Here is the newest chapter. It's been a while, but I'm hoping to change that.

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Also, I do have an outline for this story, but nothing is set in stone, so if you have suggestions, I would love to here them!

Chapter 5

Mid-August

Donna's POV

I'm not sure I can take this anymore. Ever since my scare a month ago, Josh has become so protective it's almost suffocating. I know he was really scared when I had to go to the hospital; I was really scared too, but he's gone too far. I took the following week off and then I came back on a more limited basis. My doctor said I should be fine for an 8-10 hour work day as long as I sit down and rest throughout the day. Well, Josh has translated that to mean, no working more than six hours, and that I'm not to take anything to anyone, they are supposed to come to me.

Now I completely appreciate this side of Josh, in fact I love that he cares about me this much, but I'm not an invalid. I'm perfectly capable of deciding how much I can handle, but with him I don't even have a say. So, here I am, at my desk watching everyone move around me waiting for someone to bring me something to do. I don't even dare get up to get anything; Josh has developed some strange sense where he can tell the second I leave my chair. The worst part is he has stopped coming to me to talk about any of his problems. He would always come to me to talk; I miss our late night chats. I miss…

"Hey Donna, have you seen the file for…" That's Sam, as soon as he sees me he remembers Josh's decrees, "…ummm, never mind, I'll ask Ginger."

This is really all starting to get in the way of the campaign, maybe I just need to quit, I'm not much help anymore…

"Donna?" Speak of the devil.

"Yes, Josh?"

"I need you to book me a flight and hotel room in Boston; I need to meet with some of our reps in the offices there."

Okay, this is new. We haven't gone anywhere since last month; we've been working hard here getting everything together for the debates.

"Just you?" Okay, that sounded a little too desperate.

Josh looks up at me a little shocked. "Well, yeah. Donna, you can't go on anymore trips with us."

"What?! Why not?!"

"Donna, you heard what your doctor said."

Okay that is it! We are having this out right now. I get up, ignoring Josh's protests and walk into his makeshift office, waiting for him to follow. After a few moments he comes in and I slam the door behind him.

"I can't do this anymore Josh. I'm not some porcelain doll. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself and I am pretty sure I'm able to fly to Boston for a meeting."

"Donna," he says with a sigh, "I'm not trying to treat you like a doll. I just want to look out for you."

"Well, if this is how things are going to be maybe I shouldn't be working here. I'm not any help; I'm just getting in the way."

"Donna, what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you not letting me do anything. I don't complete one task on any given day because of all the restrictions you've imposed on me. Don't get me wrong; I like that you care about me, but this is my job and I need to be able to do it and you need to trust that I know how much I can do."

"Well you didn't do a good job of taking care of yourself before!" He yells.

"Excuse me?"

"You scared the shit out of me Donna. I don't want to go through that again."

"It's not your place to make that decision!"

We're in a huge fight now. I didn't mean for him to get this upset. I just wanted to talk to him, but if this is how it has to happen, then fine. I'm not going to live like a prisoner. "If you can't deal with this Josh, then I'm quitting."

"For how long this time? How long until you come crawling back again?"

Josh's POV

Oh my god. What did I just say? I didn't mean that. I don't know why that came out. Donna looks like she's been slapped. I step closer, to try and backtrack, explain myself, but she turns and runs out of my office.

"Donna, wait!" It's no use; she's not going to listen. Not that I blame her, I wouldn't stop for me either. God I'm such a prick.

I know she's the best judge of what her body can handle. It's just, god, I was so scared. I had no idea what was happening last month and all I could think about was that if anything happened, I'd lose my best friend and it'd be my entire fault. I thought I finally have the chance to take some control, to stop something bad happening to someone else who means so much to me. Maybe that's why I became so controlling.

I'll give it an hour and then I'll call her hotel room, maybe she'll let me explain. In the mean time, maybe I should get some of this work done. There has been so much more to do since I've stopped Donna from working so much.

Josh tried calling Donna several times but she never answered. He assumed it was just because she was still so upset.

Meanwhile, Donna took a long, leisurely walk around DC, thinking about everything that she and Josh had said to each other this afternoon and what it meant. It didn't make any sense to her. Yes, they were friends, but why would Josh care so much. Why was he so concerned? It was almost as if he…no, that wasn't it. It couldn't be.

She walked around for about three hours, ending up in front of his apartment. She had hoped he would be there but he wasn't. She used the key he had given her to go inside so that she could wait for him and talk to him calmly about her concerns. She turned on the TV while she was waiting and was struck by how tired she was. She lay down on the couch and quickly fell asleep.

It was well after midnight when Josh arrived home. He was so upset about what happened with Donna that he tried to distract himself with work. It didn't help though. As he opened the door, he saw Donna on the couch, illuminated by the glow from the TV. He breathed a sigh of relief that she was okay and that she apparently wanted to talk to him as much as he wanted to talk to her. The talking could wait until morning, no reason to wake her up.

Donna woke, however, when he turned off the TV.

"Josh?"

"Hey. Sorry, I didn't want to wake you."

"No, it's okay. I was waiting for you. What time is it?"

"A little after midnight."

She sat up quickly. "Why were you working so late?" She asked concerned.

He sat down next to her. "I was upset with how we left things. I was trying to figure it all out. I'm sorry I've been so controlling."

She smiled softly. "It's okay. I just don't understand why you are being like this. Josh, what happened wasn't your fault and you can't prevent anything further from happening by limiting everything I do. You have no control over fate."

Josh shrugged, not quite believing her.

"Josh, why do you feel like this was your fault?"

"I don't."

"Josh, you are not fooling me."

It took him a moment before he responded. "Did you know I had a sister?"

She smiled. "No you never told me that. What's her name?"

"Her name was Joanie. She died a long time ago."

"Josh, I'm sorry. What happened?"

"She was babysitting for me and I wanted some popcorn. She and I had been fighting all night because she wanted to go to some concert, but our parents made her stay home to babysit. She was making me some popcorn and I was being my normal, bratty self and she got distracted and the popcorn caught on fire. I just ran out, didn't even realize that she wasn't behind me. She was trying to put it out." By now he had tears streaming down his face.

Donna scooted closer to Josh, putting her arms around him. "That wasn't your fault Josh. It was a tragic accident. You were only a little boy."

"I know that. Intellectually, I know that. It's just I still feel like I should have been able to do something to change things."

"Josh, honey, that wasn't you fault. You couldn't change it and you couldn't change what happened last month with me. But I got another chance, and I am taking better care of myself. You have to trust me to know what I can handle."

He looked up at her for a long moment. "Okay, I'll try and remember that."

She smiled at him. "Thank you." They looked at each other, moving closer, lips almost touching when a horn honked outside. Donna jumped back, while Josh sat still, processing what almost just happened.

"Well, it's late; I should get to the hotel."

"Stay here. It's too late for you to get a cab." Josh said as he held out his hand to her.

"Okay," she said as she took it, following him into the bedroom.

TBC...