Several days went by where Arnold didn't return to the hospital. He didn't think he would be able to handle seeing Helga lying helpless in a hospital bed, especially after Phoebe told him on the first day of her admission that she had been intubated for the surgery. The tube had since been removed, but he knew that it was an image that he didn't want burned into his mind.

It was the evening of the fourth day since the accident and Arnold sat at the dinner table with his grandparents. Aimlessly he fiddled with the green peas and corn mix his grandmother had prepared while his grandparents looked on with concern. Finally, Gertie motioned to Phil to help his grandson with whatever conundrum was filling his mind.

"Everything okay, Shortman?" Phil ventured in a calm voice.

Sighing he slumped his shoulders, then went back to fiddling with his food with a melancholy expression as he somberly responded, "Everything's fine, Grandpa."

"This wouldn't have anything to do with your friend with the one eyebrow, would it?"

Arnold dropped his spoon on the plate with a clang and sat up in his chair, startled from his thoughts. He then peered over at his grandfather, who was smiling with a grin that told Arnold he knew much more than Arnold could ever hope to. "I just can't bring myself to go visit her at the hospital. I know I should, but seeing her like that after the accident…it was tough. I don't know if I'll be able to put on a strong enough face for her, especially after what Phoebe's told me about what she's going through." He exhaled slowly, then pushed his chair away from the table.

Phil placed his hand comfortingly over his grandson's and said, "She needs you more than ever, Shortman. I told you this already. You've got to be there for her." Arnold hung his head in dejection then shook it back and forth in frustration with himself.

"I know, I know, Grandpa. I'll visit her first thing in the morning. For now, though, I think I'll give Phoebe a call and see how the day went." Arnold gave his grandfather a thankful smile before standing up and departing from the table.

Once he was back up in his room, he grabbed his remote and flipped open his bright red couch. He then leapt up into the air and landed with a bounce upon it. Grabbing his phone, he quickly dialed in Phoebe's number. It only took two rings for her to pick up.

"Hey, Arnold!" Phoebe brightly greeted through the speaker.

"Hey. How'd today go?"

"Well, Helga's doing much better. They've moved her out of ICU and put her in a regular patient ward. She has a private patient room and she's wide awake and pain free. I'm actually with her at the moment. We're watching 'Pride and Prejudice' right now. Would you like to talk to her?"

"Erm, no that's okay Phoebe," Arnold said in a bit of a shaky voice as he pulled at his shirt collar, noticing that he had become a little warmer for no apparent reason. "Tell her I'll be in to visit tomorrow."

"Oh fantastic! I'm sure she'll be happy to see you!"

"Great! Um, well, night Phoebe!"

"Night, Arnold!" Phoebe clicked her cell phone shut and looked over at Helga who wore a panic stricken expression.

"He's coming to visit?" she said in disbelief. Phoebe gave her an affirmative nod and cheeky grin.

"He said he would, Helga. I don't understand why you're so surprised."

"No, I know, Pheebs! Sheesh!" snapped Helga. "It's just, I'm worried how I'm going to act. I wasn't exactly Miss Goody Two Shoes towards him in the emergency room several days ago."

"You were exhausted, in pain, and had just gone through a traumatic event. I'm sure he understood."

"We did agree to try and be nicer to each other," Helga mused. Her eyes flitted to the television screen where the handsome Darcy was professing his love to Lizzie in the rain, one of her favorite scenes. The moment when he finally let down his guard and truly told Lizzie how he felt always struck a chord with Helga, especially how the whole thing went to waste initially thanks to his prejudice and her pride. Silently, Helga thought to herself whether she should allow her heart to finally come before her pride.

"You really ought to hold to that agreement," Phoebe softly said as she paused the movie on Darcy's rain stained face. Helga nodded then turned her head to look down at her friend sitting next to her bed.

"Well, there is one thing we can agree on right now at least."

"What's that, Helga?"

"Darcy is pretty freaking hot in this scene." Both girls broke out in a huge fit of laughter then continued to watch the movie, confident that the tides were changing.

Sunlight poured into Helga's room the next afternoon, making her wish that she was able to walk across the room to close the blinds. Unfortunately, her right leg remained elevated and the nurse was not responding no matter how many times she mashed the call button with her palm. She finally gave up and tossed the bed remote against the wall behind her in frustration. Slamming back against her pillows, she stared up at the ceiling and became lost in her thoughts.

She wondered if she should just come right out and tell Arnold the whole truth about everything, from what was in her journal to her true feelings about him. Silently she reprimanded herself for thinking of doing something so extreme and reminded herself that it was entirely likely that he would reject her. Sighing, she reached into her bedside table drawer and pulled out her golden locket which she had updated with his most recent high school photo. She smiled as she traced her finger along his face and soaked in his emerald green eyes and adorable half smile.

