A family member of mine has passed away and I will have to go home. I apologize in advance if there is some time between this chapter and the next.
On another note, I have never written anything this intense and dark - it is quite the challenge. I feel like Dean Koontz or something. I promise by the end though, our favorite characters will find the light again.
-Rachel
Chapter 4
Doctor's Orders
There was a quiet hum somewhere in the far distance. Natalie scrunched her eyebrows together, confused. Where was she? Was it all a dream? Was she dead?
She slowly peeled her eyes open. The first thing she saw was a fluorescent light. Ah, the hum. She blinked hard and looked around the room. Eggshell walls enclosed her, and the smell of disinfectant was almost overwhelming.
Suddenly, Julie was in her field of vision, standing over her. "Mom?" She felt a small warm hand on her forearm. "You're awake," she spoke with a small smile.
Natalie tried to speak, but something within her halted her advances.
"Are you okay?" She prodded lightly.
Natalie gave a watery smile and placed her hand over top of Julie's. She nodded gingerly as a nurse walked in with Monk in tow.
"Look who's up," the nurse flashed Natalie a gentle smile as she checked her vitals.
Natalie tried to sit up and yelped from the pain seemingly coming from every part of her body.
"Oh, honey. Don't try to move too fast. Your body is working to heal a lot," the nurse said as she rushed to Natalie's side. "I'll let you visit before I fetch the doctor. Take it slow," she warned in a comforting voice.
Julie sat down in one of the guest chairs and watched as Monk approached her mother apprehensively.
Natalie slowly rose her eyes to hold Monk's gaze and as soon as she did, a sudden sob caught in her throat. Tears poured down her cheeks and she relinquished to the soft sobs. She began rocking as everything that had led up to this moment came back to her.
Monk's face fell. He moved to place a hand on her blanket-covered leg, causing her to recoil and hug her knees to her chest.
He took a big step back, worried he had startled her. "Y-You're okay Natalie, you're safe now," he said in a timid voice.
"Julie, w-why don't you go down to the café, and get some lunch? Give your mother a minute to rest." Monk had always been pretty good with Julie, for the most part.
Julie nodded, her eyes wide with worry as she scurried to the café.
"Mr. M – Adrian," Natalie wiped at her face and squeezed her legs closer to her body. "I-I was so scared, I'm still so scared." She pushed the covers off of her. "I just – I need," she looked down at her legs.
Her eyes fell over a series of blue and purple spots, cuts and abrasions. There were bandages on the larger ones. Monk's eyes followed hers and he twitched. She had not observed her body in the harsh fluorescent light. She brought her wrists around and looked at the gauze taped there.
Monk did not empathize well with other people. It had never been a strong suit of his. That was, until Trudy. And now, as he felt the twinge of pain in his heart for the petite woman laying before him, he knew his feelings for Natalie had blossomed into a similar manifestation of what he felt for Trudy. He wanted to hold her. He wanted to make her pain go away. He wanted her to never have gone through what she went through.
"You don't have to be scared anymore, I won't leave you," he affirmed.
As Natalie raked over her body, she couldn't fathom him saving her in that state. Disgusting, she thought. She had been bloody, abused, and naked in the river. And now, she was broken and forever stained by that man. She didn't want him to look at her in pure disgust, like he did everything else in the world. She didn't want him to see the disgust that she now painted her body and soul in.
"Please, just leave me alone," she whispered.
Monk twitched. She wanted him to leave. He wrung his wrists together and averted his eyes.
"I want to go home," she exclaimed. "Please, just let me go home. I don't want to see you, I don't want to see anyone!"
"They said you would get the OK to be released once they've gotten some test results back. It should be tomorrow morning, if everything looks good," Leland said as he strolled in the room. "Come on Monk, Natalie needs to rest." He paused to give her a sympathetic look. "I'm glad to see you recovering, Natalie. It's good to have you back."
But Natalie knew she wasn't back. She didn't think she ever would be. She watched the two leave and a doctor brush past them to join her. "Gentlemen," he nodded as they left. "Hey there, Natalie. How're we holding up?"
Natalie had been given her discharge papers and was being helped by the nurse to gather her belongings when the doctor approached Monk and Captain Stottlemeyer.
"Gentlemen," he stated as he shook Leland's hand. He thrusted his hand out to Monk, whom simply shook his head in response. He cleared his throat and shoved his hands in the pockets of his lab coat.
"Look, I wanted to lightly brief you on Natalie's condition before she goes home. She's suffering from severe internal bruising and some tears. The test results for any sexual diseases she may have contracted came back negative, so that's a God send."
Monk twitched and rolled his neck uncomfortably.
"It's going to take her some time to heal through the damage done to her body; however, I'm more concerned about her mental state. Patients that have suffered a great deal of trauma like this have tendencies to self-harm, partake in erratic behavior, really, there's no telling how she will react as she tries to go forward with her life. I ask that you keep a close eye on her and provide excellent support through this time." He paused to hand them a small stack of business cards.
"These are some names of psychiatrists that I have directed patients to in the past, most of which are women. Natalie may have trouble trusting or being around men at this time, understandably. I've prescribed her some pain medication and some antibiotics to help her body fight off infections on her wounds. Some of the antibiotics are topical. They'll need to be applied if she is unable to do so herself, given the pain."
He patted Monk's arm. "Gentlemen, if you or Natalie need anything, don't hesitate to call."
With that, he strode down the long corridor and out of view.
Natalie was silent in the backseat as they drove to her house. An eerie silence. Monk looked over to see a single tear traveling down her face and he quickly looked away again, feeling as though he had intruded on her privacy.
