One Night Changes Everything

Sharona took no notice of the way Natalie was looking at her…nor the way Stottlemeyer smiled at the way Monk was already improving with Sharona here. The smirk forming on his face unfortunately was caught by Natalie.

An uneasy feeling settled in her stomach as the thought of Sharona and Monk together suddenly didn’t seem so ridiculous. Sharona was holding his hand without a sign of any hesitation or fear of germs. He let himself almost be held by her as she directed Monk into the dining room where she helped him sit.

And it was almost as if Natalie were watching a movie…watching as Sharona moved to the kitchen to prepare Monk a meal; as if nothing had changed in all the years she had been gone. When she had abandoned Adrian without waiting for him to find someone else…she had left - and now she was back. Taking her place back from her, Natalie felt as though she were being tossed aside.

Natalie shook her head, trying to rid herself of the thoughts that suddenly were tormenting her.

Sharona was just here to help Monk back to his usual self - nothing more.

“She’s good with him…isn’t she.” Dr. Bell asked as his eyes switched from Natalie to Sharona. A little twinkle in his eye that Natalie didn’t seem to see.

Natalie couldn’t take her eyes off the scene before her.

Watching Sharona feed Monk a cubed sandwich with the crust cut off almost seemed like she was witnessing an incredibly private moment between lovers.

Anger and jealousy surged through her at the scene. The anger was becoming obvious on her face and Dr. Bell was getting the best seat in the house in witnessing Natalie’s emotional turmoil.

It was incredibly interesting to watch Natalie’s obvious dislike for the first time met friend of Monk’s. And it was also interesting for him to figure out WHY exactly Natalie was feeling these emotions towards Sharona.

Inside the living room Julie was staring at Sharona as she fed Monk, feeling almost the same emotions as her mother - not knowing that Benji was staring at her in a sort of awe.

Benji had seen many beautiful women in New Jersey…but this one had an almost regal elegance to her that he had never seen before.

Stepping slowly towards her he said a very quiet ‘hi’ to her. It caused Julie to turn and take notice of him.

Benji smiled at her as he stared into beautiful blue eyes.

Extending his hand he said almost coyly “You must be Julie.”

Julie was like her mother in many ways, and flirting had been something that she had inherited from her mother. Benji...was good looking, tall, and he had a persuasive smile that she tried to resist but, really she barely could as a similar smile broke across her face.

Randy smiled as he watched Benji and Julie ‘talk’ as he read the sparkle in both of their eyes. Randy had always thought that Benji and Julie would have gotten along; one of the many thoughts that swirled around in his mind. In his opinion they looked cute together. At the moment though, even Randy was concerned about how Monk was acting.

Turning he slowly tried to reason with himself why Monk would become like this, his mind bending and twisting with an odd conclusion of Monk had to have an encounter with an alien species...which caused him to shut down.

Hazardously the idea continued into a rather unusual thought.

Are aliens clean or are they dirty? Because if they were infested with germs Monk would most definitely flip out…

It was a good thing that Stottlemeyer was oblivious to Randy’s absurd thoughts, because at the moment he felt as nervous as he had ever been. The timing of Monk folding in on himself was horrendous. Just when he thought they were making some segway on the Novikov case. Anytime the Russian Mob was involved he felt jumpy and weary of what secrets he was going to discover.

All in all the whole situation was leaving him uneasy. But as Sharona feed Monk the piece of sandwich and crumbs covered his face and onto his shirt, he knew that his friend was in more trouble than any of them would ever expect.

None of them would ever imagine just what it would take to bring Monk back to them.

Two weeks...two weeks later and Monk had shown no improvements. Sharona had been by his side the whole time. Everyone could tell by the look in her eyes that her heart was heavy with worry. Blood shot eyes masked her beautiful blue that usually shined with mischief...now though they were dull and void of happiness.

Natalie had also been there. Watching Sharona nurse Adrian, and still not saying a word about her suspicions, Natalie was tending to the bills and the over all cleaning of the house. Not once did she comment on the way Sharona would brush away his hair from his forehead, or how her hands were constantly on him - either from guiding him places...or even worse...dressing him. That alone almost made her explode.

Worst part was that she and Sharona barely talked. Mostly it was just information that they past between them about what was happening with Monk and how he was doing.

Natalie of course was hiding her real feelings from everyone. In the privacy of her own bedroom she would break down each night. Nothing had ever been this hard. Not losing Mitch, not realizing she would forever be a single parent. Nothing would ever be as difficult as realizing she had caused him to stop living.

Pillow's soaked with tears were the constant in her life now. And still nothing would have prepared Natalie for how Adrian Monk would come back to her.