A/N: The Hey Arnold characters belong to Craig Bartlett, not me. Also, this story is based on a TV show idea I thought of 4 years ago. I tried sending the idea to Craig Bartlett by e-mail, but I didn't have the right e-mail, and the idea was obviously not turned into a TV segment. Therefore, I decided just to put the story on the fan-fiction site.

Chapter 4: Life At the Jinx-Proof Institution

Word quickly spread among Eugene's friends that Eugene soon was leaving home and moving into the Jinx-Proof Institution. Everyone seemed shocked and sad that he would no longer go to school with them. On the bright side, though, they were glad that he would no longer be in any accidents. In addition, they had visitation rights to see him at the Jinx-Proof Institution once a week.

Eugene would not move into the institution right away, though. His body still had to heal from the damage it had taken from the previous occasions. The doctors estimated that Eugene probably would not set foot in the institution for roughly 6 months. This was to ensure that he had fully recovered from his recent accidents. Once he was healthy, he would quickly be transferred to the institution.

At school, Eugene moving was the buzz. Everyone was constantly talking about it. At this moment, the students were in Mr. Simmons's classroom talking about it.

"I'm sure going to miss Eugene," Stinky said.

"Yeah. He got in a lot of accidents, but he was still pretty cool. At least we know he'll be safe now," Sid said.

"See, Arnold, I told you. The boy is a jinx. You didn't believe me, but the doctor found that thing in his body that's causing him to be bad luck," Gerald said.

"Well," sighed Arnold, "maybe you were right this time. However, that still doesn't mean I'll believe any of your other supernatural stories."

"Arnold," Gerald said, "how many urban legends have I told? And how many of them were true?" Gerald was sure that most of his urban legends were true.

"Let's see," Arnold said. "You've told about 11 urban legends, and none of them were ever true."

"How do you know?" challenged Gerald.

"Let's talk about this later," Arnold said. "Right now we're concerned about Eugene…not whether or not your urban legends are true." The boys continued to chat about Eugene and hoped that he would be okay.

Time lapse: 6 months later

Eugene's doctor rolled him out of the hospital in a wheelchair. Eugene's health had rebounded, but the doctor rolled him in a wheelchair to ensure that Eugene didn't trip and get in another accident.

Eugene was rolled into an ambulance. His wheelchair was strapped down, and Eugene was strapped into the wheelchair. A nurse with brown hair stood by Eugene just in case he managed to get involved in another accident. The ambulance drove off slowly and steadily to the Jinx-Proof Institution.

About an hour later, the ambulance stopped at a large, brick 10 floor building. Pretty green grass surrounded the building, and there were some nice bushes in the front. The nurse rolled Eugene out of the ambulance, and he gazed up at the Jinx-Proof Institution. He saw the sign at the top of the building. The sign said, "The Brooklyn Jinx-Proof Institution." Eugene went up the ramp that led to the building. Then, he was rolled down a nice, purple carpeted hallway. The hall was narrow and had white walls. Eugene passed a window that looked into a large, open playroom with an extremely high ceiling.

"That is the visitor's window. That's where a visitor can talk to the patients," the nurse explained as she rolled Eugene down the hall. Finally, she opened a door at the end of the hall on the left. There was a long corridor, which was actually a big bathroom. She rolled Eugene all the way through, and then, she entered a simple room with over 20 beds. The nurse took Eugene to one of the beds near a door to the left. The bed had a sign that said, "Eugene Horowitz" on it. "This is your bed," the nurse said. Then, she opened the door to the left, and Eugene smiled when he saw it.

The room was the same big one that Eugene saw through the visitor's window. The ceiling was very high, and the room had many windows, although they all were covered with many layers of thick plastic sheets. At the top of the ceiling, there were several silver steel beams. There were many wires attached to poles at the ceiling as well. Eugene saw that the wires were attached to other patients in the room. They were in large, bulky braces and were playing. Eugene was also awed at the number of doctors and nurses in the room. It seemed like there were nearly 100 of them!

"Wow," Eugene said. "I can't wait to go in there!"

"Not just yet," the nurse said. "We have to fit you with some things to make sure that you don't get hurt." The nurse wheeled Eugene out of the room with the beds, through the bathroom, and back into the main hall. She opened a door across from the bathroom. Eugene was wheeled in.

The room was large and had poles with coat hangers. The coat hangers had rubber suits. In the back of the room were metal braces, poles, steel cables, and other types of equipment.

