When they got back to the car, after walking in silence, Josh walked over to the driver's side.
"Um, excuse me?" Donna said.
"What?"
"That innocent look isn't going to work with me. You need two hands to drive a car. I have two serviceable ones, you have one."
"Not anymore. Now I'm fine."
"Did the doctor tell you that?"
"Yes."
"Did he really?"
"Yes!" Josh squealed.
"If I were to go in and ask him, he would verify what you just told me?"
"Donna!"
"Would he?"
He paused.
"Well, he didn't really—"
"Ha!"
"He didn't tell me whether or not I could drive. I didn't bring it up."
"Well, I have the keys, so I'm kind of in control of the situation at hand."
"I promise, I'll be fine. I – I want to take you somewhere."
Donna turned her head to give him a skeptical glance. "You want to take me somewhere?"
"Yeah. To celebrate Christmas Eve, since I sort of ruined it for you."
"But, Josh, not to sound anti-Semitic, but you're Jewish."
"So? Tonight I'll adopt your Christian ways."
"Your mother will disown you."
"She'll never know. Can I drive the car?"
"Fine," Donna said, as she reluctantly handed over the keys. "But don't say I never let you get away with anything."
"Oh, I know that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. How soon you forget those days of Donna-dictatorship with 'the rules.'"
"They helped you recover sooner."
"Yes, and I really appreciated all the time you spent with me. You're my own Florence Nightingale, minus the whole Crimean War. Now, get in, we're going to do something fun."
"Fine. But you better not be kidnapping me, or something."
Josh smiled and opened the car door, getting in with Donna following suit and driving off.
"So, how was the waiting room?" Josh asked.
"Pretty uneventful. Nothing too disturbing or shocking. It would have made for a very boring episode of 'ER'."
"Well, were there cute doctors running around?"
"Nope. No Noah Wyle."
"I guess all the cute ones take the holidays off."
"Not Dr. John Carter. He's always there to help out at County."
"Your hero."
"Sort of."
Donna looked out the window at the lights in the houses that they passed.
"I love it when everyone has their houses lit up," she remarked.
"Yeah, it's really pretty."
"But I don't understand the whole concept of lights and Christmas. I think it has something to do with the fact that the way to Bethlehem, or the way to Jesus's manger was shown to people by way of candles lit in houses. So, now we light stuff up in remembrance."
"Fascinating."
"Sorry."
"No, it's fine, it does look pretty."
"Yeah, it really does," she said, and then paused, starting again with, "So, where are you taking me?"
"Well, it's Christmas Eve, and normally people do some sort of celebrating. So, we're going to do a few small things to celebrate it."
"Starting with…"
"You'll see."
They drove up towards the White House.
"We're going back to work?" Donna asked.
"Not quite." Josh smiled.
Josh took the car up to the Ellipse, where the National Christmas Tree was lit up, looking beautiful.
"Oh, Josh. This is so cute."
"We're not just here to look at the tree, Donna."
"No?"
"No."
"What are we going to do? Decorate it with the trash in your back seat?"
"Nope."
Josh put the car in park, switched the radio station to Christmas music, unbuckled, and got out of the car.
"Josh?"
"Come on!"
"Okay…"
Donna stepped out and Josh stuck his head in the car, turning the volume way up. It was a faster song, perfect for twirling and dipping.
"Josh, what are we doing?"
"Come here," he said, gesturing towards her, "we're going to dance."
She walked over to him, somewhat hesitantly, as he put one hand on her shoulder and took the other in his, beginning to dance across the Ellipse. She laughed.
"Now, isn't this fun?" he asked.
"Very," she smiled back.
The song ended, a slow, old one replacing its predecessor. Josh moved his hands to the small of her back, pulling her in close, and Donna put her arms around his neck and put her head on his shoulder. It felt amazing for both of them.
They stood there, rocking back and forth to the music, in complete silence. Neither knew what to say. Maybe words really weren't important in the situation. Whatever the reason, they held on to each other tightly, savoring every moment. They knew the song would end too soon, and it did. Neither moved from their position. Slowly, Josh pulled his head back, whispering
"Merry Christmas, Donna."
"Merry Christmas, Josh."
"Thank you for all that you've done for me. You mean so much to me."
"You mean so much to me, too."
"And, I'd like to show you how much I appreciate you, and, well, love you, but I'm not sure if you'd like it."
"I love you, too Josh."
"And I'm not just saying this because it's a holiday, and during the holidays everyone has the holiday spirit and is supposed to be nice. I'm saying it because I really do care for you, Donna."
"I know."
"I think you're amazing. You keep me sane, you've saved my life, you're beautiful, you're intelligent, and you're one of the best people I know. I just wish that I could tell you that more often."
Donna smiled. "Well, you just did."
"But I wish I could do more than that. Because, Donna, I don't just love you the way I love everyone else. I love C.J., but not in the same way I love you. It's more than that. And I just wanted to you know that."
"I know. I understand. It's different for me, too."
"And, you just feel –right now – holding you – it feels amazing. I've wanted to do this for so long, Donna. And I know that it's not right, but I don't care because I am listening to my heart, as stupid as that sounds. I love you. You're perfect."
Suddenly, tears started running down Donna's cheeks. She wasn't sure why, but she couldn't get them to stop.
"Thank you, Josh," she whispered.
He hugged her tightly, his head raising up, looking towards the sky for a sign. Some sign that would tell him to screw everything, and just kiss her. Turn this vocal confession into a physical one, as well. Well, screw signs, he thought to himself, This has to be done anyway.
"Donna," he said, lifting her head up from his chest. He looked at her, starting to move his lips closer to hers and analyzing the expression on her face. Slowly he moved, until hers met his. They kissed, slowly, sweetly, until she broke it up, burying her face in his jacket again, with him hugging her even more tightly, his head resting upon hers.
"I love you, Josh," she said almost inaudibly into his jacket.
"I love you too."
He pulled her off away from him, a plan brewing in his mind.
"Hey, I have an idea."
"What?"
"Why don't we go park my car next to yours and walk around the National Monuments for a little while. We can walk back to your place if you'd like, and talk the whole way there."
Donna wiped underneath her eyes, trying to get rid of any mascara that may have gotten messed up from crying.
"All the way back to my apartment?"
"Yeah. If we get tired we can get a cab. Does that sound okay?"
"Okay."
"Okay."
"Are you going to go home afterward?"
"Only if you want me to."
"No. Stay. I don't really want to spend Christmas alone."
"Okay."
They got in the car and drove it to where Donna's car was parked, got out, and started to walk, their fingers intertwined, yet again.
"So, what is it that you wanted to talk about?" she asked.
"Well, I wanted to find out what you thought about maybe spending more time with me."
"Josh, I spend countless hours with you."
"Yeah, but I meant hours doing different things than running the government."
"Oh. I could be amenable to that."
"And I also need to tell you that I was kidding about the mailbox thing."
She laughed. "I know."
"And I just want to walk with you, and talk with you, tell you how I think you're amazing, and reiterate the fact that I love you."
"Then, let's go."
As they walked off, starting on the journey back to Donna's apartment, she smiled. A Christmas that had seemed lonely, depressing, and melancholy, was turning out to be none of those things.
There is actually a companion to this story, called "A Good Egg Hunt," and can obviously be found on my profile page.