The beeping of the heartbeat machine was moving steadily and her breathing was pretty much regular. Helga was sleeping peacefully with her breathing mask on. She was, for the first time, not tying her hair in two pony-tails, but was spread decoratively all over the white linen pillow. She was wearing a hospital gown of blue, something Arnold had never seen her wear before. Her closed eyelids covered her blue eyes as she slept peacefully throughout the hours.
The doctors told them that besides a few broken bones on her arms and legs, she also had a serious fracture on her back caused by the cable swing. She will need a really, really long time to heal and rehabilitate herself to walk and coordinate herself again, although a fractured spine seldom has any chance to heal. What’s worse was that after the surgery, although she lived through it, she had slipped into a coma. No doctors were sure when she was going to wake up. So even if there was a chance to cure all the broken bones on her body, a long time lying on bed without any activity would deteriorate the muscles and bones so bad, recovery is almost impossible.
Arnold was sitting beside Helga’s bed, staring at her sleeping body supported by the breathing gadgets and tubes stuck on both her wrists. Arnold took her hand and stared at Helga. Time seemed to stand still between them. It was like this moment would never go wrong, as long as Helga didn’t know that he was there so that she wouldn’t shoot showers of insults on him, although he hoped she would. At a point, he wanted Helga to wake up, to see him in front of her and know that he loved her for so long.
“Helga, I know you can hear me but you just can’t wake up right now,” Arnold whispered as he laid his head on the bed. “But I just want you to know that…I’m grateful for you trying to save me and I thank you for that. You were really brave, you know that? That’s what I love about you: you often just bustle in and do what you think is right for you. You don’t care about what other people think. You are just…so…brave. And to think they thought you’re just a…”
As Arnold continued to chit-chat with Helga, the rest of the gang who were hiding behind the ward door were totally speechless at what they heard.
“Did you just hear what I heard?” Gerald tried very, very hard to suppress his excited voice.
“Yeah! I mean, I just can’t believe that Arnold is actually…” Stinky cringed, unable to continue.
“He’s gotta be crazy to like Helga! I mean she is such a total jerk!” Harold was in fits of denial.
“Helga is not a jerk, at least not very!” Phoebe protested. “She just saved us from being crushed into a pulp!”
“Yeah, but…no offence, Phoebe, but I just can’t get over the fact that Arnold is actually having a crush on P.S.118’s biggest bully in the school history!”
“So what? Helga had a crush on Arnold longer than…” Phoebe was so bent on defending her best friend that she accidentally revealed Helga’s life long secret. She cupped her mouth in horror at what she had done.
“What?! Helga too?!” Everyone was so surprised at what they heard coming out of Phoebe’s mouth that they almost forgot to lower down their voices.
“Well, I mean she does have a little crush on Arnold…and…I gotta go…” Phoebe backed away slowly before quickly dashing away from the ward, prompting the very, very curious number of Arnold’s classmates taking to their heels and chasing Phoebe, demanding an explanation.
Whether Arnold had heard them or not, the noise didn’t seem to mind him at all.
He only wanted Helga.
“You have to go home, shortman. Your Grandma misses you.”
“I don’t really think so.”
It had been two month since the incident happened in the funfair. The funfair was declared closed due to that accident and was forced to move out of the neighbourhood by people who had lost their children in the swing twister crash. Ever since Helga has been hospitalized, Arnold went to her ward everyday to visit her, not wanting to miss a second of her, for fear that he wasn’t there if she ever wakes up. Most of the people in P.S.118 knew about his crush with hlega and vice versa, but he didn’t want to care. He only had his mind on Helga. He would stay at the ward until late in the evening and sometimes way till the night when the nurse had to remind him over and over again that visiting hours are over. He would go home reluctant, his footsteps echoing down the lonely road and Grandpa Phil would always be at the dining room with his cold dinner (sometimes supper if Arnold was able to persuade the nurse to let him stay until about 11.30 at night).
Finally, he couldn’t stand a single minute without seeing Helga. He had made the hospital his second home. Everyday, after school, he would dash to the bus stop to catch the earliest bus to the hospital downtown (where Helga was) and stayed with Helga in the ward until visiting hours were over. He would hide either at the toilet or in the janitor’s room or even the boiler room until the lights were almost out. Then he would creep back into Helga’s ward and sat beside her, continuing to whisper words to her about his day at school and when he got tired, he would either sleep in a sitting position with his head propped on the bed or sleep under Helga’s bed until the next morning. He will then sneak out before he was discovered and caught the morning bus to go to school.
