Dipper took a good look at the mediums face. He was no longer shivering but his cheeks were still bright red and the sounds coming from his breathing was still unnerving. While rubbing the back of his neck he sighed. "Jeez Norm, what am i supposed to do here?" As if answering his question, Norman shot up. The cloth falling from his head on to the blanket. He started another coughing fit. That sudden motion made Dipper jump. Face flush of all color with fear, he placed a hand on the mediums back making small gentle circles while whispering words of comfort. "Its gunna be ok Norm, just let it out. Mabel is going to come back real soon with something to make you feel better."
Handing the medium a tissue after the coughing stopped, Norman blew his nose and tossed the crumpled up mess on top of the small mound of used tissues that had begun forming next to his bed. Still looking awful, Norman made a small smile, trying to masquerade his situation. In actuality, Norman felt like shit. "Wasn't prepared for this were you Dip?" He said after coughing again. Dipper matched the younger boys half heart'd smile. "Well that's what you get for jumping in a ravine in mid October." He said in a light teasing tone. Norman frowned "Pushed in a ravine in mid October." He said staring right into Dippers eyes without looking away. "Pushed." He said again with more enthusiasm. Dipper couldn't look away from Norman's stare. His sickly blue eyes seemed to look right through the younger twins soul. It made Dippers stomach do Somersaults. "Ye, yeah... Sorry." He said while rubbing the back of his neck once again. "Didn't know you were going to trip and tumble down the near by ravine face first." He said while replaying the events in his head.
They were walking in the mid October woods, snugly dressed in winter coats and scarfs like any other day when Norman began teasing the brunette that he was lost. Dipper was waving his hand in protest, assuring his Spiky haired friend that he knew exactly where he was. Making seemingly nonsensical turns down one direction, and then another. The medium just followed grinning the entire way occasionally asking if the younger twin was sure. Dipper would just blush in embarrassment and point in some random direction. "Were going that way of course!" Norman just rolled his eyes, disbelieving in Dippers ability to navigate. Seeing his friend with such low trust in him, Dipper shoved his shoulder playfully in to Normans side. "Hey I know exactly where were we are." He said half truthfully. He had a general idea where he was but not quite sure on the direction the shack was. Norman jammed his shoulder in to Dippers in retaliation. "Face it dip, you have no clue where we are." He said smiling profusely. Dipper dramatically changed his features to abject horror. "I cannot believe, I will not be treated this way!" He said playfully while ramming his shoulder harder into Norman's side causing him to lose a little balance. Norman accepted the challenge and shoved his shoulder into Dippers side trying to make him unbalanced as well. Then it began. A playful game of who could slam harder into each other. Though Dipper was harder to move for he was built a little tougher then skinny little Norman, It was just as hard to break the mediums posture due to his height. They went add it for about five minutes until Dipper caught a break. He slammed hard against Normans side which caused the medium to take a step back. In any other scenario, he would of quickly recovered, but his foot landed on an odd shaped rock, causing the taller boys body to fall backwards. The brunette stared wide eyed at what had been located behind him. The small ravine swallowed up his friend so quickly, he didn't have enough time to react until Norman had already fallen face first into the water with a thud.
Dipper was still rubbing the back of his neck not sure how to apologize better. His face was warm and red with flushes of embarrassment. Seeing the younger twin so defeated Norman couldn't help but laugh. That wasn't the best idea He ever had. His laughter quickly morphed from something genuinely wonderful Dipper was hearing, in to another heart breaking coughing fit. Just like that, Norman went from looking slightly better to five times worse. The medium laid back down, frumping his head against the pillow groaning. His head felt like his brain was beating hard against the walls of his cranium. Dipper placed the back of his hand once again on Normans forehead feeling the still incredibly hot skin of his suffering friend. "Shit." He said through gritted teeth. "Your getting worse." The medium turned his attention to Dippers concerned look. "Can I ha, have some wa, water?" he said through coughs. The brunette stood up in a flash and ran towards the door. "Of course! Ill be right back." It was moments later that Dipper ran up the stairs balancing a full glass of water in hand. He entered the room walking over to his friend. "Here hopefully this will hydrate you enough to stop some of that cough..." There was no point in continuing his sentence for once again Norman had fallen asleep. Or fell unconscious. He wasn't sure and that frustrated him. He placed the cup of water on his nightstand sat legs crossed by Norman, Picked up the fallen cloth and began redoing earlier actions. Praying, while texting her Norman's current condition and prompting her to hurry, that Mabel was having more luck than him.
