Author's Note: Special thanks to Amanda and Frieda for technical help on this chapter. Warning to those with weak stomachs, graphic description of cricothryotomy surgery below. Will put that part in [[brackets]] for the sensitive.

Like a cocoon, Leland's jacket enveloped Natalie's soaked and shivering body in protective warmth as she stood to the side watching Coast Guard medics try to revive her fiancé. She continued to weep, but quietly; having forced herself to calm down after the Captain gently urged her that hysterics weren't going to help matters and that she was distracting the crew members from doing their job. Helping Adrian was all that mattered now. And so, she suppressed her emotions as much as she could while the emergency personnel worked.

From the moment that Monk's body was brought aboard the patrol boat, the Guardsmen exercised a great amount of professionalism and took charge. Facial swelling, hives, rapid heart rate and constricted airways were all signs that Monk was experiencing anaphylactic shock. Time was of the essence. And, so, before any further evaluation could be done, the lead medic had ordered epinephrine as well as a cricothyrotomy kit. The former was the gold standard for allergic reactions whereas the latter was to be readied in case less invasive measures of intubation and ventilation proved impossible. It didn't take much for him to know that this indeed was the case.

Then came the cardiac arrest and the medical crisis became exceptionally grave. If Monk had been any other place than on that vessel his likelihood of survival would have been very poor. But he was blessed not only by being rescued before he coded but also in having a skilled and experienced team to deal with his case.

As Chief Petty Officer Darrell Long took over, the original EMT began to give a play-by-play of what Monk's group should expect so that they were prepared. Long would reestablish Monk's airway first because he had already been showing signs of Oxygen deprivation even before the arrest. CPR and/or Defibrillation would be performed as concurrently as possible and large bore intravenous fluids would be administered as soon as they were able. Even as he was speaking, another guardsman came in and gave Monk his first shot of epinephrine, jabbing the needle into Adrian's lifeless leg. If adequate improvement did not occur right away, he readied another to be given later. The team worked like a well-oiled machine.

With preparatory comments out of the way, the group stood at the side while the surgeon prepared to make his incision. However, hearing about what they were going to do to Monk was a bit different than actually seeing it done.

[[As Long palpated Monk's neck to find the cricothyroid membrane, the scene was tense. It grew even more anxious when the team watched as the scalpel was drug in a longitudinal manner from top to bottom across Monk's throat. Randy began to feel sick, especially when Long spread the skin apart, and Natalie began to whimper. It was bad enough that she was witnessing her beloved being operated on in the middle of a dirty deck floor; but, there was the realization that without a heartbeat he was, in fact, clinically dead. What if he didn't make it back? Her body began to quake.

When blood began to pool around the incision site and the doctor physically stuck his finger in the hole to find the place of his next cut, it became too much for Disher to bear and he ran to the side of the boat, leaning over the railing and losing his lunch. Leland stayed near Natalie whose teeth were chattering out of nervousness and whose shaking hand rested over her mouth as she observed the doctor poke the scalpel through the membrane in one quick move.

Suddenly, there was a hissing sound and blood sprayed everywhere. Natalie screamed and started to run towards Adrian, but Leland held her back, telling her it was okay. She sobbed into Leland's shoulder while keeping her eyes upon her love. Leland held onto her and patted her back not letting her know that it was as much for himself as it was for her. Monk was his best friend. This was so hard to watch.

Officer Long glanced at them with his blood-spattered face shield. "Don't be alarmed. That's normal" He said as he continued to work. "It means we've found the airway and that spray was the release of air he had built up inside but couldn't get out. Now, we'll intubate him and get him breathing again." He added as he looked over at his assistant. "Bougie please." He said as he stuck his gloved finger into the hole to dilate it in prep for what came next. Natalie cringed as more blood oozed from his wound.

The officer was handed and then fed a long, thin instrument like a plastic wire through the incision and held it in place with his dominant hand. "Trach tube." He requested, holding out his non-dominant hand. He was then handed a piece of equipment unlike anything she had ever seen. On one end was a flat oval piece of plastic that almost looked like the end of a pacifier, but longer. Through it, ran a long piece of tubing that reminded Natalie of the kind of tubing they used in Julie's fish tank filters through the years, except this tube had a bubble, or cuff, in the middle and some sort of a thin tube running into a small manual air pump on the end of that.

Long took the instrument and fed the tube overtop of the bougie and then slipped it down into the hole in Monk's neck. He squeezed air into the cuff in the tube then removed the bougie.]]

Working quickly, his assistant threaded a connector onto the end of the tracheostomy tube and then attached a ventilation bag on the end that. He squeezed the bag a couple of times and they watched as Monk's chest began to rise and fall. Long nodded with satisfaction.

