Chapter 3: Let Me Help You With That
Classroom
All but one student had entered the classroom that morning. Arnold hadn't heard from Helga since she stormed out of the cafeteria. There are some girls who crave emotional support, while others tend to like their space.
Arnold had learned that if Helga wasn't willing to open up when she wanted to, the last thing he needed to do was confront her without knowing she was ready. In other words, let her come around on her own. That wasn't easy for an eager problem solver like him, but he wasn't looking to make things worse.
The concerned boy turned his head to see Phoebe sitting quietly at her desk. Rather than reviewing the lesson plan for the day, he noticed her looking at a list of material.
"What's that you're reading Phoebe?" Arnold couldn't help but ask.
Phoebe had printed herself a descriptive sheet of what Helga would be going through. If she could maintain a healthy diet, it would only last a year. As hopeful as the thought of that maybe, this was still an intimate matter.
"Oh, I was just reviewing some plans Olga was nice enough to show me for their new store's improvements." Phoebe admitted, hoping it would be enough to satisfy Arnold.
A moral dilemma of hers had always been 'Tell the truth, or remain loyal.'
If it meant pleasing Helga, she would remain loyal to her friend. In any other situation, she would follow her instincts, which would be to tell the truth.
Once again, Arnold found this a bit peculiar. If the store was having changes done to it, why would that be something to hide from him? If anything, Helga would just use him to vent to about it.
Before he could question the matter further, Mr. Simmons walked in…
"Hey Class!"
Everyone responded with dull looks, until their teacher added.
I received some serious news about our student Helga Pataki yesterday. Arnold's eyes lit with anticipation, while Phoebe's face started to turn red.
She knew he was about to announce Helga's embarrassing news to the class. She could only pray he didn't go too far with what it was for.
"How serious is it? Is she in the hospital? Alright!" Harold exclaimed at the idea of not seeing their hostile classmate for a while.
"I reckon it can't be too serious, on account of she was here yesterday." Stinky reminded his friend.
"Maybe she got his on the head with a baseball again?!" Sid guessed.
The class began thinking about the worst that could have happened to her, rather than remembering all the attention Arnold gave to her when she was hurt.
"Class settle down. Her condition isn't too serious, but she won't be here for the next few days. That being the case, I brought art supplies for all of you to make your own very special get well cards for her!"
The class began to moan at the idea when the teacher saw Harold raising his hand. "Yes Harold?"
"What if we don't want her to get well?"
Nearly everyone began to chuckle, while Mr. Simmons was beginning to have enough of the negativity the class was showing for their classmate.
"Harold, if you don't want to make her a card, the least you can do is deliver them to her."
"Boy howdy! Nice going Harold!" Sid laughed at the mess his friend had gotten himself into.
Phoebe's eyes then widened at the thought of this. As nice as it was that their teacher hadn't delivered the reason as to why she was having surgery, Harold would surely find out why if he stopped by their house.
"I'd be happy to do it for him Mr. Simmons!" the polite girl raised her hand.
Mr. Simmons rubbed his chin, not liking the idea of letting one of his students off the hook.
"We'll see Phoebe. Alright class! Let's get started!"
Hospital
Sitting in the waiting room with her arms crossed, not believing what she was about to go through, Helga at last heard her name being called…
"Ms. Pataki. We're ready for you to come back."
As if the procedure wasn't embarrassing enough to her, Olga was there to make it even more annoying. "Don't worry baby sister. I'll be there to hold your hand whenever you need me to!"
"Oh criminy…" the frustrated girl muttered to herself, as they entered the room that was set up for her.
The doctor shortly entered to ask "It's nice to see you."
While Helga continued to stare at the floor with her arms crossed, Olga eagerly replied "It's great to see you as well! We're looking forward to how much closer this is going to bring us!"
Although the doctor didn't have a response for that, Helga smacked her face at the idea of Olga always finding a way to see something good in serious situations.
"First question I have. Has Helga been on a clear liquid diet?" Before Olga could answer, Helga smirked "Trust me, it hasn't been easy; thinking back to the food she ignored and the usual drinks she had been replacing with water."
"Now that we know that's taken care of, an IV will be inserted into you for the fluids and medicine you need. Once your colon is empty, the IV antibiotics will be given before and after the procedure."
