"The Crash"-part 2
Helga's memories and thoughts flashed through her brain so fast, she barely knew she was thinking of them. The only memory that stayed long enough in her mind was when Arnold helped her when she "had" amnesia.
~ Memory ~
"You don't have to do that Arnold, I told you. I'm fine."
"I know I don't have to Helga, I want to. I wanna make sure your OK."
"Well, thanks, I guess."
"It's no problem."
~ End of Memory ~
"How can this happen? I'm not ready to die! I should have told Arnold about my love for him long before this day!" She thought, tears gleaming in her eyes.
"This isn't happening. Right before this nightmare of a plane hits the earth, I'll wake up safe in my bed." She thought, even though she knew this wasn't a dream.
"Helga!" She heard a muffled voice say. It was her Dad.
Helga, being in the "head between your knees" position, looked up to her father.
"I just want to tell you…well, you weren't that bad of a kid." He said, hesitating a little. Helga could hardly understand him due to the yellow mask over his nose and mouth.
Helga was angered, happy and scared all at the same time. She was angry that her Dad had chosen such a time as this to say that.
"He had to wait until something this drastic came up?" She was happy that at least he didn't hate her, like she had thought all the years of her young existence. She didn't say anything; she was too scared to speak. She faintly smiled. Bob couldn't see Helgas' mouth because of the oxygen mask, but her eyes gave him the sign of 'thank you' in them that she was trying to get across. She went back to the position to brace herself. Any second now, the plane would crash.
Miriam had passed out long ago, but Bob had put her in the correct position.
The plane was spinning and toppling towards the ground at a very fast rate, probably around 200 miles per hour, maybe even more. But who would care about the speed your falling at when you have a just a small chance of surviving?
The plane was filled with shrills and screams, and in between those, you could hear prayers being said. Many of these people weren't even going to Alaska; they were merely going to switch planes when they got there. They would never get to that destination. Many would never go home and see their family again.
"Oh Arnold, if only I could tell you how much I care about you. Why did I have to hold back all these years? Why…" Everything went black.
Meanwhile, at the Sunset Arms, about thirteen minutes after the crash…(7:15)
Arnold and Gerald had just woken up from their sleep over. Grandpa, Grandma and a few of the boarders were watching the news downstairs. In the television was a news reporter informing everyone about the latest news. Nothing big had happened for quite a while, save for the flood last month. A hand placed a paper in front of the reporter; no one in the Sunset Arms was really paying attention. The reporters' eyes darted back and forth, reading the new information she just got hold of.
"We've just received news of a plane crash. Flight 1450 from Seattle to Alaska has crashed somewhere in Canada just minutes ago. We have no information as to what caused this tragedy at this point. There are forty-three casualties and about six passengers in critical condition. That is all we know for now."
Everyone stared blankly at the television for a moment, thinking if they knew anyone who could be on that plane. No one did. They went right back to fighting over something pointless.
Arnold and Gerald decided they would go play catch in the park. They raced down the stairs with their mitts, already tossing the ball back and forth.
"Hey Grandpa, me and Gerald are going to the park for a little while, we'll grab something to eat on the way back."
"Ok Shortman, have fun." He said, forgetting to tell Arnold the news about the plane crash.
The two weeks of spring break went by, and the first day of school had been in session for an hour. Phoebe hadn't heard from Helga yet, but figured she had just gotten home and wanted to rest. The next period was English, and everyone was busily talking to his or her "neighbor", revealing his or her happenings over vacation. Arnold, after about 2 minutes, noticed Helga wasn't there.
"Hey Phoebe, where's Helga?" He asked.
"I'm not sure. She should be back, but I haven't heard from her yet. Maybe she just got back yesterday and is resting due to "jet lag." Jet lag is when you…" Phoebe started informing.
"Yeah, probably." Arnold said, laughing inside at how Phoebe always tries to impress people with her knowledge.
A week went by, Phoebe still hadn't heard from Helga. She was a nervous wreck.
"Helga should have called me by now! Something must be wrong." She thought.
It was yet another Monday in school, and yet another English class for most of the gang was in session.
Mr. Simpson raised his hands over his head and flapped them up and down as if he were trying to fly.
"Class, Class, please settle down. I have a bit of upsetting news." He said, disappointedly.
Everyone silenced as the instructor began to talk.
"As you may have noticed, our own Helga Pataki has been absent for a week."
The class began to converse about it; Sid said "Isn't it great? No Helga to boss us around!" While the majority of the students laughed and agreed.
Mr. Simpson quieted them down again.
"The school has received a phone call from Olga Pataki, Helga's older sister, about a day ago. She told us that Helga was in a plane wreck about three weeks ago, right in the beginning of spring break."
Phoebe felt sick to her stomach, she was close to passing out. Everyone took this seriously, even Sid and Harold. Sid felt guilty for saying what he had a minute ago.
" I know she was really mean and annoying, but it's not like I wanted something bad to happen to her!" He whined, about to cry.
"Helga's my only real friend. She can't be dead." Phoebe thought.
"She can't be gone! She just can't!" Phoebe yelled, as she couldn't hold back her emotion any longer. She jumped out of her seat and ran out of the room.
Gerald thought about running after her, but decided she needed some time alone.
Arnold sat there, like he was frozen in the depths of time.
"Class, I know this is hard to take in, but there is still hope. Helga has not passed away, she's in critical condition."
