Arnold groaned as he picked himself up. He heard many people exclaiming in horror and their faces seemed terrified. He nodded when an old man tried to stand him up and asked if he was OK while checking his dusty body. Besides a few bruises and some cuts from the fall he had, he was pretty much a-OK. ‘What had happened?’ he thought. ‘What exactly just happened?’
As he got up, he saw a large crowd gathered around someone on the solid ground. It seemed as if that person was under something big and heavy. The thing was clearer and seemed as if it was a cable swing from the swing twister. He turned towards the swing twister and saw that it had crashed and its cable swings were all crashed on the ground. It seemed as if the gadget that spun the swing twister sort of malfunctioned and broke, sending those who rode it either flying away to a far direction or crashing to the ground. It was horrible as the people crowded over the swing twister to see the mangled bodies trapped under the bulk of the swing twister.
Arnold grimaced and turned back to the crowd which was nearer to him. He saw Eugene and Phoebe coming up to him with horrified expressions on their faces.
“Hey, you guys OK?”
“Yes, but Helga…” Phoebe was close to tears as the memory of being pushed away to safety by her best friend came into her tiny mind.
Arnold’s heart almost missed a beat. What happened to Helga? Is she…? Don’t tell me she is…Arnold quickly pushed his way through the crowd to see who they were looking at. He prayed hard in his heart that his suspicions were not true, but things don’t usually turn out the way we wanted it to be, especially when you’re hoping that nothing bad happens. As Arnold found himself standing somewhere in the middle of the crowd, his legs almost turned into jelly at what he just saw.
There, before his eyes, was Helga lying there motionless on the ground, the heavy, bulky cable swing crushed onto her thin, frail body. She was lying on her stomach and the whole cable was on her back, seemingly have crushed her spine into pieces. She was lying on a pool of her own blood, bleeding badly not only at both her mouth and nose but on the rest of her body. Arnold let out a strangled yell and ran towards the cable swing that threatened to claim her life. He pulled and pushed and tugged at the cable swing, but it was too heavy for him.
“Please! Please, somebody! Help me! Help her! Someone please help her!! PLEASE!!!” Arnold begged while he still tried to move the cable swing off the slipping Helga. Phoebe and Eugene also pushed their way through the crowd and tried to help Arnold with the cable swing, but in vain—the damn thing wouldn’t budge. Everyone stood there, dazed and confused, not knowing what to do and not sure whether they were capable of moving the swing.
“Arnold! Arnold, are you al…” Gerald’s call stopped abruptly when he saw what Arnold was trying to do. The other kids were practically horrified at the sight. Lila almost fainted at the sight of blood. Arnold turned to Gerald and the others, his eyes seemed quite welled-up.
“Gerald! Sid! Harold! Stinky! Everybody, quick! Help me move this cable swing! It’s killing her!”
“I don’t think she would even survive…” Stinky’s comment was cut short by a jab on the ribs by Rhonda. They all ran over to help Arnold try and move the cable swing. It budged a little but that was all. The combined strength of little children was still not enough to move a metal 2-tonne cable swing. Everyone has the mind to just give up trying but Arnold was still persistent. He had to get that thing off Helga. He had to keep trying. He had to.
For Helga.
“Step aside everyone! Step aside please! Truck comin’ thru’!”
When Arnold thought that he was never going to get Helga out of the jam, he was struck back to reality by a familiar voice. He looked up to see his Grandpa Phil trying to move away the crowd to make way for a huge truck bearing the sign ‘Big Bob’. Who else was driving the truck than Helga’s dad, Bob Pataki. There were other trucks too but they were heading towards the crashed swing twister site to help the other victims.
“Oh my stars! What happened to your girlfriend, shortman?” Grandpa Phil exclaimed when he saw Helga under the cable swing, but before Arnold could snap at him, Bob honked his truck at him.
“Get outta the way, you old shriveled pickle! I’m trying to save my daughter here! Go put that hook on the cable swing or something!”
