Disclaimer: I don't own Monk and I don't own any of the orginal characters


It had been 4 days since Monk last saw Trudy and he missed her terribly. She was coming back today. He checked his watch for the 83rd time today. It was 3 o'clock. Goodness, just one more hour and she would be in his arms again right where she belonged.

"MONK CALM DOWN," Leland scolded gently but having to raise his voice to get his attention.

"Just one more hour," Monk repeated, "do you think she'll remember me?"

"Oh for the sake of soup in a cup," Leland said annoyed, "she's been gone for 4 days not 4 years"

"It may as well have been four decades," Monk replied, "my life just isn't the same without her"

"Monk she was never out of your life… she was away for four-days—that's 96 hours 80 of which you spent on the phone with her," Randy commented

"He spent 80 hours on the phone with her?"

"You know… I should give her a call-"

"No Monk you can wait an hour. You'll see her in an hour. Besides there's probably no signal where she is right now"

"You're probably right," Monk said.

He looked like he was about to go crazy.

"Now landing flight 176"

"That's Trudy's flight. It must have gotten in early," Monk yelled and he took off running. He spotted Trudy right as she came off the plane and called to her as she looked up.

They both ran to each other, arms wide open as if they hadn't seen each other in 4 years instead of four days.

"OH GOD ADRIAN I MISSED YOU," she told him as his arms encircled hers.

"You couldn't have missed me as much as I missed you," he told her, "my life wasn't the same without you"

"Oh I know… exactly," she clung to him like she would never let go and he held her tightly.

"Am I," she started to say but he interrupted her with a kiss and nodded.

"I'm never going to let you out of my sight again," he told her, "I need you"

Her face got serious.

"Adrian," she told him, "we have to go back to Washington in a few days… together."

"Why? Is something wrong," he asked alarmed

"Remember I've been getting all those headaches and mood swings?"

"Of course I remember"

"I had to get some testing done while I was in Washington. They found a brain tumor. It's benign but it needs to be removed and they scheduled surgery for 3 days from now"

Monk's heart dropped to his toes.

"Trudy," he said softly but with a scolding edge to his voice, "honey why didn't you tell me. I would have gone with you"

"And you would have panicked and worried yourself for what could have been nothing… I wasn't going to put you through that."

"We're a we," he told her, "and we're in this together. Please don't keep secrets anymore honey"

"I promise. Adrian there's one more thing I have to tell you… but you have to promise that you'll understand"

"There's nothing I won't understand," he told her and she told him all about her past.

"That RICKOVER man sounds like a SON OF A BITCH"

"He was," she said, "I didn't say anything at first because I was frightened but I… am I?"

"You're not," he told her anticipating her thoughts, "but that SON OF A BITCH is"

Three days later they went to the hospital in Washington DC and the tumor was removed without further problem.