Benedryl Vs. the Sensitive System

Donna grabbed a magazine and made her way to the counter of the drugstore. She dumped her purchases down and dug into her pocket for the money Josh had given her when he begged her to go to the store for him. She paid and stepped out onto the sidewalk. She hesitated just a second as she struggled to remember which direction the hotel was. The day had been endless, worse than any day in recent history.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They were in the middle of a campaign and in the middle of Indiana. They day had started off just fine. They had breakfast and then went with the President to smooze the crowd at the local soybean farm. Somehow, and she's not really sure how, she, Josh and Toby managed to miss the motorcade as it left the farm. She's really not too sure how one goes about missing a 14-vehicle motorcade but that was not the point. The point was, it was all Josh's fault. He had been flirting with some cute, extremely young farm girl while the rest of them were busy trying to get the President of the United States re-elected. Toby and Donna had split up to try and find the wayward deputy.

Donna was the one to find him. She just stood with her mouth opened, not quite believing what she was seeing. There was her boss, her boss who supposedly hated nature and the outdoors. He was standing in the middle of a hay field, jacket thrown over a tractor, sleeves rolled-up holding a pitchfork. And behind him, trying to give him what looked like pitch fork/hay throwing lessons was the young, blond, freckle faced farm girl, much to Donna's dismay. Donna watched and held in her hysterical laughter as long as she could, which in reality wasn't more than a minute and a half. Her laughter echoing off the nearby barn and silo caused Josh to somehow lose his footing, apparently hay and leather soled dress shoes aren't a good combination. He went flying into the hay, landing with a thud as his head hit the ground and his feet flew up into the air. His "teacher" pulled him to his feet while introducing herself to Donna. They shared a few pleasantries until the sound of sirens caused the three of them to look in the direction of the main road about a quarter mile away. There went the motorcade, minus a few bodies.

Josh looked appropriately guilty as he brushed the large pieces of hay off his shirt and pants. He bid farewell to his new little friend while Donna stood off to the side trying to get a signal on her cell phone. She didn't get a signal but she did see another body walking towards them, Toby.

Just at the horizon they saw the motorcade had stopped. They assumed it was going to turn around and come back for them so they turned down the offer of a ride from Josh's "friend."

The three of them set out in silence, walking towards the main road, all the while trying to get someone on the cell phones. Josh tried to apologize but he was cut off every time. Toby and Donna took turns making fun of him. Unfortunately, just about the time they turned around a bend and lost sight of the farm they just left the motorcade headed away from them.

After a few hours of wandering around in the middle of nowhere, on a road that was supposed to be a major thoroughfare, they were hot, cranky and thirsty.

As Toby and Donna reached the top of a small hill they didn't take notice that Josh was lagging behind.

"Slow down, you're going too fast," he whined from a hundred yards back.

"Tough," yelled Toby without looking back.

"Hey Toby, think he's ok? He sounded a little funny," remarked Donna.

"He is a little funny," grumbled Toby.

Donna stopped to turn around and look at Josh. He was almost to the top of the hill and something just didn't look right. She headed over to meet him, getting a good look at him.

"Josh, do you feel ok?" she asked as she walked along side of him.

"No, my throat hurts and my eyes are burning," he whined as he looked at her. His eyes were very red and he sounded all congested.

"Josh, are you allergic to hay?"

"Donna, I'm from Connecticut, how the hell would I know?" he whined even louder as he rubbed his eyes.

"Well, if you weren't before, I'd say you are now." she said as she reached up to pull a few pieces of hay out of his hair.

"Great, just great. What else could go wrong today?"

"That's probably not the question you want to be asking about now."

As if on cue the sky clouded over and the rain started to fall. Luck was on their side; at least it wasn't a thunderstorm. Donna stayed behind with Josh, letting Toby go ahead of them. It wasn't like they were going to lose him anytime soon. The rain fell steadily, soaking them completely. On the plus side it washed some of the hay off of Josh.

The trio trudged along for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, one rainstorm, a tractor ride, a few cell phone calls and a cab ride later they managed to make their way to the hotel where the Presidential party was staying for the night.

