New fic! This one is going to be a multi-chapter; maybe 5 chapters or so. I started writing this in 2017, before we knew Patrick and Meghan were leaving, so I had to re-work it a little to make it fit the current day. If I missed anything, I apologise, just use your imaginations a little.

For the purpose of this fic, Mike and Rachel have come back to New York for a few weeks because mike has a case with connections to the city and Rachel wanted to spend some time with her dad after his retirement.

This is rated T for now - may go to M later, but so far it's perfectly chaste.

Enjoy!

It was 1.37am when Donna woke to a knocking on her front door.

"Goddamnit, Harvey," she grumbled to herself as she climbed out of bed and padded down the hall. She was more than a little surprised to see Rachel when she finally swung the door open.

"Rach? What are you doing here?"

"I need you to stay calm, but you should get dressed. We need to get to the hospital."

"Oh my god, is Mike okay? What happened?"

"It's not Mike." Rachel sounded apprehensive and Donna felt light headed.

"Who…" she knew before she asked, but she asked anyway. Rachel's answer was quiet.

"Harvey."

"Oh god." Donna held onto the door frame to support herself. "What happened to him?"

"I don't know." Rachel gripped Donna's shoulders. "You need to get dressed, we have to go."

"Yeah. Okay. Um…" she turned and wandered back to her bedroom as if in a dream. "How did you know he was there?"

"They called Jessica. I guess she's still one of his emergency contacts. Anyway, she called Mike because of course she can't do anything from Chicago. He's downstairs in a cab, so we need to hurry."

"Okay." Donna was still confused and shocked as she began to get dressed. She threw on jeans and a sweater, pulling on her soft brown suede boots before grabbing her coat and following Rachel out the door. She felt as if she couldn't breathe and as the cab driver navigated the streets of Manhattan, everything seemed a little fuzzy around the edges. Mike and Rachel had said very little.

"Why didn't the hospital call me?" Donna asked suddenly. "I'm his primary emergency contact."

"I don't know," Mike replied slowly. "Jessica just called me and told me they'd called her and we needed to get there. She didn't have any more details than that."

"Why didn't she call me?"

"I don't think she wanted to tell you over the phone."

When the cab pulled up outside the Columbia branch of Mt Sinai, Donna was confused all over again.

"Why is he here?"

"I don't know. This is where they brought him."

"This is nowhere near… why would he have even been in this part of town?"

"Why don't we go in and find out," Rachel suggested gently.

They strode into the emergency department, gave Harvey's name and were directed to a waiting room. It wasn't long before a young woman in pale blue scrubs approached them.

"You're here for Harvey Specter?"

"Where is he? What happened to him?" Donna felt panic rising in her. Rachel took her hand and held it tight.

"He's just been taken into surgery. He has some internal bleeding that needs to be investigated and some other injuries that we're taking care of."

"But what happened?" Donna demanded.

"It appears he was attacked. He was conscious when he was brought in but he wasn't able to tell us much, other than who to call. He's been badly beaten and has extensive facial injuries and some broken bones."

"Oh my god," Rachel said, covering her mouth in horror. Donna dropped slowly into a chair, her eyes wide.

"Is he going to be okay?" Mike asked.

"His injuries are severe, and the internal bleeding needs to be investigated, but I don't believe it's life threatening. I'm sorry, but I need to get back. Someone will update you when he's out of surgery." She left and Rachel sat next to Donna, taking her hand again. None of them spoke for the next couple of hours, other than Mike periodically offering to get coffee. Donna declined each time.

It was almost 5am when a doctor appeared.

"Family of Harvey Specter?"

"Yes." Donna leapt to her feet.

"I'm Doctor Addlestone," the man smiled kindly. "We've performed a thoracotomy to stop the bleeding around his lung, and we've set his radial fracture and stabilised his fractured ribs. He may need further surgery in the coming days on his orbital fracture but we need the swelling to go down before we can fully assess the damage."

The doctor talked a little longer, detailing more information about the surgery, but Donna had only one question.

"When can I see him?"

