Hi again! Thank everyone for your reviews. As I was writing this chapter I discovered it was going to be a bit too long so I decided to turn it into two chapters. Don't worry, I promise you'll see the next one tomorrow.
DISCLAIMER: Hey Arnold! is not mine. Thank you.
Chapter 9
Reunion
~Seattle National Hospital
"So that's what happened at the party. Everyone sends their love to you. They also decided to visit you whenever they can but most of them will be visiting this weekend," Arnold said.
Lila, her bruises and scratches nearly gone but still a bit sore, was sitting up on her bed, listening as Arnold told her what happened to the party last night. She smiled. "Thank you ever so much, Arnold, for telling me about the party. And it is oh so touching of you to visit me this early in the morning."
"It's nothing, Lila. So, what happened to the hospital you've been working for? Have they decided to give you your recuperating time as sick days?" She nodded.
Blue eyes beheld the scene before her. Arnold was telling Lila a joke and she laughed. She felt no anger only pain. Her lips curled into a sad smile as a plan formed in her mind.
Arnold looked at the piece of …something in his hands. He took out his magnifying glass and closely peered in the object. He dusted it a bit with his brush and looked again. This time he cleaned his glasses and then gazed at it again. He could see some kind of writing, which looked a bit like cuneiform. Then somebody knocked in his room.
He didn't look up when he said, "Come in."
He heard the door open and someone come in. An envelope was put on the desk he was working on. "Some guy Hispanic guy in a limo dropped this for you. He says he would have come in and give it to you personally but he was late for a meeting."
Arnold faced Mr. Green. "Lorenzo was here? Oh, well thank you Mr. Green."
Mr. Green waved him off. "It's nothing, Arnold. By the way, we're having Egg drop soup and roast duck tonight."
He smiled. "Thanks, Mr. Green." Mr. Green nodded and left.
Arnold faced the artifact again and then the white envelope beside it. Curiosity won over profession so he tore open the envelope and took out the small piece of paper.
Arnold,
Thank you ever so much for the visits. I really appreciated it. After you left, the doctor visited me. She says that all my bruises and broken bones have already began their healing. So they'll discharge me tomorrow from the hospital but only after promising to rest at home.
Another reason I wrote to you was a friend of mine from the hospital I work with has told me a very exciting news. Please come to the city park tomorrow around 9:00 am by the bench that Gerald told me was your favorite. I promise you it would be an oh so special surprise. Again, thank you very much.
Love,
Lila
He closed the note and put it back on the envelope. Now, what is this surprise? He'll just have to find out about it tomorrow.
~Sunday, City Aquarium
Helga looked at the same tank she was the last time she was here. What was even worse was that it was same stupid angelfish was there swimming in front of her. She moved several times already but it kept following her. When she was at the end of the huge tank already, Helga gave up.
She leaned over at the rail and gave the fish one final glare and sighed. 'You know, you are one of the two people that are persistent and that irritates me. Jeez, even when you look at me you have the same concern in your eyes as he does.' She groaned. 'I'm really losing it!'
Helga looked passed the angelfish and further in the tank. 'It's official. I am going nuts. I just considered a fish as a human being and now I'm nuts.'
The fish swam in circles. Helga glared at the fish. 'Will you stop doing that?!'
It stopped swimming and stared at her. 'Well, two can play this game.' She stared back.
It was about half a minute of staring when Helga noticed something in the reflection. She ignored the fish and gazed at the reflection. It was a guy. He was a bit far off on the other part of the aquarium but she could still see him. Since she could see him it means he could see her.
He was looking at the shark but since Helga was aware of his presence she could feel he was really staring at her, well reflection. 'And come to think of it, he looks a bit like the homeless guy on the park.'
Helga looked at the angelfish. 'You were warning me the last time I was here, right? You saw him standing and watching me so you warned me.' Helga gave a brief shiver. 'First babies that could hear me now fishes that could warn me. Life would never be just plain simple, isn't it?'
The fish swam in circles. 'Right. O-okay, I'll just be kicking his butt and then I'll be going. I need to watch something. Thanks!'
Helga walked further in the aquarium and looked slowly at the tanks. In the corner of her eyes, she could see him slowly move in the same direction. 'That proves it! He really is following me.'
She walked deeper and walked in random parts of the aquarium. Helga noticed that she never could lose him. No matter what hallway she walked through, he could still follow her. 'Darn! He knows this place like a book.'
