The next day, Arnold woke up determined. He showered, got dressed, grabbed breakfast, and headed for work. Things seemed to be moving along smoothly as he arrived at Hillview Mental Institution. Feeling accustomed to his environment already, Arnold strolled directly to Henrik's door and knocked.
"Come in" his colleague answered. "Come in" he waved at Arnold.
"Good-morning Henrik" His protege greeted with a smile to his face.
"Ah, Good-morning Arnold." he said offering Arnold a seat.
The doctor began to speak, asking Arnold about his experiences so far.
"So... I read in your report that you had quite a predicament on your hands with your last patient on Monday" Henrik mentioned with a look of concern on his face.
"Well, it was not as serious as it seemed." Arnold replied with a shy grin, trying to downplay the incident.
"Are you kidding! The nurses are still talking about it" Henrik exclaimed excitedly. "You know...word travels fast around here, believe me. I see you escaped being harmed once again, not many doctors here are that fortunate given the circumstances. So...would you care to explain in detail what happened?" he asked with both eyebrows raised anticipating the juicy details.
Arnold pondered a moment, trying to gather his thoughts. He was going to give him the condensed version. " When I entered the room, I observed..." and he continued his observations to the end.
As he concluded the doctor spoke, "Hmm, interesting. Arnold...are you sure you can handle this case? Because I can send someone else to take this one on if it's too much to handle for you."
Arnold interjected defensively, "No! I-I...I know I can handle this case" he continued, "I just need time"
"Oh! Alright, I'll take your word on that. I'm going to sign-off on the files approving your recommendations, but remember if you can't handle something and I mean anything don't hesitate to come to me, understand."
"Yes sir"
"Alright now, on to today's business." Henrik said heading to the door with Arnold in tow.
As the day went on Arnold started to get the hang of things. He was interacting with various patients with various issues. But his anticipation was the session with Helga, and it was fast approaching; so was his desire to see her.
During his lunch break, he made sure to prepare himself for the challenge he would face upon meeting her once again. He felt the urgency to get her to open up soon, for time was not on his side. The question that remained was, which personality will he receive? Which one knew what happened? According her file that answer was not available and it continued to stir his mind.
So far, most of his patients, were responding to his treatments with a few minor exceptions. He knew that he couldn't save them all. But still, time was also needed for them to adjust.
The day flew by, and now he was making his way to his last session.
Walking on the 10th floor again, he approached her room. He took a deep breath and swiped his employee card at the door, entering the padded cell.
Walking in, he made his way to the soft cushioned box chair set up for him and sat quietly.
He studied the woman before him as she sat at her desk absorbed in writing. The intensity of her face as she wrote was like a breath of fresh air. He watched as her head slightly swayed from side to side repeatedly like waves on the ocean as she transcribed sentences in her notebook. It felt like watching an elegant swan as she craned her neck exquisitely while she swimmed forward with ease. He looked at the gracefulness of her hand holding the pen and how it was effortlessly applied to the surface of the page each time she took to write. Her movements took his breath away, it always did.
Looking at her at that moment made him smile, he remembered how mesmerizing she could be when she wrote.
Today, she looked rather calm. However, to Arnold, appearances could be deceiving, especially when it concerned Helga G. Pataki. She may look small and fragile, but her fiery temper and unwavering fearlessness could rival that of any man. Arnold had encountered it many times, yet he's surprised that he had managed to survive through it when he was younger.
Sensing a presence, the blonde haired woman stopped writing. She lifted her head, and turned around. The woman glanced at the man sitting on the box chair. She stood up, walked over to Arnold and smiled. Arnold stood on guard as she approached. He looked at her and noticed her hair was nicely combed with some strands covering one eye.
Passing her hand to her face and tucking the loose strands behind her ear, she continued over to him.
Arnold's heart fluttered wildly, and he blinked repeatedly, taken aback. He fixed his emerald green-eyes into her shimmering sapphires, losing himself in them. Her eyes were inviting. They kept drawing him in as she walk to him as if in slow motion.
Arnold started to fidget in his seat, trying to restrain himself from leaping off of it and wrap her in an embrace. Sometimes he just couldn't help it, but in this situation he had to. It was pure torture as he sat there, unable to make the first move, unable to show any signs of affection for her.
