Fandom:

The West Wing AU

Pairing:

C.J./Danny

Rating:

PG-13 for topic

Distribution:

How much do I owe you for hauling it off?

Spoilers:

Up to and including Full Disclosure, from which the series follows on

Email:

exfilia at livejournal dot com

Disclaimer:

if I owned them, they'd have a lot more fun

Warning:

mentions nonconsensual sex

Note:

Hoynes lovers should probably be hitting delete right about now.

Danny was almost holding Josh up as they peered through the operating room window. The patient... Amy, Abbey corrected herself. That was Amy in there with large-bore I.V.'s in both thighs, each attached to a pressure-cuffed bag. She thanked the intern who'd briefed her and went back to Josh and Danny.

"They're almost sure they can save her," she told them. "They're trying like hell to save her."

Josh just sobbed and nodded.

"You should come and sit down. Really, we're blocking the door, and they may need it."

Josh didn't seem to hear. All his attention was in the operating room with Amy.

"What happened?" Danny asked.

"To start with, the placenta was retained after the baby was born, and that led to some bleeding."

"Bad?" asked Josh.

"She lost nearly half the blood in her body."

Danny frowned. "Just from the placenta thing?"

"No. Josh, come and sit down." They caught him when he swayed, and steered him to a sofa. Danny sat beside Josh, and Abbey perched on the coffee table in front of them.

"What else?" asked Danny, still a reporter, still probing for all the facts. Abbey wanted to kick him. Josh needed time to pull himself together, or he was going to be in the room next to Amy's. She took his hand in one of hers, and tilted his chin up with the other until he met her eyes.

"What else is wrong?" he whispered.

"They're taking good care of her," she told him. "If they can get her blood pressure back up, they can probably fix most of the rest."

"What happened?" he asked.

"Someone cut her wrists. The doctors think they tried to make it look like suicide. Don't freak, Josh. Don't. The police got there very soon after it was done, and she may well... Josh, put your head between your knees. Now!"

Danny's firm hand pressed down on the back of Josh's neck, and he leaned forward almost into Abbey's lap.

"Warn me if you're going to hurl," she said, and he laughed and sat up.

"Where's the baby?" he asked.

"Still in Delaware. She wasn't in bad enough shape to medevac to George Washington, just a little hypothermia. She's going to be fine. Tracy's with her."

"Tracy?"

"Tracy saved the kid's life," said Danny. "She's an idiot and she ought to be spanked, but...."

"Ron's there, too," Abbey told him, "with a team of agents. They'll bring the baby back with them tomorrow or the next day."

"What's going to happen to the baby?" asked Danny. "Is Amy going to be able to take care of her?"

"Certainly not for a while," said Abbey.

Danny's look almost impaled her.

"What aren't you telling us?" he asked.

"With all that bleeding... we're not sure yet, but there is the possibility of some brain damage."

A shadow fell across Donna's desk as someone leaned against the glass wall of her carrel. She looked up, and started to stand.

"Be still," the president said. "It's okay."

Donna didn't have the energy to argue. She sank back into her seat.

"How's Amy?"

"Abbey says she hasn't killed any of the staff yet, so I'm guessing not good. How are you?"

"Me? I'm fine."

"Are you?"

"No. Josh is going to marry Amy and take care of her and their daughter and her twelve brothers and sisters, and I was an absolute idiot to ever believe anything else."

"Did he tell you that?"

"No, but Josh is a sap about family."

"He's a sap about you, too."

"I would never do anything to come between him and his child."

"Is it his?"

"He thinks so. He says he doesn't care. He wants to take care of her anyway."

"Worst-case scenario: what would you do if he did marry Amy?"

"Finish school, and then whatever C.J. needs, I guess."

"What about what you need?"

"Sir?"

"You're planning your life around other people. What do you want, Donna? Who do you want to be?"

"His," she said, and put her head back down on her desk.