Hey Arnold: I Promise You That

Reunion

Sarah was unconscious for an hour and already, Arnold and Mary-Belle were worried.

They sat next to Sarah's bed at the hospital, waiting for her to stir. Still, she had not awakened.

The rest of the group were in the waiting room, waiting for news about Sarah. But nothing came.

Arnold and Mary-Belle were exhausted. They had not eaten anything during the hour. There were staff on the ward they were on but nobody came to check on Sarah.

All seemed lost.

"Arnold?" Mary-Belle asked. "Do you think she'll be okay?"

"I don't know", he replied. "She fought the water before but — after today, I'm not sure".

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door; Arnold went to answer it. As he did, Arnold saw a Nurse entering the room. She was friendly and welcoming toward him, which he felt relieved about.

The Nurse was so beautiful; she had ginger hair with striking hazel eyes. Her skin was pale but her lips were as red as a rose. She also had glowing white teeth. "So, where is the patient?" she asked cheerfully.

"She's right here, Miss", Mary-Belle answered.

"Excellent". She then saw Arnold and Mary-Belle's faces. "You two looked exhausted. Have had eaten anything?"

The pair shook their heads.

"Well, it maybe a good idea to eat. And don't worry about anything. I'll look after her until you come back. She's in good hands".

"Thank you, Miss", Mary-Belle replied before heading out the door with Arnold following her.

Once they had gone, the Nurse examined her notes very carefully. She wanted to make sure that she wasn't getting the wrong information. Suddenly, she stopped. The Nurse looked back and forth between the notes and the bed where Sarah was. She then placed her notes down and rushed towards it.

The Nurse was shocked to see the unconscious girl looking all pale and feeling very cold. Gently, she took her hand into hers before bursting into tears.

"Hello, dumpling", she whispered gently. "I've been looking everywhere for you". The Nurse kissed Sarah's hand against her lips before it back down onto the mattress. "You must be very cold". Underneath the bed, there was a blanket all neatly folded up.

The Nurse unfolded the bed before placing it on top of Sarah to keep her warm.

That did the trick.

With a little moan, Sarah regained consciousness. As she slowly opened her eye lids, Sarah blinked and covered them up with her hands. "The lights are too bright", she said loudly.

"Don't worry, dumpling", replied the Nurse. "I'll dim them down for you".

Sarah immediately opened her eyes and looked up to the ceiling. She immediately recognised the Nurse's voice.

The lights were lowered down to medium and Sarah felt better. However, she couldn't figure out where the voice was coming from. Suddenly, she felt a hand stroking hers. Sarah turned into the direction of the hand. Slowly, she looked up and —

"JASMINE!" cried Sarah.

In tears, she wrapped her arms around Jasmine and hugged her tightly. "I missed you so much".

"And I missed you too, dumpling", she replied.

Sarah and Jasmine hugged and cried for a long time. They didn't care about the world around them now: instead, they only cared about each other.

"How did you find me?" asked Sarah who was still hugging her friend.

"I didn't", Jasmine replied, "but we found each other".

The door opened once more but Sarah and Jasmine didn't notice or react to it. Arnold and Mary-Belle came in with snacks and drinks in their hands - with tears rolling down their faces. But when they saw Sarah hugging Jasmine, they began to smile.

Gently, they placed them on top of the seat (which was near the bed) and headed over to see Sarah.

Sarah opened her eyes as she saw Arnold smiling at her.

"Hey, Arnold", she greeted.

"I take it that you know the Nurse?"

"I do.

"Jasmine, there's someone I like you to meet". Sarah gently pulled herself away from Jasmine and took her hand so she could meet her other friend.

"Jasmine, this is Arnold. Arnold, this is Jasmine - my friend and surrogate sister".

"Pleasure to meet you, Jasmine", said Arnold as he shook hands with her.

"I cannot thank you enough for looking after Sarah", Jasmine replied. "I can see that she had many adventures here".

"Dull moments in Hillwood?" Sarah asked. "Hardly any".

Then Sarah told Jasmine the whole story: everything from her first day at PS18 to the Hillwood Scorer Team.

Jasmine was impressed. "I never knew you could play football".

"Nether did I", Sarah confessed.

When she had finished her story, Jasmine checked over Sarah's wound on her shoulder. When she touched the wound, Sarah winced in pain.

"Is the bullet still there?" she asked.

"No", replied Jasmine.

"Dad took it out when we pulled you out of the water", Arnold added.

"You were very brave", Mary-Belle told her step sister. "You risked your life to save mine".

"I'm not brave", replied Sarah. "I'm just learning how to live".

"Learning or not, you are brave. I'm proud of you and I'm so happy that you are my step sister. I couldn't imagine anybody else but you".