A/N All right, time to get into the meat of this story. I had soooo much fun writing it, I really do hope you enjoy. So, with no further ado, lets do this, and feel free to let me know what you think…

Your Love Saved Me

Chapter 2

Part 1

Evening had finally come. Helga put her day at the park out of her mind and was mindlessly flipping through the channels on the TV when the house phone rang. Ignoring it Helga kept flipping the channels.

"Will somebody get that already!" Big Bob bellowed.

"Keep your shirt on, I'll get it! Crimeny!" Helga begrudgingly yelled.

When she picked up the phone she heard her best friend on the other end. It sounded like she had been crying. She wondered if she and Gerald had gotten into a fight or something.

"Hello, Helga?"

"Oh hey Pheebs, what's up? You sound upset or something."

"Oh Helga, it's just awful. It's Arnold, you have to get the hospital, NOW! I'm afraid he's not doing well at all."

"Arnold!" her mind screamed. "Phoebe, what's wrong, what's wrong with Arnold!"

"I'm afraid it's his appendix."

Helga thought back to the last two days, how he had been complaining about not feeling well for a while, and how she had just left him in the park earlier today. All he had asked for was a ride, why hadn't she just given him a ride, if she had maybe she'd have seen just how sick he really was and could have taken him to the hospital before things got so worse. "Because you're a selfish bitch!" she scolded herself.

"….Helga! Helga, are you listening to me?"

"I'm on my way." She shouted and dropped the phone without taking the time to hang up.

She grabbed her backpack before getting into her car and driving as if Arnold's life depended on it. "Hang in there Football Head." She thought as she sped through town.

Finding the first available parking spot she tore out of the car and headed towards the emergency room entrance.

She ran to the admittance desk, frantically trying to get any information she could about Arnold.

"Calm down, please." The admitting nurse said. "Now, slow down and tell me again who it is you're looking for."

"Arnold! I'm looking for Arnold, I've got to see Arnold!"

In a calming voice the nurse tried once again to get the needed information out of Helga. "You need to take a deep breath and tell me who it is you're looking for again."

Gathering her hysterics under control she took a deep breath and said very slowly, "Arnold, I'm looking for Arnold – P – Shortman."

The nurse typed the name into her computer and said, "Ahh, here we go, Arnold Shortman. Are you family?" the nursed asked.

"What? No, we're not related, he's my friend. My good friend! My very, very good friend."

Well, without family consent I can't give you any information on him but I can give you his room number. He's over in the main wing room 418."

Part 2

A good fifteen minutes of going down one wrong hallway after another passes before she finally finds Arnold's room. There's a small window in the door just above the handle. She peeks through it to see an empty bed. Beyond that a curtain is drawn around the second one. She can see the fuzzy silhouettes of people as they move about on the other side. She dries the tears from her face and takes a deep breath, gathering the courage to step inside. She quietly enters the room and takes in the scene before her.

Her eyes immediately are drawn to Arnold first. He lays sleeping, oblivious to everything around him. She looks at the IV bag and the long thin tube that trails to the top of his hand, the needle melts into his flesh, providing him with the necessary medicine to keep him alive. On his finger is a plastic clip which keeps track of his oxygen levels. There's an automatic blood pressure cuff that goes off at regular intervals. There are multiple wires hooked up to a heart monitor. The wires trail down and disappear under the sheets which cover him. She watches the rhythm of his heart and thanks God for the steady beat. His face is ashen and he lays motionless in the bed. She longs to reach out and stroke his cheek.

Her vision pans out now to the people surrounding him. At the head of the bed stand his grandparents, the worry and sorrow on their faces making them look every bit of their 80 plus years. His grandfather holds his grandmother close to him as she quietly cries into his chest. Next to them is his best friend Gerald, whose eyes go back and forth between the monitors and the sleeping boy. Holding on to Gerald is his girlfriend Phoebe. She wipes a continual stream of tears from her cheeks. At the foot of the bed stand Rhonda and Sid. Rhonda is typing into her phone, most likely filling the rest of the gang in on what's going on. In a chair next to Rhonda is Harold, standing behind the chair is Stinky. Not being able to look at his friend Harold just stares at his folded hands that lay in his lap.

The last person in line is Lila. She sits on the bed close to Arnold, holding his hand tightly in hers. The sight of Lila sitting Oh so closely to the sleeping boy was just what Helga needed to snap her out of her paralysis. A soft growl emitted from her chest, causing Phoebe to turn around and finally notice her.

"Helga," she said relieved that her friend had finally arrived at the hospital. "You made it."

Without saying a word Helga slowly stalked over to the bed and grabbed Lila, pushing her away. She took ahold of Arnold's hand and stared into his closed eyes, willing them to open.

Angry Lila spoke up, "If you wanted to see Arnold so badly I'm oh so sure you could have just asked."

Helga kept her eyes on Arnold as she addressed Lila mockingly, "and I'm oh so sure you can go take a flying fu…"

"Helga!" Phoebe yelled at her friend. "I know you're upset but please try to stay calm."

"What gives you the right to treat Lila like that Pataki?" Gerald questioned.

"It's none of your concern Tall Hair Boy." Helga said, surprising herself over how steady her voice was.

"Of course it's MY business Helga, Arnold is my best friend!"

Phoebe puts her hand on Gerald's shoulder to calm him and whispers to him to go easy on Helga and give her time to process what has happened.

Helga looks to Arnold's grandfather for answers and he tells her what she already knows, that Arnold had been feeling sick for the last few days but couldn't really pinpoint what was wrong. What she didn't know was that it had turned out to be an inflamed appendix and the day Helga left him at the park it had finally burst. The infection had spread and he is going to need to be on strong antibiotics until they can get the infection under control.

