A rush of ice-cold water swallowed Natalie's body like quicksand as she sped through its surface and down into its deep, propelled by the ninety-pound anchor that was tethered to her leg. The tug of the chain cut a line into her flesh that turned her ankle a deep purple shade. She struggled to get free but it was useless as the sheer weight of the water pressure around her forced a salty stream up her nose, choking her and robbing her of precious Oxygen. She became light headed and felt she might pass out, but suddenly worry-overtook-worry when something large brushed against her. The only thing her disoriented mind could think of at the time was 'shark', for her eyes could not distinguish forms in the murky waters and her sense of fear was heightened exponentially. Seconds later, that sense was relieved when she discerned the warm fingers of her beloved grabbing one of her arms, slowing her descent and pulling her towards him. Then came the strange feeling of Adrian Monk's hands scaling down her body, assiduously avoiding touching her in places that his propriety would not allow. Eventually, he made it to her feet and she could feel him fumbling with the lock. Seconds later, she felt a snap and then a quick release which catapulted her upwards and sent Monk spiraling down. Flipping herself around she prepared to go and release him, but he managed to untangle himself from the chain and joined her, grasping her hand as they swam together towards the surface. Together, they pierced the veil into open air and gasped their first breath of oxygen together. They each coughed up copious amounts of the briny bath before Adrian looked over at his love and swallowed back grateful tears. His Natalie was saved.
Recovering somewhat from the trauma, Natalie looked over Monk's shoulder and spotted the life buoy.
"Look! Over there! It's a flotation device. Stay here and tread water." she instructed.
"Wait. What kind of fl-flotation device?" he asked, grabbing her by the arm.
"What do you mean?"
"Are you sure it isn't a toilet seat?" he asked.
"Now why would...?" she replied. Then she grinned, recalling an earlier experience of his. "It's not a toilet seat. It's the lifebuoy from the boat. I saw Steven throw it out. Wait here."
While Monk kept himself afloat, Natalie swam over to the lifebuoy, finding that the regulation ring used on the yacht was large enough to support two. She dragged it over to Adrian and instructed him to get inside of the ring with her and hold on. At first he refused.
"Uh...no. That's okay. You can hold on to it. I'd rather it save you."
"No. It's big enough for both of us. Seriously. Look." she showed him by holding it up. He wouldn't budge. She knew it was something else."Okay, what's the matter?"
"Um...it's just...well...here's the thing."
She waited for him to say more, but he only cryptically tugged on the fabric on the shoulder of his shirt then nodded at her. She thought for a moment and then looked down at her own flimsy white blouse, which in the water showed a little more than she wanted it to. "Oh for goodness sake! Adrian Monk, if we're getting married you're going to have to get used to touching me."
"B-but...what you're wearing is s-so thin and..."
"And, I am NOT Trudy." She replied. "You WILL be touching me so might as well practice now."
Monk bowed his head in embarrassment. He knew it was ridiculous to put his own safety and well-being underneath that of his fear of intimacy but he couldn't help the struggle.
Natalie sensed this and lowered her voice. "Sweetheart, I know it's silk and a little thin, but we're fully dressed and submerged. You're not going to see anything, other than maybe my bra strap. Now come here and hold your fiancée!"
"B-but..." he protested.
She reached over and grabbed his collar then dragged him to herself, wrapping her arm around his neck and planting a passionate kiss against his mouth. He froze at first, but as her warmth rested against him found himself relaxing.
"Now, is this so bad?" she asked as she saw the tension leave his face.
Blissfully, he smiled. "No. This is...nice." She felt his arms wrap around her waist as he held her tightly to himself, resting his head over her shoulder.
"There you go!" she said before kissing the back of his neck and then reaching over to drag the life ring over to them and slipping it overtop of them. "Now I need you to hold on to this."
"Like this?" he asked.
"Yes. I'll hold onto the side."
