Twisted Paths

Part 10

Oh shit… why do you hate me so, fate? Helga thought to herself, shooting Stinky the worst kind of death glare she could imagine.

"Come on now Stinky… don't you think that's a little too much?" Eugene asked, "A single kiss is one thing, but seven minutes?"

"I kinda have to agree with the ginger." Curly said, looking around, "Seven minutes, especially with those two… is a little much."

"I just think it's odd that I don't hear either of them complaining." Rhonda noted, indicating Arnold and Helga.

Sure enough, neither of them was saying anything. Rather than raising a fuss, Arnold was actually standing up and crossing the circle to Helga. He offered her his hand and started to lead her to a small space with a curtain at the back of the tree house. Just as he was about to close the curtains though, everyone heard a car pull up outside the lot the tree was in and whoever was driving it honked the horn furiously.

"Arnold!" Miles yelled from the ground. "Come out here now!"

"I thought you said he was cool with the after party idea…" he muttered to Gerald as he started to climb down the rope ladder.

"He was… maybe something happened at the boarding house?" Gerald offered, climbing down after him, accompanied by Phoebe and Helga, who looked vaguely disappointed at missing out on seven minutes in heaven.

When they got to the ground, it was obvious that something was wrong. For one thing, Miles smile, which seemed to be a permanent feature, was gone. He didn't look angry… he looked worried.

"What is it dad?" Arnold asked, running from the tree to the Packard, which was still running, his friends close behind.

"We need to get to the hospital right now… I just got a call." Was all he said, "Everyone in if you're coming with us, hurry up."

"Shit." Arnold swore under his breath, it could not have been a good thing that his dad wasn't even speaking in complete sentences.

"You heard the man!" Gerald ordered, taking charge of the three tag-alongs, "Get in the car!"

They all piled in, Arnold in shotgun, everyone else in back, and they took off down the street towards downtown. The needle never dipped below forty miles an hour, and Helga was pretty sure that they blew through at least three red lights. How they didn't have a cop on their tail was beyond her. Finally, after an awkward twenty minute drive in complete silence, the Packard pulled up to the Hospital Entrance. Miles killed the engine, opened the door, and ran up the steps, Arnold close behind him, leaving Gerald, Phoebe, and Helga to lock up and follow.

They were nowhere in sight when they went in the front doors to the hospital, so Gerald went up to the receptionist and asked if she had seen a kid with a football shaped head. She directed them to the third floor, west wing.

They got there as fast as they could, and found Arnold and Miles pacing outside one of the rooms with the door closed.

"What happened man?" Gerald asked, stopping Arnold by grabbing his shoulders.

"My mom… something happened to my mom." Arnold replied, looking up with tears in his eyes.

"She's fine… we're both doctors… we would have caught anything if it was bad…" Miles was muttering to himself, pacing up and down the linoleum hallway, grabbing any passing orderly to ask if they knew anything about Stella Shortman.

"Relax man… my dad was in the hospital one time… it wasn't anything big… she'll be fine." Gerald said, trying to cheer up his friend.

"I… I don't know what happened Gerald… neither does my dad…"

"She might just have gotten tired and collapsed Arnold." Phoebe suggested, "Something harmless that they just send you to the hospital for a little bit… I'm sure she'll be fine."

Just then, a doctor rounded the corner with a clipboard. He stopped outside the closed door and asked if any of them were Stella's family.

"I'm her husband, and this is our son." Miles said, putting a hand on Arnold's shoulder, "Can you tell us anything at all?"

"It's hospital policy to only discuss things with the family, so if you will please step into the room with your wife Mr. Shortman, we'll go over the results of the tests we ran when she was admitted." The doctor said, a line he had probably had to say countless times to countless people.

The three of them went into Stella's room, leaving Gerald, Phoebe, and Helga stand in the hallway and worry. Eventually, the silence got to be too much for Gerald, and he started to try and make conversation.