Donna took the keycards from Josh and steered him towards the elevator. They were met at the elevator by Jed Bartlet who was just getting off with a couple of agents. He had a look on his face that was hard to read. At first glance it was the look of a man who was pissed as hell. But after getting a good look at his Deputy Chief of Staff his face softened.

"You're going to take care of him?" he asked Donna.

"Yes, sir."

"Very well. If you need anything just call Abbey."

"Thank you sir," said Donna as she took Josh by the hand and pulled him into the elevator. Five minutes later she shoved him into the bathroom of his hotel room with instructions to get undressed and toss his clothes out the door.

"You've been wanting to say that for years, haven't you," he smirked as he closed the door before Donna could smack him.

Donna just shook her head and waited for the clothes to be tossed out. She put everything he had been wearing in the plastic laundry bag she found in the closet. She opened his suitcase and grabbed his pajama pants and a t-shirt.

"Your clothes are on the counter. I'll be back in a few minutes. Stay in there for a while, wash everything away."

She didn't get an answer, just a few sneezes from behind the shower curtain.

Donna went to her own room and changed out of her still damp clothes. As she came out of the room and headed back towards Josh's she met Toby in the hallway. "How's allergy boy?" he asked with a smirk.

"Pretty miserable actually," said Donna.

"Don't expect me to feel sorry for him," muttered Toby as he got on the elevator to head to the bar for a drink, or two.

Josh was still in the shower when she returned to his room. She flopped down on the bed and flicked on the television to wait for him. He came out a few minutes later, looking only marginally better.

"Feel better?" she asked as she moved over so he could sit down next to her on the bed.

"I guess," he moaned as he curled up on the bed.

Donna turned sideways to face him. She brushed his hair back and took a good look at him. His eyes were still red and puffy and he did look miserable.

"I wish Sam had come along on the trip," he muttered into the pillow.

"Why? You'd rather have him play nurse?" asked Donna, trying to look hurt.

"No, he's just always prepared with a virtual pharmacy in his briefcase. What do you have?"

"Midol, Advil and eye drops."

"I rest my case," he said, trying to sound lawyerly.

"Hey, two of those three things just might come in handy Farm-Boy."

"Whatever. I need uh, bene....uh, bene..." he muttered not quite getting the word out.

"Benedict Arnold?" asked Donna. "Benny Hill, Benjamin Franklin..."

She was cut off by a pillow to the face. "Benedryl," moaned Josh.

"Yeah, I suppose you do," she said as she put the pillow behind her back and settled in to watch CNN.

"Dooonnnnaa," he whined, the congestion in his chest making his whine sound more pathetic than usual.

"Whaaat?" she asked, returning the whine.

"Could you please, out the goodness of your heart, find me some Benedryl?"

"Sure. I'll get the Advil and the eye drops and then head out to find a drugstore, in the dark, in the rain, in a strange city." she sighed as she got up off the bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When she returned from the drugstore she stopped by her own room to change and to grab her cell phone. By the time she got back she expected Josh to be asleep. He wasn't, he was pacing around the room, watching CNN and rubbing his eyes.

"Josh, come here," she said as she patted the bed.

He sat down while she opened the box with the Benedryl.

"What am I, 5?" he asked as he noticed it was liquid and not tablets.

"OH just shut up, this'll work faster," she groaned as she poured it into the little measuring cup.

"You sure that isn't too much?" he asked as he took the cup that was almost filled to the top from her.

"Josh, you're a grown man. I think you can handle a full dose of Benedryl. Besides I'm hoping it'll knock you out."

"Why, so you can have your way with me?" he smirked as he drank the pink liquid. He made a face at the taste and gratefully took the glass of water Donna held out to him.

"No. So I can have some peace and quiet. I've spent the last 18 hours listen to you whine."

"And how is that different from any other day with me?" he asked as he pulled back the covers and curled up on the bed.

"It's not. I was just hoping for something different for a change," she muttered as she took the medicine in the bathroom and refilled his water glass.

"So about that farm girl...." Josh started as he flicked through the channels.

"Yeah, girl is an appropriate description."

"Hey, she has a master's degree in agribusiness, whatever the hell that is."