Grandpa Phil did as he was told. The other kids tried to make way and usher the other people away so that Bob will have room to reverse his truck and lift the darn cable swing. Slowly, inch by inch, the bulky cable swing was lifted off Helga and was dropped somewhere else nearby. Of course, Bob had to make sure that no else was standing there or he would cause another crushing accident. He quickly got off the truck and rushed to Helga, who was still not moving at all. He wanted to pick Helga up but Grandpa Phil stopped him.
“Are you out of yer bloomin’ mind, Bob? If you touch her, you’re gonna make her broken body even more broken!”
“Then what do you suggest we do, Phil?! It’s my daughter here!” Bob yelled, for once feeling worried and anxious about what might happen to Helga, considering he had never really cared much about her since goodness-knows-when.
“We wait for the ambulance, of course! Just don’t touch her!”
5 minutes later, the ambulance came. At least someone was sensible enough to stop staring at Arnold and the gang trying to move the swing and rush to call the ambulance. Arnold moved towards his grandpa and held him tight, fearing the worse. He didn’t know what to do: just keep watching at whatever might happen till the end or break down and cry right there, right now. One of the paramedics took Helga’s hand carefully and checked her pulse. At first they weren’t sure she ever survived the crushing weight of the swing, but then the one who checked her pulse widened his eyes and exclaimed, “She’s still breathing! She still has a pulse! Get her into the van right now! Careful, don’t break her bones!”
Arnold’s heavy heart lifted as soon as he heard the word. ‘Helga is alive?’ he thought. ‘She’s still alive?! I can’t believe it, she’s still alive! Thank God!’
Carefully, the paramedics put Helga onto a stretcher and carried her into the ambulance van. Bob jumped into the van, stated that he was family (that’s ‘rich’-_-). Everyone wanted to follow but the ambulance only allowed family, so Arnold and his gang took a ride on Grandpa Phil’s packer.
Arnold sat outside the ER with the others, waiting anxiously for everything to be over. Arnold clasped his hands together tight and wished that Helga would be alright. He had never felt so worried before for Helga. Sure, he does have a little crush on her ever since that kiss she gave him during the last scene of the ‘Romeo & Juliet’ school play. He didn’t know why Helga kissed him that long—it still remains a mystery—but he knew one thing: ever since that kiss he was beginning to actually like Helga. All of her terrible attitudes were, although still annoying, easily dismissed. He found himself having her in his dreams and in his mind often, unless someone is able to distract him. He told not a soul, for fear he’ll be despised by his gang.
It was really taking quite a long time. He was getting really nervous. If he doesn’t find something to calm him down, he’d probably start going frantic and might actually pound the ER door and reveal his secret. He got up abruptly and managed to mutter the word ‘bathroom’ before rushing into one.
In the bathroom, he continuously rinsed his face with cold water. He stared at himself in the mirror. He noticed that Helga was pretty much right about his head—it really looked like a football for a minute there. It was no wonder Helga constantly called him ‘football head freak’. He used to hate her calling him that, but now he missed every second of it. If Helga couldn’t pull through, he was going to miss it forever. He suddenly fell onto his knees and broke down into tears.
“Oh, please. Don’t let Helga leave me. Please don’t take her away. There is no way I can ever live without her anymore. I may have hated her in the past, despised her and hated her guts, but that’s the past now. I don’t hate her anymore. I can’t hate her anymore. The more I tried to hate her for her horrible attitude, the more I find myself drowning in her love. Please, God, don’t take her away from me. Please, I beg of you, please don’t take her away. I beg of you, please…”
“Arnold? Arnold, are you OK?”
Arnold stood up quickly and spun round to see Gerald standing at the door of the bathroom. Gerald was looking at him with questioning eyes and Arnold quickly turned around again with his back towards Gerald. He didn’t want him to see his red sodden eyes and flushed cheeks.
“Are you feeling alright, Arnold?”
“Yes…I’m fine,” Arnold replied hesitantly. “Any…Any news from the ER?”
“I was just about to tell you, Arnold. Helga survived. She made it through. She came back from the land of the dead and she’s in the ICU right now.”
Without another minute wasted, Arnold and Gerald quickly ran towards where Helga’s ward is.
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