EMRIS
Mr. Monk and The Accident
Chapter Two-Bad Dog!
Seeing as I didn't really want to be alone that night, Monk allowed me to stay with him. I knew he had his quirks and I tried very hard to make sure that I didn't cause him to flip out. I was curled up on Monks pull out sofa bed as I watched him cleaning up a bit. My hair was pulled up into a ponytail, a few short strands hung down against my cheek. Randy had told me all about him and how he was on the hunt for the person that killed his wife Trudy. I couldn't imagine learning that someone you love was killed by a car bomb. I tilted my head to the side as he began dusting around the TV. It was around 11 pm now.
"Have you any luck finding the monster that killed Trudy?" I asked him gently and softly as I sat up and sat cross legged under the blanket and sheet. Monk stopped cleaning for a moment and then turned around to look at me.
"Not yet. You look like Trudy a bit…you and Natalie remind me of her," Monk said. I smiled at him. Monk stopped cleaning and then came over to me.
"What happened with your husband? Why is he in jail?" Monk inquired.
"Oh," I said softly and quietly. "He abused me…verbally and physically. There were a lot of times before I moved to New York, that I would spend nights with Randy."
Monk nodded. "Randy's a good guy. I can tell he really cares about you,"
I nodded and smiled. "Well, good-night Mr. Monk,"
Monk nodded as I began settling the alarm for 8:00. He smiled and then left the living room. I dozed off. For some reason, I felt safe here with Monk. I immediately fell into a relaxed sleep.
The next morning, I awoke to find Monk cleaning once again. I easily pushed off the covers and swung my legs over the side of the bed and got to my feet. I was still dressed in my clothes from yesterday. My hair was tousled though. I padded into the kitchen and took a seat at the table.
Monk began getting some food ready. I didn't mind how he prepared it or anything I was starving anyway. The doorbell rang. I smiled at Monk and got up from the table.
"I'll get it," I offered softly as I walked toward the door. I could hear Monk putting the pull out sofa bed away and fixing the couch so it looked normal again. I easily opened the door. Natalie stood there smiling. She held up a brown paper shopping bag.
"I brought you a change of clothes," she said eagerly as she entered the apartment. I closed the door behind her. "You look my size so I think these will totally fit you."
She stepped into the kitchen. "Morning Mr. Monk,"
Monk nodded and continued to prepare breakfast. My stomach grumbled hungrily. Natalie began sifting through the bag until she pulled out a pair of jeans and a light pink peasant style blouse as well as fresh undergarments. She pushed them into my arms and ushered me into the bathroom. While I was changing, I heard the doorbell ring again and Randy and Captain Stottlemeyer's voices next. I pulled on the blouse and looked at myself in the mirror. My own blue eyes stared back at me. My cheeks were naturally rosy, giving the illusion of blush. I had small diamond stud earrings in my ears and a matching necklace around my neck. I had to admit, I didn't look bad. Natalie's clothes fit perfectly. I smoothed out the blouse and opened the bathroom door, stepping back into the hallway and walking to where everyone was gathered around. Natalie looked up and slowly broke into a grin.
"Ah ha! They fit you perfectly," she said brightly. Randy, Captain Stottlemeyer looked up as well as Monk. I saw Randy's surprised expression but he quickly recovered himself.
"So what's for breakfast?" I asked eagerly. "I'm starving."
Monk offered the Captain and Randy some food but they politely declined. I hungrily dug into it. Captain Stottlemeyer cleared his throat.
"We're going to head down to the impound lot today to find your car," he said. "Monk's coming with us as usual."
I nodded.
After a few moments, we finished our breakfast and then headed out.
We finally arrived at the impound lot. Immediately ,I recognized my blue Ford Taurus. I pointed out my car to Monk and we headed toward it. Oddly, the lot was quiet and the owner wasn't' around. I leaned against an old beat up Volkswagen as I watched Monk carefully go over the exterior of the car, then the interior. Monk found the iced tea container in the cup holders and looked up at me.
"You got this from a fast food place right?" he asked. I nodded again. He carefully sniffed it and used his pen. "There's a white substance floating in the bottom of the cup. Did you find the tea tasting funny?"
I frowned then shook my head. Realization dawned on me. "You think someone drugged me?"