"Great so that makes her what, 24, 25..."

"But you're only...."

"Older than that." said Donna, effectively cutting him off. "Doesn't matter how old she was or wasn't, you wandered off and I spent the better part of the day wandering around Indiana because of it."

"But now I'm the one in pain here," said Josh, hoping to end the conversation soon.

"And for that I am glad." she snorted as she stood up.

"You're not leaving are you?" asked Josh, suddenly feeling a little anxious.

"No," she assured him. "I'm not that mean. I just gave you a full dose of Benedryl. Who knows what that'll do to your sensitive system," she smirked as she turned out the light.

"Very funny. So you'll stay and make sure I'm still breathing and stuff like that."

"Yeah."

"Liar, you'll be asleep in 20 minutes."

"Which is about 10 minutes longer than you." she said as she pushed him over so she could lie down next to him.

"You know, there is another bed over there," he pointed out.

"Yeah, but it's easier to make sure you're breathing from here." she smirked. "I wouldn't want to have to actually get out of bed to check on you."

"OK," said Josh as he curled up next to her with his head on her shoulder. True to her prediction he fell asleep about ten minutes later to the sound of her heartbeat and the feeling over her running her fingers through his hair.

Unfortunately the sound sleep didn't last very long. Josh was awake within 2 hours, moaning and more than slightly loopy. It wasn't clear to Donna whether or not he had had a nightmare. He was sitting up shaking but wasn't talking as he was known to do during a nightmare.

"Josh," she whispered softly as she sat up next to him and reached out to gently rub his shoulder.

"Hiya Donnatella. Whatcha doing in my bed?" he asked as he peeked under the covers to make sure he was dressed.

"Oh God, he's high on Benedryl," muttered Donna as she shook her head. "I should have known the full dose was too much."

"What?" asked Josh as he tried to focus on her face. The fact that he was seeing two of Donna was a bit confusing so he just closed his eyes and flopped back on the bed.

"Good, just go back to sleep," said Donna as she pulled the comforter up around his shoulders.

"Why are you here," he asked, apparently not letting that fact pass him by.

"To make sure you're breathing," sighed Donna as she had a fleeting vision of smothering him with his pillow.

"I am," he said as he took a deep breath and promptly started coughing.

Donna sat up, flicked on the bedside lamp and handed him the glass of water. He drank it quickly and then turned to face Donna. He turned white as a sheet in the matter of a minute.

"Josh, are you going to be sick?" she asked as she recognized that look from his recovery, not to mention the numerous times he'd shown up at her apartment drunk.

He nodded slightly as she threw back the covers and all but dragged him out of bed. She shoved him in the direction of the bathroom, managing to lift the lid just in time for him to get sick. "And we're off to the races," she muttered under her breath as she wet a washcloth. She put it on the back of his neck and rubbed his back while he got sick. Ten minutes later she helped him stagger back to bed.

"Am I still breathing?" he asked with a goofy smile on his face.

"For now," muttered Donna under her breath. "Go to sleep." she said, pushing him down by the shoulders. She stood up and pulled back the covers on the other bed.

"Hey, where you going?" asked Josh as he attempted to roll onto his side and prop his head up on his hand. After 3 tries he gave up and flopped face first back down on the pillow.

"I'm right here, go to sleep."

Twenty minutes later, just as Donna was about to fall asleep, Josh sat up and called out her name. She glanced at the clock and knew that there was no way he was having a nightmare after such a short amount of time.

"Joshua, what is your problem?" she moaned as she closed her eyes again.

"Mmmm, I like it when you call me Joshua," said Josh in that annoying singsong voice that usually came out when he was drunk.

"That's nice, go to sleep."

"Can't."

"Why?"

"I'm thirsty."

"Drink the water." she sighed.

"No. It'll make me puke again."

That got Donna's attention. She sat up and flicked on the light. Josh was still curled up on his bed. He didn't look well by any stretch of the imagination but he didn't look ready to throw up again.

"What do you want?"

"Ginger ale or Sprite."

"Fine, I'll be back in a minute. Stay here."