Step one was a success. On to step two.

As the assistant continued to ventilate, the officer immediately started chest compressions and Randy rejoined them, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. Leland patted him on the back, knowing he was a bit embarrassed at what had happened. But, Natalie barely knew he was there. She was too busy watching Adrian and waiting for signs of life.

Long wasted no time waiting for the defib equipment to be unpacked and handed to him but immediately began CPR. At this point in time, all of this had been carried out quite efficiently in the space of one minute fifty-five seconds, well under the time where any permanent brain damage would occur. Still, Monk was far from out of the woods.

Once the defibrillator was ready, they ripped open Monk's shirt the rest of the way to place the equipment on his chest. Natalie had the fleeting thought of how much he would have hated this process. Not only was he laying there bare-chested before the world, but one of his favorite shirts had been destroyed by both the ocean water and now, brute force.

She found herself crying again over the stupid shirt, but mainly because she knew him so well that she knew he would be complaining about it. Oh, to hear him complain! She thought to herself.

The call of 'clear' was sounded as Long provided the shock that was meant to restart Monk's heart. Then he immediately returned to CPR per protocol. Stottlemeyer watched and said a silent prayer thinking how surreal it all felt. Adrian had been in his office just that morning and was healthy and well. He contemplated the fragility of life and then considered how often over the past three and a half decades he had witnessed death. He was surrounded by it – way too much of it, and he hoped against hope that his friend would beat those odds.

A little over three minutes had passed. Yet, officer Long remained calm and steady as his years of experience and education had trained him to be. With the equipment ready again, the officer took the paddles and reapplied them to Monk's chest. As he had done before, he called 'clear' and pressed the shock button. Monk's body jerked as the electric current coursed through his body, and the officer again immediately followed up with chest compressions.

However, this time, there was a change. Monk's shuttered eyes flew wide open and he stared up at the sky for a moment. Long stopped CPR momentarily, and everyone held their breath for what seemed like an eternity. Then, Adrian blinked and looked over at the doctor, reached out his hand and straightened the officer's name badge, then closed his eyes again in unconsciousness.

All eyes turned towards the doctor who took Monk's pulse. Breathing a sigh of relief he looked at his patient. "Good job, Adrian. Good job." He patted him on the chest.

Monk's team was visibly elated, and Natalie immediately returned to Adrian's side as Long stepped back and instructed his crewmates to have medical support waiting for them onshore. Long's assistant took pity on Natalie and gave her something to do, namely keep an eye on Monk that he didn't wake back up and try to remove all of their good work before they could get him to the hospital. This, she gladly would do.

Off to the side, Leland and Randy discussed logistics of how they would handle the hospital. They agreed that they would go there as a team and support Natalie until Monk's situation stabilized. Meanwhile, Alicia launched back into her professional role, contacting her sources ashore to find out what the status was on locating Albright. Thus far, they had had no success.

Arriving at the hospital, the team eagerly awaited any word. After forty-five minutes, a nurse came into the room.

"Adrian Monk." she announced loudly, catching their attention.

"We're with Monk." Leland replied. The three friends stood and met her.

"May I ask what relationship you are to the patient?" she asked.

"I am Captain Leland Stottlemeyer of the San Francisco P.D." he responded, flashing his badge." He pointed to Randy and then to Natalie "Chief Randy Disher and Natalie Teeger who I'm working with on a criminal case involving Detective Monk."

"Well… does he have any family?" she asked.

"I'm his fiancée" Natalie announced.

Leland and Randy both reacted with a start. Giving each other a surprised glance, they looked over at Natalie with eyebrows raised. The nurse asked for them to follow and as they walked, Randy twisted his head to the side in order to look at Natalie's left hand. Spotting the engagement ring, he made a motion to Leland, pointing to her and then to his left ring finger. Leland leaned over, taking a glance himself. He almost laughed out loud, but contained his reaction, smirking slightly even as he acknowledged it to Disher, then refocusing on the task at hand. They would talk later, and what a talk it would be, he thought.

The nurse led them to another room and opened the door "Dr. Sebastian would like to speak to you in private. I'm going to put you in a consult room and he should be here in a few minutes."

"Thank you." Natalie said softly, as they entered the room.

While they waited, side by side in the thickly padded consultation room seats, Disher decided to address the proverbial elephant in the room.

"So...you and Monk are…engaged?" he asked.

Natalie ducked her head, realizing that she had broken some important news without even thinking about it. "Yes. We are." she replied.

Leland chuckled then said under his breath. "Why that little sneak."