"He's in recovery right now, so it'll be a little longer, I'm afraid. A nurse will come down and get you when he's been taken to a room."

"Thank you, Doctor." Mike shook the man's hand as Donna nodded silently. The tears she'd been holding back since Rachel came to her door began to fall and she fell into the hug Mike offered, sobbing into his shoulder.

"He's okay, Donna. He's okay."

.

A little over an hour later, a nurse found them and directed them to Harvey's room. Donna practically ran down the hall to the room and then stopped dead in the doorway when she caught sight of him.

"Oh god," she breathed, "Harvey."

He was almost unrecognisable. His face was swollen and bruised, gauze covering his left eye. His left arm was in a cast to his elbow, and a bright purple bruise bloomed over his chest and disappeared under the blankets.

"Holy shit," Mike murmured and it spurred Donna into action. She dragged a chair over to the bed and sat next to him, afraid to touch him, just staring, tears running down her cheeks.

"Donna, we should all go home and get some rest. The nurse said he'd be asleep for quite a while."

"I'm not leaving," Donna replied. Mike and Rachel exchanged a look.

"Donna…" Mike began.

"No, Mike," Donna snapped. "I'm not leaving him." She turned to him and her face softened.

"You guys go. I'll stay in case he wakes up."

"We can stay," Mike said hesitantly.

"It's okay, you guys go, get some sleep. I'll call you if anything changes."

"Okay." Rachel squeezed Donna's shoulder and they left, and she was alone with Harvey.

"Who did this to you?" she asked in a whisper, running her hand tenderly over his hair. She laid her hand on his bicep; the skin there unblemished, one of the only undamaged parts of him she could see. "I love you," she said softly. "And I'll be here when you wake up. I'm not going anywhere." She laid her head down on the edge of the bed by his shoulder and closed her eyes.

.

She didn't sleep, unable to find a comfortable position in the chair, and a few hours later she deemed it an appropriate time to make a few necessary phone calls. Jessica was the first.

"Donna. How is he?" Jessica asked by way of greeting.

"He's going to be okay," she replied. "But he doesn't look so good."

"They told me he'd been beaten?"

"Yeah. He's still sedated so I only know what they told me, but he was attacked. Really viciously. Jessica, I don't know who could have done this, or why."

"Have the police been contacted?"

"I don't know. Not by me, but I don't know if the hospital did."

"We'll figure this out. The important thing is that he's going to be okay."

"I know."

The conversation wound up shortly after and then Donna called Louis.

"Louis, Harvey's in the hospital. I need to be here, so can you take care of everything at the office?"

"What happened? I'll come down there right now."

"He was attacked. Some asshole beat him half to death." She choked on a sob as the words left her mouth.

"I'm on my way," Louis told her.

"No, don't. You need to take care of things at work."

"Okay. Holy shit. Okay. I'll look after everything at the office. But when we find this asshole, I call dibs on putting him behind bars."

"Thank you, Louis."

An hour later, Rachel called.

"Is he awake?"

"No," Donna replied.

"Mike wants to come over there but I think he could use the distraction of work."

"Let him come if he wants to, Rach. Harvey was there for Mike when you were in the hospital, so if Mike wants to be here for Harvey now, let him do it."

"Okay. Maybe he can sit with Harvey for a while so you can go home and get some rest."

"No, Rach. I'm not leaving him."

"Okay, Donna. I'll come by later."

It wasn't too long before Mike arrived in Harvey's room.

"You look like shit," Donna said as she stood to hug him.

"You don't look much better," Mike replied.

"It's been a rough night. And this chair is not comfortable."

"I know you don't want to leave, but you really should get some rest. I promise, I'll call you the second anything changes."

"I can't, Mike. I have to be here. I…" she paused, thinking something over. "He and I…"

"I know how much you guys have been through. But he wouldn't expect you to be here without any rest."

"It's my fault he's here."

"What? How?"

"He… We're together, Mike." She paused to let that sink in. "And he was supposed to be with me last night but I assumed he was caught up at work so I didn't push it and now…" she bit her lip, fighting back tears.