She decided the simplest way to get rid of him is confrontation. So she nonchalantly left the aquarium and hid in the guard's office. Good thing the guard wasn't there. She opened the door enough to see him as he walked out. When he was about in front of her she opened the door and ran to him.
"You'll soon regret tailing Helga G. Pataki!" Her movements were so fast and unexpected that he didn't register her movement until it was too late.
~City Park
Arnold ran to his favorite bench. 'Man, why did I have to oversleep! On the one day that Lila has a surprise for me.'
He gave a brief smile when he saw the tree. "Lila, I'm really sorry. I'm late," he began.
He was near the bench already and he could see someone sitting on it. "Would you believe that both my potato powered alarm clock and my normal alarm clock broke down?" Now he could see a man beside the woman. "I'm s…"
He stopped in front of the bench as both the man and the woman looked up. Both looked much older than he did and was sporting a few gray hairs. The man had the same color and built as he did. And the woman was slightly shorter and a short brown hair that was untied. Her head was the same shape as he did…
'Oh my…' "M-mom? Dad?" he choked.
Both stood up and gave a teary smile. His mom's lips trembled and a tear fell from his father's eyes but they didn't move an inch. Arnold felt frozen from the spot as he hungrily drunk the sight of his parents.
But the older two couldn't wait any longer and immediately rushed over to him. For the very first time in a…umm very long time Arnold hugged his parents. He savored their closeness and also tried to put into memory every touch, sight and especially his own feelings as they hugged. He remembered all those time he make-believed of meeting his parents but this… words just couldn't describe it. He was here. They were here. They were finally here.
He was so ecstatic to see them that he didn't notice the fierceness of their hug. He began to feel a burning sensation in his chest. It was only a moment later why he felt the burning sensation. "Lungs… air," he croaked.
His father, still every inch a doctor, immediately drew away and also made his wife do the same. He set Arnold down on the bench and began to examine him. Arnold meekly followed every order his father asked as he examined him.
When Arnold's father was sure he was okay, his mother immediately hugged him and cried again. His father learned his lesson and stayed behind, watching the two. Nobody said a word for about 10 minutes because all savored this little reunion.
After the shock and extreme relief were over, Arnold looked at his parents' eyes, his mother's green and his father's blue, and softly asked, "What happened?"
It seemed a disrespectful question but he was so nervous, happy and a bunch of other emotion that it was all he could ask.
Both his parents looked at each other and then looked at the trees. Arnold, a bit puzzled, looked at the trees also. No, they weren't looking for the trees. They were looking at a person leaning on one of the trees. She was out of earshot but she could still see them. The woman seeing their glance began to go to them.
Arnold narrowed his eyes to see this person and found out the person was a woman about the same age as his parents. She had a short fluffy blonde hair and was wearing a business outfit, green blouse and pants. Judging by her walk, she seemed a confident and overpowering woman. Her wire-rimmed glasses glinted as she walked.
But when she was in front of them, she smiled warmly. "Hello! You must be Arnold. You're parents told me so much about you." She extended her right hand, "Hi! My name is Victoria but you could call me Vickie. I'm their boss."
In the corner of his eyes, Arnold saw his parents gave a brief glance with each other. He was puzzled but he didn't ask.
Vickie looked at the two and gave a short nod. Arnold's parents understanding the meaning gave a short nod in reply.
"The story I'll be telling you happened a very long time ago. It happened at the same time we left you," his father said. Arnold was surprised his father's voice became a bit rough but still held the warmth he always remembered as a child.
His father still stood while his wife sat next to Arnold holding his hand. Vickie was quite content to lean on the back of the bench. "Has grandpa told you why we left?" Arnold nodded.
"Good. Well, when we came to the island my friend was talking about, the disease had already spread to everyone. Man, woman and child. Old and young. The tribe that we went to and the other neighboring tribes were all infected. Many had already died. Their own witch doctors couldn't do anything to stop this disease. So we helped. We tried to apply all the solutions we can think of but none worked. We rarely both slept trying to find the disease. Your mom and I poured everything to save the other people that we forgot to check-in with my friend." His father's voice softened. "We didn't have any other means of communication so we couldn't call you. And coming back to you and do the research there isn't acceptable. You might get the disease. Not to mention the entire nation. But we did think about you a lot, son."
Arnold gave a small smile.
His mother nodded. "Many continued to die but we weren't any close to a cure. The disease was unlike any other. By luck, we found out it wasn't communicable by human contact or by air. It took us about a year but we did find the cure but at the cost of hundreds of lives." Her mother's voice was soft but there was slight firmness on it.