Donna stole some change out of Josh's pants pocket and headed down the hall towards the vending machine. She was almost back to his room when a door opened down the hall and out stepped Abbey Bartlet.

"Donna, everything ok?" she called softly. "How's Josh?"

Donna shook her head and just began to laugh at the whole situation.

"Well Mrs. Bartlet, he's taken the sensitive system thing to a whole new level. I gave him a full dose of Benedryl and he's well; let's just say he's a little loopy. He also just threw up a little while ago," she added as she pointed to the can of ginger ale in her hand.

"Oh no. Want me to check on him?" asked Abbey.

"Why not?" agreed Donna, not really caring how much it would probably embarrass Josh.

"OK, let me get my bag I'm not supposed to have and I'll be there in a minute."

"Thanks."

Donna had an evil grin on her face as she let herself in the door with the keycard.

"Here's your soda and Dr. Bartlet's on her way over to check on you."

"Very funny Donnatella," smirked Josh as he sat up and took the soda from her.

Donna just shrugged her shoulders and sat down at the foot of his bed and clicked on the television.

"What time is it anyway?"

"A little after 2."

"And I'm supposed to believe that the first lady, who by the way is not a licensed medical professional at the moment, is stopping by to check on me."

"Oh, you'd better believe it Joshua," said Abbey from the doorway.

Josh made a valiant attempt to stand in Abbey's presence but managed to get himself tangled up in the covers and fall over before actually standing up. "Dr. Bartlet, good evening...morning, I'm sorry...." stuttered Josh.

"Oh for God's sake Josh, it's the middle of the night, sit down."

Abbey sat down next to him and opened up her bag. "So, apparently you're allergic to hay. How is it you made it past the age of 40 before you ever realized this?"

"Mrs. B. I'm a white Jewish guy from Connecticut, I haven't been around a lot of hay in my life."

Abbey laughed as she warmed up the end of the stethoscope. "I guess not. Take a deep breath." she said as she reached under his t-shirt. She listened to his heart and lungs and took a look in his eyes and ears.

"So, will I live?"

"In my unlicensed medical opinion, yes. You're a little congested, tired, whiny and high on Benedryl. And I thought the President had a low tolerance for medication."

Josh groaned, "Could you please keep this to yourself and not tell the President."

Donna and Abbey just looked at each other, "Not a chance," they said together.

Josh just groaned as he covered his face with the pillow.

"Good night Joshua." called Abbey as she headed for the door.

"You too Dr. B. Thanks," came Josh's muffled response. He waited for the door to close before he moved the pillow and glared at Donna. "I can't believe you asked her to come over here." he practically hissed, although the slight wheezing sound he made when he hissed pretty much cancelled out the menacing sound he was going for.

"I did no such thing. She volunteered."

"You could have said no."

"I thought about it. Then I decided not to." announced Donna as she climbed into the other bed.

"You're fired."

"Impervious."

Josh muttered something Donna couldn't quite understand. Which for Josh's sake was probably a good thing. Twenty minutes later Donna was on the verge of sleep when Josh sat up and started talking again. "I can't sleep."

"Don't care."

"Doonnnaa," he whined. "I can't sleep." he repeated.

"Why not," she asked, obviously not really caring what the answer would be.

"Because you're over there," he explained as his arm shot out to point towards her bed. Instead he managed to smack it against the soda can, spilling its contents on the floor. "Whoops."

With a heavy sigh Donna got out of bed and put a hand towel on the floor to mop up the spill.

"Donna, sleep with me, please." he muttered as she sat down on her bed.

"Yeah and I've been waiting for years to hear that." she deadpanned as she made a swooning motion.

"Very funny," whined Josh.

Donna sat there for a minute and looked at him in the dim light. Pathetic was the first word that came to mind. She weighed her options and looked at the clock. They had to be up in a little over 4 hours so she decided that crawling into bed with Josh was the quickest way for both of them to get some sleep. She was sure her decision wouldn't make that much sense in the light of day but at that point she was so tired she didn't really care all that much.

She crawled in next to Josh who promptly rested his head on her chest and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"This is nice."

"Yeah it is," whispered Donna sincerely as she kissed the top of his head.