"Yes," Monk said dropping the paper cup back into a plastic evidence bag that the Captain held out. "That would explain why you blacked out."
A bit of fear crept into my chest now. Who would want to do that to me? Who would want to harm me? A tingle ran down my spine which I knew had nothing to do with the cool weather. Suddenly I heard the unmistakable clicking of nails on pavement. My body tensed up as I heard growling coming from behind me. Immediately, I saw Randy, Captain Stottlemeyer and Natalie look up. Alarm and fear crept onto their faces.
"The dogs behind me right?" I asked in a nervous tone. They nodded slowly. Randy quickly moved his hand to his gun and clicked back the hammer, slowly drawing it from its holster. I slowly turned around. It was a large Rottweiler. The dogs lip was curled back, exposing white canines and incisors as it snarled and snapped its jaws. I swallowed.
"Back up slowly," Captain Stottlemeyer instructed in a quiet tone as he too, grabbed his gun. I slowly began backing up, keeping my eyes on the dog while I was doing so. The dog snapped its jaws again, clear saliva dripping from its bottom jaws. I shut my eyes tightly as I kept slowly backing up. The dog prepared to leap and I quickly covered my face protectively, but the next thing I knew, I was knocked to the ground. I prepared for the dogs teeth to sink into my arm, but it never came. I slowly opened my eyes to see Natalie and Monk helping me to my feet. I heard the dog snarling, but when I looked, the dog had Randy pinned and was snapping its jaws trying to bite at Randy's face. Already, Randy's steel grey suit sleeve was torn and shredded. I could see some scratches already forming. I went to help him, but Natalie and Monk held me back. Captain Stottlemeyer pulled out his gun and aimed it at the dog. Randy was trying to get his own gun but wasn't able to as it had been knocked from his hand and had slid a few inches away from his hand where he couldn't reach it. Captain Stottlemeyer clicked back his hammer. At the sound of that, the dog clamped its jaws on Randy's hand. He yelped and I could see warm blood flowing. Randy struggled to keep the dogs jaws away from his face. Finally, the Captain pulled the trigger and the dog went still. Randy pushed the body off of him and got to his feet. He cradled his hand against his abdomen. Four puncture wounds were clearly visible.
"Oh my God are you alright?" Natalie demanded anxiously. Monk was cringing and keeping close to me.
"I'm fine," Randy said dismissively.
"You're going to the hospital, Randy," Captain Stottlemeyer said. "You need a rabies shot."
"Randy already has rabies," Natalie teased lightly as Randy, ignoring their urgent requests to get into the car now so he could be driven to the hospital, came toward me.
"You're okay right Gab?" he asked worriedly.
I bit my lip. I was grateful for the fact that he had pushed me out of the way, but then again, seeing that only made me feel that I was close to losing him as well. That meant 3 people I loved more than life would be taken away from me and what he had done was incredibly stupid, even though he'd meant good intentions and was only protecting me. Without a word, I angrily shoved him. He looked at me startled.
"Gab--," he began but I cut him off.
"No! I appreciate you protecting me! But you could've gotten yourself killed in the interim!" I said to him.
"Gab--," he began once again but I shook my head.
"No, I can't deal with loss again!" I said and began leaving the lot, my ponytail bouncing against my back as I walked out. I stopped walking a few feet away on the corner. I stood there, trying to keep myself from exploding with emotion. I wasn't about to burst into tears right then and there and struggled to keep myself in check. I felt a breeze blowing over my back, whipping my hair forward against my throat and cheeks. I reached up to remove some strands. That's' when I sensed someone behind me. I slowly turned around and bumped into Natalie. She was looking at me with a concerned expression on her face.
"Gab? What happened? Are you alright?" she asked worriedly.
Above us dark storm clouds began rolling in. Thunder clapped in the distance. The air took on the scent of rain. Another gust of wind blew my hair back away from my face, and I felt the tears streaming down my face. At that point, the rain began pouring down drenching the both of us. My hair clung to my head and cheeks like a helmet. Rain water rolled off my face as I regarded Natalie.
"I lost my parents," I said in a shaky voice. "Seeing Randy do that…I-I couldn't bear to see someone else I love…I couldn't lose him."