Norman had been right. Though he didn't get sick very often, when he did, it hit him hard.
Mabel was ready. She had a full proof plan and nothing was going to get in her way. Looking up at the local pharmacy building she took a deep breath. She had been going over her plan of attack through the entire walk here. She repeated the steps like a mantra. "Go in, buy drugs, get out, cure Norm." She ready'd herself and pushed the door inward causally walking in the first doorway like she owned the place. Even though every fiber of her being was in panic mode, she stifled any nerves she had and plastered on one of her most charming smiles she could conceive. This was something she had become very good at over the years. Always the one who could smile through any horrifying situation and keeping everyone's morale (Especially Dipper's) up high and unaltered. She walked in through the mechanically operated sliding door and headed straight to the cashier. She would not waste any time looking through each individual aisle trying to locate something she wasn't even sure would look like. Luckily for her it seemed to be a slow morning for there was about three other people inside the building and none of them were at the front counter. Yes! She mentally fist bumped the air in triumph.
She walked over, her phone buzzed. Her steps became slow paced and unsure. All that planning went right out the window, as she read Dipper's text on Normans condition. She took a step. The lady at the counter with bouncy blonde curls put her magazine down. Mabel inched closer to the counter. The lady's name tag read 'Ashlyn' and she looked up towards Mabel. She took a final step reaching the base of the counter.
Ashlyn smiled "Can i help you with anything?"
Mabel took a deep breath. "Yes, um. My brothers friend is sick with a fever and i was hoping you could tell me what medication would be the best to give him." She said in now a half-heart'd smile. Ashlyn pondered at Mabel's words carefully. "Ok. I need to know a few thing first. How did this happen? Is he pale and clammy or red and warm? And any other details will help get a better understanding at what you might need." she said completely serious and engaged in Mabel's problem.
The older twin thought about what she had seen. "Um, He fell into a ravine and got soaking wet, and even though we warmed him up as quickly as possible, the trip back to our shack was on foot and took twenty minutes. We wrapped him up in all the blankets we could find and force fed him plenty of hot chocolate." She said recalling how she wouldn't let the medium go without finishing at least three large sized mugs of hot chocolate goodness. He protested that one cup was more than enough, but as soon as Mabel gave her signature sly smile, Norman couldn't say no. "We all went to sleep after and he seemed to be ok when he was brushing his teeth and changing... Oh um he was already shivering though." she said remembering how dipper had noticed it first asking if Norman needed another blanket, but the tall boy assured him that he just needed a good nights rest. "I woke up first, then my brother and when Norman didn't wake up, we pulled the blankets off of him and he... he, was looking awful." She said now a frown replacing the abandoned smile. She didn't feel like smiling right now.
Even though Mabel was giving a little too much detail on her young friends condition. Ashlyn didn't say a word and waited until Mabel was finished. "His face was definitely warm and red like a tomato. His breathing is really shallow and he keeps going in and out of these coughing fits." She said feeling horrible for yanking away the blankets and making the medium shiver again. "And he has a runny nose." She then looked back up at Ashyln waiting for her to respond. The blonde put two fingers on her lips while scanning the aisles behind Mabel clearly searching for something specific. Then standing up from her chair, she walked around the counter into the common area and motioned for Mabel to follow. Walking into an aisle filled with many over the counter drugs, she stopped at a small section of medication making the assumption that this boy Norman would be around the same age as the girl. "Any of these will help bring the fever down and help with the coughing." She said with a smile on the entire time. It wasn't very often a customer came in not already knowing what they were looking for, so any excuse to help was a golden opportunity. "Just read the labels and pick the one that matches the most of your friends symptoms." she said Happy with herself. "I'll be back at that counter to ring your order in. If you have any more questions, please don't hesitate to ask. With that, Ashlyn made her way back over to the isolated section of the counter and picked up her magazine.
But before she could read even a sentence from her magazine, the little girl was already back almost slamming the bottle on the counter. "This one!" she said hope clinging on to her with excitement. This was going to help her friend, she was sure of it. As Ashlyn scanned the bottle in to the computer and Mabel paid with cash, (Cash that she found in one of Grunkle Stan's plethora of hiding places.) Mabel heard her phone vibrate again. She picked it up and read the text. It was another serious update on Normans growing condition. While this was happening Ashyln was reading the Side effects concerned. "Just make sure you keep an eye on him when you give him this ok." she said while handing the small paper bag. Barely listening, Mabel grabbed it quickly and ran out the door while yelling thanks to Ashlyn.
"He's going to get very interesting." She said to no one while picking up her magazine again, smiling.