Hold Me Now

Part Eleven

"Thank you for getting me some clothes." Donna told her mom the next morning as her mom helped her get the shirt on. It was tricky to get the shirt on with her wrist still immobilized. It was a good thing she had clothes at home that would be a little easier to get on while she recovered.

"It's no problem." Gabby assured her.

"And thank you for coming to stay with me. It was unnecessary but appreciated." She handed her mom the sling so she could help her with that too. As soon as the doctor came back with her release paperwork and instructions, she could go home. She had made a flight reservation for her mom to go back to Wisconsin and one for her to go back to D.C. By her calculations she should be back home by 6pm.

"Where else was I going to be?" Gabby asked. "You know, I'm still not certain that the doctor should release you yet though."

"Why not? My lung isn't collapsed anymore and my wrist isn't great but it's got good blood flow and isn't something that needs to be monitored all day long. I'll be fine."

"But are you going to do the physical therapy that the doctor mentioned earlier?" Gabby asked. "And follow up with a specialist?"

"Of course." She assured her mom.

"Because that's the only way you'll get full use of your wrist back."

"I am aware of that." She nodded.

Gabby sighed deeply. "What does Mr. Lyman think of you being released?"

She couldn't help but chuckle about the fact that Josh was in the doghouse with her mom to the point where she has gone back to calling him Mr. Lyman. Josh wasn't going to think it was funny though.

"He…well he will be happy."

"You mean you haven't told him?"

"Well not exactly." She shrugged. "He knows I'm going to be released soon. He just doesn't know that it's this soon."

"Why haven't you told him?" Gabby asked. "Are you two having problems?"

She sighed. There was absolutely no way she could tell her mom the truth, that things with Josh were complicated. That would lead to her mom asking more questions and she would feel like she needed to tell her mom about the baby that she lost. And she didn't want to talk about that.

"We aren't having problems." She lied. "I just want to surprise him. What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing I guess." Gabby replied. "I just get the sense that something is going on."

"Nothing else is going on." She assured. Thankfully the doctor came back in at that moment. "So can I go now?"

Dr. Petty laughed. "You are that unhappy with our hospital?"

"No." She shook her head. "You guys have all been wonderful. I just want to go home."

"That's understandable." He nodded. "Like I said earlier, all of your tests are back to normal. You shouldn't have any residual problems from the collapsed lung but if you experience chest pain or shortness of breath I'd like you to go to the ER just to be safe."

"Absolutely." She nodded.

"And I know you have to fly home. There are conflicting reports about whether it is safe or not so soon after a collapsed lung. I personally think given your level of recovery you should be fine. But let the flight attendants know about the situation when you board the plane just in case. And for your wrist, I have the name of a specialist in your area on your discharge notes. I have already called his office to let him know that you will be scheduling an appointment with him. You should try to see him within 7-10 days so he can check out the blood flow and your recovery. I also have some physical therapy locations on the discharge instructions too. It's important that you start that as soon as possible."

"Thank you." She said, taking the papers from him.

"You're going to need to rest for at least a week. No strenuous activities because your body has been through a lot."

"Understood." She nodded. A part of her wondered if that meant she shouldn't go back to work. But ultimately it didn't matter. She had to go back to work. There were too many people depending on her in the First Lady's office.

"Well with that, you are officially discharged." Dr. Petty smiled.

"Thank you for everything." She told Dr. Petty, shaking his hand with her left hand.

"You are very welcome." He said, giving them both one last smile before leaving the room.

"Are you ready to go?" Gabby asked.

"Yes I am." She smiled.

Josh pushed papers from one side of his desk to another in hopes of finding his pen. He knew he had it a moment ago, but now it seemed to have disappeared.

"Do you have a moment?" C.J. asked as she entered his office.

"Not really." He looked up at her. "Have you seen my pen? I can't seem to find it."

"Are you talking about the pen that is in your hand right now?" C.J. asked, pointing to his right hand.

He looked down and saw that she was right. His pen was in his hand the entire time. "Damn. I must be losing my mind."

"You can't lose what you don't have to begin with." She teased.

He glared at her. "What do you want?"

"What's wrong with you?" She asked.

"I haven't been able to reach Donna or her mother for the past half hour and I can't get a hold of anyone in the nurses' station at the hospital." He explained.

"And you are worried."

"Yeah." He sighed, putting his pen down on the desk. "I mean, when I called Donna earlier she seemed fine. I just worry that something happened between then and now."

"I'm sure she is fine." C.J. assured him. "But maybe this isn't the best time for this conversation."

"No." He sighed "You're here so we might as well talk. What conversation?"