"Amy never liked to cuddle."

Donna felt her whole body stiffen at the mention of Amy's name. "Josh, I suggest you don't mention her name again. And I strongly suggest you go to sleep, now."

"Kay." he whispered against the soft cotton of her t-shirt.

Five minutes later they both drifted off and managed to get 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Donna woke first and went to her room to shower, change and pack. When she returned to Josh's room 45 minutes later he was in the shower. She knocked on the bathroom door. "I'm here don't come out naked." she teased.

"Oh, you know you want me to," he shot back as he turned the shower off.

Donna snorted and tossed a pair of boxers into the bathroom. She started to pack some of Josh's things while he shaved.

"Hey Donna."

"What?"

"Uh, exactly what happened last night?" he asked as he was starting to realize things were a little fuzzy. He felt a little hung over but didn't remember drinking a drop.

"Oh, this is too easy," Donna thought to herself. "Joshua Lyman, you don't remember what happened?" she said as she flung the bathroom door open and glared at him.

Josh studied her face for a minute, looking for a clue. Seeing none he decided to try and fake his way through the conversation. "Yeah, I remember everything. It was, uh...nice?" he asked with a little shrug of his shoulders.

"You've got to be kidding. Nice?"

"Uh, better than nice...great even." he said, trying his best to remember anything about the previous 8 hours.

Donna tried her best to keep a straight face as she went into the bathroom and sat down on the counter in front of Josh. She took the razor from him as to avoid an accident.

"You don't have a clue do you?"

"Uh, about this or about stuff in general?"

Donna rolled her eyes and decided to stop teasing him. As much fun as she was having they did need to get going in order to meet the others for breakfast and catch the motorcade. She broke out into a big grin and grabbed his hands. "Let's just say your sensitive system hit a new high, or a new low as it were. Not only can you not handle your liquor, you can't handle a full dose of Benedryl either."

"Oh God, please tell me I didn't embarrass myself."

"No more than usual. A few stupid comments, a session of tossing your cookies and a visit from the First Lady"

"Oh." he muttered.

That seemed to satisfy his curiosity, for a minute at least. "Where did you sleep?" he asked, realizing that part of the equation was still a bit fuzzy in his mind.

"Well, let's see. I started off in the bed with you, then you woke up, puked and I put you back to bed. I was almost asleep in the other bed when you started whining. Mrs. Bartlet stopped by, I tucked you back in and you whined some more. So I moved back over with you and we managed to get 4 hours sleep."

"Ah. I think I remember Mrs. B. stopping by. I remember curling up next to you," he said as he took a deep breath. He was silent for a minute as he struggled to remember something. "While we were curled up did I happen to mention..."

Donna dropped his hands and covered his mouth with her hand. "Yes, you mentioned HER," she said harshly. "Don't do it again," she teased as she moved her hand.

"OK. Now move over and let me finish," teased Josh as he put out his hand for the razor.

Donna handed it to him and went to finish her own packing. Twenty minutes later they were on their way to breakfast. Josh grabbed a cup of black coffee and a croissant, which Donna promptly took from him and replaced it with a cup of tea and some toast. He was about to start whining when the President entered the room. Everyone rose to his or her feet.

"Good morning Mr. President," they all chorused together.

"Good morning all. Please sit," he said as he took the cup of coffee Charlie handed him.

Josh tried his best to blend into the woodwork but failed and the President took the empty chair right next to him.

"Good morning Sir." said Josh as he tore his piece of toast in half.

"Josh. Feeling better?"

"A little. Thanks for asking."

Jed turned his attention to his own breakfast and Josh breathed a sigh of relief, a premature sigh of relief.

"Josh did you know that in Indiana hay growers had the deck stacked against them in 2001. Wet weather in the critical production months of May and June, combined with a poor economy and government support programs that encouraged farmers to raise corn and soybeans rather than forages, resulted in just 610,000 hay acres harvested in 2001 -- the fewest since 1929?"

"No sir," said Josh weakly. "I wasn't aware of that fact."

