Title: Gravitation is Not Responsible (5?)
Author: Aerial312
Rating: PG-13
Category: Humor/Fluff/Angst/Romance (a little of everything)
Spoiler Info: Post Rosslyn.
Disclaimer: I own nothing…I just borrow.
Feedback: Greatly appreciated. Sure. Just let me know where its going.

A/N:

"I said, I'm not hungry."

"Please eat your broth."

"Mom. No. I'm not hungry."

"Please, Joshua."

"I'm not hungry."

"You've only had 4 spoonfuls."

"It's gross."

"You've gotta try to eat more than that. You need to eat to get better."

"I'm tired."

She reached across his tray and picked up the spoon. Dipping it into the soup, she then brought it to his mouth, which he refused to open.

"Please, honey. Just a little. I don't want to see you waste away."

"Mom!"

"I just love you," she managed, turning away.

Now she was crying and Josh felt bad, but he still wasn't remotely hungry. He grudgingly reached for his tea. It had been sitting on the tray table for so long that it was now cold. Josh took a sip, and spit it back into the mug.

"I just had some tea, mom."

She turned to face him, with her eyes puffy and red.

"Please don't cry."

"I'm sorry, honey. I just…It's hard to see you like this."

Josh looked at her awkwardly.

"Do you need anything?"

"Nah…I'm gonna sleep for a while."

Josh closed his eyes. Rita Lyman sat in the visitor's chair just watching her son sleep, the beeping of the monitors the only noise in the room. Sometime later, a nurse came into the room. Rita stood up.

"Hi, I'm Josh's mom."

"Lucy."

"How is he doing, recovery-wise? He hasn't told me much, and he didn't eat much, and I'm just worried."

"I just came on for the night shift, but let's look at his chart."

Lucy grabbed the clipboard. "He accomplished his first breathing exercises today on the second time around. That's pretty good. It made him sick the first time. Kendra's notes say that he ate his whole lunch, but ended up getting sick during the afternoon, after a coughing fit. Probably why he didn't want to eat…" Lucy looked around the room. "Did his girlfriend go home when you got here?"

"His?...Oh…no…well, yes. She went back to his apartment to get him some things he wanted, and to get a little bit of rest. She'll be back later. What's in there that makes you ask?"

Lucy laughed. "Well, Kendra's notes to me say, and I quote, 'if you give him a task he doesn't want to do, make sure his girlfriend hears it. He might refuse for you, but she'll make him do it later'. I had quite the chuckle about that."

Rita smiled. "I should have known."

"I haven't met her yet."

"She's always had a way with him."

"How long have they been together?"

Rita had no idea how to answer that question. Were they actually together? "I honestly don't know. They work together. They've worked together for 2 years now."

Lucy smiled, and walked over to Josh's bedside. She took his temperature and read his blood pressure from the arterial line in his right arm. "His vitals are looking good."

"Thank God."

"Lung capacity is getting better, though I imagine it will be a little tough first thing in the morning. It all depends on how much he sleeps through the night. Ironically, the more he sleeps, the more difficult its going to be to keep his lungs clear. If he's up during the night, and can do his breathing exercises, his lungs will stay clear."

"That is ironic."

The door opened and Donna came barreling through carrying a large duffel bag.

"Hello, honey."

"Hi." She deposited the bag on the floor by the chair, and walked over to Josh's side. "How long's he been asleep?"

"Only about 10 minutes."

"Did he eat?"

"No…I couldn't get him to."

Donna shook her head. "That was the battle of the afternoon too." She turned to the nurse. "Hi, I'm Donna. Are you on for the evening? I didn't catch your name."

"I'm Lucy. I'll be here all night."

"Great. Could we get another cup of hot water for tea? Is it okay if he has a tea from home?"

"That should be fine. Dr. Melvin wants to keep him on fluids till at least rounds tomorrow morning, but as long as its—"

"Decaf ginger tea. I thought it might settle his stomach."

"That should be fine. I'll go get the water."

"Does he actually drink ginger tea?"

"We'll see. I think he's had it at my house before. I have a big tin full of different flavors. Not much in terms of nutrients, but at this point, he needs fluids."

"He had a rough day?"

"Yeah…" Donna stroked his forehead gently. "Dr. Melvin said it would be. That was the first thing he said this morning."

