AN: Hi Suitors! I'm new to writing Suits fanfic, but I had this very vivid dream of Donna and Harvey before Christmas last year, and they wouldn't let me go. Most of this was written before 8B. As a European fanfic writer, I'm terrified of the possibility of an upload filter, so I thought I'd publish this before I won't be able to. I'm mostly done with all the chapters, but I got some revisions to do. I hope you like it. English isn't my first language and this is unbeta'ed, so feel free to point out the mistakes I've undoubtedly made.

Set in season two, after Zane vs. Zane.

Thursday. Or: How To Get Through The Day Without Donna

At first, Harvey wasn't all that concerned. It was rare but not unusual that he was in his office before Donna came in for the day. Sometimes he had to get something important done before lunch and needed an early start, or he had to pick up a file before he was having an unscheduled breakfast meeting with a client. That day, however, it was because he hadn't slept all too well. Instead of tossing and turning for one more hour, he got out of bed, went for a run, had a shower and came straight to work. Coffee and a bagel from the cart just out of his office building were enough for breakfast. He barely took note of Donna's empty desk that morning. He hadn't exactly expected her to be there at 7AM.

He got started on the Miller-Fogarty case, and soon Mike showed up at his office. Harvey tried to suppress a smile. Finally he had someone to hand the boring paperwork to. Mike sat on the couch and went through the file.

"No Donna?" asked Mike after a while.

Harvey involuntarily checked his watch and saw that it was almost 8. He shrugged. "Maybe she had an emergency."

The two of them went back to work, but by the time the clock showed 9, Harvey got a little nervous. His eyes wandered to the empty cubicle where her presence normally made people shake to their core. Did something happen? He had no time to think about that now. He had a case to work on, or else Jessica would get angry. After all the Hardman disasters, the firm was in desperate need of some good PR, so a pro bono case was just the right thing. And for once Harvey had volunteered.

By the time 10AM rolled around, Harvey got pissed. He took out his phone and called her. It went straight to voicemail. Angrily he slammed his phone on his desk. He really missed flip phones in moments like these. Nothing about the action had felt close to satisfying. Within the hour, he tried to call her several more times, and each time it went to voicemail.

For a moment, he thought about sending for Rachel, but he reconsidered and wanted to avoid seeming desperate in front of the paralegal with Mike as an audience. He would never be able to live it down. A couple minutes later, rushing steps carried him to Rachel's office. He quickly knocked on the glass door, but entered before she could say something or even look up from her desk.

"Harvey, what can I do for you?" Rachel asked with a hint of surprise in her voice.

"Do you know where Donna is?" he asked with detectable impatience.

"At her desk?" the paralegal asked quizzically.

"Would I be here if she were?" he rolled his eyes.

"Sorry. No, I don't know where she is then."

"She never showed up for work, and I can't reach her on her phone."

"That is unusual," Rachel said. "Have you written her an email? Maybe her phone is broken and she never saw you called."

"I can try that," Harvey nodded. But he made no move to leave Rachel to her work.

"Is there anything else?" Rachel asked carefully.

"Has this something to do with her getting fired a couple months ago?"

"Like a masked strike?"

"Exactly."

"Not that I'm aware of," said Rachel. Donna hadn't alluded to any work-related unhappiness.

"Good. I'll leave you to it," Harvey said and motioned to the pile of files on her desk. He turned around to move.

"Harvey!" Rachel said.

"Yes?"

"Please let me know when you've reached her. This isn't like Donna."

"Sure thing," he mumbled and walked back to his office.

This time he didn't have the same speed in his step. It truly was a head-scratcher to him where Donna might be. He was beginning to seriously worry. He knew Donna and Rachel were close, but when even the paralegal couldn't inform him of Donna's whereabouts, it meant something bad could have happened. Fear settled in the pit of his stomach, but Harvey knew he had to work on his case. He shooed Mike out of his office and closed the door. He sighed and went to his desk where he opened his laptop to write her an email.

Donna,

I have no clue where you are, but it isn't at your desk.

He stared at the screen, and felt it was too harsh. He quickly added:

I'm worried about you. You don't answer your phone. Are you OK?