"I wanted to continue the conversation we had this morning in Senior Staff about Donna…"

"No." He refused, not letting her finish her thought. "No way, C.J. I'm not asking her to sit down and give an interview about what it was like to be thrown around in that car. I'm not asking her to answer personal, private questions about what happened. It's a non-starter."

"Hear me out on this. You've been doing a good job. The President is getting better about letting the media back in. I'll give him that much. Resuming the press briefings yesterday and allowing a few statements to go out have helped. But you and I both know that isn't enough. Unless he is willing to go on live television or even taped television and talk about what happened, the fact remains that the press is still going to skewer us in all of the newspapers and television shows."

"So we should send Donna out there instead? Just throw her to the wolves?" He sighed. "It isn't fair that she should have to do that. She shouldn't have to relive it on national television!"

"No she shouldn't." C. J. agreed. "And believe me, I'm not happy about asking either. But the fact remains the Republicans are out there trashing us every minute of the day that they can because they think we are being secretive. They are creating an atmosphere where the press is starting to wonder if the military actions the President is employing are necessary."

"The First Lady is dead! She was murdered along with three Secret Service agents and Donna was almost killed." He yelled. "How anyone can say action isn't warranted is beyond me."

"I understand that and I feel the same way. But this is politics. And the visual optics of remaining silent on the topics that the press want to know more than anything are awful."

"Screw politics, C.J.!" He yelled.

C.J. took a deep breath and paused for a moment. "I know you don't really mean that. Believe me, if there was any other way around it, I would have found it by now. But since the President isn't going to be giving an interview, we need Donna to do it. She can put a good face on this and really sell it."

"No." He shook his head and lowered his voice. "There is no way. I'm not asking her to do this and you can't either."

"Josh…"

"I've said all I'm going to say. Thank you for helping me find my pen. Now let me get back to work."

"Fine." She said before leaving the room.

Donna entered their home and closed the door, leaning against it and releasing a heavy sigh. Traveling and walking through airports had wiped her out, making her absolutely exhausted. When she got off the plane she turned her phone back on and saw 20 missed calls from Josh. She thought about returning them but decided to wait until she got back home.

Now that she was home, put her stuff down and pulled out her phone. She quickly pushed number one on her speed dial.

"Josh Lyman."

"Hey." She greeted.

"Hey! What's going on? I've been trying to reach you for a while. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. My phone was turned off earlier." She assured him, walking into the kitchen. She opened up the refrigerator. "I'm just exhausted. What are you having for dinner?"

"I don't know." He sighed. "I'm not even sure what time it is."

"It's 6:54." She told him.

"Did you do the hour conversion in your head just now?" He laughed. "Because that was quick."

"No. I just looked at the clock on the microwave."

"Huh?"

He sounded confused so she decided to let him know what was going on. "So don't be mad…"

"I hate it when you start a sentence that way." He groaned.

"I kind of got released from the hospital and am back home."

"What?" He practically yelled into the phone. "And you didn't tell me?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise." She informed him. "So surprise."

"So you are standing in our home right now?"

"Yes." She chuckled, hearing the sound of papers rustling on his side of the call. "Currently I am standing in the kitchen but I was thinking of moving to the living room."

"You should rest." He commanded in a soft tone. "I'm coming home right now."

"You don't have to if you have stuff…"

"I'm coming home right now." He interrupted her. "Nothing is more important than you being back. I just can't believe you didn't tell me you were getting released. Though that explains why I couldn't get a hold of you earlier."

"I'm sorry. I thought it would be a nice surprise."

"It is. It was. I just…I was worried when I couldn't reach you. I know it's silly. But with what happened I…"

"I honestly didn't think about that." She realized now how it could look to him being unable to contact her. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine now that I know you're back home. I'll be there in about fifteen minutes."

"Ok." She chuckled. "I'll see you when you get here."

Josh hurried the whole way home. It did hurt a little that Donna hadn't told him about getting released. It was a major thing but she didn't mention it the two other times they talked this morning. He pushed it aside though because he was just so happy to have her back with him. He put his key in the lock and looked around, not finding her in the living room. He looked in the kitchen and didn't see her either. It wasn't until he went to the bedroom that he saw her. She was lying on her left side, already asleep.

She obviously wasn't kidding about being exhausted. It must have wiped her out traveling back here. He wasn't sure if he should wake her or not. After looking at her for a moment longer, he realized she needed to get her rest. Even though it wasn't even 8pm, he laid down next to her and carefully wrapped his arm around her waist. He kissed her neck and then laid his head on the pillow.