As the doctor went on, Helga sat there thinking…
Criminy, I thought this was supposed to be simple!
"Two or three days later, your system will be ready to have the C-tube inserted. Hopefully, the procedure won't take more than 30 minutes. You'll still be in the hospital for a few days however."
"Yeah, just how noticeable is this thing going to be after you people insert it?" Helga couldn't help but ask.
"Don't worry, no one will be able to see it under your clothes." the doctor assured her.
Helga sighed, still not liking the idea of this. There wasn't much she could do in this case however.
"Let's get started!" the doctor insisted.
Lunch
"I can't help but notice, I'm the only one eating?" Gerald pointed out, after seeing Arnold staring sadly at the table, and Phoebe going over what appeared to be the same papers she had before class started that morning.
"I'm just worried about Helga. I don't know why she didn't tell me about the surgery?" he wondered.
Gerald shrugged his shoulders at the question as he replied "Not everyone's an open book man."
The placid boy then turned to glance at the papers his girlfriend had been going over. "What are you reading that for?"
Phoebe quickly placed the sheets of information pertaining to Helga's surgery back into her bag as she said "Oh just some ideas on how to improve my card for Helga?"
Classroom
School was on the verge of ending when Mr. Simmons decided Harold should be the one to deliver the cards to Helga.
"Oh, I don't want to take those stupid things!" the immature boy whined.
"Harold, you didn't make one for her. It's the least you can do."
"Ohh fine! Stupid cards." Harold muttered, while shoving them into his backpack.
Once the bell rang, Phoebe was anxious to follow Harold. That is, until she remembered she needed to pick up Helga's homework.
"Excuse me Mr. Simmons, do you have Helga's homework assignments ready?"
"Absolutely! It's very kind of you to do this for her. Helga's lucky to have a friend as special as you Phoebe!"
Hearing these words made Phoebe realize just how imperative it was to at least follow Harold. If he found out what the surgery was for, he was guaranteed to spread word about it.
Granted Helga had gotten over embarrassing situations before…
When Olga taught the class
When her nanny dressed up her
Mr. Simmons always choosing her poems to read in class
That didn't mean she shouldn't try to prevent it from happening.
Outside
Phoebe stood on the steps wondering which direction Harold had headed in. Would he go through the trouble of taking the bus down to the hospital, or simply walk them over to Helga's house?
Hoping she made the right decision not to take the bus, Phoebe quickly rounded the corner of the street to find Harold slowly moping in the direction of the Patakis' home.
"Hello Harold!" the small girl greeted her classmate.
"Huh? Oh hey Phoebe."
"I would be more than happy to deliver those for you." the polite girl offered.
As anxious as he was to hand them over, Harold replied "Ohh but if I let you, he might make me run another stupid errand tomorrow!"
Holding a finger to her lip, Phoebe replied "Well, perhaps we could take them over there together."
Harold shrugged his shoulders, not knowing why she would go out of her way to do such a thing. Phoebe however, knew this meant she wouldn't have to worry about any embarrassing information being revealed.
Helga's House
While waiting for someone to answer the door, Harold asked "She doesn't have a bunch of pets that will knock us down like at Arnold's house does she?"
Phoebe smiled as the precautious question "Don't worry Harold. You're completely safe."
That knowledge didn't make him any happier about being there however. The upset boy began to bang on the door after a few minutes of waiting…
"Let's go! I'm ready to get out of here!"
Eventually, a tired lady opened the door. Yawning as she greeted then, Miriam asked "Can I help you?"
"Good afternoon Mrs. Pataki. We came by to drop off Helga's homework…"
"And these stupid cards." Harold interrupted.
After seeing her classmate leave, Phoebe took it as an opportunity to ask "By the way, how is she doing?"
"She's good. She's good. She and Olga are still at the hospital." Miriam said in a tired voice, not having any more information to share.
The Boarding House
Arnold laid on his bed, watching the clouds go by. If Helga really was in the hospital, all he could do was wait to see her again. Phoebe didn't seem to be willing to share what she knew, and whenever Olga told anyone something about Helga, it wasn't something she wanted them to know.
Although he had already made a simple card for her in class, he wanted to make her a special one. Something that showed how much she meant to him.
Something that would show her she didn't have to keep being so secretive around him.