"You're… together together?" Mike's mouth was agape. "How long?"

"A month." She smiled. "And 13 years before that."

"Why haven't you told anyone?"

"We were going to. Soon. We didn't want to lie to anyone but we just needed some time. And now…" her eyes filled with tears again as she looked at Harvey.

"He's going to be fine, Donna. The doctor said it himself."

"I know. But I just can't relax until he wakes up and I can talk to him and tell him I love him." She went back to the bedside, touching his arm lightly. Mike watched her for a moment, still processing the news she'd just shared.

"I'm happy for you," he said gently, "for both of you. It's been too long and it's about time you got your shit together. And he's going to be just fine and you two are going to have the rest of your lives together. But his recovery isn't going to be easy on either of you, and you won't be any use to him if you're burned out and exhausted."

"Please, Mike. I can't leave until he's awake. I have to be here when he wakes up." She was pleading with him, her eyes wide and earnest.

"Okay. But once he's awake and you've talked to him and seen that he's okay, promise me you'll go home and get some sleep."

"I will. I promise."

"Good. Now, I'm going to get you a coffee because you look like you need it. I won't be long." He squeezed her arm lightly as he left the room, and she dropped into her chair again.

When a nurse had examined Harvey earlier, Donna had seen the gauze covering the surgical site on his ribs and seen the full extent of the bruising around his chest and sternum. There was so much bruising and so many wounds on him that she was afraid to touch him for fear of causing him more pain. All she could do was rest her hand on his unmarked right arm. Earlier in the morning she'd moved from his left side to his right to be on the less injured side of him, so she could touch his arm gently, feel the warmth of his skin under her hand. She made small circles on the inside of his wrist with her fingertips, willing him to wake up. She knew the doctor had said he would be fine, but she couldn't quite believe it until he was awake and talking to her. She watched him while she waited for Mike to return with the coffee. He hardly looked like himself, his sharp cheekbones hidden by swelling and his strong jaw marred by bright purple bruises. The gauze on his eye covered the two moles above his eyebrow, and his beautiful, soft lips were split and swollen. She ached to touch his face and her hand hovered over his cheek.

"It's probably okay for you to touch him." Mike's voice shook her from her thoughts and she pulled her hand back.

"I don't want to hurt him."

"He's probably hurting enough already, I don't think you'll make it worse."

"That's not helpful."

"Sorry." Mike shrugged. "I'm not great at this kind of thing." He sat next to her.

"No one is." Donna bumped her shoulder against Mike's. "But I'm glad you're here."

"I can't believe you guys have been sleeping together for a month and no one knew."

"There's been a lot going on. Everyone has been so distracted." Donna smiled. "It was easy to keep it to ourselves."

"And kinda fun, right?" Mike smirked.

"Oh, a whole lotta fun."

.

It was almost two hours later when Harvey began to stir, a low groan escaping him. Donna leapt out of her chair, her hand still on his arm.

"Harvey?"

"Mmm," he groaned in response, his uncovered eye flickering and then opening completely. "You're here," he rasped, his voice hoarse.

"Of course I am." Her eyes welled with tears.

"I'll get the nurse." Mike left the room at a run.

"How are you?" Donna asked Harvey. "Are you in pain?"

"Uh… a little." He grimaced. "How bad do I look?"

"You've looked better," she admitted. She stroked his arm, a tear escaping her watery eyes. "I was so worried, Harvey. What happened?"

"I, um, I don't know. I was jumped, I guess? I don't remember much."

The nurse came bustling in then, checking him over and asking him questions. A doctor came in a few minutes later and did some more checks, looking at his neurological reactions in particular. She then explained to Harvey his injuries and the procedures they'd done, and then detailed the plan for his recovery. Thankfully, it sounded like it would be straightforward, as long as there were no complications from surgery. The nurse gave Harvey some more pain relief and then left after explaining that the police would need to speak to him soon.

"I'm going to go get some coffee, you guys want anything?" Mike asked, glancing at Donna. She gave him a grateful smile as she shook her head, knowing he was giving them a much-needed moment alone.

