Dipper was still acting as if nothing was wrong.
The pain was mostly the same, he noticed with a bit of surprise. It had only spread a tiny bit since his second fever and had mostly stayed in the same place as before. He took it as a good sign and decided to stop worrying about it. Meanwhile, Dipper decided to try to solve a few mysteries he hadn't gotten to yet.
Just as he was about to start, though, Mabel came in at full speed.
"Dipper!" she yelled.
"Ahh!" Dipper screamed as he fell back on the floor.
"Dipper! Remember that thief that came into town a few weeks ago?" she yelled.
Dipper blinked.
"Yeah...?"
"Grunkle Stan caught him stealing from the town's bank and now they're in a full on fist fight! And Grunkle Stan's losing!"
~o0o~
"Grunkle Ford!" Mabel screamed as she approached the ever growing crowd around the bank.
"Mabel! You got Dipper, good!" he yelled back.
"What's going on!?" questioned Dipper.
He looked towards the middle of the crowd but was blocked by the swarm of people.
"Stanley was coming to deposit some money from the bank when he saw that theif walking out with a bag full of money. Being Stan, he..."
"Tried to stop the theif and ended up getting him mad." Dipper sighed.
"Dipper! We gotta get him away from the crowd!" exclaimed Mabel.
"Agreed. Grunkle Ford, any ideas?" responded Dipper.
"The only way is to get through the crowd and get him out as quick as possible!" the great uncle responded.
"What!? But that's nearly impossible with this crowd! It keeps growing by the second!" Mabel stated.
"What choice do we have!?" Dipper and Ford said at the same time.
Mabel waited, then sighed.
"Fine! Let's do it!" she screamed and moved towards the crowd. Dipper and Ford followed close behind.
It took some time to work through so many people, but once they did, they immediately went toward the fight...
And stopped once they saw the contestants.
In the middle of the crowd stood Stan and the theif. Stan was bloody and bruised, limping and only using one hand, the other twisted horribly from the wrist. His eye was purple and swollen shut, and there was a gash on his back wide open.
His opponent was hidden in a dark gray cloak, his whole face hidden except his mouth. He was holding some sort of weapon with two spinning blades that he used as a defense as well as an offense. He was grinning like there was no tomorrow.
"Grunkle Stan!" Mabel screamed in horror.
Dipper turned to the theif and glared.
"Why would you ever do this to someone!?" He exclaimed.
The thief chuckled.
"And who are you to tell me what to do, little boy?" he responded.
"Enough!" commanded Ford. "Leave my brother alone!"
The man grinned. "As you wish, Glasses. If you don't want this to happen again, stay out of my way."
The thief turned around and disappeared.
~o0o~
Stan was taken care of immediately. Ford bandaged his wounds while scolding him for how stupid he had been while Dipper and Mabel clung tight to their uncle.
"What were you thinking, Stan!? You could have gotten seriously hurt!"
Mabel sniffed. "Yeah Grunkle Stan! Why'd you do that?"
Stan winced. "Well-"
He was cut off by a hard cough.
"Dipper?" Mabel questioned.
"I'm fine-"
*cough*
"Dipper, we can always go to the pharmacy for some-"
More coughing.
"Okay kid, you're going to bed."
"But *cough* I'm fine! R-really! *cough*"
"Bed. Now."
Dipper sighed and left the room.
"I'm really starting to worry about him, Grunkle Ford." whispered Mabel.
Ford nodded. "Me too Mabel, me too."
~o0o~
Dipper sat on his bed, reading one of the journals and tapping his pencil against the desk. Earlier Ford had come in and convinced him to drink his medicine (more like forced). He was just relaxing, for now, trying to move as little as possible. Mabel also came in to check on him every hour or so.
'Tick tock, Kid...'
Dipper jumped and looked around wildly.
'Shhhh...'
Dipper was breathing heavily. He strained his ears for more of the voice...
But it was gone.
~o0o~
"Stay still Stan!"
Mabel and Ford were trying to get Stan to stop moving to clean his gash but were having a hard time.
You know, it was kind of funny seeing Stan writhe away from Ford shrieking like a little girl. It was even funnier when he fell onto the floor while trying to run away from the alcohol and disinfectant.
Needless to say, it was quite a struggle to keep him still. Stan eventually gave in to some natural pain killers Ford made from some weird plants from the forest (Don't worry, Ford had already tested and approved them).
Eventually, Stan nodded off, the side effects from the pain killers starting to take effect.
Mabel brought down some blankets and a pillow for the old hag, while Ford got Dipper started on some chicken noodle soup for when Stan woke up (it turns out that kid is an excellent cook with proper guidance).
The day ran out, and as soon as the light turned off, Mabel was already asleep.
But not Dipper.
ยง
Thanks for reading and have a nice day!