Disclaimer: I don't own Monk.
Adrian Monk hated thunderstorms. They always freaked him out. On this particular night, there was a thunderstorm that was extremely bad. Monk decided to clean. It would calm him down.
Just as he turned on the vacuum, he heard a frantic knock at the door. Assuming it was his friend Natalie, Adrian turned off the vacuum. He opened the door and was surprised when instead of Natalie he found a tall woman with black braided hair. She was thin. She was also soaking wet.
"You must be Mr. Monk," the lady said.
"Y-you're wet," Adrian replied.
"Yes," the woman said, "I know. I walked here in the rain."
Adrian's mind felt heavy. This woman who he didn't know at all was standing at his door, dripping wet.
"Mr. Monk," the woman said softly, "May I come in?"
Adrian looked around. He looked at the woman.
"Just a minute," he said.
He got a bathrobe, slippers, and a towel.
"Put this on," he said, "It will keep you from getting water on my floor."
The woman dutifully put on the robe, and slippers and put the towel on her head. Adrian put a slipcover on one couch and motioned for the woman to sit. She sat down on the couch he indicated to.
"Would you like anything," Adrian asked, "I have water and I just got a new bag of pretzels."
The woman did want something, but it went much deeper than pretzels or water.
"Thank you," she said.
Adrian brought her the pretzels and water.
"Thank you," the woman said softly.
Adrian smiled for the first time since the woman got there.
"Something tells me you didn't come here in the rain for pretzels and water," he said.
"Mr. Monk," she began, "My name is America… Tennyson."
"And mine is Adrian," Adrian replied, "America? That's a patriotic name."
"Yes. My mother wanted to give me a name with meaning."
"Tennyson," Adrian said thoughtfully, "Are you related to Warrick?"
America took a deep breath.
"He's my husband," she said, "And I had absolutely no idea about what he did. I was beyond shocked to find out about it."
"It's not your fault," Adrian said gently.
"Thank you," America said.
Adrian motioned for America to continue.
"My husband and I have a daughter," America said, "Her name is Lark. She's 7 years old. She'll be 8 in 3 months… that is if she makes it to her eighth birthday."
"What's wrong with her," Adrian asked softly.
"Total kidney failure," America replied, "Even dialysis is failing. At this point, they have to go into her kidney with a needle three times a day and drain the urine. She literally can't urinate. The doctor told me that Lark needs a kidney transplant… and gave me a list of all matches. Warrick, as you know almost died from kidney failure. I'm not a match. As it turns out, you are a complete match. You have 8 out of 8 markers."
"You… you do know your doctor broke the HIPPA law right," Adrian asked.
America nodded again. She knew that 100%.
"Dr. Ryans is a friend of mine," America said, "I do know that she broke HIPPA. I know that I have no right to be asking you this, especially after what my husband did to your wife… but I'm asking as a mother."
This has to be a joke, Adrian thought to himself, any second now she's going to say, "Smile… you're on candid camera."
"When I was 12," Adrian said, "My brother Ambrose who was 14, needed a kidney transplant. I wasn't a match."
"Is he okay," America asked.
"That's questionable," Adrian said, "But yes he survived."
"Mr. Monk," America said, "I'm sorry that I'm coming to you like this. You must think I'm crazy."
"I don't think you're crazy at all," Adrian said, "I think you're a mother. You have to understand that this is not an easy decision to make. I mean, even if your husband had not made the bomb that killed my wife it would be an incredibly hard decision to make."
"I know," America replied, "It took me hours to get the courage to approach you."
"How long, until a transplant won't help anymore?" Adrian asked.
"The doctor said a month at best," America said.
"I need some time to think about this," Adrian remarked, "It's a big decision."
He paused.
"Call my number," he said, "It's 555-0145"
America called his number. Her number showed up. He saved it under America. She saved his number under A. Monk.
By this time the storm had passed. America said goodbye. Adrian promised to get back to her as soon as he made a decision. After she left, his mind wandered back to a time about a year ago… when he had to make another difficult decision.