last time, but I hope I wrote this chapter fast enough to make up for it. Enjoy!
His head, now weighing one hundred pounds of guilt and sorrow, couldn't lift off the floor. He wouldn't allow himself to look. The pain from his loss was too hard to process. Past events still replaying in his head as his eyes remained tightly shut. Their first meeting flashed by in his head as it was followed by their last. His heart had been ripped in half, losing the person who made it whole. His body was aching for her. The floor below him was now a puddle of his own tears. His ears were still ringing from the sound of the gun. There was no sound to be heard besides his cries.
Until the man said it.
"Clear," the officer shouted as the squad moved forward. Harvey lifted his head up at the sound out of confusion. When he saw the scene, he gasped. It wasn't Donna that had been shot… it was Gallo. A wave of relief came over him when he saw Donna still sitting there, still breathing. The waterworks followed shortly after that. But also, a feeling that was common for Harvey Specter soon followed; anger. Gallo was lying in a pool of his own blood, lifeless. While he wished Gallo dead, he wanted him to suffer for what he did to her. Death was the easy way out. That man needed to pay for what he did in misery and pain, but instead he paid with his life.
A paramedic had made her way over to Donna, while the cop who shot Gallo came over to uncuff him. "Are you alright, sir?" The officer broke off the cuffs in a second, releasing Harvey from his restraints.
He hardly even processed the question. "I'm fine. Move out of my way," he stated as he pushed his way through the crowd of saviors and crawled over to Donna. His adrenaline had kicked in as his pain was nonexistent. He worked his way around the paramedic and grabbed a hold of her hand.
"Donna," he whispered as he helped remove the last of her ropes that were keeping her tied down. As the ropes came loose, she fell forward into his arms. He cradled her, brushing the hair off her face to reveal the bruises. The sight nearly caused his heart to stop. He had become numb to all of the emotional pain, not even noticing the tears anymore. She squirmed slightly in his arms, awakening barely. Her movement caused a small jolt of relief to enter his body.
"Sir, you need to let me check on her. There could be internal bleeding," the paramedic explained.
"I'm so sorry," he cried out, but he wasn't talking to the paramedic. "This is all my fault. Everything that happened, it was my goddamn fault," he choked up as the words fell from his mouth.
The paramedic placed a hand on his shoulder. "None of this is your fault. It's the psychopath's fault. He did this to her, not you."
"If I didn't need her, if I didn't love her, he wouldn't have done this to her. She was hurt for caring about me. For choosing me. For putting me first," he looked down at her fluttering eyes that were attempting to open. "Sorry will never be enough to fix this."
"You can fix it, but you have to let me help her," the aide exclaimed, reaching out her hands.
Harvey nodded his head in a panic. "I can't let her go again. You have to save her." He gave the paramedic the look of approval and they had a gurney in the room within seconds.
He sat back and watched as they worked on her, never letting go of her hand. They had her carefully moved onto the platform within seconds.
"We need to get her to the hospital immediately and get a head CT. She might have a cerebral hemorrhage from the blunt force trauma to her head," the woman yelled out.
His head was spinning from everything happening. It was all happening so fast. The room was flooded with people checking her eyes and her head. "What the hell does that mean?"
No one was answering his questions. He was completely in the dark about everything relating to her injuries.
"You have to stay back and let us do our jobs," the officer proclaimed as he held out his arm. The gurney started to roll away and his hand lost hers.
"Stop!" He was yelling at the medics. "Please, wait." He shoved the officer off of him that was holding him back and ran over to her.
"Sir, we have to get her to the hospital."
His hand reached back out for hers. "I know. I just…" he trailed off and turned to face her. His head tilted as he looked down at her, grazing her forehead with his hand. He bent over to allowing his forehead to touch hers. He leaned up and placed a kiss on her check.
"You are not allowed to die on me, Paulsen. I love you," he whispered. The paramedics had disappeared from his mind. The only ones in the room were the two of them. This was their moment and no one else would share it with them. "I am so madly in love with you and if you die, I die. I can't be me without you. So, you have to be okay because I can't lose you. Not now or ever. You are the strongest woman I know, so you fight like hell to come back to me."
Suddenly he was brought back to reality as the paramedics grabbed his arm. "We have to go now. The police are going to need a statement from you, so you'll need to stay-"
"I'm coming with you," he paused. As he saw the paramedic start to open her mouth, he jumped in. "This is not up for discussion. She is my family," the last word lingering on his lips. She was his family, the most important person in his life. He wished he could tell her that.