He gave it a nod of approval and hit the send button.

When 12 o'clock rolled around with no reply to his email and no returned phone call, he walked into Jessica's office to inform her he'd have to take a long lunch break for personal reasons and she was gracious enough to not press further. He didn't want to give Jessica the exact reason because he was protective of Donna, especially after what had gone down earlier this year. No need to make Jessica regret her decision to allow Donna back in the firm.

With nervous fingers he called Ray who directly took him to Donna's apartment. He told his driver to wait there. He didn't feel like taking a cab back to the office if she really wasn't there. He had to make sure she was OK. No matter what the reason for her absence was, the certainty would have its positive effects on his work. For the last couple of hours he only stared at pieces of paper without really working.

Harvey walked up to the building with the number 176 on it and pushed his index finger on the button next to her name. He waited, and got no response. He turned around, exasperated. He sighed and nervously ran his hand through his hair. He needed to come up with a plan B. He tried to remember. Wasn't there a neighbor Donna had mentioned once, whose cat she once fed when they were on vacation? But what was her name? He was desperate, and at that point he didn't really care. He rang at every single neighbor of Donna's. It was the middle of the day on a Thursday, so he didn't have high hopes.

After two false alarms, he finally got the right neighbor, Miriam. That's the name, he thought. He was let into the building and was lucky enough to learn that Miriam had a spare key for Donna's apartment. They first knocked on her door, and Miriam insisted she stay with Harvey. She had heard of him, but she felt she had to be careful with a man she had never met in person before.

There was no reaction to their knocks, so Miriam unlocked the door to Donna's apartment and hesitantly poked her head through it.

"Donna?" she said.

No reaction.

"May I?" asked Harvey and when he was met with no resistence, he entered the apartment he had only been in twice before.

The living room was empty. "Donna?" said Harvey and turned around to Miriam. "Should we check the bedroom?"

She nodded and moved past him to do so. Harvey stayed behind the friendly neighbor. Miriam knocked on the bedroom door, and Harvey's heartrate went up when they both could hear some ruffling noise on the other side of the door.

Suddenly the door swung open and he saw Donna, her appearance rather unusual to Harvey. She wore sweats and had messy hair. Her nose was red.

"Hey," his secretary croaked.

"Donna, I was worried about you," said Harvey.

"I don't feel well."

"You don't look well," remarked Miriam.

"What time is it?" Donna asked.

"It's noon."

"What?" came her reply.

"It's OK," he reassured her.

Miriam looked at her neighbor. "Is it OK if I go? I have to leave for work soon."

"You can go," replied Donna.

After she had left, Donna, still standing in the doorframe, told the same to Harvey. But he wouldn't hear any of it.

"I can't leave you alone, Donna, you don't even know what time it is."

"I know, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I never called. I had no idea what was happening to me."

"I think people call it the flu," he smiled.

"I wasn't aware of time at all," Donna said apologetically.

"OK, here's what you're gonna do: You go back to bed, and I will get you some soup. And then I'll quickly run to the drug store"

"You can't," she protested.

"Why?"

"You'll catch the flu as well," Donna said with a quieter voice than he had ever heard.

"No, I won't," he stated matter-of-factly.

"The great Harvey Specter won't ever get sick?"

"No, he does. But he got a flu shot."

Donna nodded, momentarily forgetting about the appointment at the doctor's she had made for him a couple weeks ago.

"OK," she agreed meekly. Partly, because she was losing strength to stand, and partly because she couldn't deny being cared for had its perks.

Donna returned to bed, and before she drifted back to sleep, Harvey came into her bedroom.

"I need your keys," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Purse on the side table in the entryway," was all she could manage to say.

Harvey left her building and told Ray to come back in one hour. He called Rachel to let her know that Donna is alive. Afterwards he walked around the corner to the drug store. He stopped by a fruit stand to get her oranges and lemons. He knew she loved the small Indian place across the street, so he went there to buy some daal soup. He returned to her place after half an hour, put the fruit away and put his ear close to her bedroom door. It was quiet. He opened a window in her living room to let some fresh air in. As Harvey was going through the motions, he had forgotten to feel relieved. He took a deep breath because he was so relieved. Relieved that his fears were proven wrong.