She looked over at Leland and smiled softly. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way. Adrian was going to find some time to tell you personally, but with everything that was happening, he never got the chance. We planned on making a general announcement later this week at my house. I haven't even had a chance to tell Julie because she spent the weekend in Baja with some college friends. Didn't want to tell her over the phone, and now…" she began to whelm up so Leland leaned over and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"And now, we've got a little hurdle to get over, but then we can celebrate. Monk's a fighter. He's going to be fine." He said, then he lowered his head. A few moments passed and he added, "You know, he and I have been talking about you for a little while now."

"Really?"

"Yes. I think the hardest part was admitting he was in love with you. Once we got through that, it was getting up the courage to pursue you. He had some trouble with Albright, but mainly with himself. He didn't think he was deserving of you, I think."

"Oh, Leland. That couldn't be further from the truth. He's…just amazing."

"That he is, though I must say I'm surprised that he moved this quickly -but, then again it is Monk. Seldom little he does isn't unique in some way. But let me be the first to say congratulations, and tell you how thrilled I am for you both. Monk is like my brother and well…I guess this means I'm getting sister, not that you weren't already."

Natalie hugged him. "I feel that way too." She paused as a new realization came to her. "Speaking of brothers. I need to call Ambrose and let him know what's going on."

"I can handle that if you like." Leland replied. "Once we know more of the situation."

"Maybe I should handle it." she stated. "Ambrose and I have a special relationship and I think he will take it more calmly if it comes from me. He might get scared hearing your voice."

"Good point. Good point."

Randy was still parked on the earlier conversation and had many questions running through his mind. "So…were you two engaged when we walked in on you the other day?" he asked.

Natalie shook her head. "No. He asked me after you left."

"But, you two looked like you were about to…well…you know…"

Natalie looked astonished at Randy's prying but said nothing.

"Chief Disher!" Leland scolded, sensing her discomfort.

"Sorry. Just curious." He replied. Even though he no longer worked for the captain and was more or less his equal in rank, he still bowed to his authority.

"And you're going to stay curious. No more." the Captain said. "It's none of our business."

"Okay. Fine."

Natalie sat for a moment longer and knowing how hard it would be for Randy to keep his curiosity at bay, decided to head him off at the pass. She figured if she could deal with it now there would be no upsetting Adrian once he was fully awake.

"Alright." She said. "It isn't your business, but for your information nothing happened that night…not like you're thinking."

"Oh?" Disher asked, leaning forward for the 'scoop'. Leland scowled, smacking him in the arm.

"Ouch!" he complained.

"No. We're going to wait. Adrian doesn't believe in doing …that…before marriage."

"But you were heading to the bedroom." He said, bluntly.

"I know. We were. We were just so overjoyed at clearing the air between one another about our feelings that I think we got a little carried away. It's actually a good thing that you two walked in when you did because if we had…well…you know, I think he would have had some problems with it. He believes in waiting. That's important to him and I respect him completely for his stance, so I'd appreciate if you would too and not ask about it in front of him." She responded.

"Done." Randy replied. "I guess that doesn't surprise me about Monk." He smiled wistfully.

Neither Leland nor Natalie replied.

"Actually, it surprises me that he even…"

"RANDY!" Leland barked. "No more!"

He stopped. "Okay. I'm done. I'm done!"

Three minutes later a soft tapping sound was heard against the door and Dr. Ken Sebastian walked in. A small man around sixty, he had snow white hair and a short white beard to match. With a little imagination, one could fancy him playing Santa Claus at Christmas. But a jovial elf was the last thing one would think when first meeting him. He was stern and unsmiling and spoke with a certain gravity that made even the best of news sound bad. In addition, just by his demeanor, one felt as if he was being bothered by talking to them or that one was interrupting his day. Nevertheless, he was a good and proficient physician.

"You are here for Adrian Monk?" he asked, coming in and looking at some charts.

"Yes. You're his doctor?" Natalie asked as they all stood.

"Yeah, well…Mr. Monk was brought in, anaphylactic shock with respiratory and cardiac collapse. Epinephrine was administered on site in addition to cricothyrotomy and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Epinephrine was administered again in the hospital as adequate improvement had not been achieved. Patient opened his eyes aboard the rescue boat and - straightened a name badge?"

The three friends had to smile since that was so 'Adrian'.

"He has been unconscious ever since." the doctor concluded after his synopsis. The team waited for more and the Leland became irritated, demanding more information. "Yeah. We know all that. How is he?"