Natalie's expression changed to sympathy. She wiped a damp strand of her blond hair away from her cheek.
"Gab, I haven't known Randy that long, but long enough to know that he would do anything for those he cares about," she said softly. "He wasn't thinking of his own safety when he pushed you out of the way."
"That's just it," I sobbed as my tears began mixing in with the rainwater. "If something happened to him, I don't know…"
My voice trailed off. Over Natalie's shoulder, I spied Randy and Captain Stottlemeyer watching. They too, were soaked. Realization also formed on Natalie's face but before she could say something, I turned and began walking down the hill.
I walked for a while. When I checked my watch, I realized it was several hours. Deciding that everyone was probably worried about me, I headed back to Mr. Monk's apartment. Mr. Monk was not home. I stood outside the apartment and sighed. Looks like I was stuck out here until someone came home. Suddenly, someone came up behind me and clamped a hand over my mouth to keep me from screaming. I felt the sharp tip of a knife in my back.
Without a word, the man slammed my head against the white stucco wall. I let out a moan and slumped into a heap on the floor. I began drifting in and out of consciousness before I finally slipped into the darkness.
Against the Captain's wishes, I had finally and reluctantly allowed him to drive me to the hospital to get the dog bite taken care of. I was most worried about Gabrielle. She seemed upset about something. As we were walking back to the car, I pulled Natalie aside.
"Natalie, what's wrong with Gab?" I asked her leaning in close.
Natalie just shook her head. "Randy that's something you need to talk to her about. It's not my place to tell you,"
I glanced up at Monk. Suddenly, a strange expression came over his face.
"I think we need to get back home," he said suddenly.
"Why what's wrong?" Natalie asked him. "There's nothing wrong with the apartment."
"It's not that," Monk said slowly. "I think its Gabrielle."
Without a word, I quickly pulled open the passenger side door to the Crown Vic and slipped into the seat. We all quickly got into the cars and began heading back to Monk's apartment.
When we pulled up there, an ambulance was already there. Several people gathered around as I saw a gurney being lifted from the back of the ambulance. Once the Captain put the car in park, I was already opening the door and I leapt out of the car, hurrying toward the ambulance. I showed the EMT's my badge and then I saw Gabrielle. She was sitting on the ground against the white stucco of Monks apartment complex. There was a thin trail of blood that led down the wall to the back of her head. I rushed over to one of the EMT's.
"What happened here?" I demanded anxiously as I crouched down beside Gab.
"Apparently, someone saw this young woman standing outside here when a man dressed in black came up behind her," The EMT said as he began taking blood pressure on Gab's right arm. "According to the witness, he slammed her head against the wall here."
Behind me, I heard Monk, Natalie and the Captain rushing up. I heard Natalie gasp. I gently extended my hand out and lightly tilted Gabrielle's face toward me. Her eyes seemed glazed over but then, they cleared.
"Oww," she cringed. "What happened?"
"Apparently someone banged your head against the wall," I said to her swallowing. Gabrielle's expression turned to a puzzled one.
"Who are you?" she inquired. I felt a pang in my chest as I glanced at the EMT.
"She might have minor head trauma which causes amnesia," he said. "We'll take her to the hospital to get thorough checking over. Are you her husband?"
The EMT looked at me.
Gabrielle was watching me as though she was seeing me for the first time. This was something I never wanted to see in my lifetime. I cleared my throat and prepared to respond, when the Captain stepped forward.
"Err, no. They're best friends. We're with the San Francisco Police Department," he said putting a hand on my shoulder and giving me a gentle squeeze. I couldn't take my eyes off of Gabrielle as she looked at the Captain with confusion, and Monk and Natalie.
"We'll be down shortly to the hospital. Are you taking her to the Mary J. C Pavillion?" the Captain asked the EMT. The EMT nodded and they began carefully loading Gabrielle onto the stretcher and then into the back of the ambulance. I whirled around and began storming back to the police car. The Captain came up behind me, along with Natalie and Monk.
"Randy, they would've realized you weren't married even if you told them," the Captain said reasonably, as though reading my thoughts. I stopped in front of the Crown Victoria and whirled around to face them. My own suit and tie were soaked, and damp, but I didn't care. I reached up and rubbed the back of my neck.
