five votes - a west wing collection

iii

"Stay." Josh's hand flew out to catch Donna's wrist, surprising even himself. The late nights at the office were excruciatingly lonely and he didn't want to deal with another long night of reviewing papers on his own.

Donna froze, halfway out of Josh's office. "Josh."

"Donna." He tugged her wrist, trying to get her to face him. It worked. "Please?"

He gave his assistant his best puppy-eyed look and she sighed.

"Josh, it's late," Donna protested. "We'll both be tired tomorrow this way, and Leo's going to be angry." But she was already moving back into his office.

"We'll get it done twice as fast this way," Josh countered, unable to help the giddy smile spreading across his face. "Plus," he added with a quick grin at Donna, "I'll get to spend more time with you this way."

Donna rolled her eyes, but she grabbed a file folder off of Josh's desk. She settled down on the couch, and Josh joined her a minute later, his head resting on her lap. A few moments later, his eyes moved from the papers to Donna's face.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"What for?" She asked, her face heating up.

"Staying."

- - -

"Stay here." Danny's voice was pleading, the only sound in C.J.'s dark office. She regarded him carefully, her eyes traveling over his childish face, covered with a devastatingly sad expression; over his suit, mussed from the kisses they'd shared just moments before; over his hands, usually so calm, twisting with each other anxiously.

"Please, C.J.," Danny begged, and C.J. felt a pang in her chest as she reached for her jacket. "Can't you stay?"

She took a deep breath before shaking her head, ignoring the way her heart crumbled in her chest and refusing to acknowledge the defeated look on Danny's face.

"C.J., please," he whispered. "I love-"

"Don't finish that." C.J. was having enough difficulty with this already. This was tearing her apart. Every instinct in her body was telling her to go to Danny, to hold him and to kiss him. Every bit of her wanted to be wrapped in his embrace. But her job came first. Her job always came first.

"I'm sorry Danny," she muttered as she stepped out of the office.

She looked back as the door closed, just in time to see his eyes filled with tears.

"I'm sorry I can't stay."

- - -

"Stay with me, Jed," Abbey whispered, holding her husband's hand tightly. "Please, stay with me."

He'd had another episode- passed out after a meeting. Abbey had been an hour later than she wanted to be because of traffic, and even when she arrived at the White House, Jed still hadn't come to. This was the worst episode he'd had yet. When Leo had found him on the floor, he'd called her immediately. "There's hardly a pulse, Abbey," the man had told her, worried to death about his best friend. "It's bad."

Abbey looked down at her husband's face. He was pale and sweaty, but he looked at peace. And that's what scared her. He'd always looked to be in pain before- it wasn't like this.

When he wakes up, she told herself, I'm going to beat his ass to kingdom come.

The problem was, he didn't seem to be waking up very soon.

She rubbed his hand, pressing two fingers to his throat. His pulse was weak and slow. She pulled out her ear thermometer and checked his temp.

102.6. Higher than it had been.

Glancing down at Jed, Abbey stood and walked to the bathroom, the day's events running through her mind as she got a cloth wet with cold water.

"I'm scared, Abigail," Leo had whispered in her ear when she arrived. She remembered looking at him, realizing what a toll the last hour and a half had taken on him if he was admitting that. Leo never showed weakness- not when Janey left him, not when the press had found out about his addiction. Abbey had squeezed his hand and told him to get some rest. Now, she wished he was here.

Walking back to her husband's bedside, Abbey placed the cloth on his head and checked for the steady movement of his chest. But she saw nothing.

Her heart in her throat, Abbey reached out and touched his throat. No pulse. She let out an involuntary scream of pain, and a Secret Service agent rushed into the room.

"What's going on?" He asked gruffly.

Abbey couldn't bring herself to speak. She just pointed at her husband's still body and collapsed into her chair.

The next few moments were a blur, until someone wrapped their arms around her shoulders. She turned to see Leo, and they both held each other as they sobbed unabashedly.

"Why didn't he tell anyone?" She whispered.

Leo just shook his head, his arms tightening around Abbey.

"Why couldn't he stay?"

[a/n: of course the first one i'm proud of is straight angst. rip jethro]