He never ever wanted to go back to the boarding house anymore. He was content just sitting there beside Helga and talk to her with yearning for her to wake up. No matter how much Grandpa Phil or his best friend Gerald or his other classmates begged and coaxed, he wouldn’t budge. Only once in a while, he went home to ask for some money so that he could buy food from the vending machine or the shop outside the hospital. He couldn’t just live off outside food forever, so Grandma Gertrude made some homemade food for him and Grandpa Phil would take it to the hospital for Arnold to eat. Still he wouldn’t leave. He wanted to be by Helga’s side and have the first-hand to see Helga wake up.
“You really, really have to come home, shortman. Look at you. You’re becoming paler by the minute. You have to come home and have some proper rest.” Grandpa Phil was really beginning to worry.
“I’m fine, Grandpa. Just fine,” Arnold replied absentmindedly, being at the state of denial he was.
“Your Grandma would kill me for this.”
“Just don’t tell her then.”
Grandpa sighed and left the basket of food as usual for Arnold to eat. Another day, another fruitless attempt to persuade his grandson to come home. If his son and daughter-in-law were around, they would surely blame him for not taking good care of their child.
“Grandpa?” Arnold’s voice suddenly came out of the blue.
“Yes, Arnold?” Grandpa spun round, feeling hopeful.
“From now on…don’t send me meals anymore. I can feed myself. Tell Grandma that.” Arnold was staring straight at Helga while he was saying that. Grandpa Phil was shocked for a moment, but seeing Arnold’s face exceptionally serious and solemn, he didn’t dare to protest any longer. He just nodded and left without a word.
Arnold didn’t even attempt to say goodbye.
Arnold staggered down to the vending machine. He hadn’t eaten properly for a few days now. His money was almost running out and he resolved to only drinking (not beer, mind you!) either coffee or hot chocolate or anything drinkable from the vending machine. He forced himself not to take so many trips to the vending machine as he didn’t want to attract attention from the nurses, and he didn’t want to go running home asking for money because he didn’t want Grandma Gertrude to worry about him and fuss over him like he was a 5-year-old. More importantly, he didn’t want to miss Helga’s awakening.
“I still have…5 50 cent coins…I can get me a hot chocolate or something…” Arnold muttered to himself, not sure whether he was talking right. He went closer to the vending machine and, with trembling hands, slipped in a 50 cent coin for a $1.50 worth of a cup of hot chocolate. He was about to slip in the second 50 cent coin when he saw a couple of nurses walking side by side with a doctor, looking quite anxious and busy.
“What was her condition?”
“I’m not sure, doctor. She suddenly fluttered her eyes and her heartbeat had increased quite abruptly. It’s a miracle. She wasn’t in a condition to at least wake up in such short hour…”
“Yes. You did say her chances of waking up would be like about 40%, wasn’t it, doc?”
“Well, I was wrong. The Lord sure works in mysterious ways. Come on, girls. We have to attend Miss Pataki before we lose her again!”
Pataki? Helga Pataki? His Helga Pataki? Were they talking about her? Helga has finally awakened! She has finally awakened! How could he ever walk out of the ward just to get some stupid drink and not stay put in the ward to see her awake? How stupid could he get? Now he couldn’t see her wake up first hand! He completely forgotten about the vending machine and was about to take to his heels and run to her ward when all of a sudden, he felt weak all over. his lack of food intake was wearing his body down—he wasn’t getting much nutrition like he was supposed to. His legs turned to jelly and he found himself collapsing onto the floor—hard. Still, he forced himself to at least get up and crawl. His body was wearing down even more, and when one of the attendants noticed him and tried to help him, he shrugged him off, determined to get to the ward himself. He had to see Helga. He can’t fall now! He had to see Helga! He had to…
Helga’s blue eyes were the last thing on his mind…
Arnold saw himself standing in the midst of thick mists. He didn’t know where he was or how he got there, but he knew that he was supposed to find Helga.
“Helga?! Helga~!!! Helga, where are you?!”
“Right here, Arnold! I’m right here!”
Arnold moved towards her voice, both of them calling at each other so that they knew where they were going in these thick mists. He couldn’t see much, but he could make out an outline of a girl with two pony tails and a large ribbon. He held out his hands and could feel hers as their fingers intertwine with each other.
“Helga, I’m so glad you’re alright!” Arnold sighed in relief, grabbing her by the wrist and hugged her close to his chest.
“I’m so glad I’ve found you, Arnold!” Helga sighed too as she hugged him back.