"So why'd you come along Helga?" he asked, "Afraid that if you stayed at the tree house you'd have to spin the bottle again?"

"Shut up Gerald…" Phoebe said quietly, "Don't start anything tonight."

"I'm not starting anything… I'm just curious how Arnold's biggest bully ended up riding over here to see his mom in the hospital."

"It's alright Pheebs… it's a serious question… and I think i may as well explain." Helga said, looking up from the floor and into Gerald's eyes so that he could see the truth behind them.

"Arnold's parents were lost for years in the jungle. But he wasn't alone… he had his grandparents, and he had the boarders… I didn't even have that." She said, "I still don't. His parents are the first adults I've met who give a crap about me. They've had me over for dinner without even knowing me except by sight. They cared about what was going on at my house when things were bad. To top it all off, they've acted more like parents to me in the short time I've known them than my parents have ever been… My mom drinks on a constant basis, my dad only seems to notice me when I do something Olga already did, and my sister has me in a perpetual shadow of perfection… Now do you know why I'm worried about Arnolds mom?"

"Dang Helga… I didn't know they meant that much to you." he said, trying to find the words to apologize.

"That whole family means more to me than my own…" Helga said finally, a tear streaking down her cheek, Phoebe rushing forward to hug her until she calmed down.

"I guess we just wait and hope for the best then…" Gerald said, sliding his back down the wall until he was sitting, the steady hum of hospital equipment putting him into a trance.

Finally, the door to the room opened, the doctor coming out and looking at the three kids sitting in the hallway.

"If you'd like… you can go in and see them now…" he offered, opening the door.

Helga bolted through the doorway, followed quickly by the other two, all three stopping when they saw Stella lying in a bed, unconscious and hooked up to an IV and several machines. Miles was kneeling on the floor, holding his wife's hand in his own, and Arnold was sitting in a chair in the corner, his head in his hands and visibly shaking.

"Arnold!" Helga exclaimed, rushing over to him, "What is it? Is she going to be alright?"

He shook his head, tears dropping and soaking into his shirt as they dripped down his chin. He tried to breathe deeply, but couldn't get out more than a few syllables before sobbing again.

"Miles!" Gerald said, putting his hand on the man's broad shoulders, "What happened?"

Arnold's dad stood up, trying to keep his composure, and spoke…

"Stella is sick… they don't know what… but it's slowly shutting down her organs. They said that unless something miraculous happens soon… she won't make it to next week…"

At that point, he lost it and collapsed on the floor. Gerald and Phoebe helps him to a seat and pushed him next to his wife. Arnold meanwhile, was being dragged up out of his seat by Helga.

"Don't make me leave!" he screamed, fighting her at every moment, "I won't lose her again!"

"I'm not going to make you leave her Arnold…" Helga said softly, "I don't want to lose her either…"

And with that, Helga pulled Arnolds shaking, sobbing frame towards her and hugged him tightly, knowing the chill of loneliness and trying to help warm him up with the same kindness he had showed her so many times before. She rubbed his back and whispered into his ear that Stella would be alright. Everything would be fine…

Gerald watched in awe at the sight of Helga comforting Arnold, but Phoebe just took his hand and walked the two of them slowly out of the room and down to the lobby.

"Did I seriously just see her hugging Arnold?" he asked, when they were down on the bottom floor.

"She loves that family Gerald… and she cares about them more than you could ever know…"

Helga held Arnold close, the two of them sharing a seat. She never left his side, even when he had cried himself to sleep, she stayed where she was, her arms around his shoulders, holding him tight, knowing that he would need every bit of kindness and love he could get until this ordeal was through.

Sorry you had to read that… you have no idea how hard it is for me to write tragic events… hopefully that sounded realistic in terms of reactions. The next chapter will be up tomorrow… or it may already be up, it all depends on how fast I can type after this. I hope you'll bear with me in the meantime… I hope you all are well, and I hope your families are in good shape.

Happy Living,

musicalreader