The nurse then took Eugene out of the wheelchair and told him to remove his shirt and pants. Eugene did so. Then, she measured Eugene and found a red-pink rubber suit his size. Eugene put on the rubber suit, and the nurse connected it to a pump. She inflated the suit with a little bit of air. Then, she connected Eugene to a metal walker with wheels. It went around his body. Then, the nurse got several steel cables and flexible metal poles. Then, the nurse guided Eugene to the large room with all the other children. The nurse attached several flexible metal poles and steel cables to Eugene and the walker. The nurse then momentarily left to press a button on the wall. Instantly, some objects lowered to the ground. They were used to hold the steel cables and flexible metal poles. The nurse attached the steel cables and metal poles to the objects. Then, she pressed the button again, and the steel cables and metal poles rose upward. Eugene was now connected more to the ceiling.

"Oh, Eugene, your family sent some of your possessions. Do you want to see them right now?" the nurse asked.

"Not right now," Eugene said. "I want to play for a while." Then, the nurse left, and Eugene went up to a group of children who were playing baseball. Eugene asked if he could join in, and both captains agreed. Eugene played in the outfield, and he caught several balls. He nearly tripped many times, but his fancy equipment saved him from the accidents. Things finally were looking up for Eugene. Now, perhaps he would no longer have to deal with accidents on a daily basis.

Time lapse: 1 month later

Eugene had already become accustomed to the Jinx-Proof Institution. The meals tasted good, the children were nice, as were the doctors and nurses. Best of all, Eugene didn't have a single accident since entering the Jinx-Proof Institution. Eugene did not think that he missed his old life of accidents and being ridiculed. At least that's what he thought at the moment.

Arnold just happened to enter the building, and he walked down the main hall and stopped at the visitor's window. There was a nurse with glasses and curly red hair. "My name is Arnold, and I'm one of Eugene's friends. I would like to talk to Eugene if he's available," Arnold said.

"Sure, he's right in here," the nurse said. "I'll get him. Eugene! You've got a visitor!" the nurse said.

"A visitor?" Eugene said excitedly. "This is the first one I've gotten!" Eugene rolled over to the visitor's window to Arnold. He was glad to see Arnold. Arnold was probably one of the nicest friends he ever had. "Hey, Arnold!" Eugene said excitedly.

"Hey, Eugene," Arnold said. "How are you doing?"

"Great, Arnold!" Eugene said enthusiastically. "I haven't had a single accident since I moved here! This environment is completely controlled, and practically nothing can go wrong. Moving here has been one of the greatest things that ever happened to me! This rubber suit is really great because it's inflated with a little bit of air, so I can bounce really high!" Eugene demonstrated by bouncing very high. "Wee!" he yelled as he reached the ceiling.

Suddenly, something unexpected happened. Eugene's walker fell apart, and the flexible metal poles and steel cables disconnected from the walker. Eugene was still wearing the rubber suit, but that was probably not enough to save him from another accident. "Oh, boy," thought Eugene. "I'm going to have an accident…again." Then, he started to fall downward rapidly. Suddenly, four doctors noticed Eugene's predicament and they rushed to the place where he was falling. Just before Eugene hit the ground, the doctors caught him.

Eugene was saved! Both Arnold and Eugene were amazed. It really seemed that Eugene no longer would get hurt. The doctors called some other doctors to get more equipment. A few minutes later, a doctor came in with more equipment. The doctors hooked Eugene back up to the flexible metal poles and steel cables. They put him back in an identical walker, and then, they went back to supervise everyone else.

Eugene went over to the visitor's window. Arnold looked happy and stunned. "Wow, Eugene! It seems that you're really protected from your bad luck!" Arnold said.

"Yeah, Arnold," Eugene said. "When I was up there, I thought I was going back to having bad luck. However, the doctors caught me, and I was safe from yet another potential accident! It's almost impossible for me to get hurt here!"

"Well, that's great, Eugene!" Arnold said.

Arnold and Eugene continued to talk for a while longer. At last, Arnold left, and Eugene went back to bouncing around and having fun. Arnold had been there for about an hour, and Eugene was really glad to see him again. It had been a long time since he saw any of his old friends. In some ways, he felt that he was beginning to miss his old life. However, Eugene knew that he had to move on from his old life. After all, he no longer got in accidents thanks to the Jinx-Proof Institution.