She ducked below the buoy and came up on the other side, getting herself situated so that the majority of him was supported by the ring. He looked okay at present but she was concerned about the affects of the allergen. She was looking at him, trying to assess his condition when he returned her gaze with an anxious look, asking, "Are you okay?"
Natalie was touched by the selflessness in his question. Here he was in danger and the only thing he was worried about was her.
"I'm fine." she said softly, even as he looked at her, at once mesmerized by her beauty in the dewy deep, and smiled shyly, showing off those dimples that drove her crazy before taking her hand to his lip and kissing it.
"That's good." He said as he bobbed up and down in the ocean water. "That was scary."
"It was. How are you feeling?" she asked with concern.
He paused for a moment before answering. "Okay so far. I have a weird sensation of pinpricks where he gave the injection." he said, motioning to his neck where the needle had gone in. In reality, he wasn't telling her the whole truth, trying to spare her of the worry that he himself was feeling. The pinpricks were not only at the injection site but also running down his extremities to the degree that earlier, he could barely hold the key in order to unlock her. He knew the reaction was kicking in.
She reached forward her hand and brushed it through his now wetted-down curls, enjoying the feel of his hair between her fingers.
"Well, try to relax. Steven is gone and we're not far from shore. I'm sure someone will see us soon and rescue us. It's going to be okay." She noticed a far away concerned look in his eyes as he scanned the horizon. "Hey. You're going to be okay." she said, kissing his knuckles. "You hear me? We're going to be rescued."
"Yeah." Monk nodded, still looking for signs of any help. "I hear you." He heard, but he wasn't so sure he believed.
Stottlemeyer's crew cruised the waters off of California, using binoculars to look for the Navy Yacht as they drove out towards the Ocean. Given the wideness of the water's expanse, they could be anywhere so having the GPS coordinates was essential to the mission of intercepting Albright and saving Monk and Natalie before he hurt them - or worse. Navy Brass was more than happy to comply with the request, once they finally found someone to take the call, and soon the Coast Guard was speeding off towards Bird Island, a rock formation just off the coast where the yacht appeared to be heading. With any luck, the faster 25 foot response boat could outrun the yacht. Be that as it may, Leland knew if they actually could head them off things could get messy. He formulated a plan with the team of how they were to proceed. Albright was dangerous, so the last thing he wanted was casualties – particularly his friends.
Back in the water, the couple hung on to the lifebuoy with all that they had. And, what Adrian Monk had was not much. Physically depleted from the onboard fight, he could practically feel the toxin as it flowed through his veins like warm candle wax touching the surface of one's skin, stinging and yet strangely soothing as well. He tried not to think about it, instead trying to use his mind to figure a way out of their predicament. He looked around for land and could see coastland about two miles away. Then, he saw a flash at the peak of it. Closing his eyes, he recalled from memory the maps he had studied in his early teenage years. Immediately, he knew where they were.
"That's got to be Point Bonita." He said, pointing over Natalie's shoulder. She kicked her legs underneath them and whirled the ring around so that she could see. She noted the land and the flash, but also saw where it was quite a distance away.
"Do you think we could make it?" she asked.
"Possibly, but it's what we'd find once we got there is the problem." Monk replied feeling the crash of the waves against his body beginning the grow. "The lighthouse is on a cliff. The whole area is cliff as a matter of fact, and we're drawing up on high tide. I know there is a small rock outcropping at the base of Point Bonita but with the waves being as they are, we might get dashed to pieces if we even tried. If we could somehow angle ourselves North. There's some beach in that direction. The tide could carry us in and we'd have a place to land."
"Okay, then North it is." She replied. "You think you can kick?"
Truthfully, Monk wasn't sure how long he would last but nodded his head. "I studied freestyle kicking quite a bit." He reported.
"As part of your correspondence?" she asked.
