You Never Know...
Chapter 4
by Serena
Every day after school, Arnold would rush to the hospital for his daily visit with Helga.
Occasionally, Phoebe would come and visit, but usually there was no one there. Arnold
would speak to her, telling the days events. Sometimes he would bring a book and read out
loud to her. When he first started out, he viewed his visits with her as an obligation, a
responsibility. But as the time passed, Arnold grew to like them. It was like he could
finally be nice to Helga, without her threatening him or calling him Football Head.
He'd been so used to her mocking him all his life.
About a week and a half
after the accident, Arnold came to the room to find there was a young lady sitting beside
Helga.
"Oh baby
sisterhow could this have happened to you?" the woman sobbed.
"Excuse me, I
don't mean to disturb you" Arnold spoke up.
The young lady turned
around. "Oh! You're one of Helga's dear little friends, aren't
you." Arnold recognized her as Olga, Helga's older sister. She had been a
student teacher once at P.S. 118 and had tutored him once. Other than that, he didn't
really know her, except that she drove Helga nuts.
"Yeah, I'm
ArnoldAre you okay?"
Olga sniffed. "No!
Poor baby sister was run over by a truckand Ihere
to" Mascara flowed down her face as she sobbed uncontrollably, "Protect
her!"
Arnold walked over and
put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It wasn't your fault Olga. You
can't always be by Helga's side to watch her every move."
"Well,
no" Olga admitted, "But I can protect her. I've already convinced
Mummy and Daddy to transfer Helga to a nice, safe, boarding school."
Arnold's eyes
widened. "You what?"
"That's
right. There she'll be under constant supervision, no nasty trucks to run her over,
and she'll get a nice boarding school education."
"B-b-butyou
can't! I mean, I don't think Helga is really going to want to leave her
homeShe's not even out of the coma yet. Don't you think you should consult her
before making such a big decision?"
"It doesn't
matter! Mummy and Daddy are already working out the papers. As soon as Helga gets better,
she'll leave. This is what's good for her. Oh poor baby sister. I hope you wake
up soon." Olga blew her nose and gazed down at her sibling. "Well, it was nice
talking to you Arnold, but I really must go. I'm going to go bake Helga a
soufflé." She gave Arnold a pat on the head, then left.
Arnold sat down,
emotionless. Helga leaving? He tried to make sense of it in his head. Arnold knew she
wouldn't want to leave. Her family was here, her friends. There had to be something
he could do to help her.
He looked at Helga, and
without thinking put his hand over hers. He sighed, and decided he needed to go for a walk
to clear his head. He got up and left, and did not notice that Helga's eyes had
fluttered in reaction to his touch.
Any ideas on how I could improve? Any grammatical errors? Please let me know!