[A/N: Hey guys! So, I got this idea about the same time I got the idea for I Will Remember You. I promise, I don't have a thing for Arnold being in the hospital but it just seemed like a good plotline. I was gonna work on this other story called Kismet but decided to save that for another time after I revamp it. This story is gonna be intense and I can't wait to do it so I'll just shut up now and show you what I have so far. The chapter is a little short but I think I make up for it with drama. Enjoy!

I don't own Hey Arnold!]

It was all Helga could do to keep her foot from holding the gas pedal tight against the floor of the car. Her heart was in her stomach as she made her way through the busy streets to the Hillwood Emergency Care Center.

It was a Saturday afternoon and it seemed that everyone was out and about. Perfect timing for Helga to be in a rush.

She'd been working the cash register at the local bookstore when the vibrating cell phone in her pocket made her jump. Last year before she started her senior year of high school, Big Bob had insisted she get a part-time job since Olga had gotten one way before then. Patakis were self-sufficient and hard workers and he wouldn't have any daughter of his be anything less.

Helga handed a receipt to her customer and quickly checked her phone under the front counter. It was from Gerald.

Emergency. Call me now.

Ever since he'd started dating her best friend, Phoebe, in tenth grade, Helga had grown to appreciate Gerald as a friend. It was weird hanging out with him and not seeing Arnold around but time had allowed her to grow accustomed to that. It broke her heart when Arnold moved to San Lorenzo with his parents during the summer before their first year of high school but they separated on good terms after dating for a year and a half beforehand. They kept in contact through letters but it wasn't the same thing – talking to someone every few weeks when you were so used to seeing them every day.

The other customers in the store didn't look like they were ready to ring up yet so Helga called over her manager, Marie, to cover her register while she stepped outside to call Gerald.

"What's up, Tall-Hair Boy?" Some habits died hard.

"Helga, you have to get to the hospital right now," Gerald's voice was urgent and Helga didn't like the sound of it.

"What's going on?" Helga's tone turned serious and her brow furrowed. "Is Phoebe okay?"

"She's fine," Gerald paused. "But Arnold's here,"

"What? What is he doing here?" Helga was taken aback. One minute Arnold's in a different country, then all of a sudden he's in Hillwood? In the hospital? "Is he okay?"

"Just get here now! I'll explain when you do. It's bad, though," Gerald rushed.

Helga was a ball of adrenaline. "Okay, I'm coming,"

Helga ran back into the store and told Marie the extent of what she knew about the situation as she hastily started to go through the end of shift process on the register.

"Just go. I'll take care of it," Marie had said and Helga was out the door.

She'd parked her father's blue car against the curb outside and she fumbled with the keys before finally managing to get the right one into the lock. She collapsed in the seat and allowed herself to take a deep breath before turning the engine on and skillfully pulling out of her parallel park job.

A heavy influx of thoughts and questions bombarded her brain as she waited agonizingly at every red light she came across.

What could have happened to Arnold? Why was he in Hillwood and why was he in the hospital?

Oh God, I hope he's okay. Please, please, let him be okay…

Helga's breath was shallow and her pupils dilated. Everything about her was ready for action and she was hyper-alert – more so than she ever remembered being before. The hair on her arms was on end and every muscle in her body felt tight. Yet at the same time, she felt a deep worry in the pit of her stomach that made her want to sink down into her seat and forget about the world.

The ten minute drive to the hospital seemed to have taken an hour. Helga's brakes screeched to a halt in the closest parking spot she could find and she raced toward the automatic sliding doors of the emergency center entrance. She paused for a second, impatient, as the doors opened casually, not realizing how hurried she was.

She ran to the information desk, darting her gaze around to room as she searched for a familiar face.

"Helga!" Phoebe cried out and rushed to her best friend, wrapping her thin, docile arms around Helga's frame. That wasn't a good sign.

Helga looked to Gerald who had come up behind Phoebe. "What's going on?" She managed to get out, a fire still burning behind her eyes.

"The doctors have Arnold back there now," He said, his face equally worried as he pulled Phoebe close to him. "A snake bit him,"

"A snake? What snake? Why here?" Questions rolled out of Helga's mouth as she moved from worried to confused.