With the certainty that Donna, while not being well at the moment, would soon be OK, he decided to make her some tea to shorten the process of getting her back to her normal self. He found tea in the cabinet and put some water in the kettle. He even spotted a small tray by the fridge. He put the tea cup and a jar of honey on it, and took it to her bedroom. He knocked on her door, and entered. She was asleep. He placed the tray on her nightstand. It had been ages since he'd been in that room. It hasn't changed much. Harvey immediately felt comfortable in her apartment. It was just like Donna: Warm and inviting, yet classy. He sat on her bed and touched her shoulder to wake her up.

"Donna," he whispered.

Her eyes fluttered open. "Harvey."

"I made you some tea," he said and pointed to her nightstand.

"Thanks."

"Have you had anything to eat or drink at all today?" he asked worriedly.

"I don't think so."

"Then drink," he ordered.

She sat up and grabbed the cup. It felt warm in her hands. She was freezing. She had a headache and she was scared her eyeballs might pop out. She drank from her cup. Harvey took the spoon on the tray, unscrewed the lid from the jar of honey and added a generous dollop to her cup.

"Thanks," she said meekly.

"You're welcome."

"You should go back to work, Harvey."

"I will, I just wanted to make sure you were OK."

"I'm sorry I never showed up for work earlier. That has never happened to me before. Does Jessica know?" she croaked.

"No. And don't worry about it. Everyone gets sick once in a while. Or did you forget the time Louis twisted his ankle while he practiced the pas de deux with Norma?"

Donna wanted to chuckle, but it came out in a cough.

"Anyway, I got you some daal soup and butter naan. It's on your kitchen counter. Do you want me to heat it up for you?"

"I can handle it. Thank you Harvey," she said and sought eye contact.

He smiled in return. "It was about time I pay you back for all those years of you taking care of me."

She waved it off. "I was being paid for that. Wait, does that mean I have to pay you for your time?"

"Eh, you'll get an employee discount," he grinned. "OK, I'm off. Drink your tea and eat the soup. I also got you some oranges and NyQuil."

"Wow, you really go all the way."

"You know me, Donna, I don't half-ass things."

And there it was, the Specter smirk.

Harvey was back at work a little after 2PM. He knew he still had a lot to do for his pro bono case, as well as the Folsom Food case, but his mind was preoccupied. There were so many things he had forgotten to get her. He hadn't thought of tissues or ginger. And now that he was thinking about it, he didn't know if a bowl of soup was sufficient food for an entire day. He quickly made the decision to go back to her place after work and bring her some more stuff.

To her surprise, Harvey returned later that day. Donna had spent the afternoon mostly in bed, but she also had the soup and even peeled an orange. She had about half of it before she felt weak again and fell asleep with the peel on her comforter. This was the scene Harvey found her in when he entered her bedroom at around 7PM. After seeing her like this, he went to the kitchen, got a plastic bag for the orange peel and he picked it off her comforter. She stirred and slowly woke up. By the time she was fully there he had brought her water, made her another cup of tea and sat on her bed.

"How do you feel?" he asked her.

Donna still wasn't used to this caring side of Harvey, but it didn't mean that she wasn't appreciating it. "Like spit-out chewing gum under a huge pile of dog shit."

He nodded knowingly. "Are you hungry?"

She nodded as she took a sip of water.

"What do you feel like eating?"

"Sushi."

He furrowed his brow. "OK," he half-asked her.

"I was kidding, Harvey. Maybe matzo ball soup?"

"Alright."

Harvey went to get up from her bed, but she took his hand and stopped him mid-process. "Thank you, Harvey."

The unusually intimate gesture sent a jolt through his body.

"You're welcome," he shrugged, but sat back down.

"I mean it. I really appreciate it."

"Don't mention it."

"Oh, I will," she insisted.

"Don't you dare," he replied and gave her a killer smile.

So, that's it for today. I'd be forever grateful for a review. The next chapter will go up in a couple days.