A/N: She's gonna tell Josh soon. I promise. Until then! Here's the next chapter.

When Donna got back to the hospital later that night armed with doctor approved dinner, she found Josh still asleep. She set up dinner at a table in the room and grabbed the remote from Josh's lax hand. She clicked through the limited channels on the hospital TV and smiled when she came across Friends. Settling back with her food, she propped her feet up on another chair. After her talk with CJ, she was feeling better than she had since she found out she was pregnant. She flicked a glance over to Josh who was still fast asleep and silently hoped her good mood was allowed to last a little longer.

About 45 minutes had past and Donna had finished her food. She walked into the bathroom to wash her hands and paused in front of the mirror. Turning sideways, she studied the profile of her silhouette. Having just ate dinner, Donna noticed her bump was even more pronounced. She ran a hand over it and allowed herself a small smile. Remembering what her doctor had told her about maternity clothes, Donna wondered how long she could hold out until she had to cave in and buy some. Until she told Josh, Donna made a mental note to wear baggier clothes around him.

After finishing washing up in the bathroom, Donna walked out to see Josh still fast asleep. A frown came to her face. Josh still spent a lot of his time asleep, but to have been asleep this long uninterrupted worried Donna. He had been asleep hours on end. She waited until one of the nurses came in for rounds before she said anything, not wanting to overreact.

"How's he doing?" a nurse asked, twenty minutes later when she entered the room and picked up Josh's chart from the end of the bed.

"He's been asleep for a long time," Donna told her, trying to keep her voice neutral.

"Hm," the nurse replied as she read Josh's chart, not looking up.

"More than normal?" the nurse asked half to herself as she continued to analyze the chart.

Donna nodded. "I'd say so."

The nurse made a note on Josh's chart before putting a hand to Josh's forehead. She then pulled out a thermometer from one of her shirt's pockets. Donna watched closely as the nurse studied the reading and felt dread in the pit of her stomach when the nurse pulled the thermometer away with a frown.

"What is it?" Donna asked quickly.

"Fever of 102.1," the nurse replied. The dread in Donna's stomach immediately began to spread like wildfire throughout her body. They were supposed to have been past the dangerous stage. Within a few minutes, Josh's doctor walked in as the nurse filled him on Josh's vitals. He wasted no time as he shook Josh lightly by the shoulder until he awoke.

"How are you feeling, Josh?" the doctor asked. Josh looked bleary eyed and a little confused. He sniffed a few times.

"Not good," Josh replied honestly and Donna could hear the congestion in his voice.

"We're doing some blood work now, but we think you might be coming down with the flu, Josh," his doctor told him, getting straight to the point.

"Is that something to be worried about?" Donna asked immediately. She was trying to stay calm. The doctor didn't seem too concerned.

"We'll keep an eye on it. It's not going to be a fun time for Josh unfortunately, but it would have been a lot worse a week ago." The doctor left the nurse with some instructions and then walked out of the room.

Josh quickly fell back asleep and the nurse checked her watch with a knowing glance at Donna.

"Visiting hours are over, sweetie." Donna looked upset.

"He's sick!"

"Good thing he's in a hospital," the nurse replied. "Go home and get some sleep."

"Donna," the nurse added when Donna didn't move.

Donna looked thoroughly unhappy at being made to leave. The nurses had grown used to her resisting and after letting Donna stay the first few nights, her leeway with them had worn off.

"You'll call me if anything happens?"

"Yes."

The next morning Donna was at the hospital as soon as visiting hours opened. She found a nurse in Josh's room as she entered.

"How'd it go?" Donna asked. Her gaze immediately became worried as she took in the sight on Josh asleep on the bed. There were dark circles under his eyes and his face looked white as a sheet. There was stubble on his cheeks.

"He had a bit of a rough time," the nurse said sympathetically. "He was vomiting most of the night and is still running a fever, can't keep anything down." Donna immediately felt fury at being forced to leave when Josh was so miserable.

"How did that react with his chest?" Donna questioned anxiously.

"There was some pain," the nurse conceded. "We've up his painkillers for the time being until this passes." She made a few more notes on Josh's clipboard before stepping out of the room.