"Thank you for being here." Harvey smiled at Donna after Mike had left the room.

"I wouldn't be anywhere else, Harvey. I love you." She lifted his hand to her lips and kissed his knuckles. "I was terrified. You have no idea…" Her eyes filled with tears again, for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

"Hey, hey, I'm okay." He reached up to cup her face, the bandage on his broken fingers scratching at her cheek. "I'm sorry I scared you." He ran his thumb over her lips. "Now will you come here and kiss me please?"

"I don't want to hurt you."

"Donna, all I've been able to think about since I woke up, is kissing you. You won't hurt me. Please, just come here." He was pleading and she couldn't say no. She bent forward, brushing her lips gently against his. They were dry and scratchy and she felt like she was kissing someone else.

"I love you," he murmured against her mouth, softly returning her hesitant kiss. When she pulled back, he studied her seriously. "You look exhausted. Have you slept?"

"No. I promised Mike that I'd go home and get some rest once you were awake, but I don't want to leave you."

"I'm okay. But I should get some more sleep too, so there's no point in you staying and watching me. Go home, get some rest, and come back later. You're no good to me if you're burned out."

"That's what Mike said."

"I guess he really is another me."

"Damn straight," Mike said from the doorway with a cup of coffee. "Now I'm back, you can go home and get some sleep."

"Mike…"

"You promised. Harvey, back me up here?"

"Mike's right. Go home. Sleep. I'm not going anywhere." He lifted his hand as if to reach for her and then remembered that Mike was in the room and he had a charade to keep up. His hand fell back onto the bed. Donna smirked, kissed the corner of his mouth and then left the room, throwing Mike a wink as she did so. Harvey's gaze fell on Mike as he frantically tried to think of an explanation. Mike watched Harvey in amusement for a moment before putting him out of his misery.

"She told me, Harvey."

"She… what?"

"She told me you're together. She was trying to explain why she couldn't leave you and I guess she couldn't keep it to herself after seeing you like this." Mike swallowed heavily. "She was a wreck last night."

"After everything I've done for the past thirteen years, I never wanted to cause her pain again." Harvey sighed. "I can't believe I screwed up again."

"This wasn't your fault, Harvey. She knows that."

"Except it was my fault."

Mike's eyes narrowed. "Goddamnit, Harvey, what did you do?"

"Look, Mike, I think I'm going to need a lawyer, but I can't get you involved in this. The fewer people who know, the better." Harvey paused. "I need to talk to Jessica."

"Harvey —"

"Don't, Mike." Harvey closed his eyes briefly. "I need to speak to Jessica, and then I need to sleep. Please, just trust me on this."

"Fine," Mike agreed. "I'll let it go. For now. But I'm not leaving this alone." He passed Harvey his phone and then left the room.

Harvey lay still for a few minutes, staring at Jessica's name on his phone screen. She was not going to be happy that this shit had resurfaced again. He sighed and tapped her name, lifting the phone to his ear.

"You're alive," she greeted.

"Yup."

"I spoke to Donna this morning. She told me everything."

"Not quite everything," Harvey said with trepidation.

"Harvey…" Jessica's tone was warning.

"It's him, Jessica. I found him, went to see him and ended up here."

"Goddamnit, Harvey. I told you to leave this alone, I told you, all those years ago, that this wouldn't end well. And you listened to me. What the hell made you dig this up again?"

"He came up in connection with a case Mike's working on. As soon as I saw his name… I couldn't let it go, Jessica. I couldn't let him get away again."

"Jesus Christ, Harvey," she sighed. "I'll get on a flight."

"There's something else you should know."

"What?" She sounded impatient.

"I think he's been following me. Even before I staged the meeting last night. He knows… things."

"What things, Harvey?"

"He knows about Donna. That she and I are… together." He swallowed, feeling strangely nervous about his mentor's reaction to this news. Jessica was silent for a moment and when she spoke again, he thought there was a hint of pride in her voice.

"How do you know that he knows?"

"He threatened her. He told me if I said anything about him to anyone, she'd be next."

