Author's Note: Thought I'd never update this stuff, do you:) This actually is the hardest story I've ever written. I had to balance the humor and the darkness so it wouldn't betoo humorous or too dark. Yet it seems this is the most darkest story I've ever written so far. The characters are apain in the bottom as well as I was having a hard time trying to establish them in this chapter. Hopefully it doesn't sound rushed, or out of character. I have some fears on some scenes in this story since I feel it doesn't quite worked out. I don't know about you, but I hope to hear from you after you've done with it.
Legal junk: I don't own Hey Arnold, but Nickelodeon does and Mr. Craig Bartlett created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.
Episode 3: Brainy's Despair
I
Arnold,
Have you ever feel guilty, dejected and miserable when you have to tell someone that you can't return the love after that individual practically tells you every feelings, longing, and affection towards you? Worse still, that person harbored deep feelings about you, would die for you, and loves you just the way you are, and yet you turn down that person's sincerity? It's hard to imagine it, isn't it? Well, to be honest… I did that to someone today. I'm an emotional wreck right now, and my only remedy is to write to you, so I could pull mys
Helga dropped her pen suddenly and started to sob. A tear slipped away from her eyes as she thought back of what she did to Brainy at the hospital when she visited him. The pain in her heart was aching so bad, that she finally cried out in sadness and misery. She let her feelings went by as she continued to cry and had her hands covered her face. Tears ran down from her eyes, rolled on the back of her hand and dropped on the letter she was writing. After much sobbing and tears, she wiped the tears away and resumed writing.
elf together. All of his despair, anguish and misery were all because of me, even though I wanted to believe so hard that it wasn't my fault at all. I visited him today, and the doc said he's going to be all right in the next couple of days, so I shouldn't be worried about him… much. Still, as a friend, I will visit Brainy each and everyday until he is healed. Before all of this happened, it was an average day in school. I was on the bus when…
II
"Stop the bus! STOP THE BUS!" Brainy shouted as he ran after the already departed city bus. It was chaotic as always in the beat up old vehicle, as high school kids from around the neighborhood were inside heading for school. The bus driver saw Brainy on the side mirror. He almost tripped on the cracks on the sidewalk but managed to balance himself back and continued chasing the bus. But the driver didn't do anything: he just laughed at Brainy's misfortune and continued to work the gas pedal as Sid, Stinky and Harold were at their usual misbehavior, asking him to drive on.
"Whatever you do Murray, don't stop for him!" Sid yelled as he laughed loudly.
"Man, you guys are such jerks!" Murray replied back, "But I love you guys, anyway!" he said happily.
"Ha ha!" laughed Harold as he stood on the bus' stairs and pointed at Brainy, "C'mon Brainy, you can do it!" he shouted mockingly at him, who were already on the brink of total exhaustion.
"Well I'll be danged…" Stinky said as he watched the side mirror with Brainy in it, "He's still runnin'! Faster Murray, faster!" but somewhere in the middle of the bus near a window seat, sat a blonde teenage girl who was totally annoyed by their immature, tasteless and idiotic idea of a joke.
"This is stupid…" Helga muttered angrily as she watched the monkeys in front of the bus, with one of her eyes twitching. Oh how she really wanted to give a piece of her mind to those idiots, laughing at other's misfortune. Didn't they know it was horrible to treat a person like Brainy in a manner like that?
Phoebe was familiar with the look that Helga was showing. It was her well-known angry, 'not taking any crap' look that she had whenever she was witnessing something completely idiotic, absurd or inane. "You should do something Helga…" Phoebe suggested, which Helga agreed completely with her. After cracking her knuckles, she stood up and walked over to the driver's seat. Murray, Sid, Stinky and Harold instantaneously stopped laughing when she reached near them. She had this scary, intimidating look on her face which none of the guys dared to fight back. After a long, awkward silence, and a nervous gulp, Murray asked her:
"Whaddaya want, lady?"
"Yeah. I want you to stop the bus, right here, right now. Don't you even know that the guy who's been chasing you for the last four blocks has asthma, for crimeny's sake?"
Somehow, deep inside his mind told him that he should retort back, "What if I don't?" bad move. Sid, Stinky and Harold winced. Hopefully Helga wouldn't do something radical or overwhelming at him. Helga on the other hand, smirked at him back. Murray thought he was dead, judging from Helga's smug look. Quickly, she grabbed Murray's prosthetic leg and snatched it out. He was shocked. Heck, everyone in the bus was shocked. There was no way that a prosthetic leg that was tied so tightly and was harness so firmly could be detached easily from the leg.