The doctor looked up at him blankly and paused. "Stable. Heart rhythm and function have been restored and from early tests, blood flow is good. I'll be doing more testing but damage appears to be minimal if any. Swelling is diminishing so epinephrine is doing its job. We have him on a ventilator right now feeding air through the tracheostomy tubing and his blood pressure has gone back to normal. I've administered a drug called Propofol as a sedative to keep him quiet for the rest of the evening while his body recovers."

"Propofol?" Randy asked. "Isn't that 'Jackson Juice'?"

Leland rolled his eyes. "Randy."

The doctor was not amused. "Propofol is a very safe treatment. I can assure you that what happened to the singer, Michael Jackson, will not happen here."

"Oh, I wasn't talking about the danger. I just was asking because I wanted to be here when you wake him up." He grinned, then looked at Natalie who was confused. Randy leaned over "Best YouTube ever!" he stated.

"Can we…can we see him?" Natalie asked, ignoring Randy's comment.

"Momentarily. They are moving him into ICU right now where I expect he will be for the next few days. A secondary anaphylactic reaction is possible, but improbable at this point in time. Nevertheless, he'll be where he can be observed and treated right away should it happen.

Mr. Monk is very fortunate that the medical team was present when his most severe reaction occurred. Morbidity is very high in these situations. The fact that they were able to quickly treat and revive him is probably going to be the deciding factor in a favorable outcome. I will send someone back to get you as soon as he gets settled."

They thanked the doctor and he left the room.

Around fifteen minutes later, an attendant led the three friends back to the area where they had taken Adrian. It wasn't a room, per se. It was more like a large cubicle with glass dividers and was big enough for Monk's bed, medical equipment, a couple of chairs and walking space for personnel to move around. It felt exceptionally cool.

As they walked into the area, none of them was prepared for the emotional reaction they would feel when they saw him. Laying in the center of his bed, Monk had tubes and wires attached to him from every direction. A heart/bp monitor beeped a steady rhythm off to the side while the hum and hiss of ventilation equipment played in the background. IV fluids were being administered through his right arm and they had changed him into a standard issue hospital gown, which lay loosely over his frame due to all of the wires that were attached to him. He looked very frail; however, his pallor had improved greatly and he looked better than the last time that they had seen him. His lips were no longer blue, but their normal pinkish hue. If it weren't for the tubes one could say he was just sleeping.

A nurse in her fifties was recording his vitals as they entered the room. She saw that Natalie begin to tear up the moment she entered the room and moved to his side.

"You his wife?" the nurse asked.

Natalie had a new surge of emotion. She had been asked that question so many times and had for so many years denied it; but now, she could change her answer.

"Not yet." She said. "We're_ engaged."

"Awe…sweet." The woman said.

"How is he?" asked Leland.

"Well, he's being kept very comfortable and sleeping well. Sats are doing really well, as you would expect with the ventilation. Blood Pressure is perfect and heart rhythm exactly where we want it to be. All in all, I'd say so far, so good. We are keeping him sedated for now so he can rest and recover. But then, we'll see if we can start weaning him off of the vent."

"About how long do you think it will be before that happens?" Randy asked.

"Well, the cricothyromy is generally a short term thing. Twenty-four hours max on that then, they have to either convert it to a tracheostomy or do something else."

"Something else?" asked Natalie.

"Yes. Some sort of mechanical hookup or possibly, and this is what we're hoping for, he will be breathing on his own or perhaps with a simple nasal canula. I personally don't think a trach will be necessary, he's doing so well. You can already see the swelling has gone way down, but we will see. Probably sometime tomorrow morning we will know is my best guess." She replied.

Leland nodded and patted Natalie on the back as she took Adrian's hand in hers and kissed it.

"He feels so cold." She stated.

"Yes. They keep it cool in here. I can get him an extra blanket if you like." The nurse replied.

"Yes, please." Natalie responded, taking her hand and caressing his brow, then taking the back of her fingers and brushing them against his cheek.

"Okay. I'm going to go get these numbers into the computer, then I'll bring back a blanket after that. Feel free to pull up a chair. We'll want to limit his visitors until he gets moved to another room, but you can stay here for now." She said. "I will be right outside if you need anything."

"Thank you." Leland responded.

There were only two chairs in the room, one of which Randy promptly moved over for Natalie to sit down in.

"Thank you, Randy." She said softly, taking the seat and again reaching for Monk's hand.

"No problem." He replied, then looking between them he said, "I'm going to go call Sharona. She would want to know what's going on."

"You're right. Oh! Ambrose!" Natalie exclaimed. "I almost forgot."

Leland stepped up. "Natalie. You stay here. I can call him, and I'll start the conversation out by letting him know that that Monk's responding well. I know you want to be here with Monk and I'm going to be out in the hallway for a bit anyway making some calls to make sure we get security set up outside his room. Albright's still out there."