"Okay, I'll get on a plane. I'll be there tomorrow."

"Thank you, Jessica."

.

It was after 5pm when Donna arrived back at the hospital. Harvey's eyes were closed, but they opened as she entered the room, as if he'd sensed her presence.

"Hi," she said softly, bending to kiss to top of his head. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay. Did you get some sleep?"

"Yeah." She took her seat next to him. "Are you in pain?"

"Not really. They gave me something about a half hour ago."

"Good. Don't try to be brave and refuse pain relief, okay?"

"Oh hell no. I'll take all the pain relief they want to give me."

"Okay, Mister, don't get too excited." She laid her hand on his thigh.

"So," he began, "you told Mike."

"Yeah. I just… I needed someone to understand why I felt like I was being torn apart inside."

"I'm sorry I put you through that. I told you I never wanted to cause you pain and I meant it."

"I know you did." She brushed her hand over his hair. "I love you, Harvey Specter." She leaned in to kiss him, his lips softer and more him than earlier when he'd first woken up.

.

A little later, Louis arrived with Mike and Rachel. The atmosphere in the room was lively, everyone glad to see Harvey was okay, although by 8pm the patient was beginning to feel a little pain, so everyone made their moves to leave.

"Donna, you want a ride?" Louis asked.

"Uh, no, I'll stay a little longer, thanks Louis."

"Donna, it's okay," Harvey jumped in. "You should go, get some sleep."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm pretty wiped. I'll be asleep soon anyway. You go." He gave her a soft smile and she nodded.

"Louis, I'll meet you downstairs, okay?"

"Sure, Donna." Louis bade farewell to Harvey and left with Mike and Rachel, leaving Donna and Harvey alone.

"I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning." She kissed him gently. "Sleep well."

"You too." He beckoned her closer so he could kiss her again. "Goodnight." He stroked her cheek. "I'll see you in the morning."

.

The following morning at 7am Harvey had a breakfast tray in front of him and was pushing beige slop around bowl with a spoon.

"Morning!" Donna said cheerily as she entered the room, stopping in her tracks when she saw the expression on Harvey's face."what's wrong?"

"This food is disgusting," he grumbled.

Donna chuckled lightly. "Want me to go out and get you something?"

"It's fine." He waved off her suggestion. "I'll eat this yogurt and the jello cup, that'll do for now."

"Okay. Well they only have to keep you going until lunch because you'll have been moved to a private suite by then. I spoke to your insurance company this morning and they're arranging your move as a matter of urgency. They're sending a specialist over too, to make sure you're getting the best care. I also went by your place and got you some clothes so you can be more comfortable. Oh, and your insurance will cover the suit the paramedics had to cut off you. I've got a temp at the office taking calls and sending anything urgent to me by email, and Louis and Alex are covering all your clients."

"You did all that this morning?"

"No, I did some of it last night."

"You're amazing." Harvey was grinning.

"I know." Donna sat down, leaning in to kiss him gently. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine."

"You're in pain." She could see the sheen of perspiration on his forehead.

"I'm fine. I guess the hard stuff they gave me after surgery has worn off."

"Can't they give you more?"

"I don't know. The doctor hasn't been in yet." He shrugged.

"I can go ask the nurse."

"No, it's okay. Just stay with me." Harvey took Donna's hand. She leaned forward, resting her head against his arm, pressing her lips to the crook of his elbow. "Did you sleep last night?" he asked her.

"A little." She closed her eyes, and let out a small sigh. "Can I just take a nap right here?"

"Of course you can." He stroked her hair back from her forehead. Unfortunately at that moment the doctor arrived to check Harvey over and Donna had to get up to give the doctor room to move.

"We'd like to take the bandage off your eye to let it breathe, it'll help with the recovery. But you'll need to be extremely careful not to touch it," Dr Addlestone said.

"Of course." Harvey nodded. "I'd like to be able to see properly again."

"Don't panic if your vision is blurry at first. It should clear up with time, but it might take a few days. And if you start to feel stabbing pains, you need to let us know immediately, it may mean we have to do surgery to stabilise the fracture."