"THIS IS PURE TORTURE" He thought as he clenched his fists. "JUST PURE TORTURE!"
He shook his head bringing himself out of his trance when she spoke sweetly, "Pardon-me I don't believe I've had the pleasure?"
She extended her hand for him to shake. Still feeling dazed, he slowly reached for it, grabbed it, and shook it. Not really focused on giving his reply right away, he felt an overwhelming warmth at her touch, and it consumed him from the outside in. Arnold blushed furiously red as his eyes were fixated on the woman before him, unwavering.
Catching himself, he smiled finally offering a response, "Hello, I'm Dr. Shortman, I'm your psychiatrist, but you can call me Arnold" He coughed trying to distract himself from his current desire. "No need for formalities" he added.
The beautiful creature with luscious lips, uttered his name, "Hm...Arnold, I like that name" she said earnestly.
In her mind, she repeated that name and it sounded familiar to her. Not able to put her finger on it as to why it did, she moved on and directed her attention to him again. " Nice to meet you" she greeted and looked at him intently feeling an attraction to him.
"My name is Cecile"
His eyes grew wide at the name, but nevertheless he replied, "Nice to meet you, Cecile." Still looking to her to see if there were any signs of recognition of him on her part. Nope...nothing. Feeling that their hands were still connected, Cecile gently released her hand from the handshake while Arnold reluctantly let go.
Slightly embarrassed, he cleared his throat.
Feeling the need to sit, Cecile returned to desk and sat on top of it, facing her new doctor. Since her chair was screwed to the ground, she was not able to turn it in his direction.
Arnold spoke, still staring at his attentive patient, "If you don't mind...that is... can I ask you a couple of questions?"
She shrugged, "Of course, go right ahead"
He began, "Do you know where you are?"
She looked at him strangely and sternly replied, "Of course, I do! What kind of question is that?"
Trying to appease the situation, he answered, "Well, I just wanted to know if you're aware of where you are. I'm not trying to be rude or anything."
Calmly she responded, " I'm sorry, it's just that every doctor before you asked me that, it seems redundant, don't you think?"
She continued, "I'm not completely incompetent you know. I do know where I am, I mean...look around you, wouldn't you say it was obvious?" She expressed with slight frustration.
"Uhhhh...um.. yes" Arnold said slightly stupefied at her reaction. It was so unlike that of the other day.
He spoke slightly fumbling. "Listen..Hel..I mean Cecile, I do apologize for offending you, it's just that there are no detailed notes in your file from the previous doctor. So technically, I have to start my evaluation from the beginning. I hope I can do so with your permission of course."
Her eyes softened and she smiled warmly replying, "Alright then, let's begin shall we?"
Arnold began, "So...how long have you been here?"
"I believe it's been a year and half almost" she replied swinging her crossed legs back and forth from the table.
"Do you know, how you got here?" he asked.
"A hospital sent me here, at least that's what I remembered" she replied, saddened.
Arnold inquired, "Cecile...do know which hospital?"
Brought out from her apparent sadness, she tilted her head trying to think, "Um...I don't...remember, sorry. A lot went on at the time so I don't recall."
"That's alright" he smiled, trying to reassure her. He so wanted to touch her.
Arnold cautiously asked her the next question, "Do you know what happened? I mean, do you know how you got there? At the hospital?"
"Well...no" She elaborated, "All I remember is waking up surrounded by nurses and doctors trying to hold me down." Tears abruptly began to stream down her face."It was awful. I didn't know what happened. I told them to let me go...that I won't hurt anyone, but..." she sadly looked into his eyes as her voice quivered, finishing in a whisper, "-they didn't believe me."
She sniffed and wiped a few tears as she continued, "They strapped me to a bed, and a few hours later I ended up here" As she finished she attempted to smile at him, he knew she was trying to remain strong despite the situation she was in.