Leland brought the car around to her front driveway. He turned to look at Natalie. "Julie's already inside, I called your parents like you asked. They should be here soon to pick her up."
"Y-your parents are taking her?" Monk asked, surprised. Natalie and her parents did not get along very well. He couldn't imagine her giving consent voluntarily for them to take Julie.
"I don't want her to see me like this, not after the hospital," she said quietly and opened the car door to get out.
Monk joined her outside of the car and leaned in through the window, careful not to touch it. "Thank you for the ride, Captain."
"Anytime," he gave a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Call me if you need me."
Monk turned around as Leland pulled out of the drive to find Natalie had already reached her front door. She stood there in deep thought and gripping her side in what appeared to be agony. Monk guessed it was the nasty bruise by her ribs that he had seen at the river.
"Julie will be happy to see you home," he spoke from behind her as he made it to the front door.
Natalie said nothing as she pushed it open and stepped inside the foyer. There were packed over-night bags stacked beside her. Julie appeared from the kitchen and smiled warily. "Grandma and Grandpa should be here any minute." She walked over to her mom and gathered her in a warm embrace. "I'm glad you're home."
Natalie gripped her hard and fell to her knees without a word.
"Mr. Monk is going to stay, right? He's going to make you all better and then I can come back home," Julie said as tears of her own filled her eyes.
"Yes, sweetheart. I'm going to be all better," she responded, though she was terrified that, that wasn't true.
The door opened behind Monk and nearly hit him. "Ah!" He exclaimed loudly and jumped out of the door frame.
Peggy Davenport emerged from behind the door like a phoenix out of the ashes. "Darling!" She yelled and doubled over to squeeze her daughter and granddaughter.
"Ahh!" Natalie suddenly screeched in pain and scooted away from them, falling on her side. Her face twisted in anguish.
"Oh, Sweetheart, I'm so sorry." Peggy placed her hand delicately over her mouth and Julie jolted to her feet in terror.
Natalie winced as she slowly climbed to her feet. "I-I-," it was too much. It was all too overwhelming, and Natalie ran as fast as her damaged body would take her to her bedroom.
"I-um, I should go check on her," Monk stated dumbly.
Peggy was uncomfortable with the scene that had played out before her. She couldn't handle it, herself and picked up Julie's bags. "And we should be going," she rubbed Julie's back.
"But, Mom-," Julie looked confusedly between the two. Her instincts told her to check on her mom, aid her in her time of need, but her grandmother shook her head.
"We'll be back, Darling. Your mother needs some time to process all of this." She led Julie out of the door and didn't look back at Monk.
Monk approached the door cautiously. He slid his sleeve over his balled-up fist and knocked an even four times. "Natalie?"
He could hear stifled sobs sounding from behind the door. He cleared his throat and his body jerked slightly. "Natalie?" He called again, this time softer.
"I want to be alone, Mr. Monk," she nearly screamed, and he twitched again.
"O-Okay…I'll be out here," he said awkwardly, not entirely sure what the right thing to do was.
On the other side of the door, Natalie was curled into herself on the carpeted floor. She could feel the fibers rubbing roughly against her skin as she shook violently. Tears rolled down her cheek and she bit her knuckle, trying to calm herself.
She looked at her bed, envious of the woman she was days before – the woman that could plop down in bed after a long day, feeling safe and content under her oversized comforter. Where did that woman go? Was she gone forever?
Natalie crawled to it then, heaving herself up by the mattress. She craved the comfort and safeness she felt once before, and she would grasp at any illusion to achieve it.
She spotted the picture of Mitch she kept on her nightstand. He was dressed in his uniform, decorated by his many medals. His face was so sure, so confident. She wished he was here, holding her and making the rest of the world disappear.
She could hear his voice in her ear, "It's okay Natalie. It's all okay, honey." She remembered how he would help her through all of her hardships, yet the two biggest challenges she faced, she faced alone. The first being his death and the second, she was still deeply in the throes of.
She hugged the picture to her chest and let silent tears soak her pillow. She suddenly felt her soul scratching to get out of her skin. She just wanted to crawl out of her skin. "Please, come back. Come back, Mitch," she cried. "Come back!" She screamed a blood curdling scream.
Monk jumped to his feet from his perfectly positioned spot on the couch. He bolted for the door and banged on it. One, two, three…four.
"Natalie!" He yelled in response. "I'm coming in!"
There was no response, only the sound her screaming and crying loudly.
He rattled the doorknob, but it was securely locked. He heaved and shouldered into it, sending it flying open on the hinges.
Before him, Natalie was contorted in a twisted position, clutching the bed so fiercely that her knuckles were sheet white.
He rushed over to her, but she shot up suddenly, resting on the balls of her feet and she chucked the picture of Mitch as hard as her sore arm would allow. The picture frame hit her closet door with a loud smash and shattered on impact. Glass shards were spit in every direction and Monk covered his ears, squeezing his eyes shut tightly at the same time.
She sobbed uncontrollably, and an animalistic sound escaped from deep within her. "Make it stop, please! This isn't real, it's not real!" She cried. Monk twitched harshly, but moved to the bed, reluctantly wrapping his arms around her. He didn't know what the right move was, he didn't think there was one.
"Shh-sh," he tried pathetically.
She thrashed around in the confines, but it was purely instinct when Monk only tightened his grip, finally leaning into her. She was inconsolable, but he had to try. He had to bring his Natalie back from the brink of sole survival.
Feel free to leave a comment, I really enjoy reading what you think about the chapters. Thank you for reading!