"I don't care," I said heatedly to the Captain. "My own best friend doesn't even remember who we are! It's like we're complete strangers to her! I want to find the son-of-a-bitch who did this to her!"
"We know Randy," Natalie said softly and kindly. "But lying would've made it worse."
"Come on let's head to the hospital and see how she's doing," the Captain interrupted me before I could even start to retort to Natalie.
Once at the hospital, we found her in Room 225. The doctor was just writing something on a clipboard. As we stepped in, the doctor looked up.
"Are you her family and husband?" the doctor asked, turning to me.
"We're best friends," I finally said thickly. "And we're all good friends. Is she alright?"
The doctor smiled and placed Gabrielle's chart at the foot of her bed.
"Well, from the force, she sustained minor head trauma, causing amnesia," the doctor said slowly. "Now we aren't sure if this is temporary or permanent."
Natalie put a hand on my back and lightly rubbed it in sympathy. Gabrielle was watching us closely.
"For now, just try and help her around, maybe surrounding her with familiar things might trigger something," the doctor said softly as she began leaving the room. I was so angry I felt like punching the wall. Natalie took a seat beside the bed and smiled at Gabrielle.
"Hi Gabrielle. I'm Natalie. This is Leeland, Adrian and Randy. We're all good friends," Natalie said forcing her tone to remain cheerful.
A pretty blond haired woman sat down and introduced herself as Natalie. Then she gestured to an older man with a mustache and graying wheat colored hair, then onto a cute tall younger man, and finally onto a middle aged man with curly dark hair.
"Do I know you all?" I asked them curiously. I reached up and felt a white gauze that was tied around my head like a bandanna.
"We're all good friends," the woman said. "But you're best friends with Randy."
"Who's Randy?" I asked tilting my head to the side.
The woman gently grabbed a hold of the younger cuter man's arm.
"Randy sit," she said to him as she got up and forced the man to sit in her seat. He reluctantly sat down and looked at me. He had an expression on his face as though someone was torturing him.
"I'm Randy," he muttered quietly. "We're best friends."
I nodded slowly. I grabbed a notepad and began taking notes on what they looked like and what their names were.
"You all seem familiar, I just can't remember," I said frowning.
The cute man completely avoided eye contact with me.
A few days later, we were able to take Gabrielle home. She still had no clue as to who we were. This was the hardest thing I ever had to do. She was staying with Monk, who oddly, didn't cringe when she gave him a hug. I volunteered to stay too, because we all knew Monk would have a hard time taking care of himself, let alone someone who didn't even remember who she was or who we were. Whatever that bastard did to her, I was surely going to make him pay. It was around 11:30 Pm that night. Monk was already asleep and Gabrielle was sleeping back on the pullout sleep sofa. I was sitting at the kitchen table, sipping some coffee trying to stay awake. I had loosened my tie and let it hang down opened against my chest. I had also taken off my suit jacket and now sat with my medium blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up to my elbows and my tie untied around my neck like a necklace. The upper button to the shirt was also undone. I suddenly heard a noise and quickly reached for my gun. There was someone approaching me from the living room. Finally the light fell across Gabrielle's form and I relaxed and put the gun away. She was dressed in a pair of grey shorts that came slightly above her knees and a matching white tank top with spaghetti shoulder straps. Her blond hair hung around her shoulders in gentle waves. The tank top and shorts clung to her body nicely as I mentally smacked myself and watched as she approached me and pulled out a chair beside me. She sat down beside me and crossed her legs. She was wearing white socks on her ankles too. Gabrielle leaned forward.
"For some reason, I feel safer around you," she said slowly. "And I can't even remember why."
I gave her a wry smile. "Probably because I'm with the police,"
Gabrielle smiled and then spoke again. "No, I don't think that's it. Strange huh? I wish I could remember things. We were best friends right?"
I nodded.
"Did we love each other?" she inquired curiously. "On any level?"
I felt that familiar pang in my chest as I shyly lowered my eyes. I pretended to be interested in the coffee cup as I carefully thought of a response.
"Well," I said slowly, still avoiding eye contact with her. "I-I cared-err, care about you greatly. We were really close during our high school and college years."