Arnold felt like going up to her to wrap her in a hug, but..he knew that would be unprofessional of him to do. He kicked himself for not doing so though. However, he chose to stay and help her? Regardless, he tried his best to comfort her by giving her a reassuring smile, and his handkerchief as he offered kind words, "It's okay Cecile, if you feel uncomfortable you don't have to tell me right now. Just... take your time, Okay?"
She gladly accepted the hanky with a nod and took a moment to compose herself. Then she fondly took an interest in Arnold as she uttered, "You know Arnold...you're unlike any doctor I've ever met. You have... this... calming effect on me that's infectious. There's just something about you that I just can't quite pinpoint what it is?"
She got off the table and walked over to his chair, and came face to face with him. She gazed into his resplendent eyes, examining them with interest, " It's like we have some type of...connection." Arnold's eyes widened at her advancing figure. Arnold sat there mute, as she narrowed the gap to a few inches.
"Do you... kinda feel that? " she said looking into his eyes expectantly, carefully sliding her hand upon his forearm, and then squeezing it gently. She yearned for his response to confirm her notion and it was apparent in her body language. As she waited, his green eyes drew her in. It was almost... hypnotic. She couldn't look away, she didn't want to anyway.
Right then and there Arnold was intrigued, he wanted to take her into his arms and kiss her with intensity and fervor. Oh! he wanted this. But...he couldn't, not here and not now. Unwilling to give himself away, even for a second, Arnold looked uncomfortably to the ground, rubbing the back of his neck in distress.
"Um...Well, you know I'm flattered by the compliment, really I am, but what you speak of is just what doctors like me use to help their patients. We try to connect with them on a personal level to make them feel comfortable to speak their minds." He shrugged boyishly. "It's... nothing special really." He uttered with a shy half-smile and looked to the ground, not wanting to be tempted by her gaze again.
Disappointed she replied, "Oh... I guess...I was mistaken"
She backed away releasing his arm, and slowly removed herself from him completely. Arnold kept his face stern as he inwardly screamed. "NOOOOO, stay!" His fingers was twitching, he wanted to reach out for her.
Embarrassed Arnold stated, "Yeah, I... guess" He paused a moment before resuming to speak. "Do you...want to stop answering questions?"
"No..no please...let's keep going." she insisted.
"Alright…uh..can you remember anything before the hospital? Like a job? Where you lived? Friends or family?"Arnold asked.
She thought aloud, "Hmm. That's strange you're the first doctor to ask so many details of my past. I mean... most of them just come in and ask me if I know what brought me here, and when I would say 'no' they would just... get up and leave. Very quickly, I might add. At times, I would inquire about my past, but they'd just give me the run around. It's like they don't want me to remember anything." She grew tense as she expressed, "Sometimes, I would get so frustrated and when that happens I'd blackout. Next thing I know, a new doctor comes in, and the process begins all over again." She shrugged ending her explanation.
Arnold's eyes grew wide, he was stunned at what he was hearing. "No detailed records were kept on file from her previous doctors, no background investigation was done, and no effort was made to help her of her problems. Something was going on here. It's like Helga G. Pataki should never be discovered. Maybe...maybe she knew something that she shouldn't have known or could it be possible that the doctors before me were that careless? No, she had been here long enough so that can't be it. It's just impossible."
At that moment, Arnold could only come to one conclusion. "This feels like... a cover-up."
With this new development, Arnold quickly returned his attention back to Cecile."Something's amiss and I need to find out what!"
Arnold spoke, "Look Cecile, I know it's hard for you to remember what happened, but if you can tell me anything and I mean anything that you recollect from your past, maybe we can help you know how you got here."
"I'm sorry Arnold, but I told you everything I know." She replied honestly shrugging her shoulders.
Unexpectedly, an idea came to Arnold.
He wanted to try a technique on her to get her to recall, that if she agreed.
"I want to try something on you is..that okay? It's harmless, really." he concluded.
"S-Sure" Cecile nervously replied as she interlocked her fingers, her eyes now downcast.
Arnold calmly spoke, " It's called hypnotherapy. It may help you recall certain things. So what I need you to do is sit on your chair."
The young woman obliged as Arnold got up to walk over to her.
He gently spoke on, "Now, relax your body, and relax your mind. Close your eyes and take a deep breath in and exhale slowly. Inhale once more and exhale very slowly, let your mind drift back...back in time. Focus..on a specific place and time. What do you see?"
