One more week, and she could finally get this stupid cast off. She was still getting dizzy spells five weeks after her fall. And wicked headaches that sometimes came with nausea. Her sister had been as useless as tits on a bull. Helga giggled at that thought. She'd heard one of the workers shout it at another while they were working around the garden a couple of weeks back and had thought it very appropriate to apply to her sister.
She had heard Steven and her fight about it once. Olga had turned around and hired a nurse to look after her in the first few weeks, because it was "just too stressful" for Olga to deal with, and neither Helga nor Steven were comfortable being in the bathroom at the same time while she bathed or showered. The nurse had been there to assist and make sure if Helga had a dizzy spell, she had support.
On the upside she had gotten back into her art. She hadn't been writing for a while, or anything artistic really. So it was soothing to fall back into it, or read a book. She always had someone following behind her, so she didn't walk around too much. One day Steven finally took her through the maze and showed her the trick to getting out. She forgot what it was as soon as they had left the maze, and Steven laughed about it. Sitting one her bed and staring out the window it wasn't until she felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped, that she realized she wasn't alone in her room. She looked up to see Steven looking down at her.
"You alright?" he asked. She nodded. He sat down on her bed. "Do you know what I found out today?"
"What?"
"Your sister is going away for a girls weekend the weekend you get your cast off," he told her, leaning back. Helga had found herself once again thinking about just how attractive Steven was. And it didn't help that she still had the memory of that dream in her head. She'd had it again a few times, though that last time she was woken up halfway through. The feelings were still there though. She'd bury her face into her pillow, and try to push those images away. "So I thought, after your cast is off, we can take a drive through your old neighborhood."
"Are you serious!" she yelled, jumping up. Her head spun, and she had to sit down again.
"Yeah, don't hurt yourself, okay?" Steven said, laughing. "But yeah, sure. We can drive around, maybe you'll see one of your friends. We could have ice-cream somewhere..."
But Helga had stopped listening. She felt . . . strange. She should be more excited about this. About possibly seeing Arnold. But . . . what were the chances, really?
"Helga," Steven repeated. She looked up at him. "There you are. So what do you think?"
"I think that's fantastic!"
. . .
Finally, she was getting the stupid cast off. Finally, she was getting away from this house and going back to her old stomping ground! She was so excited that she actually agonized over what to wear and how to wear her hair. In the end she settled for a long loose braid, pink t shirt and denim shorts with black sandals. Rushing out she almost tripped down the stairs, but luckily caught herself.
"Jesus, Helga!" Steven yelled out. "One cast at a time." Helga glared down at him and his poor attempt at a joke.
"Is Olga gone already?" she asked, when she finally got to the bottom.
"Yeah, left before the sun came up," he said, pulling his keys out of his pocket. "Come on."
Helga followed him out to his car and got in. She looked to see Colin watching from the doorway and waving. She waved back and he smiled. She had gotten to know him and Cally quite well. Steven pulled away and they started the long trip back to the hospital. Afterwards they would go on to Hillwood. Olga had stayed out of her way, which had made life pretty bearable. Helga had snuck into her room the day before and looked through her drawers, to see if she was hiding letters for her. She wasn't. She had also hung around the gate one day and accosted the postman. Nothing, and he hadn't delivered anything for a little while. She had felt put out and sad. Had Arnold forgotten about her? Had he fallen in love with someone else? Then a horrible idea came to her. Had Lila and he reignited a flame? Started dating?
She shook her head. No. She couldn't think like that. She just couldn't!
. . .
It had been months since Arnold had heard from Helga. He wasn't sure why. He'd gone down to the beach nearly everyday that summer. And that was where he met Sylvia. Well first, Gerald met Nevaeh. And Sylvia was Nevaeh's best friend. So they started to hang out together due to Nevaeh's love of "double-dates". So he and Sylvia were kind of dating, but not really. More like, dating because their friends were dating, not because they were in love, but they were fond of each other. At least, that was how Arnold saw it. He hadn't asked Sylvia.
He'd had some contact with Lila, who told him that she hadn't heard from either Helga or Olga.
"Maybe she has run out of credit on her phone?" Lila had suggested. "It's not like she can just go up the road or call them."
