Disclaimer: Monk is not mine. It belongs to USA Network and Mandeville films.

There she sat, in the cold, sterile, hospital room. Even though she's a nurse she hates being in hospitals when they concern her own family. From past experience, she'd been in one when she was nine and fell off a swing and broke her arm, then again when Gail broke her leg, and the long suffering night she spent in one after Benji broke his ankle. And now there she was, in the hospital sitting helpless next to her unconscious husband. All she could hear was the beeping of the heart monitor and she wished she could just hear his voice...

All she could think of was the worst possibilities. So to push those mind boggling thoughts out of her memory, she started to reminisce the last conscious moments she had with him.

...

Summit, NJ

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

9:30pm

"It's getting late and we haven't eaten." Randy reminded his wife as they sat and watch re-runs of 'Friends.'"

"I know, but I don't have the energy to cook, and I don't want to get out on the roads this late when the weather is so bad."

"I can cook. The possibilities are limited though... What do we have that's microwavable?" Randy turned to Sharona. Sharona chuckled and replied, "Not much, I didn't make it to the grocery this week. We have left-over's from last week."

"Shall we take our chances?"

"Nah. It's not worth the risk of food poisoning!" Sharona giggled.

"I can run out and get Taco Bell, or Wendy's or something," Randy offered.

"Wendy's sounds good!"

"Well, it's settled then. I'll be back in 30 minutes." Randy picked up his keys and coat and headed out the door.

Sharona sat on the couch and waited. Twenty minutes passed and she'd not heard from him to ask her what she even wanted from Wendy's. The roads are bad, she thought, he under-estimated the time. She dozed off waiting for his call. She started dreaming and found herself on an island in paradise. I don't need a badge to tell me right from wrong. I don't need a...

She slowly woke up to her cell phone and groggily answered. "Hello?" She expected to hear Randy's reply, 'Hey, I'm at Wendy's...' Instead she heard the reply,

"Hello. Is this Sharona Fleming?"

"It is."

"Hello, this is Doug Randolph from Mercy General Hospital..."

Her heart dropped and her mind starts racing a million miles a minute of every that could have gone wrong.

Then she realized the man was still talking, so she zoned back in to ask, "Is it Randy? What's wrong? Is he okay?"

"We need you to get here as fast as you can. We have your husband in critical condition and he's unconscious."

She arrived at the hospital around 12AM. She rushed through the hospital doors and up to the reception desk to ask what room number he was in.

"Room 102."

Sharona walked as fast as she could down the hall. As she grew closer her 'walk' became a jog and then a sprint for the door.

...

And now she sits. Waiting for who knows how long for Randy to wake up. She hadn't talked to anyone since the accident other than Doug (the one who gave her the news), the lady at the reception desk, a doctor of who she couldn't remember the name of for the life of her, and two nurses. She couldn't sleep, she couldn't eat, and she didn't know what else to do. She called Adrian. Yes, her former boss.

She couldn't make the call from the hospital, so she had to walk outside and around the building.

The phone rang for a while before being answered. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Sharona, did I wake you?"

"No, I was just vacuuming." He could tell by the shaking and nervousness in her voice that something awful had happened. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah... No... I don't know." She broke into a soft cry and then began to sob into the phone.

"Sharona, what is it? What's wrong?"

"It's Randy. He's been in an accident... he's in critical condition. I'm sorry, I-I didn't know who else to call."

"It's okay, do you want me to fly down there? Or we could all fly down..."

"I'd hate for you to have to get on a plane and come all the way down here… but you guys are the only ones I want to see right now… other than Randy."

"Okay, I'll call Natalie and we'll see how soon we can get there."

"Okay, thank you. I appreciate it, Adrian."

"It's a two-way street. I owe you."

Sharona begins her journey back into the hospital and up to Randy's room. She gets to 102 and takes her place right next to his bed, holding his hand and kissing his cheek. All she wanted was for him to wake up, to crack a joke, to sing, or do anything. This wasn't like him, lifeless in a hospital bed. She's used to his vibrant attitude towards life.

Visiting hours were over, and the only reason Sharona was even allowed in the room was because his accident was late and she was allowed two hours with him before having to leave for the night until 6:30 the next morning. Her two hours seemed very short. When they were up a nurse walked in and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. Sharona lifted her head from Randy's arm and looked up teary eyed at the nurse.

"I'm sorry, but I have to ask you to leave now. We will call you if his condition changes and you can return first thing in the morning."

She was too tired to respond, simply because she was too tired to form words. She just nodded and left the room.

She stood in the hall peering through the window at her husband, not wanting to leave just yet. She headed down to the cafeteria to grab a cup of coffee and to gather herself up before trying to catch a cab home.