"Yes. You'd be surprised at how much you could learn without actually having to jump in the water." He replied, as he maneuvered to her side. They began to kick, holding the life ring in front of them and soon striking a pattern to where they were moving along at a fairly quick clip. Natalie saw some sort of boat coming in the distance and tried to scream towards its direction but they were still too far out to be heard, particularly over a motor. Monk saw it too and looked up at Natalie, secretly worried about how she would handle things if he should perish at sea. He had to survive long enough to get her to safety. That was his one goal at that time. After that, he could care for the rest.
The coast guard vessel hugged the coast as it rounded the bend out of Bonita Cove and past Point Bonita. Alicia kept the binoculars facing straight ahead, while the men looked everywhere for the yacht. Knowing its size, they figured they would see him before he could see them and then they would have the element of surprise. They didn't hear Natalie calling out for them nor were they necessarily considering this possibility at the time - only the yacht. And so they sped on along the coast, passing the couple and driving towards Bird Island as they planned.
In addition to this, minutes after the call came in, a helicopter from the Coast Guard's air station about 13 miles south of Downtown took off from near San Francisco International and went streaking along the skies at breakneck speed. Leland's contact did good. The cavalry was engaged.
Monk and Natalie had only been kicking for about the length of a football field when she noticed his breathing becoming heavier. Glancing over at him, she saw that he was looking fatigued and took note of some redness that had begun to appear upon his forehead and cheeks.
She reached over to him and touched him on the shoulder. "Do you mind if we rest for a minute?" she asked, noting the naturally relieved look in his eyes as he cleared his throat then said 'Sure. That would be…fine."
He laid his cheek against the ring for a moment and shut his eyes as the rhythmic up and down of the waves, like a cradle, began to lull him to sleep. Seconds after he began to drift off, a huge wave came crashing down on him, breaking him away from the life ring and Natalie, plunging him beneath the water. Like the water that submerged him, a feeling of terror engulfed him and his fight or flight reflex kicked in, inadvertently drawing him further away from Natalie and the lifebuoy as he struggled not to drown.
Natalie watched in horror as the waves carried him away and she recognized what was happening. She had spent a little time as an assistant lifeguard when she was in high school and knew it was dangerous to try to save someone when they were panicked as he was, so she calmed herself enough to raise the life ring in the air and did her best to toss it his way, holding on to the rope that was attached to it, normally used for rescues such as this.
"Adrian!" she screamed. "Grab on to the float. Adrian!"
Monk's heart was pounding too hard to hear her and he felt like he was being sucked into a whirlpool. He spun and bobbed up and down, under and over the surface of the water. "Nat-" he screamed, taking on water, coming up for air, he began to choke.
Seeing that he wasn't thinking clearly enough to follow her instructions, Natalie decided to risk it and went in from behind. Wrapping her arms tightly around his chest, she hugged him, keeping him from turning around and pulling her under. She tucked her face right up near his ear and whispered, soothingly.
"I've got you, baby. It's okay. Just calm down. You're not going to drown. Shhhhh... Relax in my arms. It's okay. Don't fight. I've got you. You're going to be okay."
Within seconds he stopped kicking, though his breathing was terrible as he struggled for air.
"Shhhhhh…." She continued to whisper, pulling his now pendulous body from behind along the water and reuniting it with the float.
"Here we go." She said. "Now give me your arm….that's it." She took his arm and wrapped it around the float, then pulled herself close to him, holding his arms taut to the float while he regained some strength. Kissing his face she hugged him close as she was apt to do whenever he would become afraid. He calmed down further, but as she watched him with worried eyes she saw where the redness had grown deeper and was developing into welts. His breathing was also becoming more shallow and she knew the poison was beginning to overtake him.
Bird Island was less than a mile away from Point Bonita Lighthouse and with the helicopter reaching the area first, the team learned that the yacht was not there. Unsure of what to do next, they didn't have to wonder for long when the helicopter radioed back that it had spotted the boat, deliberately run aground in an alcove just north of Rodeo beach. The helicopter team was attempting to land in the area and would report back on their findings.
As the team considered this, the Coast Guard patrolman continued to head North to meet up with the helicopter team; but Randy had a strange feeling that they were on the wrong track. Cupping his chin in his hand, he gave the appearance of being deep in thought.