The woman stopped and nodded, leading the way out of the apartment. The rushed their way to the elevator, every second mattered. His patience was running low waiting for it to arrive at the bottom floor. As they rushed out of the building, Ray had been standing outside waiting for their arrival.
"Mr. Specter! Thank god you two are okay. I'm sorry for not listening to you, but I had to call them. I explained everything to them and they said-"
Harvey was in shock. They were alive thanks to his driver. He was now forever in his debt. "Ray, thank you. You saved us," he explained still holding onto her hand as they walked side by side. "The only reason she is alive is because you didn't listen to me. I don't know how I'll ever repay you, but right now we have to get to the hospital." He reached out his hand and shook Ray's when they arrived at the ambulance. As their hands met, Harvey surprisingly pulled him in for a hug. A handshake was not enough for the man who just saved Donna's life.
Ray backed away and watched as Harvey entered the vehicle. "I will meet you at the hospital, Mr. Specter."
The ambulance door shut, and Harvey waved good-bye. The vehicle rushed into the night.
Luckily, Donna's apartment was only a five-minute ride away from the hospital. He never let go of her hand the whole ride there. He watched as she laid there, helpless but fighting. She was not allowing Gallo to get the best of her. They had come too far to let anyone come between them now.
As they arrived at the hospital, she was rushed out of the vehicle. Everything happened so fast. They were pushing her into the building faster than he could keep up. And yet, he kept hold of her hand through it all. Once they were down the hall, he noticed the sign up ahead. Authorized personnel only beyond this point. He knew it was coming, the moment that they had to part, but he still held on until the very last second.
The nurse on his side of the bed stopped to face him. She held out her hands in front of herself to stop him. "You can't come with us, I'm sorry. You will have to sit in the waiting area. Is there anyone you can call?"
He watched as they continued to roll her farther and farther away from him. His heart dropped when they turned the corner and she was gone. "I… I have people to call. Where is there a phone I can use?"
The nurse placed her hand on his shoulder in a comforting manner. She pointed to the desk behind him. "Right over there. I will come back to find you when I have an update on her."
"Donna… her name is Donna," he mumbled back.
A look of sympathy came over her face after hearing his words. "I will come back when I have an update on Donna," she smiled as she turned to run towards the doors.
…
Mike and Rachel arrived first, followed shortly after by Louis. They were all wrecks, especially Rachel. Mike was quick to comfort her as they all waited to hear back from the doctor. They all gave their apologies and asked what happened, but Harvey was mute. He had been curled up in a ball on the floor the entire time. Mike and Rachel sat in chairs next to him and Louis across from them. Harvey had barely spoken a word to any of them since they had gotten there. The only person he wanted comfort from, couldn't give it to him.
None of them knew exactly what happened as they were still waiting for him to process it himself. Harvey still couldn't believe where they were. He was definitely in shock that this was real life, that he was waiting to find out whether or not Donna was dead or alive. She was fighting for her life as they all sat around and did nothing to help.
He disliked being in the hospital. Everything from the smell to the lights irritated him. Mostly, he just hated feeling useless. He was no longer in pain from his injuries, but in pain from waiting. It was excruciating not knowing what was going on with her. They knew everything about each other and yet he had not a clue what was going on with her.
Some time had passed by, but there still hadn't been any updates from anyone. Everyone was getting impatient waiting to hear something. The whole room was consumed with fear and worry. No one knew what was going to happen next, some of them still didn't even know what happened to begin with.
"Harvey, when are you going to tell us what happened?" Louis questioned. Harvey noticed Louis was becoming impatient as his leg was bouncing up and down repeatedly. This added to Harvey's rage.
"You don't wanna know," he answered back, lifting his head up to the sky after the fact.
Louis was stunned by the response he received. "Yeah, I do want to know. Donna is lying in a hospital bed somewhere in this god forsaken place having who knows what done to her and you can't tell us how she got here?"
And that was it. Harvey Specter had officially lost it.
"She got the crap beat out of her by Frank fucking Gallo, Louis. Do you wanna hear about how I had to sit across from her and watch as he smacked her and hurt her and threatened her? How he hit her so hard that she became unconscious not once, but twice?" Louis's face had turned green at the remarks. Harvey had now sprung to his feet in a rage. The volume of his voice increased with his anger. "Do you wanna hear about the look on her face when he pointed the gun to her head the first time or, the third time?"