"Why not?" Arnold had demanded. Lila shook her head and told him he clearly hadn't listened to what she had told him. In the end Arnold had lost his cool with her, and Lila had walked away. They hadn't spoken since. And now Gerald was keeping him busy and in Sylvia's presence, hoping his thinking about Helga would go away. And for the most part it would. But then he would see something, or hear someone and look, thinking it may be her.
It never was.
He'd stopped writing since he knew they weren't getting through to her. He had stopped calling the landline because he was always blocked off. And now it had been a couple of months since he had even heard from Helga. It was like she had made no attempt at all to get in touch. He'd never seen her at the beach or anywhere for that matter.
"Arnold," Gerald called. "What is so important that you just let your ice-cream melt?"
"Huh?" Arnold asked, looking at Gerald, then his ice-cream. It had melted. "Oh, um, just stuff."
Gerald saw the guilty look he threw Sylvia's way.
"Let's go get a drink," Gerald said, grabbing him and hauling him up out of his seat. When they were far enough away he stopped. "It better not be Helga, man."
"Gerald-"
"I can't believe this!" Gerald cried, throwing his hands in the air. "You have a pretty girl right there. And your ignoring her for someone who hasn't even tried to contact you. Unbelievable."
"I know," Arnold admitted, looking down.
"If she were really in danger, she would have found a way to get word out somehow," Gerald pointed out. "She was probably just adjusting or something."
"You think so?" Arnold asked, looking at the ceiling.
"I'm ninety percent sure," he told him.
"And the other ten percent?" Arnold asked.
"Doesn't care."
. . .
"I'm so glad to be rid of that stupid thing," Helga said, looking down at her white and somewhat wrinkled wrist and hand. She was giving it a good scratch and dead skin was coming off under her nails. Gross.
"I'll bet," Steven said, watching the road. The idiot in front of them would slam their breaks on suddenly. Steven mused that maybe they were hoping someone would ride up their cars ass. "So, where we going again?"
"Slaucen's," Helga told him, proceeding to show him how to get there. She smiled, looking out the window, feeling smug. She had been up all last night writing a letter to Arnold, explaining what had happened. She'd put it in an envelope - stolen from Steven's office- and put a stamp on it - also stolen from Steven's office - and had left it behind in the hospital waiting room, in the hopes that someone would find it and post it for her. She had made sure that Steven hadn't seen. She was hoping it was a stroke of genius. She had to do something!
When they finally saw Slaucen's coming into sight, Steven pulled into a parking spot. She excitedly got out, and started to make her way there then stopped dead in her tracks. No. Way. There he was, walking out of Slaucens . . . with a girl? It felt like she had been punched. She couldn't breath. Her flight reponse kicked in, and she turned on her heel only to trip!
"Helga!" Steven called out as she landed hard, stopping herself from falling flat with her hands. It was the worst thing she could have done. Her eyes went wide as pain shot up her arm. She gasped in pain and looked down. She bit her lip, trying not to scream as tears welled up in her eyes.
"Helga?" she heard Arnold ask behind her.
"Oh, jeez, Helga, your wrist," Steven said, kneeling beside her.
Helga started to cry, not being able to help herself. Not again. Not again!
"Is she okay?" Arnold asked.
"Yeah, she's probably just broken her wrist again," he told him, before lifting Helga in his arms. Helga looked back at him just as the girl was slipping her hand into Arnold's and moving close. She looked away and down at her hand. Her heart was hurting more than her wrist at this point. "Come on, back to the hospital with you."
"Can I help?" Arnold asked.
"No, I've got it," Steven said, carrying Helga to his car and putting her in. She took one last look Arnold's way. He and his girlfriend were talking, and he took a look at her before turning and walking away.
Steven got in, and his door slamming broke her out of her trance. She was starting to feel nauseous.
. . .
"It's not broken, so your very lucky," the doctor told her. "Don't fall on it again though."
"She won't," Steven said firmly. "I'll take her straight home and that'll be it." The doctor just nodded and left.
"This is all Olga's fault," Helga mumbled.
"Olga wasn't even here," Seven said to her.
"Arnold's moved on, and it's all because she was keeping me from contacting him," she said, glaring at the wall. "I hate her."
And I'm going to make her pay!