"How about if I beat you up with your own prosthetic leg and let others laugh at your misfortune, you pathetic minimum-waged lowlife?" she threatened with a devilish scowl, tapping the leg on her right shoulder.
"B-But… but…" Murray stammered anxiously, "How can I stop the bus when you have my leg?"
"You have your other leg, don't you? Or should I rip it off too and do the work on my own?"
With a scared, frenetic nod, he hit the brakes and pulled over to the curb. Brainy was relieved. Huffing and panting, he walked over to the bus weakly with a weary motion, nearly collapsing. His breath suddenly became louder and more labored and he began to hyperventilate. He quickly rummaged through his backpack in search for his inhaler. Helga looked out of the door and felt sorry for him. She then jumped out from the bus with the prosthetic leg still with her and walked him in with her hands on his shoulders.
"You're okay there pal?" she said worriedly as she climbed the stairs up together with him. Brainy just gave her a soft nod as he continued to breathe on the inhaler. Inside the bus, all eyes were set on them. The bus driver, her friends, and even the strangers. Helga suddenly felt awkward and uncomfortable at the given attention. Quickly she retorted, "Yeah, I'm helping the guy, so what? What about you people? Some friends you guys turn out to be." She scoffed and threw the leg back at Murray. Helga then gave him a seat and after a reassurance from him, she walked back to Phoebe. The bus drove on.
"That was very kind of you Helga." Phoebe said to her.
"Yeah…" Helga said as she gazed worriedly at Brainy some four seats in front of her. At a different part of the bus, some two seats behind Helga and Phoebe sat Sheena and Nadine, quizzical at Helga, who usually never gave a crap about someone else.
"Holy Guacamole, I've never seen such thing before." Sheena said in surprise. "Nadine, do you like, know something about them?"
"IIRC (If I recall correctly), it has something to do when we were in San Lorenzo. Remember when Arnold won that essay competition and the whole class got to go to that country?"
"Um… yeah, I think I remember. So… what about it?"
"I heard Brainy saved her life. That's why she's always being nice to him."
"Ah…"
"So anyway, are you looking forward to that new Tim Norton movie?"
III
The bell rang and students rushed out from their classes after a boring lecture from their respective teachers. Nadine was in one of the crowd. Thankfully it was lunch break and she desperately needed a rest and to clear her mind. Hastily she walked over to her locker and saw her locker neighbor, Sheena already unpacking her books. Nadine greeted, "Hey, girl." And Sheena replied back with a "hi." Sheena closed her locker up and waited for Nadine. As she waited, she asked her, "So how did Brainy saved Helga's life?"
"Girl, are you still thinking about that?" she asked back, rummaging through her locker, which had some books and a small picture of Sid in it, perfectly concealed.
"Can't help it. If you would've told me earlier in the bus, I wouldn't be thinking about it. And because of that I couldn't concentrate in my math class thanks to you." She accused good-naturedly.
"Glad I could be of service." She replied back, smiling. "Well, Phoebe told me that Helga was wandering alone in the forest, when all of the sudden she stepped in a quicksand. And no one was there to help her."
"Yikes."
"Yup." She said as she closed her locker, "Wanna go for lunch?"
"Sure." They then walked together to the cafeteria.
"Cool. So, anyway, she shouted for help and stuff and later Brainy came to her rescue by reaching her with a stick and pulled her out from the quicksand."
"Yay for her."
"It's good that she was safe and all, but I've always wondered whether the story has merits or otherwise."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"I mean, wasn't the whole rescue bit is kinda peculiar? Helga was completely alone, far away from the nearest people and was practically in the middle of nowhere, and suddenly Brainy of all people, came to her rescue? How did he know she was there? How did he find her so fast?"
"Maybe… he was stalking her or something."
"Eew, that's creepy." She stuck her tongue out a bit. "Nuh-uh. Totally impossible."
"Or Helga could just so happen to be lucky that day."
"Could be a plausible reason." She concurred with her as she opened the cafeteria double doors. They continued chatting as they went over to the counter with a tray on their hands. There was nothing special today, as it was your typical repulsive looking school cafeteria food - ham, jam, and spam a lot. After they got what they wanted, they looked around and saw Rhonda, as usual, waiting for Nadine. She waved at her, and Nadine smiled back. She and Sheena then went over to her and took a seat.
