(flashback)

Helga stormed out of her job, angry with her boss-again. What a douchebag, they always fought with each other. He knew she was a good server and that was the only thing keeping her here. She grunted in frustration, swinging her bag over her shoulder. She headed home, seething the whole way. She fiddled with her apartment keys and flung her door open, shutting it with a loud thud. She tossed her bag onto her bed, searching for something. "Come on… come on…" She mumbled to herself. She finally managed to find what she was looking for and pulled out a fresh needle and her band for her arm.

She tied the band around her arm tightly, her veins slowly starting to protrude more. She reached for the needle and stuck it, pumping her addiction into her. She sighed, leaning back on her seat, her head resting against the wall. She sat there for a few moments, growing disappointed. She wasn't getting it as good. "One more couldn't hurt I guess." She shrugged, not really caring even if it was too much for her.

She stuck another needle in, and leaned back again, finally feeling the rush.

She sat, head reclined for a few moments, noticing this wasn't how she normally felt when she was high. "Maybe I need water…" She mumbled, reaching for her water bottle on her nightstand and chugging it quickly. She still didn't feel better. She felt her head starting to rush. "Ugh… I should just step outside…" She said to herself, fumbling with the door, and then stumbling out.

She miraculously made it to the first floor, pushing the front door open weakly and began strolling down the sidewalk. She stopped a moment, resting her arm on the wall to hold herself up. She lost her grip on the wall and stumbled into the alley on the side of her apartment building. She crashed into a trashcan, her hair falling into her face in a tangled mess. She panted, feeling her heart throb, struggling to keep beating. Her head was reeling. She tried to stand, but was too weak.

She gave up after another failed attempt, shutting her eyes, trying to feel some sort of relief from this. Am I overdosing? She thought to herself. She never had before, so she wasn't sure. Normally she could skim by, just barely avoiding an OD. But this time it seemed she couldn't avoid it.

A young couple, probably in their mid-20s, walked by and saw her in the alley. "Oh my God! Bradley we need to do something!" The woman said, horrified. The boyfriend just rolled his eyes. "It's just another druggy Sam, ignore her. She can help herself." He said, annoyed before gently pulling his girlfriend along. The girlfriend watched the blonde girl in the alley until they were out of sight of her again, leaving Helga to fend for herself.

(end flashback)

Arnold's phone alarm woke him from his nap. He slid the lock, setting his phone back down and rubbing his eyes. He sat up in the cot. Why wasn't he in his room? Oh, that's right; he had forgotten what had taken place the day before. He sighed heavily, before picking his phone up again to see what time it was. His phone shone a bright "4:15am" on its screen. Two hours of sleep, if that. Hopefully he could function on this. He stretched, then got up from the cot and neatly organized the sheets, knowing someone else would probably be heading in here soon.

He opened the door and headed out into the hall. He just so happened to walk out when Dr. Witz strolled by with his usual clipboard. He must've seen Arnold walk out because he stopped and flipped the papers to Helga's information. "Hello Arnold, how did you sleep?"

Arnold shrugged. "Best as I could, given the circumstances I guess. Thank you for asking. How is she?"

Dr. Witz looked down at the paper. "She's stable, but still sleeping. There'd really be no point going into her room right now. Why don't you rest some more and I'll fetch you when she's awake?"

Arnold shook his head. "I don't want her to think she was just found by a random person. Plus, me being there when she first wakes up might calm her down. And I want to talk to her about her rehabilitation after she gets out, and me being there first thing might help her decision in taking the help."

Dr. Witz nodded. "Well, good luck to you Arnold. I hope she takes your help, because if there's anyone that can help people the best, it's you." He said with a tired smile, returning to his clipboard and heading down the hall once more.

Arnold watched him walk away; yawning after Dr. Witz disappeared from sight around a corner. He really was rather tired; maybe he could rest a bit more in Helga's room. Yeah, that didn't sound like too bad of an idea. He'd still be there when she woke up after all. He walked to her room, peeking into the doorway to see if she really was still asleep, she was. He sighed, he just wanted it to fast forward so she would just wake up and they could talk about her predicament. He stepped into her room and sat in the chair.