"We gave the cure to all the tribes and was able to stop the disease. Now, our next mission was to find out what caused the disease and what way it was carried. We studied their food and water. The water was the culprit. Good thing we have a practice of boiling the water or we would have gotten the disease too. Because of this we taught all the tribes to boil their water before using it," his mother continued.
"Then we studied the water. It was days later that we found out that the water was infected with new bacteria that was found in all organisms. But this bacteria was genetically altered and became a new disease after prolonged exposure to the natural environment. After that we found out there was a chemical plant at the edge of the island," his father added.
"We went to the plant and requested to talk to the owner or the management but we were denied. We became persistent and asked again and again to see the management. A week later they changed their minds and let us in. We talked to the owner itself."
"He was a Scottish. He was also very friendly when we told him that his plant was polluting the waters. He said he didn't know about that. We told him because it was the boiling of the water that cleanses it. He then said he'll changed the disposal of his plant and then let us out," his mother continued.
"We checked the water everyday for the bacteria but it was still there. We did keep thinking he would change it tomorrow but a month of tomorrows had passed. We went again to the owner. Like before he welcomed us with open arms but when we reminded him of his promise he showed his true colors. He yelled at us and threw us out. We told him we'll get the authorities and stop him but he just laughed at us," his father added.
"He was right to laugh at us. We contacted my friend and he contacted the authorities. They told us they'll handle it but we learned from our earlier mistake. We kept asking them about the status of our case. They told us the same thing: in process. Another month has passed and we gave up on the authorities. We asked my friend if he knew anybody that could help us. He says he did and contacted that person."
"That would be me," Vickie put in.
"How did you help them, Vickie?" Arnold asked.
Vickie grinned. "My dear, I'm the director of the CIA."
Arnold gaped at her. Vickie closed his mouth. "You'll catch flies that way, Arnold. We don't want that now do we?" His parents smiled. Arnold just mutely nodded.
Both his parents nodded. "He contacted her. It turns out that the owner was a wanted man by the CIA for many crimes he committed against the Unites States. They wanted him for a long time and they were extremely happy by the case we presented to them."
"We were more than happy to let the bozo off their hands," Vickie wickedly said. She gave a dramatic sigh. "But he got word of the CIA's involvement and hightailed it out of the island. We couldn't track him down. Since we don't have any witness protection program to protect your parents from him like the FBI. The truth of the matter was we can't have one of those programs because of…" she leaned over to Arnold and loudly whispered, "…copyright laws. The FBI are very touchy in those areas."
Her voice became normal again. "We just adopted your parents to the business. They're great agents, mind you. The best I've hired in a non-traditional way. And because of extreme confidentiality we didn't allow them to contact you."
Vickie's voice became serious and softened. "It was for the best. We had to protect them and since I am a softie for family so I had an agent take note of some major points in your life. Your parents watched you perform in plays and shows and contests. They saw everything. Well, almost everything."
His parents smiled. "You are such a great actor, Arnold. It amazed me you didn't become one," his mother said.
"They were able to watch you grow up for about 10 years and then we found our most wanted. He was caught and held for trial. He had the sleaziest but smart lawyers around and they were able to extend the trial for 7 years. The reports on you dwindled because we had to get every available man for this trial and the all the other foreign terrorists."
His father nodded. "But in the end we got him. He was sentenced to two lifetime imprisonment."
"But when the trial was over we found out that you had graduated already and got an archeological dig. Martin said he didn't know where you were because you move so fast from one place to another. We didn't know where to go. We desperately wanted to find you and we couldn't do it," his mother added.
"And what better source to ask than the CIA? So I let them stay as agents. But, you young man are a slippery one," Vickie exclaimed.
"The organization was so busy this past three years that we didn't notice a reunion coming up. It was only because of a young lady that we are here. Now," his mother said.
Arnold's head was swirling with their story that he looked down. "I'm sorry, sweetie but you did ask us the truth. And what better way to tell the truth…" his mother began.
"…than by saying it straight out," he finished.
His mother smiled and hugged him lightly. "I'm glad that even though I wasn't there to raise you, you turned out to be a great person. I'm proud of you and I'm tremendously glad I am here now."
His father sat down to the other side, Arnold's right and put his arm around Arnold's shoulders. "I am too, son."
Arnold put his arms around both his parents. "Especially me, mom and dad. Especially me."
Vickie looked at the touching scene, smiled and decided to leave.
Like my explanation for their long disappearance? See another grammatical errors? You just like it? Tell me.