With a sigh, Donna seated herself next to Josh. She put a hand up to his forehead and could feel the heat still radiating there. At her touch, she saw Josh's eyes flicker open.

"You're back," he muttered. There was a raspy quality to his voice that reminded Donna of his voice right after the surgery.

"I heard you had a bad night," Donna said sympathetically. She could tell he had when all he did was nod feebly at her words. He just genuinely didn't seem to have the energy to do anything else.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there."

Josh turned to look at her and simply grabbed one of her hands and squeezed.

"I hate this," he said quietly. Donna nodded.

"Me too," she said honestly. Josh sunk back into his pillows. CNN was playing on the TV. Donna was assured just how crappy Josh had to be feeling since he wasn't even bothering to answer back to the pundits on TV.

"Hey, Leo's coming to visit today," Donna, wanting to distract him. That got his attention. Leo had only really been to visit when Josh was either unconscious or had been in such a rough state, he couldn't remember. They'd spoken on the phone, but otherwise Josh hadn't seen much of the White House Chief of Staff. With all the chaos in the fallout from the shooting and no President to lead the charge, Leo had been at the White House constantly.

"When?"

"Hey, kid." Josh turned to see Leo walking into the room, hands in his pockets. His famous smirk quickly turned into a genuine smile when he saw Josh was awake.

"Hey," Josh said back. At hearing him speak, Leo frowned.

"You got a cold or something?"

"The flu apparently," Josh replied miserably.

"How the hell did you get a flu in a hospital? Don't they clean everything like seven times a day?" Josh shrugged listlessly and Leo was taken aback by just how lacking in energy Josh was. By all accounts he had heard Josh was at least noticeably himself now after his surgery, not physically up to speed, but mentally. Leo frowned at this set back. Spotting Donna in the corner, Leo turned to her.

"How ya doin, Donna?" he called over to her.

"I'm okay, Leo," Donna replied politely. "You?"

"We're getting by," Leo said honestly. Donna nodded sympathetically. She was in the White House sporadically trying to tidy things up for Josh's office and the days she was in were hectic from the moment she stepped across the threshold. She felt grateful she grabbed one of her baggier sweaters today. Though it still wasn't blatantly obvious she was pregnant, she didn't want to take any chances around Leo. At the thought of having to tell him, Donna felt nerves tingle in her stomach.

"Is it bad?" Josh asked from the bed. Donna sighed mentally.

"Nothing we can't handle, kid," Leo said, seamlessly reading the situation.

"But-"

"No offense, Josh, but I really don't think we need you," Leo told him, half joking. Josh's face curved into a slight smile but he didn't reply and Donna felt grateful that Leo knew Josh as well as he did.

"You gonna be alright?" Leo asked after a moment of studying Josh's face. "I can come back another time."

Josh rubbed his right hand across his face. "I'm alright, Leo."

"I have something important to tell you, but I don't want to tell you if you're not up for it," Leo said honestly. Josh tried to sit up a little further. He managed it with a wince, but Leo looked to Donna instead.

"Donna?"

Donna smirked at the look of disbelief on Josh's face.

"I can-"

Leo shushed him with a finger, his eyes still on Donna. Donna flicked her eyes to Josh for a moment and then nodded at Leo.

"I think he's okay for right now. He'll probably be asleep again soon though," Donna said honestly, though she worried when another bout of nausea would hit Josh.

"I'm not four," Josh pouted from the bed, he would have crossed his arms if his left one would cooperate. Ignoring his complaints, Leo pulled up a chair close to Josh's bed and sat down, his face set.

"Leo, wha-"

"I just wanted to fill you in on what we know from the shooting," Leo began. Josh nodded, his mouth a thin line.

"The shooters weren't shooting at the President, or you, or Toby, or CJ," Leo sighed. "They were shooting at Charlie."

"What?!" Josh exclaimed. His excitement caused him to cough a couple of times and Leo looked panicked as her glanced over at Donna, who mouthed "he's okay" back.

"Cause he's black?" Josh asked after he caught his breath.

"And dating the President's daughter, yes," Leo answered somberly.

"That's insane," Josh said bitterly. "They wanted to kill Ch-" he broke off and looked away, the idea to painful to speak out loud.

"Does Charlie know?"