The woman before him took a moment to respond, her voice was slightly quivering." I see... a purple house..a-and ...there's a room with papers, I'm not exactly sure but...it looks familiar."
With his voice sounding serene and calm, Arnold asked. " Any people there? Do you see someone? "
She responded in a whisper, " No, I... don't see anyone."
He looked to the woman, sitting relaxed before him and said, "Is there anything else you can see?"
Trying to stay focused, she replied, " Um...I'm in the hospital now a-and I see a woman."
Arnold came closer to her and quickly inquired, "Do you...know what she looks like?"
Her eyebrows furrowed a bit, "Um..she's of average height, a brunette with brown eyes. She seemed nice. I think... her name was.. " She thought aloud as she tried to picture the name tag "...uh...I believe it was Kristen. It's not quite clear though, but that's what I think it is..." she concluded.
Arnold saw she was suddenly getting restless and decided it was best to end the hypnosis.
"It's okay, if you don't remember right away. I'm sure it'll come to you when you're ready." Arnold move back slightly, making note of the information he received. He still remained near her as he counseled her back. "Okay, just... take a deep breath in and slowly exhale. Open your eyes very slowly. How do you feel?"
She took a moment, but then she smiled. "I feel fine"
Arnold smiled back, "Good"
Wanting to try another technique, Arnold was about to speak when the orderlies walked in with her dinner, placing it on the desk next to her. Arnold looked at his watch, he went over his allotted time with her. His shift had ended a half hour ago. He didn't mind though, he felt it was worth it. He was getting somewhere. He walked back to his chair to pack up his notes and her file into his briefcase.
With his boyish smile, he commented, "Guess I lost track of the time."
She stood up and walked over to him. With a slight tilt of her head, she stared at him attentively. She offered her hand which he shook.
Her eyes twinkled at him with admiration as they shook hands once more.
"I guess we did." she sultrily replied.
Just like earlier the warmth enveloped him again. He closed his eyes in thought for a second. The urge to act with his heart returning.
"How can I walk away from this?" He sighed, reopening them. For a moment, he seemed reluctant to let go. However, Cecile looked down at their hands...touching and looked to him again. She knew she felt something, this was not a coincidence. Although, she chose not to press it further in light that the orderlies were there; hopefully, there will be another time.
"Well, it's been...nice" she said affectionately.
At the sound of her voice, Arnold's heart pulsated loudly against his chest, the beating sound amplified in his ears.
He replied calmly, "Yes, it was. I will do my very best to help you. You know that right?" he questioned her with his eyes, looking for approval.
"I know" She replied with a smile and looked to him in assurance.
Arnold nodded with satisfaction and broke eye contact as she let go of his hand.
As he walked to the door, Cecile looked on. She hoped that if he more than cared about her, he would look back at her once more before exiting.
Inwardly, she thought, "Please Arnold...turn around, turn around."
Once he opened the door, Arnold nearly walk through it before he hesitated and then glanced back at her.
A slight gasp escaped her lips as she noticed him looking at her. She felt relieved at that moment, her instincts were precise. Someone was.. on her side.
As Arnold looked at her, she in turn shyly waved goodbye.
"Au Revoir, Arnold" she said with softly.
With a nod and a smile, Arnold exited the room, closing the door.
He leaned back against it and sighed. "This...is gonna be harder than I thought." he uttered as he slid his hand over his face in dismay.
Thursday morning.
Regretfully, Arnold did not have time to see Helga that day.
However, the information he received yesterday was a breakthrough. He had a starting point to begin his investigation.
On his lunch break, Arnold took to his task and called several local hospitals asking whether they had any information on a Helga G. Pataki being admitted there. Unfortunately, his search for her presence at any hospital proved to be fruitless.
No one knew of anything pertaining to Helga G. Pataki or her aliases. Either she didn't go there or they just weren't cooperating. All he knew was that she was in one of Hillwod's hospitals.
"This is not going well, something is off here. There must be some record of her being in one of the hospitals?" He thought.
