A little over an hour passed before a tall lab coat wearing woman with long brown hair pulled back into a low hanging ponytail swept through the double doors of the emergency room into the waiting room. "Can I see those here for Helga Pataki?" she announced. Immediately Bob, Miriam, Phoebe, Arnold, and Gerald, who had arrived only a few moments after Phoebe's call to him, jumped up from their seats and rushed over to the physician. "I'm Dr. Sampson. Come with me," she said with an emotionless face. Silently they followed her down a hall and into a white washed room with a single table in the center surrounded by eight cushioned chairs. They each took a chair on either side of the table as the physician sat herself down at the end.
"Let me start by saying that even though her mechanism of injury was quite traumatic, Helga is going to be fine." Everyone in the room simultaneously let out a huge sigh of relief. "Now that doesn't necessarily mean that her recovery is going to be easy. She certainly does have some injuries and some of them aren't very pretty. So let me get everything out first and then I will address your questions," the physician stated in a serious tone. Everyone in the room nodded in understanding, then focused intently on the doctor as she detailed Helga's various injuries.
From what Arnold heard, he understood that Helga had no internal brain injuries nor any fractures of her skull. However there was a small fracture of her cervical spine that had not led to any spinal cord damage. There was also a dislocation of her right shoulder as he had suspected as well as a fracture of her distal radius and ulna and of her tibia and fibula. She also had several posterior rib fractures and a large laceration to the back of her school that Dr. Sampson had stapled back together after controlling the bleeding. He was not surprised to find out that there were no injuries to the left side of her body. The doctor then stated that Helga would have to undergo surgery in order to repair her radius and ulna fractures as they required hardware placement for proper healing. Helga's shoulder had already been put back in place and there were no internal organs damaged based on the CT reports.
"That's all the injuries that we were able to find," concluded Dr. Sampson. "Do you have any questions for me?"
Several moments of silence passed in the room as everyone soaked in the information. Dr. Sampson waited patiently with her hands folded on top of the table. "So, Helga is going to be staying in the hospital?" inquired Miriam in an unsteady voice once she had regained her composure.
"That's correct, Mrs. Pataki. As I stated before, she will be undergoing surgery with our orthopedist, Dr. Petruk. Does she have a primary physician?" Bob and Miriam shook their heads in reply. "That's all right, we'll just have our hospitalist admit her. I believe Dr. Martin is on today. He's very good and will take good care of Helga during her stay."
"How long is the recovery?" Bob asked.
"She will be in the hospital for at least a week, if not a little more. After that she will require routine follow ups with the orthopedist to ensure that her fractures are healing properly as well as physical therapy sessions. These will all be coordinated with you prior to her discharge from the hospital."
Arnold looked over at Dr. Sampson before asking, "So…so she is going to be all right then?" Dr. Sampson gave him a nod with a kind smile. Arnold slumped back in his seat in relief, glad to have final confirmation that Helga would make a full recovery.
"Can we see her?" Phoebe eagerly asked as Gerald wrapped his arm around her protectively.
"Of course, but I can only allow you to go in a few at a time. It seems fitting that her parents would get to see her first. Mr. and Mrs. Pataki, if there are no further questions I'd be happy to take you to see her." Immediately, Bob and Miriam leapt up from their chairs and disappeared arm in arm out of the room behind the doctor.
Silence returned to the room as the teens sat quietly, then Gerald commented, "I always knew she was one tough chick!" This caused the three of them to break out into peals of laughter. If a fall of that height couldn't completely break Helga, nothing could.
"I'm just glad to know that she's going to be okay," Phoebe said with a smile after they had stopped laughing.
"Yea," murmured Arnold in agreement. Gerald looked over at his best friend with concern, then stood up and came around the table to sit next to him.
"Look, man, you're blaming yourself for something that you didn't cause. It was just an unfortunate event and it isn't your fault. Stop being so hard on yourself!"
"I can't help it, Gerald! I'm the one who startled her and caused her to go down the ladder too quickly and lose her grip! I should have handled the situation better, then she wouldn't have gotten so hurt!"
Gerald peered over at Phoebe who merely silently told him to be a little more gentler with his friend. He sighed as he placed his hand on Arnold's shoulder while Arnold hung his head in dejection. "I still don't believe you should feel that way, but we're all here for you if you need us. What happened happened Arnold, and there's no changing that."
"Maybe you could help her with her recovery, Arnold," Phoebe piped, causing Gerald to shoot her a stern look. If there was one thing they disagreed on, it was Helga and how much Arnold should be involved with her. Gerald still vehemently felt that Helga should become a nicer person before spending anymore time with Arnold while Phoebe felt that Arnold needed to be a stronger force in Helga's life in order for her to learn how to change.
"I…I don't know, Phoebe. Who's to say she's going to want anyone's help," Arnold replied.
"She may not want it, Arnold," Phoebe said tersely. "But that doesn't mean that she's not going to need it." Arnold sighed before nodding his head in agreement.