Natalie thought for a moment then nodded. "Okay. You can call Ambrose. Tell him I'll call him later tonight and fill him in some more and ask him to call Jack. Adrian's dad would want to know. They talk about once a month on the phone."

"Okay. I'll take care of it." He said. "Do you need anything? Some beverage or something?"

Natalie shook her head. "No. All I need is right here."

When Leland came back, it was around dinner time and he knew that Natalie wouldn't really want to eat. Still, he brought her a sandwich and some coffee from the hospital cafeteria and pulled up a seat beside her.

"How's our patient?" he asked.

She looked over briefly. "Quiet. Sleeping. No change, really." she said. "How was Ambrose?"

Leland paused. "Surprisingly calm. I started out by telling him that there had been an incident but we believed Monk was going to be okay. After that, he took things really well and said he's looking forward to your call. Said he'd call their father too."

"Good." She said. "I'm glad he took it well. Thank you for letting him know."

"I was happy to do it. Happy to help in any way."

She smiled. "You really are a great friend. Better than me at times, I'm afraid."

"What on earth are you talking about?" he asked.

"You didn't betray him. You never have." Natalie sighed.

"Natalie. You didn't betray him."

"Yeah I did, Leland. How did I get it so wrong? I mean…I know Adrian. I know him so well and yet…I allowed Steven to manipulate me."

"That's what psychopaths do." Leland replied. "They charm and exploit and manipulate their way through people's lives. Even the best of us."

"You think Steven's a psychopath – no, don't answer. Of course, he is. My gosh, Leland! I let him into my house. I had that man around my daughter!" she said. "And now, I find out that he killed my husband?! And then he worked to frame Mitch?"

"That's the sum of it." He replied. "And don't forget Molly."

"Oh, yes." She said, sadly. "Poor Molly."

Adrian stirred for the first time since they had been sitting there. Furrowing his brow, he raised a hand towards his throat, grabbing at the ventilation tubing. Natalie stood quickly, taking him by his wrists and pulling them back down.

"Shhhh…it's okay, my love. Don't do that. It's okay. I'm here with you." She said softly, leaning in and kissing his forehead.

Monk moved his head a few more times and slightly opened his eyes, looking up at her briefly and then closing them again and going back to sleep.

Natalie touched her hand to his forehead and stroked his brow.

"Better than any drug." Leland mused.

Natalie looked over at him. "What is?"

"Your love for him." He replied. "You soothe him."

"I'm just doing what anyone else would do."

"Don't sell yourself short. You have this amazing ability to calm him down better than anyone I've ever seen, even Trudy."

"Really? I'm surprised to hear that." she stated. "I always thought she was some sort of perfect angel who always knew what to do with him."

"Trudy?" he said. "She wasn't everything he has made her out to be in the years that followed. Then again, when we lose someone close to us we all have that tendency to remember the good and forget the not as good - not that she was ever bad. Not at all. Trudy was always a class act. She was probably the first person in his life that truly believed in him and supported him, quirks and all. Of course, when they met I'd say he was more socially backward than quirky. Brilliant as always. Smartest man I know. But around people, he was always unsure of himself, even more than today. Trudy encouraged him to branch out and to ignore the naysayers. She helped him to get past a lot of his past."

"Did they ever fight?" she asked.

"He would probably tell you no, but yeah, a little." Leland replied. "He had his moods he'd get in and sometimes she'd just have to wait it out. It was generally over him putting himself down and thinking he was unworthy then holding her up too highly. Monk was always a protector – it's part of who he is."

"Because he needed people to protect him and there was nobody there." She stated.

"Yes. That's true. But he'd protect her from things he thought might hurt her and not tell her things." Leland said. "Then, she'd find out and they would have their little spats. Never too serious. He'd always apologize and she'd forgive him. They had a good thing while it lasted.

But he was private about that stuff. I knew him for over twenty years before I found out he had a brother. I mean, I was around and before Trudy died apparently, the three of them talked a lot. But I never knew Ambrose existed until Sharona was working for him. Up until that time, he kept his history a mystery. I think he was ashamed of some of it and maybe afraid of what people would think."

"He has nothing to be ashamed of. All families have problems, though I would say the Monks certainly faced a lot more than some. He really is amazing." She replied. "What on earth would I ever do without him?"

Leland paused. "I wouldn't worry about that right now. Just concentrate on the fact he's resting comfortably and peacefully and will get through this. And so, my young lady, will you."