Harvey nodded his agreement and the nurse began to peel the tape and gauze from his face, apologising when he grimaced in pain. When she finally pulled the bandage away, Donna couldn't help but gasp, her hands covering her mouth.

"Am I that hideous?" Harvey joked weakly.

"Of course not." She stroked his arm. "It just looks really painful."

She studied his face carefully. His eye was bloodshot and red-rimmed and his eyelid and eyebrow were purple and swollen. The underside of his eye was almost black with bruising and a crusting of dried blood had gathered on the outer corner. The doctor performed a few vision checks and seemed satisfied, giving one more warning to notify a nurse immediately if the pain worsened.

From there, the morning passed by in a flash. Orderlies arrived to wheel Harvey to his new suite, the specialist appointed by the insurance company arrived and spent an hour assessing Harvey's injuries, while Donna spoke to the temp she'd installed at the office to ensure things were being managed properly.

They'd barely had ten minutes to themselves when Jessica arrived at midday.

"It's about time you two got your shit together," she commented, standing in the doorway and seeing the two of them in quiet conversation, Donna's hand lightly stroking Harvey's arm.

"Jessica. Glad you could make it." Harvey attempted a smile through his pain.

"You look like hell, boy." She stepped into the room, meeting Donna halfway with a warm hug.

"It's good to see you, Jessica," Donna said.

"Good to see you too, Donna. Would you mind giving me some time alone with the patient?"

"Uh, sure." Donna's eyes darted to Harvey and he gave her a small nod. "I'll go to the office and see how everything is. I'll be back later." She hesitated and Jessica chuckled.

"You two need me to turn the other way or something?"

"Wait, you know?" Donna asked.

"I told her," Harvey jumped in.

"You told her and didn't tell me?"

"You told Mike!"

"That was different, you were unconscious!"

"Okay, you two, that's enough," Jessica intervened.

"You're right," Donna sighed. "It doesn't matter." She kissed the top of Harvey's head. "I'll see you later."

As soon as Donna had left the room, Jessica rounded on Harvey.

"How much does she know?"

"Nothing. I don't want her involved in this."

"Goddamnit Harvey. You opened this thing up again and you haven't got the balls to tell her?"

"He threatened her, Jessica! She's in danger because of me and telling her the details only puts her more in the crosshairs!"

"She deserves to know, Harvey. Look at yourself! "Do you want her to end up here too?"

"That is exactly what I'm trying to prevent!" Harvey sucked in a deep breath. "Jessica… I love her."

Jessica softened a little. "I know, Harvey. But you have to trust her with this. She deserves to know why she's at risk. And she sure as hell needs to know what landed you in here, because she looks like she hasn't slept in days."

"She's not the only one."

"The pain that bad?" Jessica showed a rare moment of concern.

"No. Well, yes, but every time she leaves here, I'm on edge until she comes back. I can't stop thinking that he could be out there, waiting for her."

"Even more reason for you to tell her. She needs to be aware." Jessica crossed her arms and Harvey sighed, shaking his head in defeat. "Good," Jessica said, "we're agreed. Now, what are we going to do about this asshole?"

For almost two hours Harvey and Jessica talked, trying to come up with a strategy. They were struggling to agree when Jessica suggested bringing Mike on board.

"You want to involve more people in this?"

"Yes, I do. That kid can do things no one else can do, and will do things that other won't. You'd be a damn fool not to get him on board."

"Jessica…"

"You called me, Harvey. So listen to what I have to say. You want to solve this, you need to tell the people who are closest to you so they can help. So get on the phone, call Mike, and get him down here."

"No. If I'm bringing people in on this, Donna has to be first. I'm not leaving her out while everyone else is on the inside. She deserves more than that."

"Fine, Harvey. I will brief your protege, you speak to Donna. Call me when it's done and all four of us can talk strategy." With that, Jessica picked up her bag and stalked out of the room, the way that only she could. Harvey sighed, picking up his phone to text Donna.

.