"Hey, I've been waiting for you like, forever. What took you so long?"
"Gee, I don't know…" Nadine shrugged, "Maybe it was because the line at the counter was too long, or maybe there were too many people in the hallway, or—"
"Okay, okay. I get the picture." Rhonda said back.
"How come you're not eating, Rhonda?" Sheena asked.
"Dieting." She said nonchalantly, which baffled Sheena since she was already in a good shape. "Hey, I heard Helga made a commotion in the bus this morning. What up with dat?" Rhonda asked.
"Harold, Sid and Stinky kinda made her angry because of what they did to Brainy." Nadine replied.
"Again?" she replied in shocked disbelief, "He really has to learn to stand up for himself, and not let anyone push him around for once. Doesn't he feel stupid that there's somebody else who does that for him? C'mon, its pride we're talking about here. Look, I'm not saying Brainy is a wuss and all," though she wanted to, "but as long as he doesn't stand up for himself, he's going get pushed around like that for a long, long time."
"The guys aren't that bad…" Nadine tried to defend them, which she asked herself why she should defend them, "I mean, they can be obnoxious and annoying at times, but that's just what guys do, you know…" then there was awkward silence as both Rhonda and Sheena gave her quizzical look with a lifting eyebrow. Nadine was speechless at the sight, "Okay, I take it all back. They are all morons." Nadine said with a defeated tone.
"Speak of the devil…" Rhonda said as she gazed at Brainy at the counter. Brainy was fidgeting and was in unease with himself as he looked around in searching for a seat. In the cafeteria, everybody and everyone was hanging out with their cliques and friends, enjoying the food and the free time period. He saw his friends, but he chose not to hang out with them. He saw an empty table, and went over to it.
"He's coming. Quick, act natural!" Rhonda scrambled them nervously. As Brainy walked by them, Rhonda, in her Golden Globe-winning role as a stereotypical rich high school valley girl, blabbered unintelligently to her peers, who nodded indiscriminately. "So, like I was, like, there was something, and like, like, like omigosh…" was heard by Brainy as he went by pass them. He like, always wanted to know like, why girls like to put 'like' in every, like sentence as a, like, filler. It was like, abnormal, unnecessary and annoying. GOD WHY!
He sat at the table, alone and forlorn-looking. The girls stopped their act and looked at him, with a sympathy grown in their hearts.
"Poor guy…" Sheena said with a sad tone.
"You think we should invite him over?" Nadine asked.
"NO FRIKKEN' WAY!" Rhonda furiously opposed. She then realized what she just said, so she gasped and on instinct placed her hand over her mouth. Nadine and Sheena looked at her with their narrowed eyes and homicidal gaze. Rhonda tried to calm them down, "I-I I mean, we just don't have enough seats… heh, heh-heh…" she laughed nervously. Suddenly another face appeared at the door and it was the well known pair of friends, Helga and Phoebe. Helga looked around the cafeteria and saw Brainy. She asked for Phoebe to go to the counter first, and after she departed, Helga proceeded to walk over to Brainy. Phoebe wanted to anyway since she saw Gerald at the back of the queue.
"Brainy? How come you're eating alone?" Helga asked as she took a seat in front of him.
"Uh… No I'm not." He replied back. "I'm waiting for you."
The answer aggravated Helga, "Argh, for the love of…" she snapped. Her hands were visibly shaken with anger. Her eye twitched. She was getting weary of him being nice to her, she didn't know why but she just did. But her she kept her cool and said back, "Look Brainy," she tried to construct a sentence that wouldn't hurt him much, "I appreciate what you're doing, but don't you have friends to have lunch with? This means nothing, you know."
"Uh, after that stunt on the bus? I don't think so." He scoffed back.
Helga sighed. He had a point. "Still, they are your friends, for better or for worse. You want to know why they are always picking on you and give you a bad time? It's because you don't stand up for yourself."
Brainy scoffed at her words. He knew it was true, but he denied it greatly. "That's not true."
"Whatever floats your boat, Brainy." She said with a disappointed tone after she shook her head, "Listen, I can't have lunch with you today, I just can't. Phoebe is waiting for me at another table and I have something important to discuss with her. If you don't want to look like a lose—," she retracted the word back, feeling the word 'loser' was too strong a word to describe him, "—to be alone, I suggest you to mingle. Eugene is at that table over there and if you wanna hangout with girls, you can start at the Princess' table who has been INEXPLICABLY RUDE ENOUGH TO EAVESDROP ON US!" she shouted at the table next to her. Rhonda, Nadine and Sheena quickly darted back and innocently acting as if they were talking amongst themselves, as if nothing happened.
