Hold Me Now

Part Twelve

Donna woke up and slowly stretched before getting up. Looking at the clock she saw that it was 6:30am. She must have been more exhausted than she thought to sleep for twelve hours. She could hear faint sounds coming from the kitchen and figured that's where Josh was since he wasn't in bed with her. He was most likely getting ready to go into the office. She got out of bed and decided to take a shower before getting something to eat. It was going to be a busy day.

Josh put the coffee cup on the tray and headed into the bedroom. He figured about twelve hours of sleep was enough for Donna right now. Any more than that and he was going to be worried that she had really over-exerted herself traveling home. He entered the bedroom and saw the empty bed first. Then he heard the shower running. He placed the tray on the bed and knocked on the door.

"Yeah?" Came the muffled reply.

He entered the bathroom, closing the door and leaning up against it. "Good morning."

"Morning." She greeted back.

He couldn't help but watch her blurry silhouette through the glass shower door as she finished her shower. "You slept for a long time."

"Yeah." She chuckled. "I didn't realize I was that tired. I really tried to stay awake until you got home."

"It's fine." He told her. "I'm just happy to have you home and not in a different country."

"I'm glad about that too." She turned the water off and came out of the shower with a towel wrapped around her.

He closed the gap between them, wrapping his arm around her waist before giving her a kiss. He didn't want to try and progress the kiss any farther. He was leaving that up to her at this point. It was just difficult for him to not have his hands all over her. She was his kyrptonite. He was certain that he could lose everything in his life and be alright as long as he had her.

She pulled away from the kiss after a moment and laid her head on his shoulder. It felt amazing to hold her in his arms again. Although it had only been a couple of days, he missed it. There was no way he would ever get tired of being with her.

"I hate to ask, but could you please help me get dressed? It's a little hard to do without moving my wrist too much."

"Of course." He said as she pulled out of his embrace and left the bathroom. He followed her out to see that she was picking out a dress. He figured it was probably the easiest thing for get on and off with her wrist.

"I really only need help with zipping it up. I think I can get the rest done myself." She clarified as she laid her clothes on the bed. "Is this for me?" She pointed to the tray.

"Yes." He said, walking over to her. "I thought you were still in bed so I was going to bring you breakfast."

"Thank you." She smiled.

"So what is on your agenda today?" He asked as he watched her get dressed. He was impressed with how well she was doing without using her right wrist. "Talk shows or soap operas?"

"Neither." She answered.

"Ah, then it must be a movie day." He assumed, motioning for her to turn around so that he could zip her up. "I have a couple of meetings this morning that I have to go to but I'll be able to come back around lunchtime and work from home."

"That won't be necessary." She said as she turned around after he zipped up the dress.

He looked at her and grinned. "Humor me. I want to spend time with you and make sure that you aren't over-doing it."

"I appreciate that, but you don't need to come home early because I'll be at work."

He stopped and looked at her. "No you won't."

"Yes I will." She argued.

He saw her struggle with putting her sling back on and helped her get it situated. "You can't go back to work yet. You need to rest and recover."

"I'm fine." She told him. "Well my wrist isn't fine yet but that will heal."

"Not if you over exert yourself." He argued.

"Josh…"

"Donna."

"I get it." She sighed. "You're worried about me and I appreciate it. But I'm fine and I'm ready to go back to work. I have to go back to work. The First Lady's staff is freaking out and they have no clue what they are supposed to be doing. They need guidance."

"It doesn't have to be you."

"Then who?" She countered. "Huh? Who else is going to do it?"

"I don't know but it doesn't have to be you!" He exclaimed angrily. He was done helping her get dressed and took a few steps back from her. "You just got out of the hospital. You need to rest."

"I'm fine."

"You keep saying that." He shook his head. "I don't think you are though."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means what it means." He sighed. "You should be home, recovering instead of at the office and working. Do I have to make sure no one bothers you like you did for me after I got shot? I can put the fear of God into them just like you did back then."

"No because those are two totally different situations." She argued.

"They may be slightly different but the basic principle is the same. I almost died after being shot and you almost died after being blown up!"

"But you were in surgery for over 12 hours, which I know because I was watching from observation platform. You were in the hospital for a week and a half. I didn't have that same experience."

"But you were blown up!" He argued, not ready to let this go. "You could have very easily died that day along with everyone else. Or have you forgotten that little fact?"

"Of course I haven't forgotten that!" She yelled back.

He could see that she was starting to reach her breaking point. Up until now she had been fairly calm but he couldn't say that anymore. He decided to change tactics because yelling at her wasn't going to help the situation.

"You think I don't realize that I came dangerously close to death?" She asked in a softer tone. "You don't think that weighs on my mind?"

"You could have fooled me." He said quietly.

She scoffed and shook her head. "You know what? I'm not doing this."

He watched as she left the bedroom and followed her. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to work." She told him as she picked up her bag "I'll see you later."

She was gone before he could even say anything else.

Donna went in the door and flashed her id to security.

"It's nice to have you back, Ms. Moss." The security guy smiled.

"Thanks." She gave him a quick smile before moving along.

"Donna!"

She turned when she heard her name and saw C.J. walking towards her. "Hey."