He pulled his phone out, setting a vibrate alarm at 6:00am to make sure it wouldn't wake her up with its noise. Then, he tried to get as comfortable as he could in the hospital chair, but one knows there's only so much comfort you can seek in them.

He leaned his head back and stretched his legs out, crossing his arms in the process. He shut his eyes, and surprisingly sleep took him a lot faster than he expected.

His alarm buzzed at 6 and he jumped from his sleep, quickly looking at Helga to see if there was any change. Nope, nothing, still asleep. He sighed; he seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. He pulled his phone out and set another alarm for 7. He didn't want to sleep too long, less he wake up after her. He really didn't want to screw this up with her. And knowing Helga, one sneeze at the wrong time and poof, she'd be gone.

He went back to his stretched out state and fell back asleep.

Helga woke up, feeling extremely sore. She groaned, sitting up in the hospital bed, jumping at the slight tug from the IV in her arm. Her attention shot quickly to it. "Shit!" She whispered, looking around and realizing where she was. Why was she in the hospital? She was trying to remember what had happened the day before. Oh yeah… She guessed it was because she really did overdose. Some random person must've found in the alley. She slapped her forehead. How embarrassing, some random passer by finding her in that state? "Ugh!" She slammed her hand down onto the bed, it hitting with a quiet thump on the sheet. That was when she heard quiet snoring coming from the corner of the room. She slowly turned her head, wondering who on earth would be in her room, seeing as no one knew she was here that she would know. She noticed the hair, and she knew instantly who it was. Arnold…? What the hell is he doing here?! And it dawned on her; this was probably the hospital he interned at. But why would he know the room she was in or anything? Let alone her being here in the first place.

Maybe Arnold was the one who found her? Her heart sank, that would be even worse than a stranger. She hated that he knew about her problem, but it's even worse that he had to pretty much babysit her while she was in that state. She let out a long, drawn out and frustrated sigh. Great, just great. Arnold probably thought the worst of her know, even more than when he knew she was a druggy. She noticed a small wet drop hit her sheet. Even better! Now she was freaking crying. Get it together Helga old girl… She thought.

She started to hear a buzzing coming from where Arnold was sitting. It must've been his phone. Oh crap! She didn't want him to think she had been watching him or something while he slept. She saw him stir before she plopped back onto her pillow, pretending to be asleep again.

Sure enough, Arnold's eyes opened up and he pulled out his phone, shutting off the annoying buzzing. He stretched, yawning in the process. He looked at Helga. "Still asleep. She must be exhausted." He said under his breath.

Helga's heart was racing, now was a better time than anything to "wake up" in front of Arnold. Like she used to fantasize about when she was a kid. Not necessarily in these circumstances though. She stirred, letting out a fake sigh before sitting up in the bed. Arnold's eyes shot to her now moving body. Finally she was awake. "Hey Helga..." He said, a little quietly, not wanting to surprise her.

Her head turned quickly to Arnold. "Arnold? Where am I? And what are you doing here?" She asked, faking surprise. She had pretty much gathered everything that had happened, but Arnold, not knowing she had already woken up, explained the whole thing in full detail. Okay, maybe there were a couple parts she missed.

"So… why did you stay here?" She asked, honestly curious. She didn't think anyone would really care about just another druggy that OD'd. Arnold looked at her. "Why wouldn't I? Helga, you're my friend, I'd never leave you like that. It wouldn't be right."

Helga almost looked disappointed. What was she expecting though? A confession of his love for her? That was just silly.

"But…" Arnold cut her off to her thoughts. "There is something we need to discuss." He said, in a rather serious tone.

Oh jeez…. What does Football Head have planned for me? She thought, a little anxious now. What could he want to talk to her about?

*sorry guys, it's a bit on the short side. I wanted to post something today, seeing as I won't have my computer with me tonight or tomorrow. Something to hold y'all over! Enjoy! critique, comments, all that good stuff as usual. Thank y'all again for keeping up, I'm glad you guys are as excited as I am about this story!*