"What is it Disher?" Alicia asked. Leland looked over as well.
Randy shook his head. "I don't know. I just have a feeling."
"What kind of feeling?" Stottlemeyer asked, knowing that while Randy often had oddball theories, sometimes his intuition was right.
Randy looked around at their surroundings as the boat continued to speed along the coast. "This is wrong. We're on the wrong track." He replied, then he stood. "I think we're going the wrong way."
"Why would you say that? That's stupid." Alicia replied.
"Prince!" Leland barked. "Respect!"
Alicia lowered her head and grumbled something under her breath. Stottlemeyer glared at her, unamused, but decided to let it go.
"What are you thinking, Randy?" he asked.
Randy looked at Leland questioningly. "If Albright had Monk and Natalie out on a yacht, would he run them ashore and try to take off on foot like that in broad daylight? I mean, don't you think that's a bit risk near a public beach? They could yell or draw attention to themselves…"
"So, you thinking he is alone?"
Randy looked at Leland. "Yeah. I think we should turn back. Look along the shoreline or, heaven forbid, in the water."
Alicia scoffed. "You've got to be kidding me! Turn back? We're less than a mile away. We can't turn back now. Besides, we were watching the water. What if they are hurt and still on the boat?"
"She has a point." Leland replied. "We didn't see anyone along the way. He wouldn't have to have taken them along."
"That's true." Randy answered without argument.
"So it's settled. We'll check out the boat and then if nobody is there, do a search along the coastline as we head back." Leland replied.
By now, Adrian's anxiety had kicked into full gear. His breathing was becoming very labored and she noticed how his heartbeat was pounding so fiercely that it felt like it would burst out of his chest. She wasn't sure if this was because of the toxin or because of a panic attack but she knew she had to calm him down.
"Tell me a story." She said, trying to divert his attention.
"A s-story?" he breathed.
"Yeah. Tell me a story about something fun, like when you and Leland were partners on the force."
Monk closed his eyes, trying to ignore the tightness in his throat and the heaving of his chest up and down in order to please his Natalie. "Um…a story…" he said, snickering a little. "Okay…I've got one…Le-land has…always been a good…cop. Best c-cop I…know. But...but when we…first met…he wasn't..." he stopped and swallowed and coughed a little and continued, keeping his eyes closed. "He wasn't the well…put together…person…you see today."
Natalie nervously stroked his shoulder to soothe and comfort him. "No?" she asked. "In what way?"
He grinned slightly "Truthfully…he was…a bit of…a..sl-slob. D-don't tell him, that...I said that."
Natalie giggled, "I won't." she said, curling some of Adrian's hair around her finger.
Opening his eyes slightly, he looked at her. "He…he used to g-get mad at me…" he chuckled. "I would…polish his shoes. He…he had this expensive pair... of brown leather shoes. He was a little…r-rough with them…because he wanted them to look...aged... I never understood…that trend, but…that's not unusual." he said trailing off. Natalie leaned forward and kissed the side of his head.
"What happened next?" she asked.
"Huh?" he asked. "Oh...I…I saw these shoes and how…rough they...look...looked. Thought…I'd be…nice and help…him."
"So you polished his shoes he was trying to get the patina on?"
"Yeah." Monk smiled.
"What did he do?" she asked.
Monk laughed. "Got mad…but…but then, com...commissioner…he stopped by. Gave Leland a promotion…directly mentioned how pro-professional Leland behaved as a cop...and how professional he looked…I think…I think...that's why he always wears a tie w-when he's...on duty."
Natalie smiled. "That's a wonderful story! Tell me another."
Monk opened his eyes and looked over at Natalie. His eyes were very sleepy. "I will...in a minute...I need to rest...just a second."
"Oh. Alright, just lean your head over on my shoulder." she said, trying not to let on how worried she was as his coloring was now beginning to look off. He continued to pant. Moving over towards his fiancée, he put his head on her shoulder then looked briefly up at the sky."Looks like it's going to rain."