Leo nodded. "We told him the night it happened." Josh ran a hand over his face and let his head sink back into the pillow.

"Poor Charlie," he muttered. "Is that why he hasn't come to see me?"

"We got him to agree to come today. I think he's bringing Zoey with him too. So if you could try to not have the flu when he gets here so he doesn't feel more guilty," Leo said lightly. Josh gave a half shrug.

"If wishing made it so." Josh's eyes flicked to Leo when he noticed Leo's gaze lingering on him.

"What?" Josh asked, concerned. Leo's face brook into a crinkled smile.

"Nothin."

"Leo."

"It's just good to see you, Josh," Leo said earnestly. "I mean you look like crap, but at least you seem a little more like you again." Josh gave a lazy smirk, but said nothing back. Leo glanced up at Donna who simply nodded. The pain meds Josh was on were kicking in and he was growing drowsier by the minute. His eyelids were drooping dangerously.

"I'll be back soon, okay?" Leo said to him. Josh managed a quiet "kay" before drifting off completely. Once he had, Leo sighed deeply.

"How's he been Donna? Really," Leo asked her. Now that she had Leo's full attention, Donna unconsciously placed both arms across her middle, trying to hide as much as possible.

"He was doing better," Donna began. "He was grumpy about physical therapy, but this flu has set him back. He was in a lot of pain last night according to the nurses." She paused. "He said he feels useless cause he's not helping at the White House."

Leo sighed at that and stood up. "Yeah, I figured. Guy gets shot in the chest and he's still got to feel guilty about something."

"You should have seen him when we told him the President got shot," Donna said in a low voice. Leo gave a tight smile and let his gaze linger on Josh's face once more.

"You know, I've know this kid since he was three-years-old and I think this is the first time I've ever seen him sit still," Leo said with a far away look in his eye. Donna's hand twitched slightly to try and reach for her belly, but she resisted the urge with Leo right there.

She swallowed and tried not to imagine what her and Josh's baby would look like at three years old. Would their kid have curly hair? Blonde hair or brown? Blue eyes or hazel? Looking that far ahead almost made Donna feel a little light headed. Would her and Josh make it that far? Would they survive the press fallout from this story? There were too many unanswered questions at this point. Would Josh even be involved with her three-year-old's life?

As her mind traversed that question, Donna's whole face dropped. It wasn't really an avenue she had explored much, but she supposed it was possible. What if Josh wanted nothing to do with her or the baby?

"Donna?" Leo asked after a moment. Donna quickly looked up and refocused. She gave a nervous laugh.

"Sorry. I just can't imagine a three-year-old, Josh," she said, trying not to let any of her emotions show. Her nerves increased at the odd look Leo gave her. The look he gave to those he was trying to figure out. Donna looked down and silently swore to herself. Now Leo was suspicious.

"Imagine the Josh Lyman you know, but just make him shorter," Leo said simply. At that Donna laughed.

"Everything alright, Donna?" Leo asked her.

Trying her best not to sound flustered, Donna replied back, "Yeah, course. I mean, it's been stressful with everything happening with Josh, but at least he's still here and getting better and he got to see CJ, Toby, and Sam the other day so that's good." Donna mentally kicked herself for rambling. Leo still looked suspicious.

"Just stress from his recovery?"

"Yes," Donna said as earnestly as possible. Leo gave a slow nod and Donna knew she didn't convince him. He stood up and started making his way to the door.

"I'm heading back to the White House, but Donna?"

"Yeah?"

"Try and make sure he's careful with Charlie, would ya?" Donna nodded.

"Of course I will."

"Charlie's been in really rough shape over this." Donna frowned, she realized she hadn't really seen Charlie at all since the night of the shooting.

"Don't worry, Leo." He nodded to her gratefully and turned to leave once more before he stopped.

"If you have anything on your mind, Donna," he began, not fully turning around as he spoke. "My door's always open, okay?"

Donna sat in shock for a moment at Leo's words. The man had always been kind to her, but to extend a hand that far was extremely touching to her.

"Thank you, Leo," she said earnestly.

"It makes me feel better that he has somebody with him like you to help take care of him. Thank you for being there for him."

Donna gave a small laugh.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," she said easily.