The next several hours were indeed quiet. Stottlemeyer had a couple of cops take turns providing protection just outside of the door and he and Randy went home for a while, but promised to return, leaving Natalie to sit with Monk in his room while he slept. She wasn't going to leave his side for a moment and took the two chairs and pushed them together, making a makeshift bed of sorts, then laid down and took a nap. She didn't even care that they weren't comfortable. The events of the day had been more than exhausting and she quickly fell asleep.

Around eleven that evening, Stottlemeyer and Disher had returned and poked their heads into the room. Seeing Natalie sleeping, they stood in the hallway talking with the officer guarding Adrian's room, talking about the case and then generally chewing the fat as the time passed. They had been there for about fifteen minutes when they all heard a loud bang coming from inside Adrian's room.

Rushing into the room, they saw Monk sitting up in bed thrashing about. His arm was bloodied from where he had ripped out his IV and the ventilation tubing was hanging loose around his chest.

Natalie had jumped up out of her chairs so quickly that she knocked one over and was now trying to calm him down. "Adrian, stop! It's okay! Help! Nurse!" she called. Leland ran in to help her, but before he could get there a doctor, nurse and attendant ran into the room as his monitors had already alerted them. They pushed Stottlemeyer and Natalie out of the way as they tried to gain control of the situation. Natalie reached for Monk, whose eyes were searching for her, but a nurse pushed them out of the room.

"I'm sorry, but you need to leave. We'll call you back as soon as we can." She stated and then pulled the glass door shut, pulling the drapes taut over it to where they could no longer see what was happening. Natalie leaned against the wall and doubled over in tears, feeling sick and scared. The frightened look in Adrian's eyes reminded her of when they were on the boat and to all three of them it seemed like history was repeating itself. Leland felt helpless to help her at that point, having stood as her rock throughout the entire situation. He was experiencing a little battle fatigue and thought to himself what next? Randy was likewise concerned and remained sober as they waited.

For the next twenty minutes they watched as medical personnel went in and out of the room. Nobody would say a thing other than that the doctor would talk to them soon, and so they were left to think the worst. Then, at long last, the doctor on call came out of the room. She placed the stethoscope back around her neck then looked to find Natalie.

"Mrs. Monk?" she asked, and Natalie stood.

"Not yet. But soon." She replied, showing her ring.

"Ah." She smiled. "I'm Dr. Becky Cheng. When I got on duty tonight, my instructions from Dr. Sebastian were to keep an eye on Mr. Monk's airways and keep him comfortable until tomorrow morning when he would be evaluated for decannulation."

"Decannulation?" she asked.

"Yes. When they did the cricothyrotomy, they used a tracheostomy tube, which is good because it keeps the air passage open but we can step the patient down and eventually remove it allowing the hole to close. Because this was a severe allergic reaction we needed to make sure that all things were clear before we even considered doing that and…well, apparently the last nurse on duty missed Mr. Monk's dose of anesthesia which let him wake up, and well…he decided to extubate himself."

"Oh no! Is he okay? Did he hurt himself?" Natalie asked.

"Actually, he's fine. He's lucky he didn't tear something, but I've checked his stoma – that's the hole that Officer Long created, and it appears okay. We did an evaluation of him, checking both the swelling in his windpipe and his oxygen sats without the tube. Then, I talked with Dr. Sebastian on the phone and we've decided to leave the tube out."

"Really?" Natalie asked.

"Yes, he's doing very well and everything is stable." She said, then she smiled. "I have to warn you, right now he's coming down from the last of his Propofol so he may not make a lot of sense to you."

"He's talking?" Leland asked.

"He is. Really more whispering due to the hole. We showed him how to support his wound by covering the hole with his finger. We have gauze taped over the incision site right now. Should heal up within a week. You're staying with him tonight, right?"

"Yes ma'am." Natalie replied.

"Us too." Randy added with a smile.

The doctor looked between them. "I suppose that will be okay. We will move him to a regular room tomorrow, but what I was going to say was if you hear any wheezing or other strange sound in his breathing tonight, you come get us. We don't want things closing back up."

"Oh, we will. Can we go back and see him?" Natalie asked.

"Sure." She replied. "Again, he's a little…for lack of a better word, drunk."

Randy looked around with excitement and brought out his cell phone. "This is great! I love drunk Monk!"

Leland rolled his eyes and grabbed Randy by the sleeve following Natalie into the room.

As they entered, the first thing the group noted was that the ventilation equipment had been moved out of the way and the thick tubing joined to Monk's neck was nowhere to be seen. It was replaced by a simple nasal cannula. Adrian's eyes were closed and his coloring was very good. Better than it had been in over 24 hours and the best part was, he was breathing on his own.