Natalie furrowed her brow and looked up at the sky as well. It was a sunny day and not a cloud to be seen.
"Why do you think that?" she asked.
He looked over at her. "Can't…can't you see how dark…it's getting?"
Without intending to do so, Natalie's eyes registered a fear which he picked up on. He looked down for a moment and then worriedly at the sky again at last returning his eyes towards her. He could feel the heat of the sun still beating on his skin but everything looked dimmer than before.
"It's…it's not getting…dark. Is it, Natalie?"
She swallowed and ran her hand along the back of his head as tears filled her worried eyes.
Closing his eyes, he looked at her still gasping and again feeling the effects the poison was having on his body. "I…I'm losing the battle."
"No, Adrian! Don't talk like that!" she said. "You're going to make it! You're going to pull through. Don't you dare give up! We've got a wedding ahead of us and a future to plan and we've got the detective agency and babies…"
"Babies?" he asked softly.
Natalie looked him in the eyes. "Yes. Babies. If you don't hang on and pull through then we will never be able to have that together and you'll deny me my dream."
"Are...are you really sure that you...want to... I mean...with all my…problems?" he said.
"Everyone has problems and everyone's problems are unique. Yes, you have some challenges but they also make you who you are and I wouldn't exchange a single compulsion for anything else. I love you how you are, quirks and all."
Monk lowered his head, humbled by the thought and hugged her tightly.
Then, Natalie decided to try to lighten the mood a bit.
"Besides." She quipped. "You don't want to die a virgin, do you?"
She felt Monk inhale sharply at her words and was afraid she may have offended him; but then, she felt the muscles of his cheek move against her neck as a grin appeared on his face, then felt his body began to shake with laughter as he buried his face against her shoulder. She smiled, holding him tight and kissing his temple.
"Decidedly, no." was his wry response.
She chortled at his comment, then held him tight again, stroking his hair. "So see, you have everything in the world to live for so I'm expecting you to fight. None of this 'I can't make it' stuff. You're going to make it. You understand? You must!"
Arriving at the alcove, the boat team met with the helicopter team who informed them that there was nobody left on board the marooned vessel and there was one set of footprints out on the beach.
Leland placed his hands on his hips and looked at Alicia, shaking his head. He looked over at Randy who looked at him expectantly.
"They have to be out there." Disher said.
Glancing at Alicia, Stottlemeyer pursed his mouth then nodded. "Alright. Let's turn this boat around and go look for them. There's still a few hours of sunlight. If they're out there, we should see them."
In the ten minutes that followed their discussion, Natalie held Adrian and felt his body struggling more and more for breath. His throat was now making a wheezing sound that sounded quite scary but her biggest challenge was keeping him awake. If another wave came to topple them, she at least wanted him alert enough that he could hold on to her. Feeling his heartbeat pound against her flesh though and seeing no rescue in sight made her very fearful. She said a prayer.
About a minute later, Monk was resting his cheek on her shoulder and she felt him kiss her neck. She gave him a light squeeze.
"H-hey…Natalie." He breathed, weakly.
"Yes, my darling." She replied.
"You remember that…t-time…wh-when you …r-rented that office?" he asked.
"The one we're using for the detective agency?"
"Yeah."
"Yes, I remember." She replied. "What about it?"
"'member what…gr...grandpa Neville s-said?" he replied, beginning to slur his words a bit but still understandable.
"Leap and a net will appear?" she asked, stroking his cheek
"Mmm..hmmm…" he responded. He was quiet for a moment then inhaled deeply…"Remember when….when I was on the boat with…that guy?"
"Yes. Jay Bennett. The guy that killed his mistress. You jumped off the boat and swam, and then we found you."
"That...that's right." He said softly. "Remem-remember what…I said, when you rescued me?"
Natalie chuckled. "Yes. How could I ever forget it? You said, 'leap and a net will appear, my ass.'"