Helga then abruptly left the table and left Brainy alone by himself. She didn't look back. The three girls looked at him with pity as he forlornly ate his lunch. He felt dejected and wistful.
IV
School was finally over for the day. Phoebe and Helga walked over to the bus stop and saw Brainy again, alone. Helga sighed in great exasperation and shook her head.
"Phoebe, let's just wait for the bus right here." She said to her best friend, as she stopped at her tracks.
"What? How come?"
Helga shook her head and glared at Brainy, still unaware that they were there. He was close enough to see them, but not close enough for him to identify them.
Phoebe frowned at her friend, "You know Helga, Brainy is a good person and has a big heart. I do not understand why you want to stay away from him."
"Phoebe…" she sighed, "you just wouldn't understand. It's not like I hate him and all, but he's taking this way too seriously. The only reason why I'm being nice and help him out so much is because I feel sorry for him. He just… doesn't stand up for himself."
"Or maybe you still feel indebted to him since he saved you from that quicksand a few years back?"
Helga went silent at Phoebe's remark. As much as she wanted to disagree with her, it was the very truth. "That's all is in the past, Phoebe. It has nothing to do with it." she retort back unsurely.
"Don't you realize that because of your showing of gratitude makes him believe that you, in a way are attracted to him?"
"I don't!" she yelled back, "I help him just because he's too pathetic to help himself!" she shouted angrily.
"Or you just care so much about him." Phoebe replied coolly.
Helga was startled. She didn't know how to answer her back. She had come to a realization that it was, in fact, the undeniable truth. She cared deeply about him. She just stared back in defeat at her friend.
"I feel bad for suggesting this, but if you really don't harbor any feelings for him, then I propose you should tell him vis-à-vis that you can't return his love." Phoebe proposed.
"But I can't… If I told him, it'll crush—"
"Sometimes you have to tell the truth, even if it hurts."
Suddenly, they could hear a loud chatter coming from behind them. It was Stinky, Sid and Harold, talking loudly amongst themselves as they too walked over to the bus stop. Sid noticed Brainy over yonder, and chuckled a bit. He pointed at him to his friends, discussed something, and a devious smile was shown on their faces. Helga didn't like the look of it as she kept a watchful eye on them. The guys walked up to Brainy and startled him a bit as Sid landed his hand on his shoulder. He wrapped his hand around it and said:
"Dude, calm down. We're not going to hurt you." He said coolly. But Brainy felt there will be something maleficent afoot that'd happen to him. "We're just wanna say that, we're just sorry for what we did to you this morning."
Brainy was wary of their deceit. They wouldn't be that fast as to apologize to someone as himself. "Uh, huh…" he replied cautiously.
"Yeah, it was very childish of us for doing such a thing like that." Harold said.
"You're dang right." Stinky concurred, "you knoe we ain't kinda fellers who'd give ya'll a bad day. It's just in the name of fun."
Brainy scoffed. Making him nearly drop unconscious was their idea of fun? He was becoming more and more annoyed at their presence. He wanted them to leave him alone. But unfortunately, he didn't have the guts to say it.
"Look, we'll make it up to you." Sid said, "If you ever in need of help, just ask us man. Why do you need a chick to do that for you?" he said mockingly, referring to Helga. Brainy was infuriated by his remark.
"I mean, if you're in trouble, like this:" Sid shoved him out to the street, "and we'll save you!" he yanked him back to the curb. Stinky and Harold started to chuckle. "See, it's not that bad." He shoved him again, and Brainy was nearly hit by a speeding car, but Sid managed to yank him back in the nick of time. "You crazy kids!" the driver shouted at them.
"That's a close call there." Harold laughed nervously. Helga was mad. She glared angrily at them with her eye twitching. "That's it. I've had it." she said irately through her clenched teeth. Stinky tapped his best friend's shoulder and motioned his head to show him the incoming Helga. "Let's get outta here before she kills us."
"So uh, Brainy. Hope you'll consider our help." Sid said with a winning smile. And with that they departed as they laughed out loud, crossing the street.
"Idiots!" Helga shouted at them. "What the heck is wrong with you jerks?" she yelled angrily.