A quick knock at her door caused her to toss the locket back in the drawer in a hurry and slam it before running her hand through her golden locks. "Come in," she said in a voice she hoped didn't sound as nervous as she felt.

The door opened to reveal the same boy that she had just seen in her locket photo, holding a bouquet of brilliantly white daisies and daffodils that made Helga's breath catch in her throat.

"Hi," Arnold said with a grin. "I brought you some flowers." He strode over to her bedside and set the bouquet down gingerly on the bedside table.

"Thanks," Helga said as she continued to gaze at the bouquet in astonishment. Inwardly she swooned at the realization that Arnold had brought her, Helga Pataki, a stunning bouquet of flowers. She became a little light-headed and gripped the side of her bed in order to steady herself.

"Are you all right?" Arnold asked, having noticed Helga's unsteadiness.

"As all right as I'm going to be, football head," she snapped defensively as she leaned back in the bed and placed her left arm across her lap. Her right arm remained strapped in a shoulder immobilizer. Arnold shot her a terse look, yet she only rolled her eyes and turned away from him.

"Look, we agreed to try and be more civil. Maybe you could do your part in this seeing as how I'm doing mine," Arnold said curtly as he sat down in the lounge chair beside her bed. Helga remained with her back facing him, wanting nothing more than to gush to him about how happy she was that he was there and that he had brought her flowers of all things. Yet her defensive mechanisms rose up and refused to let her do that due to her crippling fear of his rejection.

"Gee Arnoldo, get a grip! I'm trying, okay? You have got to give me some time to get the hang of this 'being kind and gooey' thing. Got it, bucko?" Arnold gulped as he looked in her blue eyes filled with so many mixed emotions that he wish he could fully sort through. He definitely saw the annoyance and frustration that she wanted him to see, but there was something else there that she was trying so desperately to hide. Dread? Happiness?

Without warning he stood up and walked over to the other side of her bed where he firmly grasped her left arm, causing her to let out an audible gasp and widen her eyes in surprise at his unexpected forcefulness. "Helga, I'm only going to say this once. I know that you are truly a good, gentle, and kind person, and I like that about you. Actually, I really like that about you. I am so sick and tired of you pushing me away though for no good reason." His grip loosened on her wrist as he moved his hands down to enclosed her hand gently in his. He then knelt down to her eye level and saw that her blue eyes welled up with tears when they met his emerald green ones. Taking a deep breath, he continued, "I want you to let me through to the real you, and I have a feeling that you want that, too. I've been saying for a while that we could be great friends if you would only let me in, and this is the time, Helga. So let me in and connect with the true you. Stop pushing me away, okay? Because I'm not going anywhere." Helga stared at him in disbelief for a moment, then broke out in punctuated sobs.

"I-I-oh, criminy!" She yelled out between sobs as Arnold leaned in and enveloped her in a gentle hug. He stroked her hair while Helga continued to cry into his shoulder, struck with the guilt over hurting her main reason for living for such a long time and stunned at the realization that Arnold even wanted to be friends with her.

When Helga had finally gotten control of her emotions again, she murmured, "I'm sorry for everything, Arnold. I…I'd definitely like to be friends, but I have to ask you something." Arnold nodded as he gave her hand an encouraging squeeze. "Be patient with me. I've acted one way for so long, and it's going to be hard for me to act like myself without being defensive all the time." She exhaled and let out a nervous laugh, proud of herself for being able to admit that she at least wanted to be his friend.

"I think, I can do that," Arnold replied with the smile that Helga absolutely adored. She gave him a soft smile back that made Arnold's cheeks flush a little and feel warm. He shook the feeling off, unsure why they had even occurred. With a gentle pat of her hand, he let go of it and returned to the chair next to the bed. "So, Helga, how is your day going?"

"It'd be going great if I wasn't stuck in this bed with several broken bones and the sun glaring through those windows," Helga said dryly with a smirk. At this Arnold strode across the room and closed the blinds much to Helga's relief. "Thanks, Arnoldo. I was sure to get a nice case of melanoma if those remained open for much longer." Arnold grinned at her then sat back down to a wonderful conversation with the girl that had so long fascinated and confused him. For once she didn't poke fun at him in a petty fashion, but rather she sent along a few playful and friendly jests that made him chuckle. He surprised himself at his ability to shoot a few of his own back at her that made her chortle as well. The rest of the morning was spent with them getting along in a way that they hadn't been able to in a long long time. Silently they both hoped that they would be able to continue getting along in this incredible fashion