Trying another avenue, he decided to call her family to see what they knew of Helga before she arrived at Hillview Mental Institution. Luckily, he had found their phone number in an online phone book and located their new address. " Looks like they moved. "
He called them.
The phone rang twice and on the third ring he heard a woman answer.
"Huh?H-Hello?"
"Uh..Hello is this Mrs. Pataki?"
"Yeah..yeah..t-this is she"
"Hi I'm Arnold, I don't know if you remember me...I'm an old friend of Helga's?"
She thought for a second and replied, "Hmmm, oh of course..I re..member youuuu?"
She called out. "Uh..Helga deeeeear...um..someone's on the phone...oh wait..wait a minute Helga's not here that's riiight" she rambled on,"Um..young man Helga doesn't live hhere maybe-"
Arnold quickly spoke, "Mrs. Pataki, I just need to ask a couple of questions if that's okay?"
"Uhh, O-okay , s-sure"
"Do you know when was the last time you saw Helga?" Arnold inquired.
"Well, let..me..seee...oh..she came here about a year and a half ago for a book deal or something, I'm not suuure" she slurred.
"Do you know where she stayed?" he asked.
"Uh..no..no..she didn't say much about that." she mentioned frankly.
"Do you know what happened to her?" he pressed on with urgency. "Please Mrs. Pataki I need to know"
She took a moment before she recalled, "Well... no, but she did call me one time all hysterical" She said still sounding dramatically inebriated. "I thought that was odd of H-Helga. She asked me to come to uh...Hillwood General...yep that's it, but when B and I came, this nurses said there was no one by that name there. So we uh left."
Arnold was flabbergasted, but he inquired more.
"Did you.. hear from her again?" he asked hopefully.
"Uuuhh, no...nope..not..really" she replied nonchalantly.
Arnold began raising his voice, his frustration was apparent at the careless attitude they had for their youngest daughter."Did you go to the police? Talk to her friends? Anything?"
The woman became slightly nervous at his tone, but still not as affected in her drunken daze "Well, B wwent to the ppolice and filed...um...a missing persons report ,yyeah that's it. And they said that they would let us know if there were any developments. We called her little friend and she said she hasn't heard from her in a while. "
Arnold found this odd, "Why would Helga not contact Phoebe if she was here? What did she get herself into to alienate her best friend! " Arnold returned his attention to the woman on the phone.
But before he could ask another question, he heard Big Bob in the background.
"Who the HECK is that on the phone?"He hollered.
Miriam replied, "Oh B, it's just an old friend of Helga's, you know that ...uh..that blonde boy... that used to hang around her. Oh! what's his name again-"
Before Arnold could say anything, Big Bob gruffly interjected, "Who? Alfred! What the HECK does he want?"
Arnold huffed while he stayed on the line.
Miriam replied, " Yeah..yeahh that's him...He wants to know where Helga is, dear"
Big Bob bellowed, "Mother of Pearl, Miriam, just tell him the girl isn't here. And be sure to tell him not to call back here anymore"
Arnold then heard Big Bob grumble in the background, "Good for nothing orphan- " was the last thing he said before Miriam spoke up. "Um..Alfred..I'm soorry but Helga's not here and pl-please don't call here anymore..mmkayy"
"Well, Thanks anyway Mrs. Pataki, I won't bother you again" Arnold replied gloomily.
"..okay...bub..bye" she ended.
Arnold looked to the phone after hanging it up."Well, that was...discouraging"
Seeing that his break was already over, he left the office and headed back to work. After a long day at his job, Arnold went home perplexed. On a side note, he managed to acquire some information from her mom. He contacted Hillwood General again for documentation of Helga's admittance, but they still denied her ever being there.
Arnold wondered, "Was Helga's mom lying to me? Or was this a plot by the hospital to keep Helga quiet? If so, about what? What does she know?" Arnold pounded his fist on his desk.
Trying to find a lead, he contacted some of his old friends casually inquiring about Helga without raising suspicion.
Unfortunately, no one had really given anything significant to further explore.
"Someone has to know something?" He thought aloud as he lied down on his bed trying to piece the clues together, but his eyes soon grew tired. And his body relaxed into the bed, within minutes he dozed off.