"Hey, we apologized to him, Helga!" Sid said back nonchalantly, lowering his head and stretching his arms wide. "What? It ain't good enough for your pansy 'boyfriend'?" and they burst into a fit of laughter.
Enough was enough. Helga should've done beating the crap out of them a long time ago. In rage, she crossed the street as the guys nervously began to flee. Unknown to Helga, there was a speeding small truck coming towards her…
Stinky saw the truck. Though he knew that Helga would decapitate his head after this, but a life must be saved first. Alarmingly he shouted, "Helga! LOOK OUT!" he pointed to the speeding truck. Helga stopped at her tracks and looked down the street. Her eyes widened in horror. She was too shocked to move away. The truck was coming ever closer to her. Phoebe quickly sprinted to help her friend. Though she knew it was futile, she hoped that she could make it in time. Sid and Harold were helpless. This might be the end for Helga. Suddenly she felt her body got hit and was flung away violently. It hurt her a lot. Her head was spinning. Her eyes closed down.
"Helga! Helga! You're okay?" someone shouted concernedly. She slowly opened her eyes, and saw Sid, Stinky and Harold, and a few moments later Phoebe came into her view. She tried to get up, and she could, though it painful a bit. Her hands were visibly shaken as she tried to get up. "C'mon let's help her up." Phoebe said, as Harold helped her out. Sid and Stinky was gone. Helga then realized that she was safe and sound by the curb. But… if she was not the one who got hit by the truck, then who…
A cold wave of fright suddenly swept all across Helga's body. She feared the worst. She did not want it to happen to him. She quickly turned around, and saw Sid and Stinky and some other guy in the middle of the road, looking at something, or someone, and they obscured her view. But it wasn't long when Sid stepped to the side, and she saw the worst sight in the world. Brainy lied motionless in the middle of the street, with his nose bleeding and made a small pool in front of his face, his left arm was twisted in the most horrid of ways, and his glasses thrown out from his eyes, shattered into pieces. She couldn't bear to watch him in a state like that. Her eyes began to brim with tears, her heart was racing hard, and worse still, everything in her mind said that he was dead. She couldn't believe it. She put her trembling fingers on her face, began to wail and cried out "No!" repeatedly. Phoebe quickly came to comfort her as Harold quickly ran to the ever growing crowd, circling him.
"He's still alive!" somebody shouted after she checked the pulse on his neck. Helga was absolutely relieved to hear that. "Somebody call 911, quick!"
V
Three days later…
The bus stopped at one of its destination, and a passenger climbed in and showed the driver his bus pass. The driver nodded and drove on. The passenger then sighed in relief that he caught the bus in time, or he could be late for school. Although it wouldn't matter much since he hated school. He saw a few of his female friends in the middle of the bus, chatting with themselves. He had hoped he wouldn't see that blonde girl today because he knew that she'll ask him how Brainy was doing, which subject he really wanted to avoid. But it was inevitable. He took a deep breath, and walked over to them.
"How is he?" Sheena asked concernedly. He sighed in agony.
"He woke up from his coma yesterday, thankfully." Sid said reluctantly yet in relief as he took a seat next her. He, Stinky and Harold had already visited him in the hospital to sincerely ask him for forgiveness. "Man, his parents were so relieved. The doc said it was a miracle, since there's no permanent injury inflicted. But there's a bit of head trauma, minor internal bleeding, broken ribs—"
"Stop it. Just stop it…" Helga pleaded brokenly. She couldn't bear to listen to Brainy's suffering any longer. Phoebe quickly came up to her and offered comfort. Taken by the sight, which was a very rare sight, Nadine looked at her with a distraught look. A tear ran down from her eye when she blinked. So did Sheena. Sid looked away and held back his tears. Sniffed, and had wiping her tear away, morosely Nadine said, "We should visit him after school. It's what we can do right now to show to him that we are concerned about him. What do you say?"
They all nodded. Helga was the most eager of them all.
"Man, I was so stupid…" Sid closed his eyes tightly and banged the window in frustration.
VI
It was after school, and Helga decided that she should go visit him alone. They all agreed during lunch hour that they'd visit Brainy an hour after school. But Helga thought different, and felt that she should see him alone, since she believed it would be more meaningful if she was there all by herself with him. As she walked along the sidewalk, drifting in her own thoughts, she saw Mr. Simmons coming towards her. "Hey Mr. Simmons." She greeted and stopped.
"Good afternoon Helga. Did you miss the bus again?"
