Adrian Monk was sitting at the table. His sandwich, which had the crusts cut off and in the shape of a perfect square, was in front of him on a bone white porcelain plate. He picked up his fork and knife and cut a small bite of ham and cheese sandwich. He put the piece into his mouth and chewed.
Monk looked out the window. It was starting to snow. The big, fat flakes fell fast and they were coating the landscape quickly. He stopped chewing. Monk just stared out the window.
Suddenly, he dropped the silverware. His eyes were wide. Clawing at his eyes, he screamed. Monk stumbled around the room. Blindly, he found the phone. He picked it up and dialed Natalie's number. "Natalie," he said. Monk then passed out.
"Mr. Monk? Hello. Monk...Monk," Natalie cried into the receiver. The said person made no response. She threw the phone down on the receiver. Grabbing her coat and purse, Natalie ran out of the house and to her car. Getting in, she got her keys out of her purse. With shaking hands, Natalie put the key in and started the car.
As fast as Natalie could, without breaking as little laws as possible, she drove over the Adrian Monk's home. With shaking hands, she dialed Captain Leland Stottlemeyer. "Mr. Stottlemeyer, something's wrong with Monk. He called me and then passed out or something. I'm on my way there," she explained when he picked up. Before he could answer, Natalie turned the phone off as she pulled into Monk's driveway.
Turning off the car, she got out and hurried into the house. "Mr. Monk?" she called, but got no answer. Natalie wandered round the house, looking for Monk. She finally found him in the dining room.
He was sprawled on the floor. His hands were clutching his eyes. His usually neat attire was all askew.
"Mr. Monk, can you hear me," she asked. Natalie bent down beside him. Worry seeped into her. What had happened?
When Monk came too, he could not see. He knew that instantly. His eyes were open and he remembered opening his eyes. However, he could not see. "Not again," he moaned. Monk hated the dark. He hated blindness. Monk remembered the last time it had happened. It sure had not cared if he got into muck, dirt, or grime, but the eternal darkness had terrified him.
"What happened to you? Are you blind," Natalie asked.
"Oh, Natalie…Natalie, you got my call," Monk said. He slowly sat up. He felt very disoriented. "Yes, I'm blind! What do you think?"
"What happened," she asked.
"I was eating lunch and staring out the window. It was snowing. I then felt pain. There was a lot of pain in my eyes. I called you and blacked out," Monk explained.
"Let me help you up. You didn't break anything did you?" Natalie asked.
Monk shook his head. "N—no," he stammered. He felt for her hand, but grabbed her face instead. "I'm so sorry," Monk said. He tried to grab her hand, but grabbed her foot.
"It's OK. It's OK," Natalie said, "Here…here." She took his hand and then pulled him up. As he wavered on the spot, she held onto his shoulder. When he was stable, she helped him over to the dining table.
"We don't know what to expect when we get in there," Captain Leland Stottlemeyer said as he looked over Randall Disher.
"You have my word I won't do anything stupid."
The Chief made a noise. "'Cuse me. I have a tickle," he said, hastily. Pulling up to Monk's house, Disher and the Captain get out and head inside.
Disher got into the home before Stottlemeyer did. He went over to Monk and Natalie. "How. Are. You. Doing?" he asked. His voice was loud and slow as if he were talking to a deaf person.
"I'm not deaf, you idiot. I'm blind. I can hear perfectly fine."
"This wasn't supposed to happen. What caused this?" the Chief asked
"I was staring at the snow," Monk responded in a near inaudible voice.
"We should go to a specialist. Maybe there's more to his eye condition than meets the eyes."
Meanwhile, a few hours later, Gregory House, M.D. came limping into the clinic. His liquid blue eyes do a scan of the place. It was crowded, as usual. "OK, my little peons, who is just here to score some cheep treatment? Go to your real doctor," House called out to the waiting room.
A few of the patients look at each other. Shrugging, the small group gets up. They leave.
House looks at Monk, Natalie, the Chief, and Disher. "You don't look sick," House said, "Didn't you hear my little speech? Now…go. Shoo."
"Are you Dr. House," Natalie asked as she stood.
House leaned his head back. He sighed. "Yes, I am. Are you the IRS?"
Natalie shook her head. "No, we're not. My associate Adrian Monk needs your help. He's gone blind."
"See an optometrist," House mumbled.
"You're wounded and you have lost someone. You're like me. Help me. This was not supposed to happen again."
House cocked his eyebrow. "Again," he murmured.
House walked away without another word. He grabbed a light and started flashing it in Monk's eyes. This caused Monk to scream.
Monk clawed at his eyes. He felt this same pain the day before. It was so intense that he blacked out. When he woke up, he discovered that he could see.
House was leaning against the wall with a smug look on his face. "You have a type of epilepsy that causes you to go blind around flashing lights. Stay away from flashing lights and you'll be fine," he told Monk. Turning, he limped away.
