It was summer time in California. Children were outside playing after their nine month imprisionment at school, It has now been almost a full year since the death of his beloved, and her ever-faithful husband was near death himself.

For the past three days, he hasn't left his bed. Adrian Monk's head was throbbing with pain, and was very dizzy. He hasn't eaten anything. Whenever he tried to get up he fell over. Finally, he reached over to his phone near his bed and called up his Captian, Leland Stottlemyer.

"Adrian!" He answered joyfully. "It's been weeks! How are you?"

"Can't...talk...get over..." Adrian replied gasping, his throat on fire. He was suprised he still knew how to talk. Something was definatly wrong here.

The captian hurried over to the house and rang the bell. No answer. He tried to open the door, and much to his suprise, he found it unlocked. Leland ran inside to Adrian's bedroom. He was expecting him to be cleaning feverishly again as he was accustomed to seeing him doing. The Captian was very suprised to see him in bed. He went over to him and took him by the wrist. It was hot. Very hot and dry. His eyes were closed.

"Adrian?!" He called..."Adrian?!" He gave him a little shake. Adrian's eyes flew open and he said delierously: "Dwight! How wonderful to see you again...let me go get you some coffee." Adrian suddenly stood up and once again, he fainted in his captains arms.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw his Trudy peering at him anxiously. "Trudy...? What are you doing here?" He whispered.

"Shhhhh Adrian...shhhhh" She touched his head gently. "It's going to be okay." She replied softly with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Ohhh...Trudy...I had the most horrible nightmare." He went on to say. Adrian sat up and looked at her with tears in his eyes. "You left me..." He was weeping openly with happiness, relief of seeing her again and sadness remembered.

"Go to sleep Adrian...go back to sleep." She whispered blinking back tears.

"Trudy..my love, why are you crying?" He asked taking her by the hand gently, as if she was a precious flower that he could easily crush, even in his present sick state.

"Go back to sleep Adrian.." She layed her hand upon his forehead. "Go back to sleep....and dream."

Adrian blinked and when he opened his eyes again, he saw Stottlemyer sitting in a chair anxiously watching him, and a strange woman standing near his bed. "Captain? What are you doing here?" He asked groggily, feeling sweat chilling his body.

"Don't you remember? You called me...?" He replied raising an eyebrow.

"I did? I don't remember." Monk said. "I really don't remember anything What happend?" he asked suddenly. "All I remember is being warm. Very warm..."

"You were sick Adrian." Said the strange blond woman with a slight New Jersey accent. "Very sick..your temperature was over 105. You really should have gone to the hospital, but Stottlemyer wouldn't allow it."

Adrian took a minute to look at her. She was a very pretty woman. Tall with curly blond hair and blue eyes. Long black eyelashes. She looked vaguely familer. He just couldn't put his finger on where it was he has seen her, but he has definatly seen her before.

"You were delerious with fever. Today was the first day in almost three days you have been aware of yourself." She added. "You raved on and on in your sleep."

Adrian blushed slightly at this. "What did I say?" He asked nervously.

"You...you thought I was...you thought I was Trudy." the woman said sadly. "You thought it was just a dream...you cried a lot in your sleep. Leland here told me that Trudy was your wife. I knew I recognized you."

"What do you mean?" Adrian asked her "You look familer to me too, who are you?"

"My name is Sharona Fleming. I'm a nurse at the local hospital. I was there the day that your wife was brought in. She was banged up a lot...she looked like she was in an auto wreck. I saw you saying goodbye." She said with her funny accent.

He instantly remembered her. He saw her with the burly head nurse on the day she died. "I...I'm sorry Sharona." He said, "I don't remember thinking that you were her.."

"You were delerious Monk." Said Stottlemyer, standing up from a chair near the bed. Sharona jumped a little, she had almost forgot the Captian was still in the room. "I'm just glad you're okay now. I have to go home to Karen. She will be angry if I go anymore time without telling her about how you are doing..she will be glad to know that you came around. I have barely left this house in three days." With a roll of his eyes he left the room.

"How bad was I Sharona?" Monk asked rising a little. She motioned for him to lay down again.

"Don't get up. You'll just fall over. You are weak and thin as a rail. You need to eat..."

"How bad was I?" Adrian repeated.

"Pretty bad. You wouldn't eat, you thought I was Trudy...but you did sleep a lot."

"You're a nurse right?"

"Yes of course!" She exclaimed. "Here...take these..." She said, setting down a bottle of pills on the nightstand.

"I-I don't want to take pills." Adrian protested "I..I don't want them in my body. They could do..things."

"I'm a nurse, if you are to get better you take these!" She replied.

"Are you sure you're a trained nurse?!" Adrian cried out.

"I know you're sick, so I'm gonna disregard that. I saved your life! I made you take medicine while you were still sleeping, so you wouldn't die from that fever!"

Adrian paled and nearly vomited. "You forced pills into me?!" He asked.

"Did you want to die Adrian?!" She replied, almost yelling at him in her anger.

"I don't care! I haven't left my house in a year! Who says I don't want to die?!" He exclaimed falling back into his pillows, as if that statement made him weaker. He finally admitted it. He wanted to die. "Don't you get it? Life without her..."

"Adrian...please...take the pills. Would Trudy want you to die?!" She asked him softly. Sharona couldn't remember any patiant that made her feel this passionate about what she did.

He looked at her for a long moment. "Go...get out." He whispered. Tears in his eyes. "I want to be alone." She looked at him for a long moment then turned away and hurridly left the apartment.

Sharona slammed his front door behind her and fell against it, breathing hard. "WHAT was wrong with him?!" The blond woman stood up and walked away impatiantly down the hall to get out to her car. She had her Benjy to take care of. She didn't care if she never saw that crazy man again, Sharona told herself. "He's sick. Hasn't left his house in a year! What the Hell is wrong with him!" She asked herself as she drove for home. "I gave up time out of my day to help him, and this is what I get! Worse than Trevor." Speaking of him, he still owed her money. The hospital didn't pay much. "I'll have to call him about that. Benjy needs some new clothes. He's four, and growing fast, and I'm not going there again." She thought to herself.

Despite her orders, Adrian rose from his bed and looked out his living room window to see her drive off in her brown boat of a car. Against his deep misgivings, he knew that Sharona the nurse was officially in his life, and she wouldn't leave. Monk didn't know how to feel about that. "Did I really want to die?" He asked himself. Adrian looked over to his beloved photo of Trudy and thought to himself;

"Yes."