Monk smiled and she felt him nodding up and down. "Yeah…well…I was wrong."
"Wrong? What do you mean? How were you wrong?" she asked.
He paused a moment. "I...want you...I want you to know this...I…I thought it was…a dumb…saying. But…in reality, Natalie…you were my net."
Natalie's chin began to quiver and her eyes overflowed with salty tears as he continued.
"You were…the one who saved me…you..you gave me…the will…to live…you...you made me happy...again."
Natalie turned her face into his neck and hugged him tightly kissing his face, then raised his face up with her hands kissed him on the lips. His eyes were weak and dim and he was gasping with regularity now, but his love for her was painted on every feature. Looking at her, his eyes pooled with tears as well. "I love you." He breathed.
Cupping his face with both of her hands, she again pulled his mouth to hers and kissed him again. "I love you so much, Adrian…so very very much. Please, hold on for me now…" she whispered. "Don't you dare leave me. Not now."
He didn't respond but continued struggling for air as the tides whipped beneath them.
"Okay, Monk said he started at Bonita Cove and if the boat ended up on Rodeo beach, we have about two or three miles of stretch we're looking at." Stottlemeyer reasoned. "Albright couldn't have taken them out far because he didn't get far. They have to be somewhere around here."
The coast guard patrol boat went slower this time because it was now considered a search and rescue mission and so all eyes were on the water.
About a mile from the lighthouse a call came in from the helicopter.
"Yes?" the guardsman said, talking on the onboard phone. "Where? Okay! Great! We're on our way!"
Leland looked towards the young man who turned to him with a smile. "They've been spotted. About a mile away from the lighthouse towards the Ocean."
"Fabulous! Let's go!" Leland said with a smile.
"Yes, sir!"
Hot tears streamed down Natalie's face as she felt her fiance's body leaning completely limp against her own. He was no longer responding, but she could feel his heart pounding against her chest so she knew he was alive, for now. She was very afraid that he was going to die in her arms and she didn't want for him to be afraid, so she whispered words of love to him, not sure if he was able to hear them, but hoping they would comfort him just the same. And, she begged him to hold on, for her, for them, for the life they would have together.
It was then that she first heard the hum of the motor. Gasping, her eyes brightened and she looked all around to see where it was coming from. From the North came the most beautiful sight she had ever seen as Leland Stottlemeyer, Randy Disher and Alicia Prince came riding in for the rescue. Holding on to Adrian with one arm, she wildly waved the other, careful to not let loose of him and crying tears of joy.
"Over here!" she yelled loudly enough that it caused Monk to stir. It was the first movement she had felt from him in a while and so she reached over and kissed him, trying to shake him awake. "Oh, Adrian! They've found us! We're saved! Sweetheart, we're…saved."
Looking down, she could see his eyes were looking up at her the best they could, but were basically at half-mast and appeared to not be seeing much at all, perhaps just shadows. His skin was very pale, almost greyish in color, except for the patches of red where the welts were. His cheeks and neck area were somewhat swollen, and due to breathing difficulties, his lips were beginning to turn a bluish shade. He struggled to say Leland but all he could do was mouth the "L", but she knew what he meant.
"That's right, my darling. Leland is here with Randy and Alicia and they've come to save us. You're going to be okay!"
He closed his eyes and she felt and heard as he inhaled and exhaled as he sank against her again and they waited for the boat to arrive.
As the Coast Guard vessel pulled beside them, Leland was to first to greet them.
"Am I ever happy to see you two!" he smiled. But his smile quickly faded when he saw the frightened expression in Natalie's eyes looking helplessly up at him with Monk in her arms. Before he could say or think of anything, there was the sound of a splash in the ocean water. Randy Disher had jumped in to help get Adrian over to the boat. Grasping him around the chest, he pulled Monk's limp body over to the side of the vessel and when Leland saw Monk's face, he felt sick in the pit of his stomach. It appeared he was looking at a dead man.