"You're right, Phoebe. I'll be sure to help out however I can then." Phoebe beamed at him and Arnold returned it. When Arnold got up to go to the cafeteria and grab everyone a coffee, Gerald sauntered back over to his girlfriend with a disconcerting expression on his face.
"Phoebe, are you crazy? You know those two are only going to fight and get hurt in the end, right?"
Phoebe shot him a glare as she crossed her arms across her chest defiantly. "I know those two can get along, I've seen it, Gerald, and so have you. You don't know Helga the way I do because you never take the time to truly get to know her."
"That's because she doesn't give me the chance! She always calls me stupid names and gets me all worked up for no good reason!" He threw his arms up in frustration then leaned back in the chair with his feet propped up on the table.
"I think this is the perfect opportunity for them to interact, Gerald. Helga's going to need a lot of help in the coming months and Arnold is willing to help her-"
"Only because you suggested it!" Gerald interjected.
"He would have helped out regardless. That's who Arnold is. Anyways, Gerald, listen to me. The only reason Helga acts the way she does is because she fears being rejected. You can never tell her I told you that by the way. With her being in this situation, she's going to have to let her defenses down a little bit, and a little is all that Arnold needs to break through and really interact with her true self. Do you understand me?" Gerald sat staring wide eyed at his serious looking girlfriend.
"You are one crazy woman sometimes, Phoebe," Gerald managed to croak out. Phoebe only gave him a bright smile and a triumphant little squeak which made him melt a little inside. "Man, you are too cute." This caused a pink tinge to return to Phoebe's cheeks. Their conversation ended once Arnold re-entered the room with two trays holding five cups of steaming coffee. Gerald and Phoebe thanked him as he handed them their respective cups before sitting down to sup his own. It wasn't much longer after that that Bob and Miriam returned. They gave Arnold a grateful look as he handed them each a cup of coffee as well.
"How's she doing?" Arnold asked once the Patakis had seated themselves.
"She's doing fine, but she's definitely sleepy thanks to all of the pain medication. They kept the collar around her neck and they've got her leg elevated and her right arm in a new splint," reported Miriam in a calm voice.
"I'm just glad that she isn't worse off. She's definitely got the Pataki strength, that's for sure!" boomed Bob before he took another sip of his coffee. "Anyways, they're going to take her upstairs in the next few hours. It's starting to get late and we don't think she'll be awake much longer. We're going to head home and come back in tomorrow to see her. You kids are welcome to visit, too." Smiling at the teens in a rare show of kindness, Bob stood up and assisted Miriam to a standing position. The Patakis then left the room and headed home.
"Well, I guess you and Gerald should go see her then," Arnold stated. Phoebe stood and went to go to Helga's bedside with Gerald reluctantly following behind her with a slight show of grimace. Arnold knew that Gerald liked to keep his interactions with Helga to a minimum, but he hoped for Phoebe's sake that he would put aside their differences at least for tonight.
Arnold sat in silence while drinking the hot beverage, musing over the occurrences of the day. He knew that even though Helga's parents were concerned with her well being right now, they might not be committed to helping her completely over the next few months. Sure they would be there for a little while, but everything would be sure to return to normal soon enough and she would once again be on her own. He knew that Bob would again put his work before family and Miriam would soon return to the alcohol that she had so long taken refuge in. He sighed despondently and thought about how the next few months would affect him. He was fine with helping Helga through this difficult time as it was certainly something he wanted to do, however he hoped that she would be all right with him becoming a larger part of her life. Softly he chuckled to himself as he realized how ridiculous a thought that was. She would be fine with him being involved more, the real question was would she be willing to let on to that fact. Arnold wasn't as dense as he was when he was a boy, and he at the very least knew that Helga didn't necessarily mean all the horrid things she said to him. He understood that she was truly a caring and kind person, but for the life of him he still couldn't get why she wouldn't let him past her defenses.
Reaching into his jean pocket, he pulled out her small pink journal and set it on the table before him. He stared intently at the book and wondered what secrets of her's it held. Surely if he were to give in to temptation, he would find all the answers he ever wanted and more written inside on those worn pages. He retracted his outstretched hand and silently reprimanded himself for even thinking of invading her privacy. With some time and care, he was sure he would find the answers he was seeking.
A quick rap on the door woke him from his thoughts and he turned to find a smiling Phoebe standing in the doorframe with a disgruntled Gerald next to her. "Arnold, you can go visit her if you'd like. She's doing all right," she kindly said. Arnold got up and grinned as he walked by her.
Before he left the couple, he turned to Gerald and went, "You did behave yourself, right?"
"Yea man, I wasn't about to get into a row with someone as physically broken as Helga." Arnold could have sworn that Gerald wiped a tear from his eyes. He smiled at Gerald, knowing that no matter how much he refused to admit it, he did care a little for his girlfriend's best friend