"So you didn't love me," Gabrielle said slowly.
God Randy just admit it. Even though she won't be able to remember it, I thought and then shook my head. "I mean I did love you yes. I had always loved you I just never really was able to tell you that,"
Gabrielle looked thoughtful. "And I wish I could remember how I felt toward you,"
To my surprise, Gabrielle crossed her arms on top of the table and let her head rest in them. She gave me a smile before closing her eyes and dozing off. I gently put my jacket around her shoulders as I too, matched her position and dozed off.
The next morning, I awoke to feel the warm sunlight on my face. I yawned and sat up, but my body was stiff from sleeping in the position for such a long time. I blinked, becoming fully alert and wake now shaking off the grogginess. Gabrielle was still asleep. She looked so peaceful like this that I hated to disturb her and have to see her scared, alone and unsure of who she was or even who we were. I scooted my chair closer to hers and slowly extended my arm out, so that it rested against her folded one.
I put my face close to hers, only to feel my heart hammering against my chest. This was the first time I'd ever been this close to Gabrielle. She slowly opened her eyes. I smiled at her and even before I went to open my mouth to say Good-morning, she screamed and quickly backed away.
"Who are you?" Gabrielle said breathing heavily as fear crept into her expression. I quickly stood, holding my hands out in a defensive position.
"Easy Gabrielle. It's okay. You know me," I said to her as I heard a door close and then footsteps. I looked up and spied Monk entering the kitchen. Gabrielle immediately headed over to him and like stood behind him as though she was hoping Monk would protect her from me.
"What's going on?" Monk asked confused glancing from me to Gabrielle.
"He was trying cop a feel," Gabrielle said. "I don't even know who this sicko is."
Now, I've been called a few things in my life..annoying, and anything down that route, and probably a few other things that I care not to think about, but hearing Gabrielle call me a sicko was by far the worst thing and it cut through me like a knife.
"No! I was only trying to say good-morning to you," I protested.
"Yeah I bet you would've had a good morning," Gabrielle said wryly. Monk turned around to her.
"No, he's right you do know him. His name is Randy. I'm Adrian Monk. Remember you came home from the hospital with us last night," Monk said studying her.
Gabrielle's expression shifted to a frown. A little bit of realization dawned on her face.
"Oh yeah. The kind people from the hospital," she said slowly. "There's a blond woman named Natalie am I right? And a Captain?"
We nodded eagerly. Maybe her memory was coming back now.
"I'm sorry I just can't remember how we're related or anything like that or who I am. All I know is my name is Gabrielle," she said slumping into a chair. I hesitated before I took a seat beside her and gently extended my hand out to touch her arm. She twitched a bit, but allowed me to touch her.
But seeing her expression just me feel even worse. I slowly removed my hand off of her arm and stood up. I turned to Monk. I had it. I could not take anymore of this.
"Monk, tell the Captain that I'm out. I can't handle this anymore this is breaking my heart," I said to him.
Monk looked at me with sympathy and remorse.
"The Cap'n's gonna need your help," Monk said slowly. "We all do. We have to find out what happened to her and who did this to her. Not to mention, what happened to that woman in Gabs front seat."
I shook my head.
"I don't care about that now," I said. "I can't stand around and see her not even knowing who I am or now the fact that she's scared of me! Besides, the Captain never listens to my theories anyway."
Monk looked abashed. I reached around to my side and unclipped my badge and placed it onto the table and then pulled my gun out of its holster and placed that on the table beside the badge.
"Tell the Captain that I'm quitting. If I cant protect my own best friend, whose to say I will be able to protect everyone else in the city?" I said and looked at Gabrielle. It was totally breaking my heart to see her like this and I couldn't take it anymore. I turned to leave but felt a hand on my own. I turned back around to see Gabrielle standing there, with her hand over mine.
"Look," Gabrielle said. "If you've been a good cop all along, then you need to go on being one. Did something happen to your best friend?"
"In a matter of speaking," I said quietly.
"Then I don't think she would want you to quit, would she?"
I stared into Gabrielle's blue eyes. She was right of course. Sighing, I returned my badge to my belt and slid the gun back into its holster. I turned to Monk, determination coming across my face.
"Let's find this bastard," I said narrowing my eyes.