"No… I'm on my way to visit someone at the hospital." Mr. Simmons knew what his former student was talking about.
"Brainy, huh?" he guessed.
She was startled, "How… how'd you know?"
"Gerald told me yesterday when I was out grocery shopping, so I thought I'd pay him a visit today. Just came back from the hospital." He pointed his thumb to the back.
"Is he all right?" she asked concernedly.
"Wonderful, Helga. It's nice to know that you care about your friends. Don't worry, he'll be fine. Although he has to stay in the hospital for several weeks to run a few physical checkups and another operation, but other than that, he's in excellent shape." The word 'excellent' was used because Mr. Simmons didn't want Helga to worry much.
"Did he… mention anyone while you were there?"
"Well, he did say he wanted to see you as soon as possible. He seems eager… I think it is a brave thing he did, saving your life."
"Oh, man…" Helga thought depressively, as rubbed her forehead and stroked her hair back in disbelief. "Yeah, he's very brave for doing that… and I should thank him."
"You should, Helga. It would be heartless and cruel if you'd just ignore him like that." Mr. Simmons remark added more guilt into Helga. She had planned to tell him what Phoebe suggested to her the other day, but right now she couldn't even make a decision due to it. It just wasn't the right time for it. Still, she needed an advice. She needed guidance.
"Mr. Simmons… hypothetically speaking, if I were to tell him something bad in the state he was in right now, would it be… wrong?"
Mr. Simmons contemplated a while on the subject, stroking his beard, "Is it, really bad?"
"As bad as you can imagine it." She replied back sullenly.
He sighed, "I take it it's a personal affair between you and him," he guessed uncertainly, since he had a feeling there was something between them that he noticed during their grade school days and during the San Lorenzo trip, which somewhat surprised him also that they still hadn't gotten over with it. "Well… in my personal opinion, you shouldn't hesitate on this… and be honest, since it involves a delicate issue between you two. Nevertheless, please don't be too hard on him. Tell him that you still care about him."
Though she didn't quite share the view with him, she had to agree with her former teacher. Procrastinate would only make matters worse. "Thank you for your advice, Mr. Simmons."
VII
The long walk through the hospital's hallway frustrated Helga since it made her feel like it was going on forever. Still it was good though as it gave her time to think. Hopefully Brainy was in good spirits and would be glad to see her. Yet somehow, she knew that deep down inside him he was miserable because she was the one put him into all the pain he was suffering. And to her realization, yet she denied greatly about it, the emotional feeling that Brainy had right now shares, and parallels with her feelings about Arnold. "We're in this together, aren't we?" she asked herself.
She knocked the door softly as she nervously waited for an answer. The receptionist at the lobby had told her this was his ward room be at, on the third floor, west wing in room #312.
"Uh… come in." an indistinct voice said. With a deep, long breath, she opened the door and saw Brainy, smiling. His enthusiasm would rival that of Eugene's. Still, his cheerful smile wouldn't compensate his physical condition, which broke her heart just by looking at him. Casts were on his right leg and left arm. Bandages were wrapped around his chest and his head, and some obscure reddish color could be seen on the bandage of his head. And it seemed he had acquired a new pair of glasses. Nearly on edge of tears, she slowly walked to him and took a seat next to his bed.
"How… how are you doing?" she asked.
"Uh… Never been better." He replied optimistically. "The doc was kinda surprised that I'm recovering better than they expected."
"That's great…"
"Yeah, it's really great." Then there was momentary silence between them.
"Were there anyone else besides me who visited you?" Helga asked again.
"Well it's the usual bunch. My family," he shrugged a bit, "Mr. Simmons, and surprisingly, Sid, Stinky and Harold."
"Them?" she said, as though she didn't know they were there yesterday, "What did those idiots do to you?"
"They… apologized." He replied in a calm shock-ish like, "And uh… very sincerely I may add. I guess they really regretted of pushing me around this time." He chuckled a bit, "Hard to believe, isn't it?"
"Yeah… it's hard to believe…" she replied uncertainly. She really didn't know when she'd going to tell him, "Look Brainy, I'm sorry…"
"Uh… Sorry for what?" he replied back, looking at her in a quizzical gaze.
"I'm sorry for…" she was too scared to tell him the truth, so she tried to divert the thought away, "…that I didn't bring you anything…"
"No, no…" he grabbed her hands, Helga was quite surprised by this, "It's okay my dear…" he brought the conversation back.