Walking to his bed, Natalie stood beside him watching him sleep and Leland went to get her a chair to sit down. The chair made a sound on the floor and Adrian opened his eyes. He looked groggy, but the moment his eyes settled on Natalie, he smiled the sweetest smile.

"Nat-lee…" he mouthed, the sound of his voice barely above a whisper.

"Cover your throat, sweetie." She said, moving his finger to his wound and reminding him of what he was supposed to do in order to speak, post-op.

"How are you, my love?" she asked, running her fingers through his hair.

He closed his eyes and sighed. "I feel...gooood." He said, euphorically.

"I'm sure he does." Randy quipped, as he pressed record on the cell phone. "Hey Monk, do you know where you are?" he asked.

Adrian looked over at him. "Randy! Randy Disshhher…" he slurred "And my old buddy, Lelan- Schtottlemyah! How the heck are ya doing?"

"We're doing fine, buddy." He grinned. "Just happy to see you."

"That's great! I like seeing you too…H-hey…did you hear I have a girlfriend?!"

Leland smiled, looking at Natalie. "Yes, we did hear that. Congratulations!"

"Yeah, Monk. Natalie told us that you're getting married." Randy added.

Monk stopped speaking then looked wide-eyed at the three of them. "We are?!" he gasped. "You mean, I'm going to marry Natalie?!"

Natalie giggled. "Yes, sweetheart. Don't you remember?"

"Huh?"

"He won't remember anything. Not on this stuff." Randy said.

"You bought me a ring." She said holding it up before his face. He reached for her hand. "I said yes."

"You said yes, you said yes…Hey, Leland…she said yes…" he nearly sang, closing his eyes.

Monk opened his eyes, picked up her hand and closed one eye as he examined the ring. "That looks pretty. Whoever picked that out had good taste!" He looked up at her, his eyes twinkling. "You're so pretty."

She reached forward her hand and brushed his forehead with her fingertips then kissed the top of his head. "You're so sweet."

Leland and Randy glanced at each other and smirked, each raising their eyebrows. Leland cleared his throat and the couple moved away from one another, but only a little.

Monk noticed the IV in his arm and looked over at Leland and then Natalie. "What-what happened here?" he asked.

Natalie looked over at Leland apprehensively. She wouldn't tell him everything just yet. "Well, you had an allergic reaction. You were given tetracycline."

"Tetra…cycline? What kind of idiot did that? I'm allergic to…Hey, Nat-lee." He said, suddenly smiling.

"Hey what?" she asked, amused.

"Do you…do you wanna go to the drive-in motion picture theater with me?" he asked, his eyes crinkling and then his mouth curling up into the most mischievous smile.

Natalie looked at him with a suspicious grin. "You want to take me to the movies?"

"No. Not just the movies. The drive-in. In my car. There's one outside of Richmond."

"The drive-in? Um…okay. When? When you get out of here?" she asked.

"Yeah. Of course. I can't go there now. But…we can go then." He replied, sheepishly.

She shrugged. "Sure. If you want to."

"Oh, I want to. I really want to!" He winked, then almost guffawed, but the laughing made him cough. Once he recovered, he laid there with a somewhat silly smile on his face for several seconds. The three friends watched, thoroughly entertained.

"Hey, Leland." he continued.

"Yeah, buddy?" Leland chortled.

"Did you hear I get to marry Natalie?" he said.

Leland chuckled and rolled his eyes towards Randy. "Yeah, Buddy. Natalie told us. Congratulations. You move quick."

"You ain't seen nothin'." He shook his head. "Did she tell you she's going to have my babies?"

Randy nearly choked and Natalie covered her face as the three of them quietly laughed. She looked over to Randy and motioned for him to stop filming but he just shook his head no.

"Natalie's going to have your babies?" Leland asked, amused. "No. She didn't tell me that."

"Yeah." He replied. "We're going to have dextuplets."

"Dextuplets?" Natalie said with widened eyes. "As in ten?"

Monk opened his eyes. "Oh…hi-hi-hi… Nat-Nat." he said with a dreamy look on his face.

"Yes. You most definitely are." She replied.

"Huh?" he asked, the men laughing at his expense.

"You just told Leland and Randy that I'm going to have your babies and we're having dextuplets! Ten babies at once."

"I did?"

"Yes." She crossed her arms.

"Well, not right now." He explained.

"Good."

"We have to at least wait until we marry. It's not…really…possible, right now. If you know what I mean." He winked again.

"Oh, good grief." She said, embarrassed.

Randy looked at Natalie. "Hey, he's giving you time to work up to it…give the guy a break!"

