Thank you, all for the reviews!
Those are my motivation, they keep me going, so, please, feel free to review it anytime! ...

Ah, I've almost forgotten: I do not own Monk, Natalie and the gang...

MR MONK MEETS THE REDEEMER

CH16

Natalie knew that she had not much time to act.

She crawled back down the dumpster and went to the front door. She tried to force the door open, but obviously it was locked. Taking a look at the other side of the building, she was excited to see that the window on there was bigger. She walked to it and pushed it hard. She realized the window could be easily opened if she had some object strong enough to apply pressure to it.

Looking around for more wooden boxes, she found one and tried to disassemble it by jumping on it. She wanted to remove a piece of wood and used it to open the window. After the third attempt, she was able to break the box. But one of the planks split up and its tip pierced Natalie's leg. With a cry of pain, she fell to the ground holding her leg.

The plank had penetrated her leg about two inches, just beside her shin bone. Natalie pulled the wood out quickly, and rolled up the pant leg with some difficulty, to examine the injury. There were some trickles of blood running down her shin, and the cut seemed deep.

She tore off the pant leg and tied the cloth around the wound, pressing enough to stop the blood running. She had lost too much time, and without a second thought, she got up quickly, caught up a plank from the box and went hopping on one foot back to the window. Her injured leg was throbbing and she noted that small spots of blood were beginning to appear on the surface of the cloth that was covering her leg.

Natalie placed the board at the edge of the glass window and began pushing it. The pain was distracting her, so she began to think about Julie and how it would be good to see her again; then she thought about Monk lying on the floor of the room, unconscious. A shiver of fear mixed with shock spasms began to run down her spine.

Leland's warning about being careful in a strange country, the allegations of Monk about the foreign people around them, and the image of her boss lying defenseless on the floor motivated her enough for one more push. She unlocked the window. Quickly she jumped through it into the building, taking care to close the window again and remove the plank.

The only thing that Natalie was unable to control was her breath. She was wheezing, as if she had run 10 yards in one breath only. She gave a look around the room. There was a counter with some leaflets similar to the ones at the main entrance down the hill; some posters with photos of native fauna spread over the walls; and behind the counter was a glass case, with some medicines in it, some bottles and some coolers. There was also a door which she hoped linked that room to the one where Monk was.

Natalie hobbled across the room to the counter. She raised the counter gate and went through it, leaning on the counter until she reached the door. To her relief, the door had an external lock on the knob. She unlocked it and opened the door.

As she surveyed the room, she realized that she could not see Monk lying on the floor. Before she could be attacked by her boss, she spoke loudly, "Mr. Monk, it's me," shielding her face with both hands wide opened.

Monk came out from behind the door, holding a thick book in one of his hands.

"Oh, thank God you're okay, Mr. Monk!" said Natalie, and throwing her arms around Monk's neck, she laid her chin on his shoulder and embraced him.

Monk stood still, with his arms at his sides. He lowered his head slowly, laying his nose and mouth on Natalie's shoulder, closing his eyes and relaxing in Natalie's embrace.

Several thoughts went through his head, but they were swept away when Monk realized he could be giving the wrong idea to Natalie, for she was pressing her body against his.

"Nat ... Natalie, I ..." Monk started, but suspended talking when he felt Natalie's arms sliding off his neck. Natalie was not giving herself over to the hug - she was fainting on him!

Quickly he grabbed her by the waist, released the book to the floor and supporting her back with his hand, laid Natalie on his shoulder. Picking her up enough to carry her, he took her to the chair that was behind the counter, in the next room.

Carefully he sat her in the chair, noticing her injured leg. He felt embarrassed by his momentary thought that Natalie was going too far with the hug, and felt dismay that the desire for a warm hug could have come from him.

"Natalie, wake up," Monk gently said, touching Natalie's face with the back of his hand. He was looking at her intensely, and for a moment he was unable to speak any more. It may have been because of the sudden swirl of emotions that he felt for her. Or had he always felt it?

Deprived as he was of speech, he desired her to open her eyes and kiss him. He wanted her to drag her hand across his neck hair and pull him to her not caring where she kissed, his mouth, his neck, his face. His skin was empty for the kiss, waiting.

He waved away these thoughts as Natalie moved slightly and mumbled something. He gave a look around and saw the cabinet full of medicines. He leaned Natalie carefully against the counter and opened the cabinet, taking some bottles, some swabs and bandages and putting them in his pockets. He also took a larger bottle, opened the lid and turned to Natalie. He passed the bottle with the lid open under her nose, and she started to slowly wake up.

"Uh ... oh ..." Natalie groaned, looking around and trying to compose herself.

"Hey, hi!" she said, a sweet smile on her lips, still looking at Monk. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you here, not the other guys," she said, trying to stand up.

"I am happy to see you too, Natalie, but I do not want to wait here for the other guys to come back. Do you think you can stand up?" He gently asked her.

"I think so, but I would welcome some help, Mr. Monk." She said, raising her hands toward Monk's shoulders.

"Okay, okay, here we go," Monk said, supporting Natalie and helping her to stand up.

The two crossed the room and opened the front door carefully. There was nobody out there. Monk held Natalie by her waist and she left her arm around his shoulders.

They could not move fast, because Natalie was trying to walk using only one leg. To Monk's despair, it caused their walk to be lumbering, unbalanced. But in a way, he liked having her that close to him.

When they reached the stone paved street, they heard a car up the road. They did not have time to hop-and-walk back to the building, nor up the road. The only way out was to dash as best as they could into the forest, crossing the train rails.

Monk looked at Natalie, swallowed hard, and in the middle of one, "Oh, God!" from him and another from her, he grabbed Natalie, tossed her over his shoulder and ran toward the forest.

Thank you, Kathy, for your kindness in editing it!
And for the good observer, there was a reference of "The Book Thief", from Marcus Zusak, on the chapter above. Thank you, Marcus!