"Oh no…"
"Your gift is meaningless to me. It's what you've done to me that counts. I am touched and blissful to know that you're always there to help me…"
"Brainy, stop…" his words were like dagger stabbing through her heart, "I'm really, really grateful that you saved my life…"
"Yes, and I did that because I don't want to see you suffer like me. It breaks my heart if I ever see you in a similar ordeal that I'm bearing right now."
"Brainy please… listen to me." A tear just rolled down her cheek. His words were too unbearable for her. But Brainy just wouldn't listen.
"My love… Cherish this moment with me. I want to thank you for all you've done—"
"Brainy, STOP!" she snapped back. Her hands were shaken, her heart was pounding heart, and her misty eyes gazed right back into his eyes, piercing through it. With an extreme reluctance and heavyhearted will to continue, she melancholically said with a broken voice, "I can't love you."
Brainy was taken aback. He didn't believe what she just said to her, so he just denied them and continued his graceful eloquence. "I want to thank—"
"Brainy, stop… your words are already hard for me listen to, just as much as when you heard me just now. I just… can't love you."
Brainy was stunned. It was terribly hard to accept it. His mind was all in disarray trying to comprehend what Helga just uttered to him. It felt like his heart was ripped out from his chest and got stomped on repeatedly. He was horrified. He didn't know what to say back at her.
"Why…?" he said in a terribly shaken voice.
"Because… because…" telling him that she loved Arnold would devastate him so much, so she tried to find a way to obscure him, but alas, she couldn't. With an unwilling heart, she told him, "I'm in love with somebody else."
"I-I… I," a tear dropped down from his eye, "I can't believe this…" he sniffed, "I thought we have… something unique between us…"
"Brainy, please!" she snapped back with a trembling voice, crying, "Don't' you realize all those flirts that I threw to you were just playful banter? You think just because you saved me, I'd fall for you?"
Pain swept all across his body, "Helga please… don't do this to me…" he said shakily, "But if you don't love me, then why do you always help me?" he cried out loud in anguish.
Helga let more tears rolled from her eyes, "It's because I'm grateful for all what you've done to me… not because of love. Brainy… I know how you're feeling right now. I'm just as hurt as much as you—"
"No…" he shook his head in denial, "You don't know how I'm feeling right now…" he slowly began to hyperventilate, "Your confession hurts me more than all the pain I'm suffering…" the heartbeat monitor suddenly was racing furiously, "No… I can't believe you…" he started to breathe labouredly and suddenly began to jerk violently. Helga panicked. The monitor beeped dangerously and Brainy's violent movement shook the bed. Helga quickly sprung into action and slammed the 'Doctor' button on top of his bed. Seconds later, a couple of doctors rushed in and was in shock of the patient's condition.
"Oh my goodness!" Dr. Steiglitz uttered in shock, "Call the nurses quick!" he said to the young doctor who came with him. "And tell them to bring the defibrillator, stat!" A defibrillator is a device where electrical shock is applied on the chest to reset the heart's condition – a rough description. The younger doctor nodded and hastily he ran back out and shouted at the nurses.
"Move aside, girl!" Dr. Steiglitz said frenetically and Helga jumped out from her seat and went back far away as she could from the bed. He began a series of checkups and procedures after putting the oxygen mask on his face. The other doctor and two nurses came bursting through the door and assisted the old doctor. "Get out, kid! Get out!" one of the nurse shouted in panic as she ran up to her and tried to push her out from the room.
"Get back here!" the other nurse shouted.
"Oh no, we're losing him!" the young doctor said. By now, Helga was out of the room, and could only hear indistinctly of the chaotic situation inside the ward room. She could only hope and pray for the best.
"I'm reading a flat line from the heart monitor!" the nurse shouted in panic. A cold wave of fright suddenly enveloped Helga, and she felt lightheaded and nearly fainted. She took a few steps backwards, hit the wall behind her and slumped down to the floor. She cried in anguish.
Dr. Steiglitz took the metal pads out from the defibrillator as the other nurse rubbed some gel onto Brainy's chest. "Performing defibrillation procedure! Okay, clear!" Watts of electricity traveled through his body, and he jolted upwards. There was still no sign of life as everyone stared at the heart monitor. "Again, clear!"
There was complete and utter silence as Helga writhe in her own torment. No words could describe how she felt right now, as she cried and sobbed dejectedly on the floor with her hands clasping her face as she cursed herself and felt mortified for doing that to Brainy. Her sobbing could be heard across the hallway by her group of friends, who looked at her with a perplexed gaze as they entered the hallway. They looked at each other for a moment, and walked up to her.