"From what Lucy was telling me, he ended up doing what was expected, after a few tries at least."

Donna nodded, not taking her eyes off of Josh. "He did a great job. Poor thing was nauseous almost all day, but he tried. He did it if I asked."

"Lucy said that too."

"She said that? How did she know?"

"It was in the chart. Apparently the other nurse wrote it in as the preferred way of getting him to do things."

Donna laughed softly, and looked at the older woman. She looked worn and tired. "How are you doing?"

"Me? I'm…" she looked at Donna, who was still looking at her, but had grabbed Josh's hand. There was no sense in a false bravado for her sake. "This is hard for me, Donna. Very hard."

Donna nodded. "Yeah…I can't even imagine…"

"Yes, you can…you…care about him too."

"I do…but, I…I've…I've never lost anyone. That's got to make it worse." Donna turned back to Josh, unsure if continuing was wise.

"It's never easy to watch someone you love in a lot of pain."

"No…" Donna stroked Josh's hand with her thumb. "Are you staying tonight?"

"Are you?"

"Yeah."

"I think I might go back to my hotel then…"

"Go get some sleep. Don't worry, I'll be here."

"And I really appreciate that. I think I could use the rest…steel myself for tomorrow."

Donna smiled. "How are you planning on getting to your hotel?"

"Leo told me to call, anytime tonight, and he'd ask his driver to take me."

"Good."

"I'll be back probably around 9 or 10 tomorrow morning. Is there anything you want when I come?"

Donna shrugged.

"I'll bring you breakfast."

"Sure. I think at some point tomorrow afternoon, I'm going to go to Josh's again, and continue to get it ready for when he comes home."

"It's that messy?"

"It's beyond that messy."

"Well, I want to help with that too. You'll have to tell me what I can do."

"I'll make a list of what we need to accomplish tomorrow."

"Great. And honey, thank you so much for being here for him."

Donna smiled. Rita gave her a big hug, and then kissed her son on the forehead. As Rita left, Lucy brought in the mug of hot water, which Donna took and deposited the tea bag in to steep. She pulled the visitor's chair closer, extracted a pillow from the duffel bag, and sat down, before re-grasping Josh's hand.

"Hey."

"Oh, you're up."

"I'm up. Where's mom?"

"She went back to her hotel for the night."

"I scared her away."

"Josh!"

"I did."

"She's having a hard time with this all—"

"I know. She was driving me nuts though."

"Yeah?"

"Lay back in rest. Don't lean like that. Eat. Eat. Eat. She tried to feed me like I was a little kid."

"Airplane?"

"Yes!"

"She's just worried, Josh."

"You're worried too, and aren't driving me nuts."

"You listen to me for some reason."

"You trick me into doing what I'm supposed to—"

"I trick you?"

"You make me think…that I want to do what I'm supposed to. How do you do that?"

"I can't reveal my secrets."

"Why not?"

"Then they wouldn't work."

"What's the smell?"

"Your tea."

"My tea was cold…when I tried to drink it…after mom guilted me by crying."

"This is new tea."

"Smells different. What kind of weird tea…did they bring this time?"

Donna laughed. "This is from my tin at home."

"Really? They let you smuggle—"

"It's tea, Josh."

"What kind?"

"Ginger."

"Ginger?"

"You like ginger."

"But in tea?"

"It's great in tea. Ginger calms your stomach."

"And we know I need that."

"How are you feeling?"

Josh shrugged. "I'm tired, but I can't stay asleep."

"Did you do your exercises at all while your mom was here?"

"I tried once,…and she was freaking out when I started to cough. When she got nervous, I stopped. I felt like shit anyways."

"Well, we should do that before you have the tea."

He looked up at her disdainfully.

"You have to. I suggest before you have a beverage—"

"Now is fine."

"Okay, then. Pillow?"

He held it up.

"Your incentive spir—"

"Here."

"Okay then."

"Basin."

"Basin. Ready now?"

"Let's get this over with."

"Breathing, then tea, then trying to get some sleep."

"What time is it?"

"It's about 7:30."

"It seems so much later."

"It's been a long day for you."

"Yeah."

"Wait, what time did dinner come?"

"6:00. Yes, you spent that long ignoring your dinner."

"Will you just talk to me again later?"

"You want more tales of Donna as a child?" she grinned.

He smiled back at her. "Yeah, yeah I do."