"Right," Leo replied. "Okay, I need to go back to the White House. I'll be back to visit soon I promise." They said their goodbyes and then he was gone.

Donna let her eyes drift down to Josh who was fast asleep. Her hand went to her belly again and she let out a deep sigh. She needed to tell him. She wanted to tell him, but every time she came close to doing it her guilt would stop her. Telling him when he was about to see Charlie wouldn't be fair. Nor would it be fair when he could hardly stay awake for more than an hour or two at a time. Donna reached out a hand to Josh's forehead and grimaced when it still felt warm.

Two hours later, Donna stood leaned up against the door jam of the bathroom. She was looking down at a pitiful looking Josh who was hunched over the toilet bowl awkwardly with a look of sharp pain on his face. Josh had been throwing up for the past half hour and the pain it was causing him was hard for Donna to watch. The extra dosage of pain medications he was on seemed to be helping a little bit, but Donna still watched Josh routinely feel around his chest wound to see if he'd pulled at stitches. With a groan, Donna saw him shift positions until he was sat against the wall besides the toilet. His eyes were squeezed tight.

"Josh?"

He didn't answer right away and Donna quietly wet a washcloth for him. She handed it to him without a word and he wiped at his mouth a few times.

"I don't think I've ever been this tired in my life," he said. His voice was even more rough now, to the point where it sounded as though he was close to losing it completely.

"You ready to get back into bed?" Donna asked.

"Gimme a minute," Josh sighed. He felt like he had no energy left in his whole body. His chest was radiating with sharp pains that shot from his lungs to his toes to his head and were emphasized by the typical aches and pains one gets with the flu.

When Josh didn't make any move to get up, Donna made her way over to him and crouched besides him. She put an arm underneath Josh's and tried to pull him up. Almost immediately Josh cried out in pain and Donna immediately ceased her efforts, muttering quick apologies.

"Uh." Charlie was standing in the doorway, looking shaken.

"Charlie!" Donna exclaimed. She looked between the two men quickly. Josh hadn't even seemed to register that Charlie was there, he was too distracted by the exhaustion.

"Is everything-"

"Charlie, can you come help me get him to the bed," Donna asked as politely as possible while under pressure. Charlie immediately rushed over to the pair and took over from where Donna was.

Josh still gave sharp grunts of pain as Charlie pulled him up, but at least they were moving this time. Donna watched from behind as Charlie quickly maneuvered across the room with Josh hanging off his shoulder.

"You're okay," Charlie tried to sooth as he lowered Josh onto the bed as carefully as possible.

Charlie took a step back with fear in his eyes and Donna stepped up beside him.

"It's alright, Charlie," she told him quietly, but Charlie didn't respond. He just stood transfixed staring at Josh in horror. He remained still on the bed with his eyes closed.

"He's fine, Charlie, really," Donna continued, a hand on Charlie's arm now.

"Says you," Josh spoke up from the bed, sounding like crap. His voice was as rough as it had been earlier. His eyes were still closed, but the pain seemed to be fading.

"You're just dramatic," Donna said back promptly. "You should be happy Charlie was here to help now that you get to wear your own pajamas instead of when you were wearing that stunning hospital gown." Josh finally opened his eyes and looked at Donna with a lazy smile.

"You see what I'm dealing with here, Charlie?" Josh said. Charlie still looked frightened but lightened up a little bit at Josh and Donna's familiar banter.

"I think you should do what Donna says," Charlie said tentatively. Donna moved around the bed and took her customary spot to the right of Josh's bed by the window.

"Always knew you were a smart one, Charlie," Donna said warmly. Charlie, taking a cue from Donna, also sat down in a chair.

"You sure you're okay?" Charlie said to Josh, worry etched all over his face.

"I'll be fine," Josh said hesitantly. The reality was that he felt as awful as he'd ever felt. His head hurt, his sinuses were blocked, and he kept getting waves of nausea that made his chest burn like he'd never felt before. Leo's words were running through Josh's head though, and Josh didn't want Charlie to see how bad he actually felt.

"I'm sorry," Charlie muttered, looking down.

"For what?" Josh asked genuinely.

"For everything."

"Charlie," Josh started as he closed his eyes and rested his head against the pillows.

"I'm serious, Josh," Charlie said, cutting him off. Josh blinked at him.