“I’ve been wanting to tell you this for a long time, Helga, but I never found the courage to do it…Helga…I…I love you! I loved you since the day you gave me that kiss during the play! I found myself unable to hate you, unable to despise you, even unable to live without you anymore! Helga, please don’t leave me again! I can’t stand the idea of letting you out of my sight!”
“I’m afraid I can’t promise you that, Arnold,” Helga suddenly loosened her hug and replied with a sad tone in her voice.
“What…What do you mean? Why can’t you?” Arnold asked in surprise.
“Because…” Before Helga could answer, she was gone. Disappeared into thin air. Arnold suddenly was unable to feel Helga in his arms again. He felt so empty, so lost, and so lonely in the middle of the thickening mists. The silence was suffocating. It was so silent that not only you could hear a sewing pin drop, but even a grain of sand. He fell onto his knees with tears trickled down his cheek. He tried to suppress it, but he just couldn’t shake off the depressing, ultimately devastating feeling inside him. Was he forever to endure Helga’s absence? Was he forever going to lose sight of her? He finally drew in a long breath and wailed in agony.
“HELGA~!!!! HELGA, DON’T LEAVE ME, HELGA~~!!!!”
“I’m here, you football head! Stop yelling! I’m here!”
Arnold’s tears and Helga’s voice shook him awake. Arnold opened his eyes to see Helga staring back at him with…worried eyes? He sat abruptly, taking Helga by surprise. He laid his hands tentatively on her cheeks and touched her to see if she was really there. She let him do that for a few seconds or so before pushing his arms away irritably and grumbled, “Hey, football head! Are you trying to give me a facial or something?”
Arnold looked at the rest of her from head to toe. She was sitting on a wheelchair with a number of pillows supporting her weak back. The tubes and the breathing mask were gone, but she was still in her hospital gown and her hair was still loose, resting gently on her shoulders. Her arms and legs were in casts and didn’t look too pretty, but she still looked appealing to him all the same. That was when he realized he was dressed in a hospital gown.
“How long have I been asleep?” Arnold asked, rubbing the sleep off his eyes.
“For almost five days,” Helga replied scornfully. “For a minute there, I thought I might have transmitted my coma viruses to you! The docs said you haven’t been eating for days now, and they started sticking those tube things on you to feed with. Your grandparents were here yesterday.”
“Oh…” Arnold replied, looking down, suddenly very interested in his knees.
“I also heard loads of stories from your grandpa, about not going home and all…”
Arnold looked up, quite shocked to be found out by someone he didn’t dare to let know of.
“And also…when you’re asleep…I’ve heard you talk in your dreams…”
Now he felt really embarrassed. He muttered, “You’d think I’m a real idiot, wouldn’t you?”
Helga moved her wheelchair closer to him and said, “You don’t have to do this for me, you know. If…If you…like me so much, you don’t have to…spend your days 24/7 in this ward just to see me wake up. You have a home and yet you don’t go home! Sometimes you’re just down right stupid!”
“I know, but…” Arnold had to gather more courage to blurt it all out. “If I don’t do this, I won’t get first hand in seeing you waking up. I…I want to be the first person you’ll see when you come out of your coma…so that…”
“So that you can make me barf at first sight?”
“No! So that…you’ll know that I’m doing this because…I love you.” There. He said it. You should see his face—as red as a tomato.
There was a long silence between them before Helga finally took a deep breath and muttered enough for him to hear, “I, uh, I also…have…a crush on you. Ever since pre-school. I was told that…if I were ever to treat you like I can’t stand the sight of you, you would understand that I…I love you too. I could never tell anyone. It’ll ruin me. It’ll ruin my reputation, my pride, my…”
Arnold stopped her raving by laying a finger on her lips. He took her chin gently and placed his lips on hers, kissing her like she did him during the ‘Romeo & Juliet’ play. He fondle his tongue on hers, guiding her as he kissed her more deeply, tasting every inch of her mouth inside. It felt so tantalizing to the taste. He wanted to savour more of her flavourous lips but Helga tore him away within seconds, her face flushed and looking breathless.
“I just want to know if you like me. That’s all I need to know,” Arnold whispered as he caressed her cheek gently. Helga would’ve flung her arms around him if they weren’t broken. Arnold noticed and wrapped his arms around her instead. She couldn’t hold herself any longer—she burst into tears and let out muffled wails on his hospital gown, wetting it. Arnold didn’t mind. He held her even closer and stroked her soft blonde hair. He kissed her forehead and rocked her body to and fro, whispering sweet nothings until her wails slowed down to silent sobs.
Things were definitely going to work just fine for them in the days to come.
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