Reaching down, Stottlemeyer and the Guardsman both took Adrian from under the arms and pulled him up into the boat as Natalie explained what had happened.
"Steven injected him with Tetracycline!" she said. "He's having a bad allergic reaction."
"Tetracycline!" Leland exclaimed. "That stuff will kill him."
"I think that was the point." Randy replied from inside the water.
Laying Monk out on the deck, they helped Natalie aboard and she stood close beside him as they evaluated his condition. As one man took Monk's blood pressure, another felt his throat.
"BP is 90/62, Pulse 120."
The Coast Guard EMT, looked over at his crewmate. "I need you to bring me some epinephrine and a cric kit. His windpipe is closing up. Tongue is occluding the airway. Not sure I'm going to be able to do it, but I'm going to try to intubate him. Inform Long. He's not getting air and if I can't intubate him then we'll have to go with plan B and I'll need his help."
"Yes, sir." The crewman said as he headed below deck.
Natalie looked on, holding Monk's hand as Leland stood behind her with his hand on her back. Monk was mostly unconscious at that point, which Stottlemeyer thought was probably best; though he would occasionally open his eyes just a slit, apparently seeing Natalie's shadow, then close them again.
Once it was determined that there was no other recourse, the EMT whispered something to the crewmate then began to explain to Monk's friends and fiancée what they were about to do as he waited for Long to surface from below.
"Okay, I'm going to give him a little stick of lidocaine in his neck just to numb the surface."
Those words were all that it took to cause the ailing detective to rally. Monk managed to croak in an inhale as his eyes open wildly and he struggled with weakened limbs to reach Natalie. A look of terror etched all over his face.
Natalie immediately rushed to hold him, trying to get him to calm down. "It's okay, Adrian! It's okay! They're not going to hurt you, sweetheart. Don't be afraid." she repeated as she tried to soothe him, but he wouldn't be calmed. He now couldn't breathe at all but was using the rest of his energy to try to get away.
"What's wrong with him?" the EMT asked "I didn't even touch him."
"Afraid of needles." Disher noted.
"Well we have to do something." The man replied, grabbing onto Monk's arm and trying to pull him back into place. "I need some help here! Patient is in distress." he yelled as his assistant returned with the kit for a cricothyrotomy and several EpiPens.
Adrian clung to Natalie as hard as he could, but the strong guardsmen were able to overpower him, pulling him from her arms. His eyes looked towards her and the fear that they held in that minute was heartbreaking.
"Sheldon! See if you can bring me some restraints!" the EMT yelled causing Monk to buck more. "Now, Mr. Monk, we need to do this. If we don't do this, you're going to die."
Suddenly, Monk's body seized up and he clinched his fists together, making a grunting sound. His face scrunched together and briefly turned red.
"What?! What's happening?!" Natalie said with alarm.
Adrian opened his eyes and he turned to her with a pleading look.
She looked to touch him, but just as her fingers touched his shoulder he seized up again and his face tightened as a second painful wave hit him. The EMT's let loose of him for a moment lest they hurt him but then he stopped. His eyes opened again, then his brow furrowed. Natalie watched as his expression went from fear to a look of peace. His eyes also changed from an intense gaze to an utterly blank stare. His head dropped a little to the side and she saw as the pupils of his eyes dilated making his eyes look black as coal. His body went completely limp and still.
"NO!" she screamed, fighting to get to his side. The EMT got to him first.
"Mr. Monk? Mr. Monk!" he said, shaking him. Adrian showed absolutely no response. He took Monk's pulse then looked over at Natalie who began to wail.
"Ma'am we need you to step aside." he said, a serious look about his face.
"Nooooo!" she cried. Leland rushed over to her and wrapped his arms around her pulling her out of the way even as he looked on in horror at the body of his lifeless friend.
"Crash kit, stat!" the EMT replied as he began CPR. "Air passage is priority. Open the cric kit and get it ready for Long. Come on, Adrian. Don't do this."