One Night Changes Everything

It wasn't in Natalie's nature to be so out right devious...but a woman in her position would do exactly what she was doing. Slowly she opened the file and braced herself for secrets that she knew Sharona flemming had.

You may ask what file Natalie was holding, and that would be a good question. A good question with a fairly simple answer, but a huge story behind it.

Having decided that she need to talk to someone she had indeed gone to Dr. Bell and had managed for him to talk to her within a few minutes. It didn't take long for her to concoct a version of her real problem by making her 'boyfriend' John as the man in her story. Of course she really had to edit many parts of what happened because Monkisms were extremely obvious in certain cases.

Dr. Bell had told her what she dreaded. That she just had to talk with 'John' and let him know how he felt. Of course it just wasn't that easy.

In the end she had thanked him and was about to leave when Dr. Bell asked where Monk was. Quickly she had answered with Sharona...which made him quickly ask her if she was referring to Sharona Flemming. Then something very odd happened. Something that caused her to stop in her tracks.

"Would you please tell her, that I have her file if she wanted to pick it up I'd be more than obliged to have it for her before she leaves."

This of course made her extremely curious.

"File? What file?"

Dr. Bell had explained that she had been referred most of Dr. Kroeger's patients and her file had been somehow mixed in with the others. In no way could Natalie let the opportunity to see that file pass her by. Innocently she had offered her help in bringing the file to Sharona for him.

It had taken little coaxing to allow her to 'take the file to Sharona'.

That was where she now found herself. Looking through Sharona Flemmings psychiatric file.

It didn't take long for Natalie to read the file...and it practically made her blood boil.

Sharona had the nerve to blame Adrian for her 'mental breakdown'. Not to mention what else was written in the file about her resentment towards Adrian, and her overall conversation with the late Dr. Kroeger.

By the end Natalie was sitting in her car gripping the will and trying to keep herself from yelling out right.

At the moment she didn't want that woman any where around Adrian. It was a total a hundred eighty degrees. From thinking that Sharona was in love with him to thinking she was a nutcase.

Natalie was afraid.

Afraid that Sharona would hurt Adrian. Afraid Sharona WAS really in love with him. Afraid that just maybe she was in love with a man that would never love her back. That today she had made love to him for the last time.

Natalie had that look on her face, a look that showed she was completely lost and had no clue what to do.

Her phone beeping made her look over to her cup holder where her phone was sitting. Reaching over she saw that she had received a call from the police station. The first thought through her head was that something had happened to Adrian. Immediately she turned on the car and threw the gears into drive.

Sharona felt frustrated after talking with the captain. Expressing her concerns about how she thought Natalie was to blame for Monk's recent catatonic state had made the captain chuckle. Leland had actually defended Natalie, saying that 'things had changed' and that 'Natalie's not like that'. It had gone on for a little under and hour, leaving her frustrated and the captain worried that Sharona was going to have it out with Natalie if he didn't do something to stop it.

When she finally walked out of Stottlemeyers office she stopped dead in her tracks as she saw Monk handing a woman one of his wipes. For some odd reason the sight was too uncommon for what she remembered Monk to be like. The Adrian she knew barely tolerated people who cried. It made him outright uncomfortable to deal with emotions...especially those that involved runny noses and the act of blowing ones nose.

However, there he was. Offering a complete stranger one of his precious wipes.

"I promise...I'll...I'll find who killed your husband."

Sharona's head went back and then she let herself give a little nod as she heard Monk reveal what had caused him to be so kind to the woman.

As she approached she quickly spoke up to Adrian to let him know that they needed to get going.

Monk looked up at Sharona with this sad look.

"Trudy." He whispered out.

Sharona felt her chest tighten as she prepared herself for the mumblings that he first had when he first came out of his first breakdown.

When the woman turned and Sharona saw her bright blue eyes she had a distinct feeling like she had seen this woman's eyes before. Shaking herself out of it, she came to her senses and extended her hand.

"Hi. I'm Sharona. I'm a friend of Adrian's."

Smiling as much as she could Trudy extended her free hand and shook Sharona's hand.

"Gertrude Bakker. But ah...*sniff* you can call me Trudy."

Immediately her eyes jumped to Adrian's. He saw the sad look in his eyes and kept her mouth shut. Knowing that she would need to talk to him the second they left the station.

"Nice to meet you." Sharona responded to Trudy's greeting followed by Trudy responding back the same.

"She didn't do it." Monk stated, having both woman look at him.

Monk's eyes were on Sharona's.

Sharona let out a huge sigh and then turned back her attention to Trudy. With a smirk and in true Sharona fashion she stated what she obviously knew.

"Looks like we have a case to work on."

By the time Natalie reached the station both she and Sharona were forced to deal with each other...by not dealing with each other. Monk had quickly become Gong Ho on Trudy's innocents. With in a few minutes Stottlemeyer was arguing with Monk about all the evidence stacked against Trudy. Monk didn't want to hear it. All he kept saying was 'She didn't do it."

Everyone exchanged knowing looks and finally came to terms with Monk's persistence.

It took only twenty minutes to go over the evidence for Monk to find the inconsistencies. And with that Stottlemeyer gave him the back up he needed to look into the case.

Unfortunately Stottlemeyer knew that he couldn't actually release her. There wasn't enough to show that she wasn't involved at all, but enough for him to give into Monk's curiosity.

Monk reassured Trudy before leaving that he would do everything he could to prove her innocents. Stottlemeyer did Monk the favor of keeping her in jail and not taking her up to the prison, giving Monk a window of 36 hours to come up with something.

It would test the patience of both Natalie and Sharona.