"Now you are. And did you also know that Farmer's Lung is an allergic reaction caused by inhaling dust from moldy hay, straw and grain. And also dust from moldy hay, grain and silage also can cause Toxic Organic Dust Syndrome, which has symptoms resembling Farmer's Lung."

"I did not know that either sir," said Josh, wishing the ground would just open up and swallow him whole.

"Agriculture is a fascinating topic. Don't you think so Josh?"

Josh nodded a little.

"So Abbey tells me your sensitive system has expanded to include Benedryl as well as alcohol."

Josh just groaned as he dropped his head on the table, banging it gently against the Formica surface. Jed Bartlet just chuckled to himself as he caught Donna's eye and smiled. He got up to go annoy someone else. Donna moved to sit in the chair next to Josh.

"Hey, you need to eat something," she said as tugged on an unruly curl to get him to lift his head.

"Why, I'm about to die of embarrassment anyway," he moaned.

"Josh, eat your toast. The motorcade's leaving in 20 minutes. I'm going outside to stand by the cars. I am not missing my ride." she snorted. Josh glared at her and was rewarded with a smack to the back of the head.

Twelve hours later they were all getting settled onto Air Force One for the flight back to DC. Having gotten little sleep the night before Donna found herself a quiet corner and fell asleep before the plane even took off. Josh thought about plopping himself down next to her but he had to meet with Toby and the President in the conference room. He tossed his backpack over his shoulder and headed down the narrow hallway.

"Hey Farmer Boy," mumbled Toby as Josh entered the room.

"Haha," muttered Josh as he tossed his backpack on the floor and took a seat at the table.

The sat in silence for a few minutes, waiting for President Bartlet to arrive. Finally Josh couldn't take the tension in the room.

"Can I just say..." he started.

"No," said Toby, "Don't say anything."

"You can't blame me..."

"Oh, yes I can."

They scrambled to their feet as the door to the room opened and in walked Jed Bartlet.

"Good evening Mr. President."

"Sit, relax. Josh, how are you feeling?"

"Oh, do we really care?" sighed Toby.

"Apparently you don't but I do," stated the President.

Toby just threw his arms in the air and leaned back in his seat.

"Bad day Toby?"

"Uh yeah. Spent most of the day catching up on stuff I should have done yesterday." he said with a glare in Josh's direction.

"Oh, so I see we're Mr. Grumpy Pants tonight." smirked Jed.

"You tell 'em Mr. President." snickered Josh under his breath.

"What was that Hay Boy?" asked Jed with an evil grin.

Josh just groaned and put his head in his hands.

"OK, that's enough boys. Time to get to work," declared Jed as he rolled up his sleeves and put on his glasses.

An hour later they were done and Josh wandered over to see what Donna was doing. She appeared to be asleep but she was really just faking it, not in the mood to hear Josh whine. Josh kicked off his shoes and stretched out on the row of seats in front of Donna. He tossed and turned for about ten minutes before settling down. When she was sure he was out Donna got up and used the restroom. She came back and perched on the edge of the seat Josh was curled up on. His hair was sticking out in all directions and she gently smoothed it down. She covered him up with a blanket and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. A noise behind her caused her to turn around. Jed Bartlet was in the doorway watching her fuss over Josh. Her cheeks turned instantly red and she couldn't think of an appropriate thing to say so she settled for standing up and smiling.

"He's lucky to have you." said Jed.

"We're lucky to have each other," corrected Donna with a smile.

Jed smiled and turned to go back to his private study.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Josh came into the West Wing at 7 the following morning, having gotten a decent night's sleep for a change. He tossed his backpack on the visitor's chair and went to sit down at the desk. On his chair was a brown paper bag. He picked it up gingerly and opened it while holding it out at arms length. In the bag was a big bottle of Benedryl with a note that said, "Don't drink it all at once." There was also a book in the bag, "Farmer Boy" by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

"DONNA," he bellowed.

"You called," she said dryly as she entered his office with her cup of coffee.

"This stuff from you?" he asked holding up his presents.

"Nope, but I did see the First Lady leave your office a few minutes ago."

Josh smiled to himself as he put the Benedryl and the book on the desk before facing the day ahead.

THE END

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