C.J. gave her a quick hug. "It's so good to see you up and around. How are you?"

"I'm ok." She gave her old friend a smile.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm coming back to work."

"Already?" C.J. questioned.

"Yes." She sighed. "And please don't tell me I have to listen to you berate me for coming back to work too soon because I already had that with Josh this morning and I can't go another ten rounds with anyone about this right now."

"I wasn't going to give you grief." C.J. assured her. "I was only going to express concern and tell you that you know yourself better than I do. So if you feel ready to come back to work, then welcome back!"

"Thank you." It meant a lot to her to have at least one person understand where she was coming from.

"Actually, since you are here, can we talk for a moment in my office?"

"Sure." She was curious about what C.J. couldn't talk about in public so she followed the woman to her office, closing the door behind her. "What's up?"

"How much has Josh told you about the President and how he is doing?"

"He's told me a little bit." She shrugged. "Why? What's going on?"

"Josh and Leo are doing the best they can with the President but it isn't enough. The Republicans keep trying to make it seem like the attack the President lobbied was because of a personal vendetta and not because it's a proportional response."

"That's insane though." She sighed.

"They are also wondering why the President hasn't enacted the 25th amendment so he can grieve properly. They believe he should step down until at least after the funeral. And since the President isn't making any direct comments about the attack, the First Lady's death or this retaliation it makes us a sitting target. Toby and I are worried about what is going to happen if the Republicans are able to control the narrative long term. We need to be getting our message out there sooner rather than later." C.J. explained.

"So what do Josh and Leo have to say about it?"

"They think we need to give the President more time."

"But the more time you give him, the more damage is done." She stated.

"Exactly." C.J. agreed.

"So what is your plan?" She asked.

"What makes you think I have a plan?" C.J. laughed.

"Because I know you." She chuckled. "You always have a plan. What is it?"

"It's funny you ask because my plan actually involves you."

"How?"

"Let me preface this with a disclaimer. Josh didn't even want me to bring it up to you and he really doesn't want you to do it."

"Do what?" She asked, studying her friend closely. C.J. was actually nervous about asking her whatever she was about to ask, which was abnormal. It was starting to make her nervous.

"I was hoping you would be willing to sit down for a televised, in-depth interview with Diane Mathers."

"Why do you want me to do the interview?" She wasn't sure she fully understood what good it would do for her to participate in an interview.

"You would be able to humanize the story, which is what we are missing right now. The Republicans are making this whole thing about the mistakes they feel the President has made since the attack. Perhaps if we can get the story out from you about what it was like and why it is so important to retaliate, well maybe it can stop the bleeding. You could also reassure the public that the President is fully in control. We need to do something to change the tide."

"And you think me telling the story of what happened is the way to do that?"

"I do." C.J. nodded. "And believe me, I hate even asking you to relive what happened so soon—especially on television. But…"

"Can I think about it?" She interrupted. Her first instinct was to say no, but she realized she needed to think about it carefully before making a determination.

"Absolutely."

"Ok." She nodded. "I'll think about it and get back to you soon. But if you will excuse me, I have all of the First Lady's staff freaking out so I better go figure out what to tell them."

Donna closed the door to her office and sighed. The staff had applauded when they saw her walked through the door and that made her feel welcomed but also sad because the First Lady should also be here. She wasted no time giving the staffers assignments and trying to show them that even though everything had changed, there was still work to be done.

To be honest, she wasn't sure what the next steps were supposed to be or what role, if any, she still had since there was no living First Lady anymore. It wasn't the thought that she would lose her job that made her upset though. It was the thought of all the initiatives on the list she and the First Lady compiled remaining untouched that bothered her. They still had so much left on that list that they wanted to accomplish. Who would fight for it now?

She went over to her desk and sat down. C.J.'s request weighed on her mind. She wasn't sure that she was the best person for the job of sitting down for the interview. She didn't have much experience with that kind of thing. Sure she had given quotes to the press but not a sit down, interview—and certainly nothing with someone like Diane Mathers.

It didn't surprise her that Josh wasn't keen on the idea of her doing the interview and she figured he was only trying to shield her from the press. He had the best of intentions. That much was clear. But he was getting on her nerves a little. Like this morning for example. If she wanted to go back to work, then why couldn't he be supportive of that instead of turning it into an argument?

A knock on the door brought her out of her thoughts. "Come in!"

She expected to see one of her staffers but was surprised when it was Josh.

"I come bearing a peace offering." He gave her a small smile, closing the door with his foot and holding up a coffee and Danish. "Your favorite coffee and favorite pastry."

She couldn't help but smile a little back at him but didn't say anything as he approached her desk. He sat them down in front of her.

"I'm sorry about this morning." He apologized. "I was a little too intense and I shouldn't have yelled at you."

"No, you shouldn't have." She conceded. "But I know you are just concerned about me and I should have been more sensitive to that."

"I don't want you to over-exert yourself." He explained. "I know you say you are fine. But…"

"I know." She nodded.

"Can we compromise?"

"How so?"

"You agree to leave work by 5pm every day so that you have time to relax and rest?" He offered.

"6pm." She countered.

"5:30pm."

"Deal." She grinned.

He walked over to her side of the desk and leaned against it. "I love you."

"I love you too."