"H-how critical?" Arnold asked nervously. He was gripping to the edges of his wooden desk with all his strength. It was painful, but at least it kept him conscious. He was also near the state of passing out- after all, he'd known this girl for eleven years, ever since pre-school, and he'd learned that she wasn't all bad.
"Well, she's in a coma." The teacher murmured as he looked down at his feet, as if there was something to look into and get away from the world.
"Class, I have to go find Phoebe. Please behave, and say a prayer for our Helga. Arnold, you're in charge while I'm gone."
Arnold felt something missing. He knew it had to do with Helga, but it was something big.
~ Flashback ~
"Arnold, wait! I just wanted to tell you, well, I think your okay. I think you're an okay guy? And I just think you're… ok."
"Thanks Helga, I think your ok too."
~ End of Flashback ~
That was when Helga thought she was going to "expire" from having "monkey nucleuses" and she proved to him that she could be caring if she wanted. He realized for the first time in his life, that if Helga were gone, he wouldn't be the same person inside.
Surprisingly, the whole class was saddened and was praying quietly. The door to the classroom opened, and Mr. Simpson and Phoebe entered. Phoebe's eyes were red and puffy, a sign that she had been crying. She sat in her seat behind Arnold and next to Gerald, and cried silently for a few minutes. Arnold turned around and put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her.
"Phoebe, it's going to be okay." He said.
"Really?" She asked, non-believing.
"Really. She has to be okay."
"Thanks, Arnold." She sniffed and wiped her tears from her cheeks. Arnold smiled and turned back around.
"Yeah Phoebe, Helga will get better, just wait and see." Gerald smiled at her, and she smiled back.
~ Back in Canada ~
"Oh baby sister! I know you can pull through this!" A blonde woman said, as her mascara was running down her cheeks from her tears. She stood up from the foot of the adolescents' hospital bed, making its' springs squeak. She got a tissue, wiped her eyes with it, and with one last look at Helga, was out the door. Olga had come from Alaska to Canada to stay with Helga in the hospital, because if they tried moving her, she would most likely pass away.
Another two weeks slowly passed. Every other day or so, Olga would call the school and tell them any news at all, which there wasn't much of, other than the doctor noticed some brain activity Helga was revealing.
Back in Mr. Simpson's class, the kids were hanging on his every word.
"Olga just informed us that the doctor noticed some brain activity that usually leads to recovery!" Everyone cheered. Phoebe didn't want to get too excited, just in case something took a turn for the worse. Arnold felt the same way. He figured out why something would be missing if she were to die.
Phoebe was in her room, crying. This was a daily routine for the past five weeks for Phoebe, She was dangerously depressed. Her parents were extremely worried; she would only leave her room to go to school, and to use the bathroom.
Two and a half more weeks went by, the English class was losing hope, all except for Arnold.
"Come on you guys! We can't give up!" He would try to barrage his piers with his optimism.
Helga's eyelids started to quiver ever so slightly, and with the speed of a snail, opened. She looked around- she didn't know where she was. It was some type of white room with posters of the human anatomy, and posters of the disadvantages of smoking that you would have to face if you smoked. It smelled of that unpleasant "hospital" smell… that's where she was, a hospital. She looked to her right, and saw a small half circle shaped window. Underneath the window was another bed, with a girl of what looked like the same age as her.
"I feel so weak!" She thought as she tried to lift her left arm up. Something was tugging on it, keeping her from moving it easily.
"What the heck?" She thought as she lifted her head forward to look at what was forbidding her arm to move. It was a small tube leading to a needle into her arm. She hated needles. The scars and stitches diverted her attention away from the needle. She had stitches and scars all over her arms; she didn't even want to see what the rest of her body looked like.
She didn't know what happened, she lost all her memory, except for one thing. She remembered her name.
"Helga. My name is Helga. Not an award winning name, but at least it's a name, right?" She thought.
"Man, I wonder what happened?" She said drearily, forgetting she wasn't the only person in the room.
"Oh, so you finally chose to wake up, huh?" She heard a girl's voice say.
"Huh?" She said, confused.
"You've been asleep for about seven and a half weeks."
"Oh…"
"Actually, you were in a coma. Your lucky, you know."
"Why? What happened?" She said, her brow lowered with concern.
"Well… I'm sorry, I'm not the one to tell you."
"Oh." She said, thinking the girl shouldn't have said anything if she couldn't tell her.
"Oh, I'm so stupid!" The girl said, laughing a little.
"I'm Kat." She said.
"I'm Helga."
"Yeah, I know." She said, smiling.
A nurse walked in, and noticed Helga was awake. The nurse looked very friendly. She had brown hair, blue eyes, and she looked like she was in her mid or late thirties.
"Oh you've finally came back!" She said, smiling so big it seemed like you could jump right into her mouth.
"I must go get your sister!" She said.
"I have a sister?" Helga thought.
A few minutes later she heard running footsteps coming closer to the room, and the door flew open.
"Baby Sister!" Olga yelled.
"What? Who are you?" Helga said back in a weak voice.
"I'm your sister Olga. Don't you remember me?" She said
"I-I'm sorry, I don't." Helga struggled to say since the woman who claimed she was her sister was squeezing her so tightly that she could hardly breath.
"But who ever you are, your annoying…" Helga thought.
"Helga, I have some bad news." Olga said as she let Helga go and sat on the bed. Olga's facial expression changed from joy to dismal.
"What?" Helga said, still not knowing whom this strange woman was.
"It's about Mummy and Daddy…" She said as she looked at her hands.