Helga looks back to Arnold and in a quiet voice says, "It's my fault."

"What are you talking about Pataki, how are you taking the blame for a burst appendix?" Gerald said, still annoyed at Helga for the way she treated Lila.

"That day, in the park, I saw Arnold. He said he wasn't feeling well and he asked me for a ride home. I was too busy to help him. No, that's a lie. I was too selfish to take the time to help him and I left him there to walk back to the boarding house."

"Really, Helga," Rhonda said, "How were you supposed to know how sick Arnold was? It wasn't your fault that his appendix burst."

"No! You don't get it, none of you get it. If I had given him a ride I would have seen. I would have seen how sick he was and taken him directly to the emergency room. They could have discovered it was his appendix and removed it before it burst and sent that … that poison through his body."

At this point a nurse comes in telling everyone that visiting hours are over and that only one person can stay with him. Everyone else would have to leave.

Phil had made the decision to stay and everyone else reluctantly started to make their way to the door. Everyone, that is, but Helga.

"I'm not leaving."

"Young lady…." The nurse starts before being cut off.

"I said I'm not leaving!"

Phoebe walks over to Helga and places a hand on her shoulder. "Come on Helga, it's time to go."

Almost too quietly Helga says, "No. One person can be with him. I am going to be that person. I will not leave his side. You all go home and get some rest. My place is here."

Hearing the resolve in her voice Arnold's grandparents agree to let Helga be the one to keep watch and they usher the others out of the room.

Alone now with Arnold Helga sits, holding onto his hand. She's afraid to let go, afraid to break the connection. Afraid that if she does he will slip into a dark abyss, unable to make his way back out to conscientiousness.

Part 3

Sometime in the night Helga's body gave out and she succumbed to sleep. When the night nurse came in to check on Arnold he found her sitting in the chair that Harold had previously vacated, her upper body fallen forward onto the bed, Arnold's hand still in hers. The nurse gently touches Helga's shoulder startling her awake.

Momentarily confused as to where she is she looks around. The room is dark save for the night light over his bed and the various monitors that blink and beep as they keep sentinel over Arnold's vital signs.

"You know," the nurse starts, "You can use that empty bed over there if you want. As long as we don't need it for a patient it's up for grabs. I think it'd be much more comfortable."

Helga looks at the bed then back towards Arnold. "No, no that's ok, I'm fine right here."

"Ok, if you're sure." The nurse says as he finishes checking Arnold's vitals.

The next morning Helga awakes to no changes from the day before. She doesn't know how long she'll have to stay there so she calls Phoebe to ask her to bring her a change of clothes and some supplies.

"How's he doing?" Phoebe asks.

"There's no change. He just lays there, sleeping."

"This could take a while Helga, those are some pretty strong antibiotics they have running through his veins. You could be there for a few days."

"I don't care if I have to stay for a few years Phoebe, I'm not leaving his side."

"Ok, suit yourself. I'll try to get there as soon as I can but it may not be for a while. I have this family thing I can't get out of."

"Fine, just get here when you can, I can smell my own breath and I need my toothbrush!"

The day starts to pass with no sign of Phoebe. Visitors trail in and out all day long, and all day long Helga just sits, holding Arnold's hand and staring, willing his eyes to open. "Well," she thinks to herself, "I guess the cats out of the bag now. No more being able to hide my feelings after this."

Its late afternoon before the last visitor takes their leave, finally leaving Helga alone again with Arnold. She pulls a small journal from her backpack. It's the latest of many that she's written over the years. Diaries and journals filled with poems and sonnets, all with one theme, her love for the boy with the football shaped head. She had read to him last night after they were alone and she now opens the journal and continues. She reads each one page by page until her eyelids grow heavy. Before realizing it her head drops and the book falls open into her lap. She sleeps in deep exhaustion and doesn't hear the door as it opens. Gerald comes walking in, carrying the supplies Helga had asked Phoebe to drop off. He walks over to the bed and sees Helga curled up in the chair, head fallen back in what looks like a most uncomfortable position. He notices the book in her lap and with curiosity guiding him he picks it up and starts to read. His eyes grow wide as they scan over the words meticulously written in the same pink ink that Helga is known for using. He reads her deepest secrets in disbelief. He slowly sits next to Arnold and as he does so Arnold starts to stir and mumbles something under his breath.

"What was that you said, buddy?" Gerald asks hoping to prompt him awake.

Arnold stirs once again and says a little louder, "Helga."

Gerald looks at his friend with wide eyes, then slowly turns his gaze towards Helga in disbelief. Helga starts to stir and, not wanting to be caught reading her journal he quickly places it back on to her lap.

The weight of the journal being dropped in her lap awakens her with a start. Her legs slide off the chair causing the journal to fall to the floor. Groggy she looks at Gerald then at the fallen book. She quickly picks it up holding it to her chest.

"Geraldo! W-what are you doing here? Where's Pheebs?"

"It turned out she couldn't get away today after all so she sent me to bring you your stuff." He continued looking at her with disbelieving eyes.

His stare made her nervous and she hated it when people made her feel ill at ease. Sliding her journal into the backpack that was on the floor besides her she took the duffel bag Gerald was holding out to her.

"Uh, thanks, I, uh, appreciate it. You got time to stay for a bit?"

Embarrassed and dying to know what Phoebe knew about these new revelations, he made an excuse to leave. Helga thanked him once again as he quickly made his exit.