Chapter XI
US Army Resistance Base - Hospital
Arnold's POV
While I removed my whole arm from the hole I made, I looked at my right hand. I switched back and forth, and the pain only stung when I tried making a fist. My knuckles were sore, a little slashed, my bones seemed to be in place and not broken. My shoulder right now was killing me. I grabbed it with my free left hand and groaned.
I smirked at Helga. "It's bad enough I'm drunk, I'll have to wait a while to take some painkillers".
I thought her reaction would be an obvious laugh and a rude remark. But I was sure shocked when I saw Helga shaking in fear and trying to desperately cover with her blankets, her arms being connected to IV's each not helping.
"W-wait... Helga.. I-I can explain-". I was trembling in fear myself.
"Who are you?" She screamed, her voice a bit consumed. "WHAT are you?".
Her question took a blow on me. She was practically comparing me to an alien creature because of what I just recently did.
"What do ya mean, Helga? I'm Major Arnold Shortman, Leader of the Resistance." I stupidly remarked, not knowing why should I present myself like that.
She shook her head violently. "That's not what I meant. T-Those green eyes, turning red. Then you surviving such blow to the wall without a scratch!"
"Well, if you really want to know, then..."
I started with my leather jacket full of medals on my chest, then my shirt, throwing it to the floor, revelealing my toned and muscled body from my own hard experiences, and I heard a gasp.
"Oh, my..." she gulped. "Arnold! Is that really you?".
I smirked when she won't get her eyes off of me. She was practically drooling. I laughed. "Earth to Helga!".
She slapped herself. "I remember how you have a somehow decent body and a scrawny ass".
I coughed loudly. "The cameras.. *COUGH* ...monitors..."
She raised an eyebrown at me.
"I'm just kidding...".
She nodded. "But you didn't explain your eyes..."
I gasped, and I turned around, lifting up my shirt and putting it back on.
"I don't have one, it just happens when I get angry!" I explained.
She shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Listen, Football Head. You either tell me what happened to you, or I'll.."
"You will... what?" I looked around, nervous.
"I'm gonna have to ask you to leave."
The color drained from my face. "Helga... but... why?"
She practically choked on her tears. "It's not enough you abandon me all these years, you won't even tell me what the hell happened to you! It's just... not fair!"
Oh, she's just like a baby right now. I though it was something else.
"You win", I sighed heavily. "I will tell you. Helga, " I took her hands. "I love you. I always have. I always will. Got that?"
She nodded. She removed her tears one by one. She sniffed.
"Helga, all I wanted was to protect you. You're all I have left!", as I said that, I was now choking on my own tears. Without even thinking, I hug her.
She widened her eyes, surprised. "Arnold...? Wha-"
"You remember waking up alone in my own bed? Without I even saying a goodbye or leaving a note?" I asked while I broke the hug and I looked firmly into her eyes.
Helga looked painfully stricken by surprise. "What?! How do you even know?"
I snorted. "C'mon Helga. I know you. You can't even sleep well without me around you".
She nodded. "I woke up and I heard you were telling something to your grandpa... but I though you were coming to bed and I waited... and waited... till I heard the sound of a taxi pulling over and you getting inside!".
It was my turn to nod. Tears blurred my vision. "I was heading to the Airport with Phil's credit card to buy a plane ticket..."
"...why?" Her voice was tiny and hoarse.
"I had to. I received a call in the middle of the night. Eduardo told me my parents were kidnapped by terrorists and that I had to go."
Helga went alarming crazy after that. She grabbed her head and pulled her hair. She had trouble breathing.
"NO! Not them, too! Aargh!" She screamed.
I grabbed her shoulders shaking her. "Soldier! Calm down!".
She stopped. She raised an eyebrown.
"Sorry... force of habit..." I gulped.
"Please... continue" she muttered.
I went through the whole deal. I met Eduardo in San Lorenzo who was followed behind by Ishmael and his goons. He made me train hard. For two fucking years.
"He... kidnapped your parents?" She asked.
I nodded. But.. the memory was still fresh. I sighed heavily. My eyes stung, I had no more tears to drop. I started breathing heavily. My shoulders were shaking, my whole body went numb.
I told her when I won that stupid fight. He just wanted my rage out. But I was too naive and stubborn to get out so I just figured a way to defeat him for good.
I gulped. "So, when I won... he got rid of my parents the next day...".
She gasped. She shook her head. "No... "
"So after that, something triggered in me. I wasn't myself anymore. I started this destructive rampage and wiped out the entire camp, killing them, except...".
"...the villain who did this is still alive". She finished before me.
I nodded. "I escaped somehow and some couple helped me take a flight to California".
She was looking at me, curious. I already knew the answer.
"Before you ask why I didn't go back with you. Let me tell you. I wanted to be prepared. My mind was just too fucked up to tell everyone what I've been doing. I was hiding, had no money, no clothes, no phone. I was looking for a US Army base first to just tell them my story..."
She nodded. "But... that doesn't explain.."
"Yeah, I know it doesn't. After I finished my story with the Major, he looked very impressed. His eyes couldn't believe this boy wiping an entire camp of ISIS enemies or what I learned. At first, he just laughed at me. But I challenged him. He was not some robber from the streets or some drunken idiot... he looked like a 40-year-old Sarge with years of discipline in his eyes..."
She nodded in awe at my story.
"So I took him down and I won, earning his respect. I basically blocked his sissy punches and threw him on the floor, his back crashing and snapping a rib or two...".
She gasped, but she didn't say a word, so I continued.
"I was instantly signed up without my consent, instantly promoted to Cadet in charge of training the most obnoxious brats I've ever met in my short life, and now that the invasion took over, and the Major died during war, I was secretly promoted to Major. Then, Gerald followed me a few months ago".
She nodded again. "But, that doesn't even answer-"
"-for what I did" I finished for her, earning a well deserved glare from her. "They made me promise I would never ever tell a soul. I was even in a Protection Witness Program for my sake!".
"So? Why didn't you escape?"
"Why bother? They would've shoot me on the head, or just looking for my scrawny ass everywhere, just to be thrown back in here".
She was hurt. "Why you didn't even call me?"
"I was gonna. But I even forgot my own phone... can you believe it?", I smiled guiltily. "I've tried. God knows I tried. But the bastards kept keeping an eye on me, remembering not to tell anybody..." I sighed heavily.
She nodded. "But... now that you're the boss..."
I happily nodded. "I can do this!" I kissed her right on the nose. She giggled.
"Not exactly what I was hoping where the kiss was going" she teased.
"If you want, I can remove my shirt again..." I teased, getting closer as we were nose to nose.
She was full red color on her face, and she playfully poked me on the chest. She stopped giggling when someone coughed behind us. It was Phoebe. I slapped my face. I forgot to tell her! Both, actually.
"Huh... surprise?".