"Harvey that's enough. Stop it, you need to calm down," Mike explained as he placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I-" And in an instant, Harvey Specter went from the angriest man in the room, to the saddest. Collapsing onto his knees, he let out a loud wail. "I'm supposed to protect her. Nothing bad is ever supposed to happen to her and I let it happen. Gallo went after her because of me and now she's in the hospital." He started to choke on his own sobs. His cries echoed throughout the hospital wing as Mike bent down to comfort him. Louis watched as the person he once knew as the "coldest", showed every color of emotions.
"I love her. I'm an idiot because I knew I loved her, maybe even from the first time I met her, and I didn't tell her. I buried it and dated other people. I lied to myself for years and now when I can finally access my feelings, she might not ever hear them," he let out a loud sigh as he finished his profession.
"Harvey?" The last voice he thought he'd hear lingered behind him. Paula. When he turned to see her face, he could tell she had heard every last word of his confession. "I heard what happened and I rushed over to make sure you both were okay."
He was quickly brought back down to reality with her surprise visit. "Paula, I'm so-"
"You don't have to say it. You've said it all." She looked down at the floor in defeat and embarrassment. "I have some of your things at my apartment, I can send them over later this week."
Harvey got up and walked over to her. He reached out his hand, but she backed away from him. "I really am sorry, Paula. It's her and it always will be her. I have to stop lying to the person I love."
"I should have known better. I knew the way you felt, but I still pursued you anyways," she shook her head in disappointment. There was silence for a moment as their eyes met briefly. "I hope she pulls through. Good-bye Harvey," she smiled as she turned to walk away.
He turned to face the rest of the group who had quickly turned away from his direction, acting as if they hadn't listened to the whole thing. Rachel's eyes met his, but she was surprised to find them filled with relief. "Are you okay?" She asked him.
"I'll be okay when a doctor comes out here and tells me that she is," he countered back. "If she's not okay-"
Rachel hurried over to him, interrupting him before he could complete his sentence. "She will be okay. You just have to have faith in her, like she has faith in you."
Her words made him tear up again. He was riding on a rollercoaster of emotions. Anything that reminded him of her suddenly became a trigger for tears. He missed her. All he wanted was to hear one of her quick-witted jokes or look at her beautiful smile. There was a need just to be near her, to watch her and know she was okay.
"I can't lose her, Rachel. You saw what it did to me when she left to work for Louis. I can't lose her for good," he whimpered.
She placed a hand on his back and escorted him to sit down. "Donna Paulsen is one of the strongest people I know. She is an absolute firecracker. I also know that she would never leave you behind. As long as you're still out here pulling for her, she's going to come through. She's Donna, she always does."
Harvey wiped away his own tears with his jacket sleeve. "Do you think I'm too late to tell her?"
"We've all known for years how in love with each other you two are. Deep down, I'm sure she always knew too just like you did. You are Harvey and Donna; your hearts beat for each other. You are two halves of a whole. So no, I don't think you're too late," she gently rubbed his back as she watched the tears dry from his eyes.
He loved Donna Paulsen and the second she was okay; he was going to tell her that. All he could do now was pray that everything would work out.
His thoughts were cut short when the doctor appeared in the room. Everyone, including Harvey, rose to their feet. He rushed forward to meet the man.
"I'm Doctor Barns. Are you all waiting to hear about a Miss Paulsen?"
Harvey's eyes widened. "Yes, how is she?"
"We are taking her up for surgery now. When we got her CT back, we saw that she has a severe cerebral hemorrhage causing a massive hematoma from her injuries, which means her brain is bleeding. The bleed is causing swelling in her brain and we need to gain control immediately," the doctor looked around as he finished. Everyone's faces were filled with fear.
"What are the risks?" Harvey asked.
"If she doesn't have this surgery, she will die." The words hit everyone like a train. "I will send someone out here to update you all as much as possible throughout the procedure, but I have to go now." He spun around to head back to the surgical room, but he suddenly stopped.
The doctor began to speak. "Oh, I almost forgot. Which one of you is Harvey Specter?"
"I am," he responded, curious as to how he knew his name.
The doctor wandered over to him. "Miss Paulsen was awake for a very brief moment when we were running the scans. She asked if you were alright before she passed out again. I thought you would want to know that she's thinking of you." He started to back away. "Your girlfriend really loves you." As the words left his mouth, he had already begun jogging away.
Harvey turned to face everyone else. They were all clearly waiting to see his reaction. His face was a mix of shock and sorrow as the word echoed in his mind. Girlfriend.
Would he ever get the chance to call her that?
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I've knocking them out pretty quickly now, so I'm sure the fourth chapter will be up soon. As always, please leave your reviews and let me know what you think!