"Apparently this place has the best anti-venom warehouse in the Northern hemisphere," Gerald shrugged.

Helga was starting to feel impatient. "Why the heck wouldn't they take him somewhere closer if it's so bad?"

"That's the thing," Phoebe spoke up, revealing her face as she pulled away from the comfort of Gerald' chest. "No one has the anti-venom for this snake because it's a very rare species. They have a department upstairs that specializes in developing anti-venom and they're working on making one for Arnold right now but in the meantime, I'm afraid Arnold's condition is quite critical,"

Helga's heart buried itself in the bottom of her stomach. "How critical?" She gulped, afraid to know.

Gerald and Phoebe just looked at her and Helga could tell by the pain in their eyes that it was beyond critical. She became frantic.

"Where is he?" She looked in their eyes with desperation but didn't give them a chance to respond. She turned and slammed her hands down on the sign-in clipboard as she leaned over the information desk and practically screamed into the receptionist's face.

"Arnold Shortman, where is he?"

The nurse blinked, stunned.

Helga groaned in anger and frustration. "Do you understand English? Where is he?!"

"Helga!" Gerald put a hand on her shoulder and she whipped around. "Come on, we'll take you,"

Helga followed Phoebe and Gerald through a set of double doors as she tried to steady her heart rate. If it sped up anymore, she'd have her own reason for admittance. They rounded a corner and passed through another set of double-doors and Helga found herself in the middle of a medical bee-hive. Doctors and nurses were scurrying around, yelling indistinguishable medical terms and orders with urgency plastered on their faces.

They stopped in front of three-walled room with a curtain for its fourth barrier. The curtain was closed and Helga could hear people bustling around behind it. Their voices were a buzz in her head. A window by the curtain allowed for the possibility of a peak.

"Helga, don't," Phoebe grabbed Helga's arm as she saw her friend heading for the window. "I don't know if you can handle—"

Helga jerked her arm out of Phoebe's faint grasp and peered into the window. There had to be at least five or six people in there, all of them working on or around Arnold. She hadn't seen him in so long and, despite the pictures he'd sent, she felt her heart skip a beat at his face. His eyes were closed and his blond mane was still wild and untamed but light sideburns now adorned his otherwise freshly shaved face.

Gerald and Phoebe moved up behind Helga and they all watched as the doctors checked IVs, studied the readings on machines, and hovered around his right calf. When one doctor stepped aside, Helga saw the damage. They had cut off the bottom half of his pants leg, now revealing the snake bite. Some blood surrounded the wound but that wasn't the worst part. Arnold's calf was swollen to about three times the size it should be and the area around the bite was turning a dark purplish-black. Helga felt nauseous.

Without warning, Arnold's body started to convulse, shaking violently as the doctors tried to steady him for an injection. Helga watched in horror as Arnold's eyes lolled about and vomit dribbled profusely from his mouth. Her legs felt weak and she felt like she was being strangled. The air seemed so thin and she couldn't get enough. The doctors were still trying to find a vein for the needle on his thrashing body when all of a sudden, the movement stopped and Arnold lay limp on the bed. Up on one of the screens, the graph monitoring Arnold's heart rate went from sharp peaks and troughs to a steady line as a long, eerie beep rang out against the walls.

Helga stumbled back. "I… I can't watch this," She looked around, wild-eyed. She braced herself against a cart carrying various pieces of medical equipment, taking a breath.

"Helga," Phoebe approached Helga with tears running down her own face but Helga didn't respond. Instead, she stumbled over to the nurses' station and collapsed in front of a trashcan to vomit.

She coughed and leaned back, taking a breath. The reality of the situation hit her once more and she gripped the edge of the can again, expelling whatever remained in her stomach until all she had left was bile. Helga hung her head over the can as she sobbed, her body heaving and deep breaths dragging painfully into her lungs as she sputtered. Her long blonde hair formed a veil around her face, shielding prying eyes from her breakdown.

Phoebe dropped to the floor beside Helga and pulled her best friend's hair back, leaning her head against Helga's shoulder before Gerald followed them to the floor. He wrapped his arms around both girls and held on tight, fighting the tears that threatened behind his own eyes.