I am so terribly sorry for the late update. The holidays got away from me and I failed. However, this is a little longer than the other chapters so enjoy!
Shout out to my reviewers! Thank you for taking the time to tell me what you think!
Paula was the first to leave. She said that she couldn't stand just waiting around. That it was too much to see Harvey lying in that bed almost lifeless. She couldn't handle watching him barely hang on.
Rachel was next. She wanted to be there for Donna, but knew that there was damage control to be done. She knew that the other people in the room needed to be here more than she did. She went back to the office to sort through Harvey's cases for the near future, see what the media was saying, and to get some handle on what was going on.
Louis left shortly after the young lawyer, much for the same reasons. He knew that there needed to be someone at the firm who seemed like they were in charge. The firm would be buzzing with stories of what happened that night. The named senior partner was going to make sure that it was the right story. That the ship didn't sink while it's captain was under water.
The doctor had explained as much as he could to them. They were not exactly sure what had caused the coma. It could be the blood loss. It could be that Harvey hit his head when falling to the pavement. It could be shock. It could be a combination. The MRI did not show any brain damage or swelling. There was no indication during surgery that would cause a coma. The doctor tried to reassure them that it was a good thing, but they all just kept asking why Harvey was in a coma and when he would be awake. For that there were no real answers.
Mike looked over to Donna who had been sitting in the same chair for the last two hours. "Hey why don't you get some sleep? I'll sit here with him." A very nice nurse had gotten a cot set up in the private room. He knew it was a long shot, but she needed to at least move from the position she was stuck in. It was quickly approaching sun rise and he was hoping he could get her some rest. It was honestly a shock to him that she hadn't already been sleeping in that chair. He looked over to the comatose woman. She was just staring at the man. Her eyes didn't leave him. She made no acknowledgement of even hearing Mike speak. "Donna?" Mike got up and gently placed her hand on her shoulder.
She jumped. "What?" Her mind was caught between blaming herself and wondering what was going on in Harvey's head. Mike repeated himself to her. "I can't." The words were broken as they came from her mouth. Her mind was lost to what she could be losing. Not capable of forming a barrier in her mind, her words gave her away. "I kissed him. I kissed him and now he might not wake up." Tears that she had been desperately trying to hold back since Paula showed up overflowed. She shouldn't have broken their agreement. He shouldn't have been out on that street. Donna could only assume that he was trying to chase after her. Or maybe she was hoping that was the reason that he was caught on a New York street in the middle of the night. That hope would also lead to her current conclusion that all this was her fault. He wouldn't be in that bed if she had kept her feelings in check. Kept them where they belonged.
"Holy shit." Mike fell into the chair beside her. He had pushed for the distraught woman to tell Harvey her feelings. He wanted this relationship to work more than most in that firm. He knew how much better they were when they were together. They were his figurative parents. He wanted them to be happy and they were always happier when they were together. Technically they had never been a couple while Mike had known them, but it was obvious to anyone with eyes what the two had. It took a fraction of a moment for the protégé to figure out where Donna's mind went. He got out of the chair and slid in front of her, kneeling to be at eye level. "Hey. This is not your fault." He looked over to Harvey for a moment and then did what he knew she needed most. He engulfed her in his arms. "You did not do this. You don't know what happened on that street. None of us do." He felt her completely let go. It was a moment that they would never speak of again. A moment that Donna was broken.
Minutes passed with him holding her and feeling her crying into his shirt. The angle was awkward and his back began to scream after a while. However, there was no way that he was going to move until she was ready. A few more minutes ticked by and he felt her ease. The tension was still there, but she took a breath. He could see the apology forming on her lips but stopped her before she had the chance to speak. "We are family. We will get through this. That is the most stubborn bastard that I know. He is not going to give up after you gave him so much to fight for." Mike was praying that he was right. That there was someone looking out for them and they would bring Harvey back to them. "I am going to go find some crappy coffee okay?" He waited for the head nod before gently moving. Right before exiting the room he glanced at the shattered hope of his friend. It was not a look that he ever thought would cross the face of Donna Paulsen.
She knew that the puppy meant well, but there were no words that would reassure her right now. Donna inched her chair even closer to Harvey's bed. A smile crossed her face with tormented amusement. Paula had made a scene before leaving. Saying that she should stay but didn't know how she could watch him lay there dying. It was a new color on the therapist and Donna would be lying if she said that it wasn't a relief to see who the woman was under pressure. It also infuriated her that Paula had left. Donna could not bring herself to make up a good reason as to why the shrink would leave the man she supposedly loved when he needed her most. It was something Donna could never do.
Which is what brought her to a sleepless night of staring at his chest lightly rise and fall. Every breath was another moment that she felt they had a chance. She held his hand tightly. She had heard that it helped to talk to coma patients. Might not be what woke him up, but she would try. Her voice was quiet at first. She did her best to keep the tears away while talking, but a few escaped.
"I need you to wake up. Harvey. You know she left. Paula. She doesn't even know what happened and she already can't be by your side. She is not the one for you. I knew it from the start that she wouldn't be right for you. She isn't me." For a moment she reprimanded herself for taking advantage of his state to bash the therapist. It was partially freeing to be able to talk about the things that she had been bottling up for months. "She doesn't know you like I do. No one does. You are fooling yourself if you think she can even hold a torch to me. I'm sorry but she will never be close to the real thing." Her mind went back to the kiss. Went back to him leaning into it. Wanting more. "I needed to know if you still had feelings for me. I know that you love me, but there was a time that you looked at me with the possibility of something and I needed to know if the possibility was still there. It is." She took a moment to wipe her cheek. "I felt you Harvey. I know who your heart belongs to. You didn't push me away. You wanted it."
It was so complicated. They were never on the same page when it came to the two of them. She had her rule for the longest time. She wanted to keep her personal life and work life separated, but moments before she shattered their concept of the current world, she had realized that her personal life and work life were the same thing. They were so well intertwined that they blended together in the past 12 years without her noticing.
"I know that this is the last way that you would want us to happen. I know your history." She could only imagine what he had been thinking before the incident. "I couldn't wait any longer. I couldn't watch the love of my life be with someone else." She chuckled a little at the thought of where that statement came from. "Louis was the final nail in the coffin you know. He was talking about Sheila and Tara. And I couldn't help but think of how I was doing the same thing that he was. I could not have my life be as pathetic as his." She jested. "I'm sorry of putting you in that position. I'm sorry for not forcing us to face each other sooner. I know that you are not the one who pushes when it comes to matters in here." She let her fingers trace over his chest. "I need you to come back to me." The tears came again as she bent her head to his hand. She wanted so badly to feel to caress her cheek in comfort. To stare into those brown eyes and have him tell her that they would be alright.
It broke Mike's heart to see her like this. He had been watching for some of her one-sided conversation. She was normally the pillar of strength. Once he realized that she was not going to continue her moment with Harvey, he came back into the room. "So there was not any coffee around. I did manage to get some eggnog though. Apparently, they are still celebrating Christmas in the cafeteria." He tried to hand her the bottle. It took a second for him to realize that she was not responding to him. Upon inspection Mike found that she had finally fallen asleep. Her head was on Harvey's hand and he could not imagine that it was in any way comfortable, but he was not about to move her. She needed the sleep more than anything. He grabbed one of the blankets that were folded on the cot and draped it over top the chief operating officer. With a sigh, Mike laid on the cot itself. He knew that the next few days were going to be the longest of his life.
So there was no arguing and no fluffyness. But there was eggnog! My muse went in a completely different direction that I thought it was going to. I hope you enjoyed it and if you did leave a review!