"Serious about what?" Josh asked. "Did you shoot me in the chest?"

Charlie looked confused.

"Well no, but-"

"Charlie, no offense, but it's pretty stupid if you think you're the reason I'm sitting in this bed."

"Josh, the reason you got shot is cause Zoey and I are together. It's because I'm the one dating the President's daughter."

"Brag about it."

"Josh!"

"Charlie, I don't blame you for what happened," Josh said simply, he was speaking slowly, trying hard not to slur his words. "I blame the nut jobs who shot me."

"Still, if I had never started-"

"Charlie. You didn't do anything wrong," Josh said. "If you want someone to blame, blame me. I hired you in the first place. You two never would have met if it wasn't for me."

Charlie's face seemed to relax marginally as he let a small smile show.

"Josh-"

"Charlie, they missed you and hit a Jew. They're not gonna be too upset about that."

After few moments of silence passed between them, Josh spoke up again.

"Can you talk to me about baseball or somethin?" Josh asked in his whiniest voice. "The channels we get at the hospital suck."

"So do the Mets," Charlie replied easily. At Josh's wounded look, he smiled.

"Sorry."

"I'm sick, you gotta be nice to me," Josh pouted. Charlie smirked back.

"Just cause you're sick doesn't change the facts."

"And I'm injured," Josh continued. "Can't you at least lie to me about the Mets?"

"You're awake!" came an excited shout from the doorway. Everyone looked over to see Zoey walking in, beaming at Josh.

"Hey, squirt," Josh called over to her. Donna frowned as she saw the usual fatigue setting in over Josh, she could hear it in his voice now especially.

Zoey came straight up to the bed and made to hug Josh before looking panicked at Donna for permission.

"I don't wanna get you sick, Zoey," Josh told her before Donna could answer.

"Oh, yeah, you don't sound so good," Zoey said frowning. "You're sick?"

"I have the flu," Josh said, sounding miserable. Zoey's face fell.

"That's awful. How did you get the flu in the hospital?"

"There's germs everywhere," Josh said simply.

"So I guess you're feeling pretty crappy," Zoey said, frowning. Josh simply nodded, running out of every fast. Noticing this, Zoey turned her attention to Donna.

"How're you feeling Donna?" Donna felt a jolt of panic shoot through her at Zoey's words. She took a moment to compose herself before realizing there's no way Zoey could know anything. She was just being polite.

"I'm fine, Zoey, thanks for asking," Donna replied, trying to keep her voice level.

"Josh sure is lucky to have you," Zoey said with a smile. From the bed, Josh let out a slurred "I'll say".

Zoey looked back to Josh and stood up.

"Maybe we should come back another time."

"I'm fine," Josh muttered with his eyes closed. Zoey gazed upon him with an amused smile.

"Josh, you're about to fall asleep."

"I haven't seen you in a while," Josh muttered back, though he was practically squinting at her through heavy eyelids. Zoey smiled at him affectionately which caused Donna to smile at the pair of them. Josh had always been great with Zoey. From their earliest days on the campaign, Josh had always taken the time to talk with her. He never made her feel like she wasn't worth his time.

There was one night Donna had walked in to see the two of them in the hotel dining room, working on a paper Zoey had due that coming Wednesday. When Donna had asked Josh what he was doing, Josh had replied he was helping Zoey, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world and who wouldn't be helping this kid with their paper?

"I'm not going anywhere, Josh," Zoey said with a large smile on her face. Josh gave a grunt back as an answer, but his head with dipping down to his chest now. Zoey gave a look to Charlie.

"You okay?"

Charlie nodded, "I'm alright." Zoey searched his face until she felt she had gauged his honestly.

"Okay." She turned to Donna.

"We'll come back when he's feeling better," Zoey said as she stood up. "Poor Josh."

"Yeah, it's been pretty lousy," Donna said with a grimace.

"I'll see you later, Donna."

They said their goodbyes and Donna settled back into her chair with a new magazine and began reading. She twirled a strand of hair around her finger absently as her eyes made their way across the pages. Without realizing it, she started tracing lazy patters on her belly with a finger. She never noticed Josh watching her through half lidded eyes, trying to make sense of what she was doing.