Phoebe sat next to her and as usual, and offered comfort. Helga hugged her tightly as she continued to cry, "Helga… hush now. Calm down. We're here." Phoebe said softly to soothe her best friend. Sheena also sat down and helped her drown her anguish. Nadine did the same. Sid however, rubbed his forehead and looked away. He didn't want to be seen crying.
Moments later, Dr. Steiglitz walked out and saw the group of teenagers in front of him. Softly he said, "You can all calm down now… he's alive and safe." Helga could only smile back in jubilation. Still crying, she laughed softly and embraced her friends. Her friends didn't know what it was actually about, but glad to hear that Brainy was all right. After wiping those small brims of tears from his eyes, Sid turned around and asked the Doctor, "What happened, doc?"
"Your friend got a cardiac arrest. Could be from his asthma… or something else…" he glanced momentarily at Helga. "Nevertheless, he's okay now, but he is in a need of a good rest." The doctor and nurses who aided him were walking out from the room right now, "You're allowed in, but try to keep the conversation into a minimum."
Sid nodded, "Thanks doc… for saving him." he replied kindly. The doctor nodded back, and patted his shoulder softly. With the aid of his walking stick, he walked away from them, slowly step by step.
VIII
And that's what basically happened. Again I assure you that he's
She lost the will to write. She thought by writing to Arnold, it would calm her out. But instead, it just made her worse. Reminiscing back all about the ordeal she had been trough was terrible enough for her to bear. With a tormented scream, she crumpled up the paper she wrote and threw it away angrily. The pen she was using was thrown out of the window. She crossed her arms on her desk and rested her head on it as she cried to let all her suffering away.
The circumstances that occurred between her and Brainy would most likely happen if Arnold rejected her love. It was because of that dreadful thought she was too afraid and scared to let her feelings out to him. The pain and suffering that Brainy felt be most likely on the same line that Helga would felt if Arnold rejected her affection towards him. It also made her realize that it was selfish of her to made Brainy like that and thusly made her guilt feel unbearable. Though they were never meant for each other, but they both, in an ironic sort of way, shared a commonality – the extreme fear of rejection.
"Honey, are you okay?" Miriam said as she knocked the door, "I heard you screaming and—" her head poked in and saw her daughter crying. Gasping, and placing her hand on her mouth, she was shocked to see her daughter crying like that. She slowly walked over to her and held her shoulders, stroking them gently, "Helga, is there something wrong?"
"No mom…" she sobbed, "I'm just peachy…"she cried and answered back in a cynical tone. Unsatisfied, and her motherly instincts told her to help her daughter out, Miriam tried to get Helga out from her chair and let her hugged her, to embrace the warmth of a caring mother, which she wanted to prove greatly to this particular child of hers that she was still competent enough to be a thoughtful mother. Helga embraced her tightly, as though she wouldn't want to let go off her. "It's okay… its okay Helga, I'm here." She rubbed her back and kissed her head. "Let it out to me, I'll listen." They then slowly walked over to Helga's bed, still not releasing each other's grasp and sat on it.
Helga was in need of warmth and comfort. She lifted her legs and put them on her bed, as she rested her head on her mother's lap, and held her two hands on it. Emotionally touched by her daughter, she gently caressed her hair to give warmth, compassionate and a sense of security. Miriam could feel a warm tear dropping on her lap. But she didn't care all that, because her top priority right now was to attend to her daughter, to love her and be with her in her time of need. And with that, she accomplished it. "Take your time, honey…"
I kinda feel it doesn't sound original to have Brainy gotten into an accident but, that's the best I got. In the first chapter I've established Mr. Simmons as a person who advices the kids in this fic, and on this story I'm using his characterization to the fullest. Chapter Seven really scares me since I feel it has a melodramatic and cliche quality to it, which I really want to avoid. I dunno, hopefully I did it right. And I edited scene IX out from this story since I feel it doesn't feel right because it's a scene about Helga coming back to Brainy on the next day, but after the melancholy emotion outburst in scene seven, it wouldn't be wise of Helga to see Brainy again on the next day. I'm proud of scene eight however, since I feel Helga and Miriam are really bonding in it, rather than showing her being neglectful. Oh well, thanks for reading and please leave a review. Other fics will be up in the next coming days.