At one in the morning, he was awakened by the ringing of his cell phone. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he checked the digital clock, "Who could be calling me at this hour?" he said dazedly as he reached for the phone.
"Hello?" He said groggily, but all he heard was silence.
He scratched his throat and repeated more clearly, "Hello?"
He heard a woman's voice on the other end,"Um...Hello...Is this..Dr. Shortman?"
"Yes this is he...Can I help you?"
"U-umm...I'm..not..sure...if I should do this." she lowly whispered to herself still on the phone.
"Do what? Who are you?" Arnold said a bit more alert.
"Um...You're... the one who called the hospital this afternoon asking if a Helga G. Pataki was admitted there, right?"
"Yes, yes, do you have any information on her? Please tell me you know something!" Arnold pleaded desperately.
She hesitantly replied, "A-actually, I have something to give to you that concerns her" she hurriedly spoke "But, I can't stay long. I'll explain everything to you soon. Can you..um..meet me by the pier tomorrow at midnight... and come alone?"
"Wait a minute, is this some kind of joke?" he exclaimed.
The woman replied. "No! no it's not. It's j-just that I have vital information to give you and only you, and it can't be given over the phone. Please believe me, I'm not here to deceive you" she pleadingly said her voice quivering in desperation.
"Alright, alright, I believe you, but who are you and why are you doing this?" Arnold asked inquisitively.
"I can't tell you that Dr. Shortman, but believe me when I say that I'm not trying to ambush you, honest" she answered.
"O..kay, I'll accept that for now, but when we meet I want answers" Arnold demanded.
"Fair enough" she replied
"Well goodbye, then?" he said feeling awkward.
"Goodbye Dr. Shortman" she responded curtly and hung up the phone, the dial tone the only sound resounded in his ear.
He couldn't quite understand what just occurred but this could be the answer to unlock the mystery surrounding Helga's institutionalization.
Arnold went back to bed. He looked up at the skylight and gazed at the small amount of stars piercing through the polluted night sky. Things were getting stranger by the minute. He wondered, " Could this be a trap? Should I trust her"
He shook his head and sighed. "I guess I should be more alert from now on." Arnold lied back for hours, watching the stars, wishing for sleep, but without solid information his mind remained restless. Deep down, he was not comfortable with letting things go, tomorrow there will be a breakthrough, he hoped.
At around four am, Arnold finally fell asleep with Helga still on his mind. He began to dream.
Arnold saw himself at the Hillview Asylum facing the opened door to her room. He walked into the padded cell to find Helga on her knees with her hands to her face, weeping. At the sight and sound of her sorrow, his heart skipped a beat as he rushed to her side going down on his knees.
Softly and gently, he took a hold of her wrists and slowly parted them away from her face. Looking deeply into her enchanting blue eyes worriedly for a moment, he leaned into her left ear and soothingly whispered, "Helga, my Angel, what's the matter? Why are you so sad?"
Hearing the sound of his sultry voice, Helga lifted her head and gazed into his captivating green eyes. Pleading with her own sapphire eyes, she responded faintly, "I need your help Arnold, Please help me!" He himself desperately appealed to her, holding gently her wrists. "Then, tell me what's wrong? I can't help if you won't tell me?" he whispered gingerly, placing his forehead against hers.
He searched to be closer to her.
She replied, "My house Arnold"
"What?"He quizzically uttered.
"What you're searching for is there!" She looked to him again with tears streaming from her eyes, she kissed him once and embraced him with urgency. He took in her fragrance, her scent circulating his brain, rendering him senseless as he desperately clung to her for dear life. He kissed her back with equal fervor, tasting the salty wet tears that dampened her luscious lips.
Breaking away from their kiss, she spoke to him, still in his embrace.
Her voice was muffled as she cried into his cotton shirt,"You'll find me, won't you Arnold?"
He closed his eyes as he nestled her in his protective arms, "If it takes me an eternity Helga, I will find you" And that he said with certainty.
Never letting go of his beautiful butterfly, Arnold continued holding her in his arms as her body slowly began to fade, and when he reopened his eyes, he noticed...he was alone.