She opened her mouth in disbelief and began to laugh again. "Ten babies?"

"Don't worry. They won't be big."

"No?" she replied, barely holding in her laugh.

"No. About the size of your pinky finger." He replied. "And all girls…they will look just like you. Don't want no stinkin' boys. We'll call all of them…Nat-lee…Nat-lee One, Nat-lee Two, Nat-lee Three.."

Natalie snorted as Leland and Randy shook with laughter.

Leland looked over at his former partner. "Randy, seriously turn that thing off."

"No way, man." Randy replied. "This is fantastic! Besides, we need to have the evidence to prove to him he actually said this stuff."

Leland just shook his head. "You know, you're a dead man."

"Hey Nat." Monk said.

Natalie cringed, while still laughing. "Yes, Adrian."

"Can we go to a drive in when we get home?" he asked.

She looked at Leland then back at Monk. "Drive in again? Um…yes. You already asked me that. What is up with the drive in? What do you want to go see?"

Monk laughed. "That's for me to know."

Natalie laughed. "Alllright…it'll be a surprise, I guess." She shrugged.

"Can you wear that dress?" he asked.

"Dress? Which one?"

"The rose-colored one." He replied.

"Rose colored dress?" she asked, shrugging again towards Leland and Randy. "I don't know what dress you mean? I don't have a rose-colored dress."

"Yuh-huh." He replied. "The rose-colored dress. Or, maybe it's more pink…or mauuuuve. That's it. It was mauve. The thing you wore to the thing."

"The thing I wore to thing…"

"Hey, Leland…"

"Yes, Monk."

"You remember Natalie's rose dress…the one without…the you know…"

"Um. Can't say I do." He replied, befuddled.

"Yes, you do!" he exclaimed. "She looked soooo…HOT in that dress…"

Natalie covered her face and shook her head back and forth. "I can't believe this. Where's the real Adrian?"

"We went on a date…"

"A date?" Natalie questioned. "We haven't officially been on any dates."

"… and she showed up on my arm and the music was really loud and I said turn it off and she told that bartender guy that he'd better listen to me…what a wuss."

Randy smiled with recognition. "He's talking about the dress the FBI had you wear to Jimmy Barlowe's on the stakeout."

"Oh! That one?!" she nodded. "Is that the one you're talking about? The one without a back?"

"Yessss!" Monk replied, enthusiastically. "You were sizzlin' like a skillet in that dress!"

Natalie didn't know whether to laugh or pity him as he went on.

"And, I'll tell you what. You know what? Huh?"

"What?"

"Joey Heatherton doesn't have anything on my girlfriend…no, sir re-hey, Natalie?"

"Yes, Adrian."

"You are my girlfriend aren't you?" He asked with wide innocent-looking eyes. " I mean, I know we're engaged…but I never officially asked you out."

She laughed. "Of course, I'm your girlfriend. I'm your fiancée! And I couldn't be prouder."

He smiled and took her hand to his mouth and kissed it, started to talk again but forgot to cover his throat so it came out a whisper. He looked confused. She took his hand and helped him place it against his throat again and he nodded with appreciation, picking up where he left off like nothing happened. "You didn't think I noticed that dress, did you? Did you?" he asked.

"Well..not really…"

"Oh, I noticed!" he said, tapping his temple with his index finger. "I notice everything. I'm the Shadow. And, the Shadow knows…"

Natalie bit her lip to avoid laughing. "Good to know." She looked over at Randy "Are you sure he's not going to remember this?"

"He shouldn't." he replied. "It's an amnesiac."

"Whose Abney?"

"Try to keep up, buddy."

"Hey Leland…"

"Yes, Monk."

"Did you hear? Natalie's taking me to the drive in."

Leland laughed. "That's what I heard, buddy. That's good." He said, shrugging in amusement.

"Yeah. We're going to fog up the windows." He said, blissfully.

With that, all three of them lost all composure and nearly fell out of their chairs.

"Oh, gosh!" she said, as her hands covered her crimson face.

"Be kissin' on my girl…not a care in the world…and won't even be needin' a defroster." He sang to himself.

"Honey. I think maybe you've shared enough." She said, tears now rolling down her face. She took his hand.

"Yep." Leland chuckled, turning to Randy. "You're right. Drunk Monk is a lot of fun. But you'd better destroy that video or he's going to kill you."

"No way, man." He replied. "This is YouTube gold. Monetize this. Pay off his medical bills. Early Retirement."

"Randy Disher!" Natalie exclaimed. "You'd better not."

"Just kidding. I'll destroy it - eventually." He said with a devilish smile.