The minute Natalie walked into the apartment Adrian Monk knew that something was wrong, very wrong. Natalie normally had high energy, today she was walking very slow. She was ALWAYS smiling. Today she was doing all she could not to sob.
"Natalie what's wrong?"
"Nothing Mr. Monk," Natalie said sniffling, "I'm fine"
"Um… Natalie I know fine and this isn't fine. Fine and this do not go hand and hand"
Natalie sighed
"I'm sorry Mr. Monk," she said, "it's been a rough day"
"Does it have anything to do with yesterday," Monk asked
"In a way but it's not about what happened yesterday," Natalie replied, "I mean those words have passed between us time and again for as long as I can remember"
Monk didn't say a word but instead calmly motioned with his hand.
"Okay well a few days ago I took Julie for her healthy checkup. A healthy check-up is supposed to be just that, a healthy checkup. Well today her doctor called me. Julie's white blood cell count is elevated quite a bit more then it should be. He ran some other tests on her blood not wanting to subject her to more tests if it wasn't anything serious. Well it is serious. She has Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia"
The shock that Monk felt when he heard the news resonated through his body. Julie… had a fatal disease. Julie… had a disease that could kill her if not treated properly. Julie… had a disease that was VERY HARD to treat. The daughter of his best friend, the girl that he loved as if she were his own daughter was dying.
Suddenly things were not so cut and dry anymore (but more about that later). All of a sudden everything that was familiar to him dropped of the face of the Earth.
"Oh Natalie oh GOD I- does Julie know?"
Natalie shook her head.
"She doesn't have any idea," she replied, "I can't just tell her"
"We'll do it together," he said, "I'm behind you every step of the way"
"Uh-huh," Natalie said distracted
"No, Natalie I mean it."
Natalie sighed inwardly. She knew that what Monk was saying he meant. Still if push came to shove… she didn't know… her thoughts were flying.
"I know you mean it," she said, "Mr. Monk do you remember when the angel came to you?"
"You mean 2 days ago," Monk asked, "yes of course"

Flashback

Monk and Natalie decided to walk to the store since it was such a beautiful day. All of a sudden as they were walking everything froze but Natalie and Monk.
"What's going on," Adrian whispered to Natalie.
"Adrian Monk," he heard his name being called and looked up to see a little girl. She was the same little girl at the mall when he had played Santa.
"How do you know my name?"
"I am really an angel," she explained, "and I am here to give you a gift. In 45 days you will be allowed to go back in time and save one person who passed. Remember this Adrian, GOOD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE—BE A GOOD PERSON"
Then she disappeared.
"Mr. Monk that's great," Natalie told him, "Now you can… um… never mind"
"I can… what can I do?"
"Nothing… it was just a fleeting thought"
"Natalie you're not making a lot of sense"
"I know," Natalie said, "I know"

Flashback ends

"You never told me what you meant when you said now you can…um… never mind"
Natalie looked down in shame. He gently raised her chin
"I had forgotten about Trudy," Natalie admitted, "and I thought for a minute maybe you could have saved Mitch"
Monk sighed inwardly. He was beginning to have conflicting thoughts. Naturally his first thought was to save Trudy. He loved her. She was his world. Without her he was just death in a living body. Here was the problem though.
Monk knew that Mitch and Julie had the same bone marrow. If it came down to it, if Julie needed a bone marrow transplant, her father's bone marrow could save her. He felt like he was caught between a rock and a hard place… and it wasn't a fun feeling at that.
"Did they say how they were going to treat it," Monk asked
"They're starting with a 10 day course of chemo and genetic therapy," Natalie told him
"Natalie," he began gently-
"Then they're weaning her off it 2 days off 8 days on but if it doesn't work-"
Damnit Monk said to himself, why do I have to love you and Julie?
"Natalie," he continued gently but a little more firmly, "I'm telling you that when I say I'm with you every step of the way you can believe I'm with you every step of the way"
"But what if times get tough?"
"And they will," Monk said, "but have I ever backed down even when times get tough?"
"No," Natalie admitted, "but what if this comes down to-"
"Natalie lets take it one step at a time. As it is my mind is reeling"
"I'm sorry," Natalie said and the tears started to flow again, "I didn't mean to-"
"You didn't do anything to apologize for. Look first thing is first. When is Julie getting home from school"
"She's not in school today Mr. Monk. It's Saturday.
"It is?
"Yes, and-"
"And then tomorrow's Sunday and following that it would be Monday"
"Yes Mr. Monk," Natalie acknowledged
 "Julie's starting chemo on Monday?"
"How did you know?"
"Most centers start on Monday as a jump off day. That way they can keep track. What is she doing today?"
"Well she slept in late," Natalie said, "she was tired"
"Yeah. When Trudy was diagnosed with a brain tumor she got a lot more tired then usual. It was after she had a miscarriage and her mood was less then extraordinary so when her personality began to change and she began sleeping later everyone thought she was depressed. Then she started doing things she didn't remember"
"Did you-"
He shook his head.
"I knew she was depressed about the miscarriage and I knew that she was upset about what happened but I also knew something was wrong. She wasn't herself. It was like the Trudy that I knew and loved had been taken over by an alien"
Natalie sighed
"But Trudy and Julie have another thing in common to. Trudy survived and Julie is going to survive. There is no way in hell I'm letting her die"