It was almost an hour before Donna returned, and in that time, Harvey had been given more pain relief and subsequently fallen asleep. Donna stood by his bed watching him sleep. His face was still bruised and swollen, but even underneath the injuries she could see how handsome and serene he looked without the daily stress and worry on his face. It was something she'd always marvelled at, how easily he could shake off the day's work and relax. He always looked so peaceful in sleep. She reached out and ran her hand through his hair and he stirred in response, opening his eyes and smiling at her.

"Hi," she said softly.

"Hi," he replied. "I missed you."

"I was only gone a few hours."

"But I missed you anyway." He had a silly grin on his face and Donna rolled her eyes.

"You're heavily medicated."

"Yup." He looked like a little boy at Christmas and she couldn't help but laugh at him.

"Here. I brought your favourite." She pulled a tub of Magnolia Bakery banana pudding from her bag and Harvey grinned widely.

"You are an angel sent from heaven for bringing this for me," he said, spooning the pudding into his mouth.

"Are you going to share?" She swiped the spoon from him and took a bite of the pudding, laughing as he stole the spoon back again. "So where's Jessica?"

"She went to see Mike."

"Mike? Why?"

"Uh… just to talk to him about some stuff."

"Harvey…" Donna's tone was warning, knowing he was keeping something from her.

"I know," he said. The fuzz of the pain meds was wearing off, and fast. "I need to talk to you about some stuff too. I just need a couple of minutes." He suddenly felt exhausted.

"What's wrong?" she asked, noticing the change in his tone and expression.

"Will you lay with me?" He shifted slightly, trying to make space for her, wincing a little at the pain. Donna clambered onto the bed, trying not to jostle him too much as she did so. She curled her body against him, her head on the pillow next to his, her chin on his shoulder, her arm curled around his bicep.

"Are you in pain?" She asked.

"No," he replied, shaking his head a little. "Just sleepy."

"Go to sleep. I'm not going anywhere. We can talk later." She pressed her lips to his shoulder.

"Love you," he mumbled sleepily.

"I know." She smiled. "Go to sleep." She kissed his shoulder again as he slipped into slumber.

.

Two hours later Jessica and Mike arrived back at the hospital to find Harvey and Donna fast asleep together. Jessica couldn't help but smile.

"I'm glad they finally sorted their shit out," she commented to Mike.

"As long as all of this doesn't ruin anything for them," Mike replied.

"Not on my watch."

Donna stirred, their whispers bringing her back to consciousness.

"Hey," she said, covering her mouth as she yawned.

"Hey," Mike responded. "You two talk?"

"No. The painkillers knocked him out before we got a chance."

"That's okay, we can fill you in."

"No, we can't," Jessica jumped in. "It's important to him that he tell you himself."

"Okay. I don't know what's going on, but I want to be clear that I will do whatever I have to in order to protect him. I won't let him put himself in danger."

"I know." Jessica nodded. Harvey's eyelids fluttered and he let out a low groan.

"Harvey?" Donna stroked his face. "You okay?"

"Mmmm." He nodded without opening his eyes. "My stitches are itching." His voice was husky with sleep and Donna's heart skipped. She loved him like this; sleepy and passive. His hand hovered over his abdomen and she took it, winding her fingers through his.

"Don't touch."

"I know." He opened his eyes. "Oh. Mike, Jessica. Have you three been talking?" His gaze flicked to Donna in alarm.

"No. We haven't. Are you up to it?" She asked.

"Yeah," he confirmed. He looked at Jessica and Mike. "Would you mind giving us some time?"

"Of course," Jessica agreed, standing from the seat she'd taken.

"I'll let Louis know not to come by tonight," Mike said, pulling his phone from his pocket.

"We'll come by in the morning and talk about next steps." Jessica was by the door now, on her way out. Harvey nodded and Mike and Jessica left, leaving them alone in the room.

"What's going on, Harvey? Is this thing bigger than you're letting on?"

"Uh, yeah. I guess it is." He sighed heavily and let go of her hand. "Let me start at the beginning."

Well there we go. Let me know what you think!

Em xx