Mr. Monk and the Recurring Nightmare
A/N: I do not own Monk or any of it's characters, nor do I claim to. This is my first Monk FF. Hope you like it.
1. Up Early Again
"Natalie… hi. It's Adrian Monk. I know it's 5:03 am… Ho—Hold on a minute… 5:10 in the morning… no wait—let's just round down to 5 am even—I need to get a better clock… "
"Mr. Monk, what's wrong? Do you need me to come over?" A sleepy Natalie Teeger spoke into the receiver of her phone.
"I… no, no… I'm fine. I'll tell you in the morning…I mean later. Oh, Natalie… I'm a wreck." Adrian cried into the phone.
"Mr. Monk? I'll be over in 15 minutes. Stay where you are."
"No… no! Natalie please. I can just tell you here…" Adrian sounded desperate.
"Alright, if you say so."
"Natalie… I don't know how to say this without sounding… horribly, horribly childish. But the past few nights I've been having this recurring nightmare. About Trudy, I think. I can't make her face out, but she's blonde and has a sweet face. Anyway… every night for the past 4 nights I have horrible visions of her being killed in a car accident. A blue sedan with the license plate 89b-24at is speeding down the street recklessly and as she is crossing the street, I see her just barely look up in time to see this car… you know."
"Oh, Mr. Monk… I'm so sorry. Just wondering… does the woman actually get hit by the car, or is it only implied—you know, one minute she is walking the next minute she is lying in the street?"
"I see her get hit about half the time. The other half, it is implied. And sometimes… I'm driving the car. Other times, I'm just another pedestrian on the sidewalk. I wake up in a cold sweat in my dream—and I think I'm really awake… but when I settle back down to sleep, the nightmare picks up where it left off. "
"This sounds rather transparent to me… not to trivialize or anything. You obviously feel guilty about Tru—"
"it may or may not have been Trudy. Let's keep it ambiguous-- and what do you mean Transparent …"
"Ok… about this woman. You feel responsible. Sometimes you blame yourself, and sometimes you feel like you were helpless to stop it from happening. And what I meant by "transparent" wasn't that you're predictable or easy to read. These symbols are just classic. I'm sure if you asked Dr. Kroger, he'd say the same thing."
"Alright." Adrian sighed. "Here's the thing though. I almost feel like I've seen it happen before in reality. And it's almost spooky enough to say that a part of me is predicting something like this happening in the near future. Natalie, Please. I don't know what to do."
"Mr. Monk. I'm really flattered that you'd call me and I really wish there was something I could do to help you, but tomorrow is a school day for Julie—she's going on a camping trip for 4 or 5 days with her school-- , and I would have to wake her in order to come over to your apartment. I already have to get her to school and hour and a half earlier than usual… Listen, Mr. Monk. All I can think of is that you need to get sleep or these dreams will come back full force. I used to get nightmares like that when I was a little girl. In fact, I still get them occasionally. I think they're called something like 'waking nightmares' or 'night terrors'. They are probably caused by a lack of sleep." Natalie stopped, as she could hear quiet sobbing on the other end.
"Mr. Monk? Everything all right?" the sobbing got louder. Natalie sighed and waited for a moment.
"Ok. Here. You get into bed with the cordless phone and I'll stay on the line with you until you fall back asleep. Just remember, Adrian. None of this was your fault. Please stop blaming yourself…"
The sobbing had turned into a quiet whimpering. All Natalie could hear now was quiet panting and sniffling.
"Ok, Natalie. I'm in bed." Adrian whispered.
"Ok. So here's the deal. We're not going to talk about your you-know-what. Instead, I'm going to ask you what you're doing later today." She sighed quietly.
"Oh, well, I have a couple of doctors appointments I have to go to in the morning… and by a couple… I mean five."
"Oh. Well. I hope they go well. Do you want to go out to lunch with me? I found a nice new café close to you, actually." Natalie slid back down into her bed and under the covers.
"I…I don't know, Natalie," Adrian said, nervously dismissing her offer, "you may have to come with me to my appointments. I can't stand doctor's waiting rooms. "
"Well, we'll see then. What time do you need me?" Natalie realized quickly how much of a push over she had become for Adrian. But she bit her lip and waited for his reply.
"Around 9. No…8:30? I… I don't know. I'll call you."
Adrian didn't even say thank you. It was as if she was expected to throw her plans away for him without question, on a moments notice. To most people, this would have been an unacceptable relationship. But to Natalie, it was the only way to get paid. She had gotten used to it. She wondered if he had treated Sharona the same way.
The two of them continued on the phone for a good 45 minutes. Natalie had become good at falling asleep while still managing to listen to other people. Her eyelids slipped back over her eyes, as Mr. Monk would occasionally speak in a whispered mumbling tone of voice. Natalie's responses became more and more obviously distant.
Deep down, Adrian didn't care if she was falling asleep. He appreciated the extent to which Natalie tolerated him. But his impulses got the best of him.
"Natalie! Please wake up or I'll never be able to fall back asleep…" Monk cried into the receiver.
Natalie snorted delicately as she was jolted back into a conscious state.
"…Mr. Monk. You'll be fine. Listen… I have to go to sleep or I'll be totally useless. I hope you can get some sleep too. I'll see you in a few hours, ok?" She hung up without waiting for his reply and turned over in her sheets.
Monk stumbled sleepily into his living room with a pillow and a blanket and slid onto the tanned pleather couch. Trudy would protect him. She would look after him.
